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Some of London’s most deprived children will be damaged further by being struck off the special needs list, a leading headteacher warned today. Children who act as carers, those who are homeless or whose parents have died could lose out on extra support, Jo Shuter, head of Quintin Kynaston school in St John’s Wood, claimed. [...]

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Charities, teachers’ leaders and campaigners yesterday condemned plans that could remove thousands of children from the special-needs register. Ministers have announced a series of reforms in the belief that too many children at schools in England have been wrongly labelled as having special educational needs (SEN). There will be a new single category of SEN [...]

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Name: Keepon Big Idea: Keepon is a little robot, developed in Japan, that is used to research childhood communication and interaction. The consumer version, MyKeepon, funds the construction and distribution of Keepons to labs around the globe. Why It’s Working: Keepon’s simple design and mannerisms make it an effective communication tool that doesn’t intimidate kids [...]

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First they blamed the child, then the parents, then even the doctors. A few later pointed to modern life: computer games or too much television. But after decades of work begun by two remarkable British women, we are now closer than ever to understanding that genetics are responsible for the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders [...]

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An autistic teenager with the mental age of five-year-old was left locked in a school bus alone for 45 minutes after a driver failed to notice that she was there. Ellie Wales, 16, was returning home from school when she was left on board the vehicle at a bus depot in Dormanstown, East Cleveland. Her [...]

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Teresa Atkins first noticed something out-of-the-ordinary when she began taking her son to a “mums and tots” group near her home in Northamptonshire. While other children were happy to stay in the main hall and play as their parents chatted, Jacob preferred to escape the hubbub and sit in a quieter side room where the [...]

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Women who smoke during pregnancy could be more likely to have a child with high-functioning autism, say researchers. ‘It has long been known that autism is an umbrella term for a wide range of disorders that impair social and communication skills,’ said lead author Professor Amy Kalkbrenner from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. ‘What we are [...]

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The prospect of a drug to treat autism has been raised after symptoms of the condition were reduced in experiments on mice that were performed by the US National Institutes of Health. There is no cure for the condition. The results published in Science Translational Medicine showed increased social skills and less repetitive behaviour in animals [...]

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From the moment her newborn daughter was placed into her arms for that all-important first embrace, Mary Lawson’s instinct told her something wasn’t quite right. ‘I’d never had a baby before so I didn’t know what to expect, and the first thing that struck me was her bright blue eyes, fair hair and pointed little chin,’ [...]

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Doctors’ belief that certain antidepressants can help to treat repetitive behaviors in children with autism may be based on biased information, according to a new review. The drugs, which include popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are sometimes used to treat repetitive behaviors in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). ‘The main issue to emphasize is that [...]

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Researchers found that women who were obese, or had conditions associated with being overweight such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or gestational diabetes were more likely to have children with problems. The study examined almost 1,000 children between the ages of two and five, two thirds of whom had autism or other developmental [...]

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You were born on Christmas Day 2002, wrenched from the warmth of my womb, into this harsh, cold, judgmental world. You were placed on my empty belly covered in blood, your little chest heaved as your cry pierced the air. Your miniature body looked so perfect, your tiny hands and fingers looked like they belonged [...]

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Many cases of autism are caused by faulty sperm and eggs, with older men more likely to father a child with the condition, researchers believe. Three large-scale studies have highlighted the importance of mistakes in the DNA of eggs and sperm to the development of autism. One in seven cases of autism in families where [...]

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One in ten children who are severely autistic at the age of three outgrow many of the disorder’s symptoms by the time they are eight, according to a new study. The report published today in American journal Pediatrics showed one reason could be the child’s socio-economic background, with ‘bloomers’ tending to come from better-off families. Study [...]

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A coroner warned yesterday that the “gross failure” of mental health services to help an autistic boy, who was bullied and committed suicide, could be a national problem affecting others with similar behavioural needs. Bradford coroner Paul Marks said the death of Gareth Oates, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, could probably have been averted if it had not [...]

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A coroner warned yesterday that the “gross failure” of mental health services to help an autistic boy, who was bullied and committed suicide, could be a national problem affecting others with similar behavioural needs. Bradford coroner Paul Marks said the death of Gareth Oates, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, could probably have been averted if it had not [...]

