Items 1 through 9 have been deleted, since they are primarily for families
living in Virginia and Maryland, and I did not want to send useless
information to the folks in the rest of the country. However, please let me
know if you live in Virginia, Maryland or DC; so that I can add you to my
private email distribution list for events in those states.



10. "Eating Well- Chicken With Arsenic? Is That O.K.? dated 5 April 2005 by
MARIAN BURROS from The New York Times at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/dining/05well.html>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/dining/05well.html.

"Arsenic may be called the king of poisons, but it is everywhere: in the
environment, in the water we drink and sometimes in the food we eat. The
amount is not enough to kill anyone in one fell swoop, but arsenic is a
recognized cancer-causing agent and many experts say that no level should be
considered safe. Arsenic may also contribute to other life-threatening
illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes, and to a decline in mental
functioning. Yet it is deliberately being added to chicken in this country,
with many scientists saying it is unnecessary. Until recently there was a
very high chance that if you ate chicken some arsenic would be present
because it has been a government-approved additive in poultry feed for
decades. It is used to kill parasites and to promote growth. The chicken
industry's largest trade group says that arsenic levels in its birds are
safe. "We are not aware of any study that shows implications of any
possibility of harm to human health as the result of the use of these
products at the levels directed," said Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the
National Chicken Council. Chickens are not the only environmental source of
arsenic. In addition to drinking water, for which the Environmental
Protection Agency now sets a level of 10 parts per billion, other poultry,
rice, fish and a number of foods also contain the poison. Soils are
contaminated with arsenical pesticides from chicken manure; chicken litter
containing arsenic is fed to other animals; and until 2003, arsenic was used
in pressure-treated wood for decks and playground equipment. Human exposure
to it has been compounded because the consumption of chicken has exploded.
In 1960, each American ate 28 pounds of chicken a year. For 2005, the figure
is estimated at about 87 pounds per person. In spite of this threefold
rise, the F.D.A. tolerance level for arsenic in chicken of 500 parts per
billion, set decades ago, has not been revised. A 2004 Department of
Agriculture study on arsenic concluded that "the higher than previously
recognized concentrations of arsenic in chicken combined with increasing
levels of chicken consumption may indicate a need to review assumptions
regarding overall ingested arsenic intake." "When this source of arsenic is
added to others, the exposure is cumulative, and people could be in
trouble," said Dr. Ted Schettler, a physician and the science director at
the Science & Environmental Health Network, founded by a consortium of
environmental groups. Those at greatest risk from arsenic are small
children and people who consume chicken at a higher rate than what is
considered average: two ounces per day for a 154-pound person. The good news
for consumers is that arsenic-free chicken is more readily available than it
has been in the past, as more processors eliminate its use. Tyson Foods,
the nation's largest chicken producer, has stopped using arsenic in its
chicken feed. In addition, Bell & Evans and Eberly chickens are
arsenic-free. There is a growing market in organic chicken and birds labeled
"antibiotic-free": neither contains arsenic. Dr. Paul Mushak, a
toxicologist and arsenic expert, said that the fact that Tyson stopped using
arsenic in 2004 is encouraging. "What that tells me as a toxicologist and
health-risk assessor is that if a vertically integrated company like Tyson
can do that then presumably anyone can get away from using arsenic." But
there are still plenty of chickens out there with arsenic. ..."

11. "Face Reader Bridges Autism Gap <http://c.lygo.com/s.gif> " dated 14
April 2006 by <http://www.wired.com/support/feedback.html?headline=Face
Reader Bridges Autism
Gap&story_id=70655&section_path=/technology/medtech&ftype=feedback&msg_type=
1&aid=1431> Eric Smalley from Wired.com at
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,70655-0.html?tw=rss.technolo
gy>
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,70655-0.html?tw=rss.technolog
y.

