Items 1 through 11 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.


12. Toys R Us Inc. put out its free "Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids"
recently, which is available in Toys R Us stores and online. With the help
of experts at the nonprofit National Lekotec Center, the New Jersey-based
toy retailer has put out a guide of 85 toys as a guidepost for those who
purchase toys for any of the 6 million children in the United States who
have disabilities. Toys R Us started publishing the guide in 1994. This
year the retailer is printing 600,000 copies of the 52-page guide -
approximately 100,000 more copies than it printed in 2005 - and is absorbing
all costs. All toys in the guide are sold nationally, and only six are
exclusive to Toys R Us stores. Each toy in the guide is accompanied with a
description of how it can be used, along with symbols that indicate what
areas of development it can help stimulate - such as creativity,
self-esteem, vision or hearing. It comes with questions to help the buyer
decide whether a toy is the right fit for the child, like, "Will the toy
provide a challenge without frustration?" and "Can play be open-ended with
no definite right or wrong way?" Guides can be found at Toys R Us stores or
online at toysrus.com/differentlyabled.

13. "Repeating school has no benefit: study" dated 30 August 2006 from The
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) at
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Repeating-school-has-no-benefit-study/2
006/08/30/1156816936042.html>
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Repeating-school-has-no-benefit-study/20
06/08/30/1156816936042.html.

"Making a student repeat a level at school has no benefit and in fact may do
more harm, Australian research shows. The study, by Deakin University's Dr
Helen McGrath, also found students who repeated a year were 20 to 50 per
cent more likely to drop out, compared to similar students who progressed.
Dr McGrath reviewed dozens of studies by academics in Australia and the
United States over the past 75 years comparing the outcomes for students
with specific needs who were either held back or allowed to progress. She
said those studies failed to support the popular assumption among teachers
and parents that repeating a year helped a student's academic performance.
"There may be an occasional student who is the exception, but for most
students providing them with more of what didn't work for them the first
time around is an exercise in futility," she said. "In fact, repeating a
year confirms to a student that they have failed. "They experience stress
from being taller, larger and more physically mature than their younger
classmates. They miss their friends who have moved on to the next year
level. "They also experience boredom from repeating similar tasks and
assignments. Their self esteem drops. All of these factors ultimately lead
many to drop out." There also appears to be no benefit in holding children
back from starting school because they were not seen to be "school ready".
"If a child is old enough to enter primary school, then holding them back
and enrolling them in an additional year of preschool appears to provide no
academic or social advantages and may in fact be detrimental in many cases,"
she said. Dr McGrath said simply promoting the struggling student to the
next year level was not the answer either. She said schools needed to
consider more effective alternatives to support students who experienced
social, behavioural or academic difficulties. These included identifying
problems at pre-school level and developing programs to address them,
creating individual education plans, providing specialist support and
adapting the curriculum to the needs of the student. "Multi-age classrooms
and peer tutoring also provide ways of supporting students who may be
struggling," she said. The study, To Repeat or Not to Repeat?, was
published in the July edition of WORDS: Journal of the Association of
Western Australian Primary Principals."

14. "Exodus, morale shake CDC" dated 10 September 2006 by Alison Young from
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/09/09/0910MESHcdcmorale.
html
<http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/09/09/0910MESHcdcmorale
.html> .

"An exodus of key leaders and scientists from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention has raised "great concern" among five of the six
former directors who led the agency over the past 40 years. Their concerns,
expressed in a rare joint letter to current CDC Director Julie Gerberding,
come amid growing staff complaints about whether her strategic shifts in the
agency's focus are putting public health at risk, according to interviews
with current and former CDC officials and documents obtained by The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. Critics say the agency is changing to a top-down
management style that stifles science and that new layers of bureaucracy are
being created that make agency operations more cumbersome. The most visible
sign of potential trouble at CDC is the loss of more than a dozen
high-profile leaders and scientists since 2004. By the end of this year, all
but two of the directors of CDC's eight primary scientific centers will have
left the Atlanta-based federal agency. The wave of departures - which
numerous CDC leaders call unprecedented - also includes the agency's top
vaccine expert and world experts in several diseases. Just last week CDC's
pandemic flu coordinator said he's leaving. ..."

15. "Michigan bills push cervical cancer vaccinations for 6th-grade girls"
dated 13 September 2006 by Erica Blake from The Toledo Blade at
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/NEWS19/609130404
<http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/NEWS19/609130404
> .

"Michigan could become the first state to require sixth-grade girls to be
vaccinated against a virus that can cause cervical cancer under legislation
proposed yesterday by a local state senator. Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom (R.,
Temperance) introduced two bills with the backing of a bipartisan group of
Michigan's female legislators. If approved by the legislature, a vaccine for
the human papilloma virus, or HPV, would be added to the immunization
schedule for Michigan's schools and academies beginning next fall. Ms.
Hammerstrom said in a telephone interview from Lansing that, like other
school-required vaccines, parents would be able to opt out of the vaccine
for medical, religious, or philosophical reasons. Ms. Hammerstrom said she
has received support from her colleagues regarding the measures. But school
officials and parents were unsure about the law and the vaccine. "I would
want to more about it, if there are any side effects, how long the vaccine
works, if you have to be revaccinated," said Mary Dunnett, the PTA president
at Bedford Public School's Douglas Road Elementary School. "I would want to
know more about it before they made it [law]." ..."

