The Atlantic

"For years, parents have tried altering their children's diets to alleviate the issues, often restricting or completely eliminating gluten and dairy. But there is little scientific evidence supporting these dietary changes. Still signs keep pointing back to an underlying biological link between autism and GI issues."

"There are several theories behind the link between GI issues and autism, and whether abnormal gut development precedes or contributes to abnormal neurological development. There is no evidence to say that GI issues and autism have a causal relationship in either direction. The first step to improving treatments is to understand the underlying link between the two conditions."
 
How nice of doctors finally to notice....It only took 15 years.

More of the mystery it seems, but at least they're looking.

I can't wait to see the response to my comments.
 
Hanover (PA) Evening Sun: Autism

"Like everything else associated with autism, finding a cure is difficult. And complicated. And then difficult some more.

"In order to have even a hope of finding a cure, scientists first need to figure what causes it, and before that, to get a better handle on exactly what it is.

"This has proved to be a constant struggle for scientists because they are just beginning to understand what physically makes an autistic brain different from that of an average person. ...
"The argument for a link between vaccines and autism is based around a 1998 study, which has since been thoroughly discredited. That study led vaccine-skeptics to claim that the amount of antigens in vaccines overwhelmed babies' immune systems, making them more susceptible to the disorder.
"But mountains of scientific studies have since discredited that 1998 study. In a new study released in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers compared the vaccine histories of 250 autistic children with those of 750 typical kids, comparing the number of antigens that each child received from vaccines. Not only did they find no correlation, but scientists also discovered that the number of antigens in vaccines has actually gone down since the late 1990s."

 Experts know NOTHING FOR SURE ABOUT AUTISM...except vaccines don't cause it---ABSOLUTELY NO LINK

Minneapolis Star Tribune

"As Minnesota scrambles to educate more high-needs students, teachers say the job is increasingly dangerous.

Schools across Minnesota with soaring numbers of students who have serious behavioral or emotional problems are facing a growing predicament: They cannot find or keep enough teachers qualified and willing to educate them.

"The number of special education students in the state has increased by 10 percent in the last five years, and many of them have acute conditions that were once addressed outside of classroom settings. But as schools scramble to meet their needs, the number of licensed special education teachers in Minnesota is in sharp decline, dropping by almost 10 percent over the same time frame.
"Teachers say working with special education students is becoming more difficult and dangerous. Many of those students are bringing more severe problems to already crowded classrooms that lack support staff. Others are prone to violent outbursts that are injuring or frightening teachers."
Incredibly, we're not told WHY there are "more high needs students"..."soaring numbers of students who have..."

There is one vague reference that these students' conditions "were once addressed outside of classroom settings." I've heard that excuse a number of times. WHERE WERE THEY?
I've heard teachers say that these kids used to be kept at home. I never knew a single family with a disabled child that they simply didn't send to school when I was growing up.

This is a preview of the horrible situation to come when group homes and institutions have to deal with an overwhelming population of adults with autism and other neurological problems. I can't imagine what's going to happen.
 
(Indiana) Portage News

"The number of people diagnosed with autism is on the rise.
 
"Along with that, says one autism advocate, is the need for additional training among first responders to identify and deal with people with autism and other disabilities.
"'Incidents of autism have increased greatly,' said Cathy Pratt, director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, a part of Indiana University in Bloomington, adding that while it was once considered rare, now estimates are that one in 88 people are diagnosed with the disorder...."
It's numbing to keep reading the same story from across the U.S. Everyone seems to need training to deal with autism. Once again we're told autism is on the rise. We're not told why.
 
It's a problem but no one seems really alarmed.
 
We're watching a national tragedy unfold right before our eyes while we do nothing to stop it. No comment section.
 
Hanover (PA) Evening Sun

"When autism first nudged its way onto the list of disorders tracked by the Centers for Disease Control in 2000, it only affected an estimated 1 in 150 children. Today, that number has tripled to 1 in 50. This dramatic increase and the accompanying deluge of questions surrounding its exact cause - including whether or not autism cases have really even risen at all - have only added to the disorder's myth and mystery.