"You are a mind reader, whether you know it or not. You can tell just by
looking at a human face whether the person is concentrating, confused,
interested or in agreement with you. But people afflicted by autism lack
this ability to ascertain emotional status -- it's one of the signature
characteristics of the disease. Help could be on the way for autistic
individuals, though: A novel computer-vision system developed at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology could do the mind reading for those
who can't. Two MIT researchers wore tiny cameras mounted on wire rods
extending from their chests to demonstrate the
<http://affect.media.mit.edu/projectpages/esp/> Emotional Social
Intelligence Prosthetic, or ESP, at the <http://bsn.media.mit.edu/> Body
Sensor Networks 2006 international workshop at MIT's Media Lab last week.
The video cameras captured facial expressions and head movements, then fed
the information to a desktop computer that analyzed the data and gave
real-time estimates of the individuals' mental states, in the form of
color-coded graphs. The system's software goes beyond tracking simple
emotions like sadness and anger to estimate complex mental states like
agreeing, disagreeing, thinking, confused, concentrating and interested. The
goal is to put this mental state inference engine on a wearable platform and
use it to augment or enhance social interactions, said Rana el Kaliouby, a
postdoctoral researcher at the Media Lab. "This is only possible now
because of the progress made in affective computing, real-time machine
perception and wearable technologies," she said. The researchers are
developing an outward-facing version of the ESP system with a cap-mounted
camera connected to a wearable computer. People with autism spectrum
disorders have a hard time determining others' emotions or even whether
someone is paying attention to them. The system is designed to provide that
missing information. Feedback could be visual or auditory messages
describing the target person's mental state. It could also be tactile, like
a vibration that cues the user to ask a question or move on to a new topic
of conversation, said el Kaliouby. ..."

12. "Discovering autism- Outreach program focuses on children of Hispanic
immigrant families, who tend to know little about the disorder" dated 18
April 2006 by JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER from Newsday.com at
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-liauti084706470apr18,0,3617057.story?c
oll=ny-health-print
<http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-liauti084706470apr18,0,3617057.story?
coll=ny-health-print> .

"Harold Hernandez's parents were bewildered when a doctor told them the
toddler was autistic. It was the first time they had even heard the word.
"I knew nothing at all about it," said his father, Mynor Hernandez, 33. The
boy's mother, Olga Mosquera, wondered, "Why was there something wrong with
Harold when we have another son who is OK?" The diagnosis came about a year
ago and, luckily for the East Patchogue family, the nonprofit Developmental
Disabilities Institute, based in Smithtown, was starting a new outreach
program to help educate Hispanic families about autism, a disorder that
affects a child's speech, language and social development. The institute
has an autism program for children, most of whom are between 2 and 5 years
old, in Medford and Ronkonkoma. Nationwide, one in 166 children are
diagnosed with autism. Data from 2004 showed that just less than 5 percent
of their students were from families whose first language is not English,
said Christine Ponzio, the program's director. Based on the rapidly growing
Hispanic population on Long Island, Ponzio thought there were children the
institute was not reaching. So she decided to target Hispanic families, who
because of language and cultural barriers, often don't know about autism and
the resources available to help cope with it. "Minority children in general
were being underrepresented," she said. "We found it was a lack of
awareness." ..."

13. "Strangers bonded by autism" dated 18 April 2006 by AMY FLOWERS UMBLE
from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star at
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/042006/04182006/181657
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/042006/04182006/181657> .

"Seven years ago, a doctor looked at my toddler son and immediately
recognized autism. Since then, I've seen it countless times in the halls of
the mall, in grocery stores and restaurants. I will notice a child who seems
a little bit different. Perhaps he's spinning in circles or avoiding eye
contact, flapping his hands or repeating phrases from a movie. Right away,
I'll sneak a glance at the mom, recognizing her, even though we've never
met. But Miss Manners hasn't come up with a delicate way to ask, "Is your
kid autistic, too?" And so we pass each other without a word, just a small
nod to show our solidarity. But I want to walk up to that mom and talk to
her, because even though she looks nothing like me, somewhere inside we're
the same: Mothers who know what it's like to lose a child who's sitting
right next to you. I want to ask her if she ever thought she'd shop for
diapers for a 9-year-old. To know if she's ever sobbed as she scrubbed poop
out of a carpet, wondering just how her life turned out this way. If she,
too, lies awake at night wondering what it would be like to hold a
conversation with her first-born child. I would ask when she stopped
speculating about which college her son would attend. I want to know how
she handles the dirty looks and even reprimands from strangers, because her
child doesn't behave like the other kids. We could almost speak another
language to each other, using jargon like IEP, EEG, ESY and FAPE. After a
while, the letters roll off your tongue so easily that you forget the rest
of the world has no idea what you mean. But this mom would know. She would
know that single word with six letters can change your entire life. I want
to tell her that I, too, go years in between dates with my husband, because
it's too hard to find a baby sitter. That I've been a mother for nine years,
but my family has taken only one vacation. Our time, energy and money all go
elsewhere. I want to talk about how my husband and I decided not to have
any more kids, not because we don't want a bigger family, but because after
having two kids with autism, the genetic odds just don't seem to be in our
favor. Mostly, I want to know if she ever noticed the moment autism stopped
being a tragedy and simply became a fact of life. ..."