16. "Michigan Bill Would Require Cervical Cancer Vaccine for Girls" dated
13 September 2006 by Susan Jones from CNS News at
<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200609/CUL2
0060913c.html>
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200609/CUL20
060913c.html.

"Michigan State Senator Beverly Hammerstrom, a Republican, has introduced a
bill requiring all girls entering the sixth grade to receive a vaccination
that protects against cervical cancer. Under the bill, Michigan would
become the first state in the nation to require the vaccine for school
entry. Since the virus that causes cervical cancer can be sexually
transmitted, some parents say giving it to young girls presupposes that they
will engage in premarital sex -- and may even encourage such behavior. The
Food and Drug Administration in June approved a vaccine for human
papillomavirus to be administered to females ages 9 through 26. Experts say
it's best for girls to get the vaccine before they become sexually active.
The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended routine
vaccination for girls of 11 and 12. "Recent studies have shown that
cervical cancer may be one of the few cancers that is actually preventable.
This new vaccine will serve as our most effective tool in the fight against
cervical cancer," said Sen. Hammerstrom, Chair of the Michigan Senate's
Health Policy Committee. "For the first time in history, we have an
opportunity to finally eliminate this deadly disease." Sen. Hammerstrom
noted that as with all other school-required vaccines, parents may opt-out
of this requirement for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. Her
website says the legislation has bipartisan support, with all of the women
in the Michigan Senate supporting it. But various conservative groups say
decisions about giving the HPV vaccine to young girls should be made by
parents, not government. They also stress that abstinence before marriage
and fidelity within marriage is the best way to avoid sexually transmitted
diseases. Janice Crouse, senior fellow at Concerned Women for America, said
it is not the vaccine itself she opposes. "We are all for the HPV vaccine,"
she said. "It is something that is desperately needed when 90 percent of
cervical cancer is caused by the HPV [virus] and it kills about 5,000
American women every year, so we think it is wonderful to have that vaccine
available." But Crouse added that she doesn't think the vaccine should be
mandatory. She said the state should not tell parents "that regardless of
the values in that home and the behavior and lifestyle that is being taught
to those children, that they have to give their girls the HPV vaccine." She
said parents should not be forced to address certain issues with their sixth
grader."

17. "Farmington youth is headed for prison- Release to be considered after
120 days" dated 15 September 2006 by Teresa Ressel from The Farmington Daily
Journal at
<http://www.mydjconnection.com/articles/2006/09/16/community/news1.txt>
http://www.mydjconnection.com/articles/2006/09/16/community/news1.txt.

"The Farmington student who brought a gun into school last fall will have to
spend at least four more months behind bars. On Friday, Joshua Minks, 17,
of Farmington, was sentenced to eight years in prison for committing assault
on school property and unlawful use of a weapon. Circuit Court Judge Kenneth
W. Pratte will consider releasing him on five years of supervised probation
after he completes 120 days of "shock incarceration." The judge is
recommending that the Department of Corrections not place him in a prison's
general population. He recommends a segregated or protective unit. Judge
Pratte said it was a hard case but he knew no one would like any decision he
made. Minks has already served 11 months in the county jail awaiting the
outcome of this case. "I regret sentencing you to the Department of
Corrections but it was so serious an offense that there has to be punishment
involved," he said to Minks. Judge Pratte said everyone knows where guns in
school can lead. He said he believes Minks took the gun to school with the
idea of taking his life, but it could have gotten out of hand or he could
have accidentally injured someone. He said there is always a better answer
than to commit suicide. "I know you have a lot of problems," he said to the
defendant. According to police reports, on Oct. 11, 2005, Minks carried a
single-shot shotgun into Farmington High School in small pieces in a
backpack or other bag. A student told police he walked into the bathroom
just before 8 a.m. and Minks motioned him to get out. The student saw that
Minks had a gun, but did not think it was real. The student said Minks
pointed the gun at the ceiling and discharged it to show him it was real.
..."

18. "Autistic children have low cholesterol levels" dated 15 September 2006
from the September 2006 edition of American Journal of Medical Genetics on
Reuters at
<http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/15/eline/links/20060915elin033
.html>
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/15/eline/links/20060915elin033.
html.

"Many children with autism have abnormally low levels of total cholesterol,
according to a report in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. These low
cholesterol levels may play a role in the development of the spectrum of
autistic disorders. The deficiency appears to stem from an inability to
produce cholesterol, not from an inadequate diet or impaired absorption in
the intestines, the findings suggest. Previous reports have linked autism
with Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), a genetic disorder involving
impaired cholesterol synthesis. However, the rate of SLOS and other similar
disorders among patients with autism has been unclear. Analysis of blood
samples from 100 children with autism failed to identify cholesterol levels
consistent with SLOS, lead author Dr. Elaine Tierney, from the Kennedy
Krieger Institute in Baltimore, and colleagues note. Unexpectedly, however,
the researchers found that 19 of the children had total cholesterol levels
that fell below 100 milligrams per decaliter, in the lower fifth level for
children older than 2 years of age. "We know that people can tolerate
having low cholesterol, so we suspect that deficiencies in cholesterol
combined with mutations to a specific gene may have resulted in autism
spectrum disorders in these children," Tierney said in a statement. "Our
next steps are to determine if other abnormalities of cholesterol metabolism
can be risk factors for the development of autism," she added."