"Confusion over autism, led by its vague definitions and a litany of contradictory and inconclusive reports and studies, has given birth to a hazy awareness of the disorder. Through the work of large national organizations such Autism Speaks, many people have come to recognize the colorful jigsaw puzzle piece used to symbolize autism, in much the same way that pink ribbons symbolize breast cancer.

"But does that mean that society is also ready to interact with and care for an autistic population? These are the questions that parents like Goff have known the answer to for years. In a word, she says, the answer to both is simple - no."

I'm always amazed when reporters talk about kids who can't speak. When I read stories about children who lose the ability to speak or make eye contact, interact, etc., I'm left wondering why this isn't something alarming to doctors. If a child suddenly can't see or hear, we'd be demanding to know why. Being non-verbal and autistic seems totally acceptable.

This mother has a horrible existence and so does her son.  Stories like this merely tell us about the problem with no explanation or solution. So where will Christian be in six years or in ten years?  I posted a number of comments.

CBS Philly

"Human Services, a Montgomery County social services agency, has teamed up with members of law enforcement to develop a training seminar to educate first responders on how to deal with people who are on the autism spectrum.

"Upper Gwynedd Chief of Police David Duffy helped put the seminar together. He says there are certain strategies that police and fire need to employ.

"'(They) probably won't be able to understand or follow commands right away,' he says. 'and that doesn't mean that they don't want to cooperate, so we have to be patient, direct and also work with caregivers.'"
More on how we're as a society adjusting to the autism epidemic.  I hope they teach the responders that they won't be dealing with 50, 60, and 70 year olds with autism.  I posted a comment.
 
Kansas City Star 

A federal judge has now frustrated military families that earlier won insurance coverage for a certain kind of autism therapy.

"In a rare reversal, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton second-guessed his own previous order that the military's health program pay for the autism therapy sought by a Florida couple and others. For retired Air Force Master Sgt. Kenneth Berge and his wife, Dawn, of Crestview in the Florida panhandle, the new decision could complicate long-term efforts to help their son, Zachary.

"Walton's legal about-face also could affect, at least temporarily, many others who want the TRICARE military health program to pay for the therapy, called "applied behavior analysis." Ruling in a class-action lawsuit in July 2012, Walton ordered Pentagon officials to cover the therapy under the health program's basic plan.

This week, Walton concluded he erred and would now give federal officials a second chance to justify their policy or change it."

I think the key sentence here is: "It has been praised for its effectiveness, but it is also time-consuming and expensive." EXPENSIVE. There was no comment section or I would have asked what autism will eventually be costing this country.

Psychology Today

"What's it like for the majority (those who need 24/7 care) of those with autism? What's it like to be a single parent of those who are a part of this 'majority'?

"Often I am asked these questions, especially after I have to cancel out on yet another event or work meeting or the rare social gathering. Friends, business associates wonder why I make less than half of the gatherings I am slated to attend. Sometimes its due to lack of sitter or respite coverage (Note: I am a single parent with sole custody), sometimes its due to an illness (last summer Alex developed Ulcerative Colitis and we were either confined to my apartment in NYC or in a hospital for about two months), and sometimes its due to the 'meltdown' (more on this is a bit)."

"Last month I was invited to speak at Autism One in Chicago but could not make it. Alex experienced a colitis flare and had to be scoped by his GI docs. I would like to share a bit of what I had planned to say, how we as parents can stay positive, come through the difficult and acquire 'hard core happiness'."

I posted this comment:

I wish you could have been at A-1. You're right about way autism is presented. The media does our children a huge disservice, especially during April--Autism Awareness Month. We see cute, happy kids interacting with teachers or therapists. They look like kids do everywhere. We hear that autism is a disorder resulting in "a lack of communication skills and an inability at social interaction." That doesn't really sound so bad. One dad of a severely affected son said that the definition sounds like "the kid just can't get a date."

I wonder what the reaction would be if we saw the children who bang their heads endlessly, or the ones who smear feces all over the walls, or the teenagers still in diapers? Those images aren't covered by the media and for good reason. It would be really hard to convince people that autism has always been around---we just called it something else---if we had a month of those kinds of images.
Thank you for telling it like it is.