14. "Autistic Children Take to the Waves- Surfers Healing Holds Camps on
East and West Coasts" dated 21 April 2006 from ABC News at
<http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnlyinAmerica/story?id=1870390&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds03
12&gma=true>
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnlyinAmerica/story?id=1870390&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds031
2&gma=true.

"Isaiah Paskowitz seemed just like every other baby when he was born and to
his parents, Danielle and Israel, he was perfect. But at 18 months,
something changed. "He stopped talking," Danielle said. "He had about 25
words in his vocabulary and he stopped completely talking." At the age of
3, Isaiah was diagnosed with autism, a disorder characterized by severe
social isolation and lack of communication. His parents were devastated by
the news, especially dad Izzy, a carefree pro surfing champion who couldn't
face such a bleak outlook. But Izzy found there was one place that soothed
his son - the ocean. "He took to the water right away," Izzy said. "I was
always very comfortable taking him out on my surfboards and riding pretty
big waves." Watching Isaiah surf with his father was eye-opening for
Danielle. "I didn't think he'd be able to do any type of sports," she said.
"But when he first came in I thought, 'Oh my gosh. There are other people
with children with autism who - their kids can do this too.'" Izzy started
taking other children with autism into the water and by 2000, the
Paskowitzes had created Surfers Healing, a nonprofit that runs one-day surf
camps free of charge for children with autism and their families. "Some of
the kids they get down to the water and you can just see that look in their
eye that is just so hopeless, like are you going to be OK with me? Are you
going to take care of me?" Izzy said. "You put them on a surfboard for the
first time and then get through all these waves and then turn around and
ride waves in standing up and ripping. It just works with these kids."
While surfing is not a cure for autism, families have seen their children
transformed by the camps. "You just can't help but cry because he's just so
thrilled with himself," said Suzanne Neauhas, whose son, Connelly, attended
the camp. Surfers Healing has more than a dozen events planned on both the
East and West coasts for the rest of 2006. ..."

15. "Frustrating state- Autism awareness increases; cause, cure evade
experts" dated 21 April 2006 by Amanda Cuda from the Connecticut Post at
http://www.connpost.com/ci_3734106 <http://www.connpost.com/ci_3734106> .

"Being the parent of an autistic child is far different today than it was 20
or even 10 years ago. It's diagnosed more quickly. There more services
available. Doctors, teachers and others are more informed about autism than
they were even a few years ago. But Dr. Robert Chessin, Bridgeport Hospital
chief of developmental pediatrics, knows that this is a double-edged sword
for most parents. It's comforting that there's more information out there to
help their children, he said, but it's not enough. "Everybody knows more
about this now," he said. "And yet, there's still no cure." Autism Spectrum
Disorders are developmental disabilities that affect a person's ability to
process information. This can manifest itself as problems with speech and
communication, socialization and as innapropriate or unexplainable
behaviors. However, the symptoms can occur in any combination and with
varying degrees of severity, and no two people with autism behave exactly
the same way. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
there are an estimated 500,000 people aged 21 or younger with an Autism
Spectrum Disorder in the United States. There are about 22,000 diagnosed
cases of ASD in Connecticut, said Sara Reed, executive director of the
Autism Society of Connecticut, but there are probably more cases that
haven't been diagnosed. Like Chessin, she said the lack of a cure is
frustrating to many parents, as is the lack of a clear cause for autism.
"Nobody knows what causes autism," Reed said. "There are a lot of questions
because there has been a large increase in the number of children
diagnosed." ..."

16. "Asking questions about vaccinations" dated 23 April 2006 by LISA
LIDDANE from The Orange County Register at
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/healthscience/homepage/article_1110538.
php
<http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/healthscience/homepage/article_1110538
.php> .

