Autism

Puzzles For Cures Releases Autism Ribbon Floor Puzzle

Though I am a teacher first and foremost because I adore the kids, I admit that a wonderful extra benefit is getting to know the children’s families. I was blessed to meet the Ambrose family when I taught two of their three children several years ago. Having one child with special needs, Susan Ambrose has worked tirelessly to help raise funds and awareness for other causes.

Her company, Puzzles For Cures, is pleased to announce that they have received written approval from the Autism Society of America (ASA) to use its patented ribbon, created with colorful puzzle pieces, to manufacture a puzzle of the well-recognized symbol. The puzzle has already been well received as an effective fundraising tool by groups including schools, therapy facilities and united groups of parents.

Today, 1 out of every 150 children (4 out of 5 boys) born in our country has been diagnosed with Autism, which is the fastest growing developmental disability. These puzzles have many benefits. Fundraising dollars are being used for therapies and professional seminars; children are enjoying this educational toy; and Autism awareness is being raised throughout many communities.

Susan fully understands that no disability comes invited and that acceptance is key. She has been faced with many choices and challenges with her own child, which resulted in a strong desire to do something positive to help meet such choices and challenges. Read more…

Biomedical Autism Intervention – Aggression in Autistic Children

Aggression and Children on the Autism Spectrum:

We know that aggression is a big problem and there are many medications out there that can help with aggressive behavior, Risperidal being the most common. There are a couple of things I want you to be aware of though with respect to aggression. Trying to troubleshoot, or categorize the type of aggressive behavior can help understand what could be triggering it. Is it continuous aggression that happens throughout the day? Is it more situational aggression? Is it intermittent aggression? Or is the aggression specific towards one family member or one particular sex? Continuous aggression many times can be associated with brain chemistry imbalances and sometimes that needs to be treated medically. But many times there can be some underlying biomedical problems that are happening like pain, inflammation, digestive problems, even bacterial imbalances in the digestive tract can lead to chemical imbalances that promote a child to become more aggressive. So continuous aggression can be indicative of an underlying pain issue, digestive problems or bacterial imbalances. Your child could be having headaches.

If we are looking at intermittent aggression, many times that can be related to a food sensitivity. The gluten and casein free diet we know helps many children on the Autism spectrum. If a child has a sensitivity to wheat or milk and they get that food, it can cause them to be aggressive because it causes an imbalance in their body or just doesn’t make them feel good. Read more…

No Child Ever Needs to Suffer From Autism Henceforth – Read This Article and Find Out Why

For sometime now, awareness about Autism is growing through seminars, movies and even through ad campaigns. Getting the child diagnosed early at the first place is a serious issue. Earlier the disorder is diagnosed and detected, the better for the child to respond to any or every therapy.

Autism basically makes the kid see the world differently and it is the inability of the autistic child to communicate that makes this neuro-developmental disorder vulnerable.

There are several theories and hypotheses on the cause of Autism and a consensus on the same is hard to find. At present, researchers understand that a combination of environmental and genetic factors could be the plausible cause of Autism.

The treatment modalities based on scientific research and studies have evolved to challenge the Autism now. Thanks to advanced medicine research. No big deal still, because there is no standard approach or modality that is considered as a universally accepted treatment for Autism. General approaches are biochemical that deals with diet, food supplements, medication and vitamins, Psycho dynamic approach delves into psycho analysis and then the neurosensory approach which involves daily life therapy.

Additionally, there exist behavioral treatment programs and that include giving instructions to child, prompting the kid to perform specific behavior, praise and reward programs for the child, all these helps to improve autistic condition of the child manifold. However, depending upon the specific condition of the child, certain treatments are more successful than the others. Read more…

Kids With Autism – Risperdal and Similar Psychotropic Drugs May Produce Negative Responses

Jean Genet, a brain researcher and an autism survivor himself, truly believes that psychotropic drugs (i.e. Risperdal) can produce negative responses for the child over time. Although it is a stimulant drug which is known to fight ADHD, it is not immune from negative consequences. This is why kids with autism should be given better forms of treatment if possible.

What psychotropic drugs do is that they use the central nervous system’s energy as a fuel to the responses that they produce. However, the time it takes to entirely use this energy is relative to the child. The more active the child is, the faster the consumption of this energy will be.

If you want to detect when the psychotropic drug is about to exhaust the energy of the child’s central nervous system, you can do so by observing how aggressive the child’s behavior is. If s/he cannot sleep easily, lacks appetite and is unusually depressed, then the energy has most likely been used up. And since kids with autism are usually very on-the-go, it is easy to detect this behavior.

They say that when the symptoms of energy loss begin to surface, you need to increase the dosages. But then again, the symptoms will only become worse. Read more…