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A coroner warned yesterday that the “gross failure” of mental health services to help an autistic boy, who was bullied and committed suicide, could be a national problem affecting others with similar behavioural needs. Bradford coroner Paul Marks said the death of Gareth Oates, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, could probably have been averted if it had not [...]

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Louis Theroux explains why he’s as proud of his new series – on the demented elderly and autistic young – as anything he’s ever done. Over the past 15 years, I’ve carved out a niche for myself as a maker of documentaries about people whose choices in life seem odd, offbeat or at the very [...]

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Louis Theroux on autism: The school with more teachers than students With autism diagnoses rising more and more parents are plunged into a battle to understand the condition and find their child the right treatment, writes Louis Theroux. Joey Morales-Ward is a 13-year-old kid who lives in suburban New Jersey. He likes playing on his [...]

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The National Autistic Society Northern Ireland (NAS NI) said failings in the education system are letting down children. It wants MLAs to consider the needs of children with autism as they debate the reforms to the Special Educational Needs (SEN) system. The charity is launching the A* for Autism campaign on SEN, to highlight the [...]

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The mother of an autistic teenager who killed himself in front of a train has told an inquest that he suffered years of intimidation at the hands of college bullies. Glenys Oates told a coroner of her desperate battle to get mental health intervention for her son Gareth who had already tried to kill himself [...]

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The most cynical TV show I’ve ever seen: The father of an autistic teenager attacks Ricky Gervais’ new comedy By CHRISTOPHER STEVENS As the father of an autistic son, author Christopher Stevens finds Derek – Ricky Gervais’s new comedy-drama about a care-home worker – vile, cynical and dishonest. Here he tells how there is nothing [...]

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Autism Speaks has been illuminating iconic landmarks around the world with blue light for World Autism Day for the last three years, as part of its “Light It Up Blue” campaign. This year, the tech world is joining the campaign for the first time, as Outfit7‘s Talking Tom mobile app joins the awareness effort. Talking [...]

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There are now 61,570 schoolchildren in the state-funded sector that have been recorded as having some kind of autistic spectrum disorder and they make up almost one percent of the entire school population. Just five years ago, the number of children classified as being autistic was just 39,465 and they accounted for just 0.5percent of [...]

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Parents of children with autism are hit hardest in the pocket. David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues analysed the income of 261 families with an autistic child, 2921 families caring for children with non-autistic conditions and 64,349 families with healthy children. On average, mothers of children with autism earn 35 per [...]

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A father has spoken out about a cruel condition that has robbed his daughter of her ability to walk and talk, after scientists made a breakthrough that could lead to a cure. Marc Souter’s daughter Dylan was born in July 2009 and by the time she was one had learned to crawl and say a [...]

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The call from the kitchen was the high-pitched screech used for real emergencies. George, the eldest of my three sons, was begging for someone to come quickly to his aid. Although he is a 5ft 10in grown man of 22, he sounded terrified. Was his younger brother attacking him again? It wouldn’t have surprised me [...]

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AN EFFORT is under way to update the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic guide – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). In particular, changes suggested for diagnosis of autism are the focus of much debate. There are clear reasons for changing and tweaking DSM categories and criteria in the light of new research, [...]

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The shooting of a seven-year-old boy by his autistic sister, 9, was not an accident, a police spokesman has said. The nine-year-old girl pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting while their parents were briefly away from their Arkansas apartment, according to police. Little Rock Police spokesman Lieutenant Terry Hastings said the shooting on Monday [...]

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Metropolitan Police officers assaulted a 16-year-old boy with severe autism by forcing him into handcuffs and leg restraints during a school trip, the High Court has ruled. The judges said the boy, who also suffers from epilepsy, had his human rights breached. He was subjected to unlawful disability discrimination and false imprisonment. via BBC News [...]

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Having forged a successful career as a Hollywood actress, Emily Mortimer is now moving into film production. The 40-year-old daughter of the playwright Sir John Mortimer has bought the film rights to Kathy Lette’s new novel, The Boy Who Fell to Earth, about a middle-class mother’s coping alone with an autistic child. “She’s going to [...]