"It's a question Dr. Bob Sears increasingly hears from new parents, a
question for which the San Clemente pediatrician wishes he had a simple
answer. "Does my child need all those vaccines?" Infants and toddlers have
been getting as many as four shots in one visit. And with the addition this
year of RotaTeq - a new rotavirus vaccine - to the kids' immunization
schedule, the maximum shot load has risen to five. But to accommodate
parental concern about the safety of vaccines, Sears' young patients
typically receive no more than two shots per visit. Sears' flexible
approach is unorthodox and uncommon, but it's one of several ways a handful
of doctors and a growing number of parents are dealing with vaccine worries.
"Reports of staggered vaccinations are true," said Dr. Jasjit Singh,
associate director of pediatric infectious disease at Children's Hospital of
Orange County. Some parents are choosing not to vaccinate at all, Singh
said. Others are picking and choosing vaccines that their children are going
to get. Singh said that although she has no specific statistics, she has
noticed that more educated, middle-to-high income families are opting to
forgo vaccinations. Parents worry that some vaccines can increase risk of
asthma, autism and learning disabilities. This month, the vaccine debate
intensified. An outbreak of mumps in nine states over the past eight weeks
has tripled the number of mumps cases usually reported in the United States
over a full year. Mumps is one of several diseases close to being eliminated
in the United States. ..."

17. "Studies find no evidence of harm from mercury in dental fillings"
dated 23 April 2006 from the Associated Press in the Summit Daily News at
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20060423/NEWS/104230041
<http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20060423/NEWS/104230041> .

"Two long-awaited, government-funded studies found no evidence that dental
fillings containing mercury can cause IQ-lowering brain damage or other
neurological problems in children. Children with such fillings were no more
likely than other youngsters to suffer such problems, the researchers found.
Some experts found the findings powerfully reassuring. But the studies are
unlikely to end the fierce debate over the long-term effects of what are
known as amalgam fillings, and some advocates bitterly accused the
researchers of conducting unethical experiments on children. Amalgam
fillings, also called silver fillings, are made of mercury and other metals
and have been used by dentists for more than a century. But their use has
dropped in recent years as more and more doctors switch to resin composite
fillings, which are considered more appealing because they are white. Some
advocacy groups and dentists have long contended that the mercury in
fillings can leach into the body and cause harmful neurological effects,
including autism. The latest studies were published in Wednesday's Journal
of the American Medical Association. "We didn't see any indications of harm
to these kids," said Dr. Timothy DeRouen, a University of Washington
professor of biostatistics and dental public health sciences, who led a
study of 507 children, ages 8 to 10, in Portugal to determine if mercury
fillings had any neurological effects. "And we tested them repeatedly over
seven years." ..."

18. "CDC Press Briefing on Mumps Outbreak In the Midwest" dated 25 April
2006 by Dr. Julie Gerberding, and Dr. Jane Seward in a 19 April 2006
briefing at
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/CDC_Press_Briefing_on_Mumps_Outbreak_In_th
e_Midwest.shtml
<http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/CDC_Press_Briefing_on_Mumps_Outbreak_In_t
he_Midwest.shtml> .

"DR. GERBERDING: Good afternoon. Thank you for taking time to join us for
this press conference on mumps. We know that there is a large outbreak of
mumps going on mainly in the Midwestern part of our country, and this has
been a tough time for college students and their parents and the people who
are responsible for containing this problem. This actually is the largest
outbreak of mumps that we have seen in this country in more than 20 years.
We have more than a thousand cases reported from eight states, and we also
have additional cases undergoing investigation in seven more states. We are
not going to be surprised if there are more cases in more states just given
the nature of mumps and the way this outbreak is progressing. I really want
to take a moment to thank the public health officials in the affected
states, including Iowa that has been the hardest hit. These individuals have
been working tirelessly to try to ascertain the source of the outbreak, work
hard to take the steps to contain it, and also working very, very hard to
provide information and updates on an ongoing basis, all in a very fast
track. So we really applaud and appreciate, as always, our colleagues in the
state and local public health systems. We would like to just say a couple
of things about mumps just for people who are not familiar with it.
Fortunately, most people are not familiar with mumps because we have had a
vaccine since 1967 and that vaccine has largely eliminated frequent
outbreaks of mumps in our country. Mumps is a virus disease. It generally
affects the body with fever, headache, and tiredness, the kinds of
virus-like illness that we get with most of the common viruses. But it has a
very special tendency to cause inflammation in your saliva glands, so people
get the big, puffed cheeks from the involvement of those glands. ..."

19. "Families in middle-class areas shun MMR vaccine" dated 25 April 2006
by LYNDSAY MOSS from The Scotsman (UK) at
<http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=618802006>
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=618802006.

"The number of Scottish children who are not vaccinated against measles,
mumps and rubella has increased - and middle-class parents might be to
blame, a report claims. A study published today by Health Protection
Scotland reveals that 25 postcode districts in Scotland have more than 20
per cent of nursery school children at risk of catching measles because they
have not had the MMR jab. This is up from just three postcode areas in
1998, when controversial research linked the MMR vaccine to autism, causing
parents to abandon the jab. Health Protection Scotland is looking at
whether the falling uptake is chiefly due to affluent parents declining the
jab, or if rates are falling across all social groups. Researchers said it
was not just deprived areas where MMR uptake was low, but recent studies
suggested affluent parents were also rejecting the vaccine. The latest
research, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, found that the
most affluent parents tended to vaccinate their children with the MMR
promptly or not at all. Those in deprived areas were more likely to delay
vaccination. Figures from the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS)
website also showed that many well-off areas were recording MMR uptake below
the national average, leaving many children unprotected against these
potentially serious infections. ..."

20. "Death ends teen's lifetime of struggles" dated 26 April 2006 by Dennis
Romboy from the Deseret Morning News at
<http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635202250,00.html>
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635202250,00.html.

"Rumor had it J.J. Serassio was a narc. Students at Riverton High School
pegged the diminutive junior as an undercover cop. They stopped him in the
hallways, raised their arms in the air and goaded him to search them. Maybe
classmates with whom he refused to do drugs initiated the harassment. Maybe
it started because his mother is a justice court judge. Regardless, it made
the van he drove to school the target of kicking and keying or scratching.
Same with a family car in the driveway at the Serassio home. Vandals sprayed
"narc rat" on the skateboard ramp in his yard. George and Darla Serassio
felt threatened enough to install surveillance cameras and motion sensors
outside their Riverton home. The incidents had 16-year-old J.J., whom
friends and parents described as generally unafraid in any situation,
scared. "He feared for his life," said his mother. Waiting at an
intersection on her way home from work, Darla Serassio saw the blaring
firetrucks turn into her driveway. Her first thought was that her husband
had fallen off a ladder while putting up the surveillance cameras. As she
pulled in behind the emergency vehicles, a sheriff's deputy opened the
garage, revealing her son's recently purchased red Camaro. The engine was
still running. Serassio watched through her windshield as an officer lifted
J.J.'s stiff, 5-foot-tall, 125-pound body from the driver's seat. Deputies
escorted Darla Serassio to her mother's house next door. They kept her
inside for at least 30 agonizing minutes while police secured the area as a
crime scene. Unable to take it any longer, she pushed her way to her son's
body as it lay uncovered on the pavement near the garage. "You're not going
to keep me from kissing my baby goodbye," she told them. With police
yelling, "Don't touch him. Don't touch him," Darla Serassio knelt and
tenderly kissed her son's lips. In a full-page note left on the passenger
seat in his best handwriting, J.J. addressed his parents, grandmother and
sisters individually. He described himself as an outcast at school and at
church. He signed it Joseph James Serassio. Born: June 13, 1989. Died: Nov.
15, 2005. J.J. succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Vicious taunting
hurts any teenager. But it's particularly crushing for one like Joseph James
Serassio, who came into the world with autism. Autistic children are
hypersensitive to even casual comments and teasing. ..."

21. "Parents Dubious About Adjusted Report On Child's Death" dated 26 April
2006 by Tracy Vedder from the KOMO4 News at
http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=43138
<http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=43138> .

"Parents agonizing over the death of their daughter now face another shock.
A state investigation now says a drug overdose did not kill Krissy Shannon
while she lived at a state-run home for the disabled. KOMO 4 News first
reported Krissy's story and the mysterious deaths of others in the Bremerton
home. Her family calls the state's new report a cover-up. "I just want an
end," says Denny Shannon, Krissy's father. "I just want some closure." Last
July, 29-year-old Krissy Shannon died suddenly. Krissy was developmentally
delayed and autistic, but otherwise, she was healthy. She'd lived most of
her life at the Frances Haddon Morgan Center in Bremerton. It specializes in
autism. "She appeared to be OK," says Shannon, "and all of a sudden she
started breathing heavily and within moments she dropped over dead." In
September, the Kitsap County Coroner's Office ruled Krissy died of a drug
overdose of chlorpheniramine. It's an over the counter antihistamine that
nurses regularly gave Krissy for allergies. But pathologist Dr. Emmanuel
Lacsina said she had way too much of the drug in her system. The state
disagreed. It hired its own experts who now report there was no overdose.
"The conclusion made by the Kitsap County Coroner's Office seems to be in
error," says the Department of Social and Health Services Chief Medical
Officer Dr. Christian Dahl. But it isn't just Krissy's death. In November,
KOMO 4 investigated several deaths at the Morgan Center - including the
death of Jenny Jessup. Jenny was 27 and died suddenly last September of a
perforated bowel. Her sister Marjorie Aust blames the state. "Somebody
dropped the ball very badly and because of their negligence they let a
beautiful 27-year-old woman die," she said. ..."