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In Anthony Steele’s world, his back garden is an ocean upon which a pirate ship sails in search of treasure. But the seven-year-old’s fantasy has been sunk by council officials who say his Jolly Roger breaches planning rules on ‘advertising’. They acted after an unnamed neighbour made a complaint about the flag, which flutters from [...]

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The quiet old house begins to tremble from some distant commotion. Thumpings, bangings and a deep, vibrating moan are coming from another room and can mean only one thing. Charlotte Moore begins to clear away all breakable items in the kitchen with practised efficiency, like a stage hand changing a set. She swiftly replaces our [...]

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Many young people with face a “life-long legacy of lost opportunities” after falling through the gap when they leave school, a report warns. The influential Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was “shocking” that almost a third of young adults with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) at age 16 are not in [...]

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When Josh Tutin was three years old, he was diagnosed with autism so severe that experts believed it unlikely he would ever relate to other people. Yet now the Bristol boy is a thoughtful, joyful nine-year-old who attends a mainstream school. Has he grown out of his condition? New research by a prestigious American university [...]

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Couples have a greater risk of having a child with autism if either the father or the mother is over the age of 35, according to a major international study. The findings have come as a  surprise as it was previously thought that delaying motherhood represented the greatest risk. But the new study found that [...]

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Children born to a parent over 35 are at greater risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder – but the risk is the same whether just one or both parents are older, researchers said. The findings, from University of Aarhus School of Public Health in Denmark, cast doubt on the theory that older sperm or [...]

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Autism can be detected in six-month-old babies by measuring their brain activity, say scientists. Researchers at Birkbeck College, University of London, found the test could help identify infants most at risk of developing the disorder later. via Early test to detect autism – Health News – Health & Families – The Independent. » Inline Ad [...]

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Signs of autism can be detected in six-month-old babies by measuring their brain activity, research has shown. Scientists say the test could help identify infants most at risk of developing the disorder later in life. Autism, a lifelong developmental disability that impairs a person’s ability to connect socially and communicate, is not officially diagnosed until [...]

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Many children diagnosed with autism at a young age no longer display symptoms when they are older, researchers say. A study published in the journal Pediatrics, found one-third of youngsters who had ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder no longer had the diagnosis at the time their parents were surveyed. The researchers noted [...]

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A distressing video was shot of an 11-year-old autistic boy being punched repeatedly in the head by a fellow pupil as he waited for the school bus. Kaleb Kula has been bullied for years at Elkton Middle School in Elkton, Maryland, according to his parents. Other students cheer loudly while one films the attack on [...]

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“She has gone from being a little girl who had no way of showing us how much she knew, to a little girl who now has a portable device she can laugh, play and engage with,” says her mother Sam Rospigliosi, from Edinburgh. “Who knows, she might even use it as her voice in the [...]

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A natural chemical known as the ‘cuddle hormone’ makes people kinder and could help millions suffering from psychiatric disorders such as autism, say scientists. Researchers found that women with higher levels of oxytocin – a hormone produced in the brain – were more affectionate towards their babies. Meanwhile another study found participants who were given [...]

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Boys with a certain type of autism have bigger brains than their peers who don’t have the developmental disorder, say scientists. In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that children with regressive autism – which impinges speech and social skills – had six per cent greater brain volume compared to non-autistic counterparts. Source: [...]

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A brain transplant of stem cells has worked in mice in a breakthrough that signals new hope for conditions from autism to Parkinson’s disease. Scientists put healthy stem cells from mouse embryos into the brains of adult rodents who were unable to use leptin, a hormone that tells the body to stop eating. The transplant [...]

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Zinc supplements could reduce the chance of a child developing autism, according to a controversial study.

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Doctors should stop treating it as a handicap, says scientist

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Women who take a certain type of anti-depressant during pregnancy could be contributing to a dramatic rise in the number of children with autism, say scientists.

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Autism is a disease that affects children, their parents, their siblings and almost everyone they come into contact with. And it is not hard to understand why.

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Scientists identify subtle ‘distinct facial characteristics’ of children with autism

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