22. "Bar Association Battles Parents- Says couple served as lawyers" dated
27 April 2006 by Patrick O'Donnell from the Plain Dealer at
<http://tinyurl.com/qc5pe> http://tinyurl.com/qc5pe.

"The Cleveland Bar Association is threatening to fine the parents of an
autistic boy $10,000 for not hiring a lawyer when they brought, and largely
won, a court case on their son's behalf four years ago. After a long court
battle, Brian and Susan Woods settled their case with the Akron school
district in 2002 when the district agreed to send Daniel, now 11, to a
private school. But in February, the Cleveland Bar Association took issue
with the Woodses' handling parts of that case themselves and not through a
lawyer. The bar charged them with unauthorized practice of law and
threatened a $10,000 fine, saying that although the Woodses were allowed to
represent themselves, they could not act as lawyers for their son. The
charge is normally filed against nonlawyers who provide legal services for
pay, but is rare against parents. Representatives of several advocacy
groups - plus the National School Boards Association, the American Bar
Association and the Ohio bar's Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law
- could not recall any cases of parents being charged with this misdemeanor
offense. Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court, which will ultimately decide
the case, ordered the bar to present evidence on why the case should not be
dismissed, saying it appeared that "Woods has not engaged in the
unauthorized practice of law." Michael Harvey, the Rocky River lawyer
handling the charges for the bar association, said the goal is to protect
the rights of children. Harvey said special education laws are so complex
that children need experts, not untrained parents, looking out for their
rights. "You hope parents will do the right job for the child, but that's
not always the case," Harvey said. Harvey said that although the bar is
officially seeking a $10,000 fine, it would be happy with an admission that
the Woodses broke the law and an agreement not to do it again. Brian Woods
thinks he's being intimidated to prevent parents from handling cases
themselves - and to protect the large fees lawyers charge for such cases,
which can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. "The purpose of
this is to harass us," said Woods. ..."

23. "To Find a Friend, Part 3" dated 27 April 2006 by Amanda Lutz from
WSAW7 news at <http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/2706996.html>
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/2706996.html.

""Camp Awesum", near Saint Germain, will welcome close to 50 campers with
autism for their second summer this June. One local boy is making a return
trip, and is looking forward to another summer of fun and friends. When
12-year-old Joshua Scarlata comes home from school, he usually has his
family and his Game Cube to look forward to. But in a few weeks, he'll pack
his bags and head up north for a fun-filled week at Camp Awesum. "Camp
Awesum was totally made of autistic people," Joshua says. Autistic kids
just like him: Joshua was diagnosed with autism at age four-and-a-half. His
parents, Bill and Sharon, heard about the camp through the Central Wisconsin
AUsome Social Group, and thought it would be a perfect getaway for their
son. "He likes to swim, he likes to fish. These were things they were doing
all the time," says Bill. "When we heard about this camp and checked into
it, we asked Joshua if he wanted to go and he said sure." The group gave
Joshua a scholarship to go to Camp Awesum. From check-in day to the final
get-together, his week there has left him with some great memories.
"There's a trail and a main cabin, a really big one, that a staffer is
usually in. There's breakfast, lunch and dinner there," he says. "We got to
go swimming every once in a while and i liked doing fishing. I caught a few
fish, a few crappies." "At night, we would do campfires. They'd make
s'mores and everybody would sing along if you like kiddie songs." At the
end of camp, the kids each received a DVD with pictures from the entire
week. It's not only to help Joshua remember his experience, but also to help
him share it with others. ..."

24. "Autism Awareness: Tips for Working with Teachers" dated 28 April 2006
by Jayne Matthews from the Baltimore Times at
<http://www.btimes.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=68434&sID=208>
http://www.btimes.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=68434&sID=208.

"While parents are the most important people in an autistic child's life,
teachers are a very close second. Teachers, have a vital role in helping all
children achieve academic success. However, this is especially true if your
child is autistic. In addition to delivering classroom instruction and
implementing your child's Individual Education Plan (IEP), the teacher is
generally the person who will have frequent interaction with the educational
support team. The difference between academic success and failure for
autistic children often depends upon the work and dedication of the
classroom teacher. Since it is estimated that 40 percent of autistic
children do not speak or have significantly impaired speech, it is essential
for parents to have good communications with the teacher. Both parents and
the teacher should be available to have discussions regarding what is
working in the classroom and what needs to be reevaluated. This week
Education Matters continues its series of Autism Awareness Month articles,
with tips for working with teachers. Much of what I shall share will be
helpful for all parents who want to establish and maintain a good
relationship with their child's teacher. Some of these tips are suggested by
the Autism Society of American (ASA), which designates each April as Autism
Awareness Month. Visit the ASA at www.autism-society.org for more
information. A few thoughts about advocacy: As the parent, you must
strongly advocate for your child, but you will accomplish far more by
approaching teachers with diplomacy. Remember, teachers and other staff
members provide education and direct care for your child. You may compromise
the attention your child receives by antagonizing caregivers. You must
choose your battles carefully to ensure your most serious concerns are given
immediate consideration. ..."

25. "Autism Awareness: The Value of Compassion" dated 28 April 2006 by
Jayne Matthews from the Baltimore Times at
<http://www.btimes.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=68899&sID=208>
http://www.btimes.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=68899&sID=208.

""Compassion is a virtue that takes seriously the reality of other persons,
their inner lives, their emotions as well as their external circumstances."
- Dr. William J. Bennett, former United States Secretary of Education. It
was with some reluctance that I have written this series of articles on
autism. My hesitation came from the nature of this learning disability and
whether the column could convey the complexity of the condition. Autism is
what is known as a "spectrum disorder," meaning that it covers a wide range
of behaviors and abilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control, no
two people with autism will have the same symptoms, making it one of the
most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat. Providing a meaningful
education to a child with autism is further complicated, by the fact that
nearly half of autistic students do not speak or have significantly impaired
language skills. Compassion, as defined by Dr. Bennett, is essential to the
academic success of all students. The ability to "take seriously the
reality" the inner lives and emotions of autistic children is a crucial part
of their education. In offering these final tips to parents, I am reminded
of what Terri Ricigaliano, a special educator, recently said to me: "A
child's learning disability is only one part of who they are. We must focus
just as much time and energy on their strengths and build upon that." The
purpose of Autism Awareness Month is to increase the public's understanding
of autism, and to create a supportive environment for families, educators,
and care providers. I wish to add that many of these strategies may be
helpful to any parent who seeks a more productive relationship with their
child's teacher. ..."

26. "Begin to help autistic children by dispelling myths" dated 28 April
2006 by Julie Krasnow from The Indianapolis Star at
<http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/LOCAL0101/60428
0380/-1/ZONES04>
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/LOCAL0101/604280
380/-1/ZONES04.

"The word "autism" has become a more common term recently, due in large part
to the Autism Society of America reporting that autism now affects one in
166 children. If you don't know someone with autism, you probably will
someday. April is National Autism Awareness Month. As the autism/behavior
specialist for the Carmel Clay Schools, my job is to educate others about
this disability. Without proper knowledge, many people afflicted with autism
often are misunderstood. I would like to share and resolve some
misconceptions and myths to help raise awareness in our community. Myth No.
1: Autism is caused by "refrigerator mothers." Many years ago, Dr. Bruno
Bettelheim claimed that autism had a psychological causation: that the
mothers of these children, intentionally or otherwise, did not love their
children. The term "refrigerator mother" was born, referring to the fact
that the mother was cold toward her child. Today we know that autism is a
bioneurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. Some
theories suggest that it may be genetic, viral or caused by chemical
exposure. Myth No. 2: Autistic children show no emotion. A common
misconception is that children with autism are unloving and do not have any
emotional feelings. On the surface, this may seem to be the case because
they don't always express their emotions in a way that you and I recognize.
But for those of us who know a child with autism, we are aware of the ways
that they show love and affection.

27. "Autism Revisited" dated 28 April 2006 in a book review by Carolyn See
from The Washington Post of Stories From the Other Side of Autism by Kamran
Nazeer at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR200604270
2034.html>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702
034.html.

"Kamran Nazeer sets the tone of this touching book in an ingenious,
seemingly offhand introduction. The place is a private nursery school on
Manhattan's Upper West Side; the time is the early 1980s. Nazeer is one of a
dozen kids there who have been diagnosed with the then-rare syndrome of
autism. But from the author's point of view, almost every human being has
one limitation or another: The teacher, Ms. Russell, has such troubles with
depth perception that she can scarcely get dressed in the morning. It's not
until the middle of the day that she feels up to reading a newspaper out
loud to the class. But one little boy, Craig, has echolalia, "the constant,
disconnected use of a particular word or phrase," in this case, "Send in the
idiots." Thus, Ms. Russell would read, "Gridlock continues between the White
House and Congress," and Craig would chime in, "Send in the idiots." How far
off, the author hints, was Craig's repetitive chant? Idiots abound. Physical
and mental limitations are always with us. It's not just people with autism
who are off the mark. We're all off the mark, one way or another.
Flash-forward a little more than 20 years. Kamran Nazeer has become what we
call "high functioning." He's studied some law, completed his PhD thesis,
worked as a British civil servant and written for several publications. Then
he gets the idea of revisiting some of the classmates he knew as a
preschooler. A "typical" kid would have a difficult, if not impossible, time
finding them or even remembering their names, but parents of kids with
autism form close bonds. His mom and dad have kept in touch with the other
parents over the years. So Nazeer sets out to visit four of his old
classmates. ..."

28. "The Age of Autism: Pox -- Part 3" by Dan Olmsted from United Press
International at
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/consumerhealth/article_1159532
<http://news.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/consumerhealth/article_1159532
> .

"When 12-month-old Jimmy Flinton joined a clinical trial of a new
immunization for chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella, no one told his
family it contained about 10 times the usual dose of live-virus chickenpox
vaccine. And no one considered whether his family`s unusual chickenpox
history -- including adolescent shingles and herpesvirus in the eyes --
might raise the risk of adverse reactions to the vaccine. Now that Jimmy
has been diagnosed with regressive autism, they wish someone had done so.
In 2002 Jimmy`s mom, Jennifer Flinton, signed a seven-page 'Research Subject
Consent Form -- Vaccine Study (Children)' at the office of her pediatrician
in Olympia, Wash. 'Your child is invited to be in a research study,' reads
the form, which lists Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, N.J., as the
sponsor. 'You need to decide whether or not you want your child to be in
this study. Please take your time to make your decision.' The purpose was
'to test the safety of the study vaccine, ProQuad refrigerated and to show
that this vaccine provides a similar level of protection as compared to
another study vaccine, ProQuad frozen.' Both versions contained attenuated
-- substantially weakened -- live viruses designed to trick the body into
developing immunity to real-live measles, mumps, rubella (German measles)
and chickenpox. Previously, those first three vaccines were combined into
one shot called the MMR, made by Merck; the chickenpox vaccine came in a
separate shot called Varivax, also by Merck. ProQuad was Merck`s
investigational vaccine designed to put all four in one shot. Tests already
had determined ProQuad required more chickenpox virus than Varivax to
produce the same level of immunity. A phenomenon called immune interference,
in which viruses interact and interfere with each other in the human body,
rendered the dose from the standalone vaccine insufficient. The consent
form Jennifer Flinton signed did not say anything about more chickenpox
virus. It simply said ProQuad was 'a combination of two licensed vaccines,'
the MMR and Varivax. ..."

29. "Science fair winner proves music calms" dated 1 May 2006 by Venessa
Santos-Garza from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times at
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4664012,00.htm
l
<http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4664012,00.ht
ml> .

"Caleb Strahan fidgets when he talks and sometimes finds it hard to focus.
The sounds of passing people, conversations at the other end of the room, a
door slamming shut distract him. The classroom, especially after lunchtime,
is especially difficult. The 9-year-old, who has autism, understands his
personal challenges. But he's a scientist. Instead of being frustrated, the
Seashore Learning Center student focused on finding a solution and set out
to test if classical music played during the lunch period would help calm
his classmates and make it easier for him to pay attention. "I wanted to
see if kids could behave more with music on," he said. They did, and the
experiment earned him a top prize at this year's Coastal Bend Science Fair
on Sunday. About 750 students from across the Coastal Bend competed in the
event hosted by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Projects ranged from
the basic to the creative. One student focused on acid rain and its effects
on plant life, another analyzed the possible health hazards of artificial
sweeteners, and one evaluated which of plastic foam, plastic or newspaper
was the best insulator. "I thought it would be the Styrofoam because when
you go to a restaurant and they give you a cup it keeps the ice for a long
time," said 8-year-old Daniel Arispe, who attends Houston Elementary. "But
it was the newspaper." Caleb's mother Melody Strahan said she was
overwhelmed by the sense of accomplishment it had given him. "There are a
lot of kids out there like Caleb who are told they can't," she said. "But
they are capable. With the right kind of help they can do this." Caleb, who
said he's wanted to be a scientist almost forever, was thrilled by Sunday's
award. ..."


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