19. "Maternal vitamin E levels linked to asthma risk" dated 15 September
2006 from the September 2006 edition of American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine on Reuters at
<http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/15/eline/links/20060915elin032
.html>
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/15/eline/links/20060915elin032.
html.

"Levels of <http://www.reutershealth.com/wellconnected/doc39.html> vitamin
E in women during pregnancy are inversely associated with the risk of asthma
in their children, according to a report in the American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. However, in an interview with
Reuters Health, lead author Dr. Graham Devereux emphasized that "the message
for pregnant women isn't to go out and stock up on vitamin E." He explained
that the use of vitamin E supplements during pregnancy is controversial with
many studies suggesting no benefit and possibly even a harmful effect. As
such, the current findings have no immediate implications for treatment, but
hopefully will lead to studies that could provide definitive answers, Dr.
Devereux, from the University of Aberdeen in the UK, noted. For now,
"pregnant women should just be encouraged to eat a healthy diet." In an
earlier analysis of the study group, the researchers found an inverse
association between maternal vitamin E levels during pregnancy and the risk
of wheezing in 2-year-old children. In the present analysis, asthma-related
outcomes of 1,861 children in the earlier study were assessed when they
reached 5 years of age. Food frequency questionnaires and blood tests were
performed to assess the mothers' nutrient status, the report indicates.
Respiratory questionnaires, imaging and skin-prick tests were used to
evaluate the presence of asthma in the children. The researchers found the
low maternal vitamin E levels were associated with having a child with
asthma, persistent wheeze, wheezing or asthma during the previous year, or
ever having a diagnosis of asthma, the authors note. The inverse
relationship was also seen, with high maternal vitamin E levels being
associated with a lower risk of having a child with asthma or related
symptoms. The researchers also found a negative association between
maternal zinc levels and children with active asthma or those who had ever
been diagnosed with asthma. By contrast, a child's nutrient status was not
linked to respiratory outcomes, the report shows. As to how low maternal
vitamin E may raise the risk of
<http://www.reutershealth.com/wellconnected/doc05.html> childhood asthma,
Dr. Devereux offered two possibilities. First, animal research has suggested
that a deficiency of vitamin E in the womb leads to impaired lung
development. Second, low vitamin E levels might adversely affect the immune
system, resulting in a more asthma-prone environment."

20. "No easy answer- Regents, parents at odds over shocks for students"
dated 15 September 2006 in an editorial in the Press & Sun-Bulletin at
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609150343
<http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609150343> .

"An article in Wednesday's editions mentioned skin shocks, noxious sprays,
sleep deprivation and withholding meals as a way to control people. Was the
article about the no-longer secret CIA prisons? No. Abu Ghraib? Nope. Surely
Guantanamo? Uh-uh. The article was about troubled New York students, and it
concerned the Board of Regents decision to temporarily continue a ban on
such "aversive behavioral interventions." That such things were even being
done in the first place comes as a surprise to many, but here's another one:
Some parents want their children to continue receiving the two-second skin
shocks because, they say, they are the only method to control their
children. We won't argue with those parents, who presumably have their
children's best interests at heart, but we can certainly understand the
Regents' reluctance to have the state sign off on any such activities. It's
one of those "damned if you do or don't" situations where there's no simple
or easy answer. Corporal punishment has properly been banished from most
schools for a long time, but disruptive behavior remains and in some cases
impedes the education of other students. Removing students from classrooms
is one option, but that also draws complaints from people who believe it
stigmatizes or even traumatizes students. In June, the Regents prohibited
certain methods of deterring or punishing poor behavior (see list above) in
reaction to complaints about the use of skin shocks at Rotenburg Educational
Center in Canton, Mass., and those "aversive behavioral interventions" in
some in-state preschool programs for disabled children. New York sends more
than 150 special education students to the Rotenburg Center at an annual
cost of $50 million. The Regents had anticipated making the ban permanent
this month, but the state Education Department needs more time to vet
comments from about 400 people during recent public hearings. The vote will
now be scheduled for October or December. Dr. Matthew Israel, executive
director of the Rotenburg Center, said therapies are applied only when
children don't respond to positive reinforcement programs. About 50 percent
of the students there receive skin shocks, and the average number is one per
week. Linda Doherty of West Islip said skin shocks are the only thing that
have worked for her 20-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal. "I
don't know why it works, but it works," she said, noting her son is totally
off medication for the first time since he was 4 years old. The solution to
this quandary is going to be found in the Regents' allowance of a waiver for
specific students, which presumably can only be requested by a parent or
legal guardian. Then it will be up to the courts to decide if those parents
or guardians can prescribe such treatment for their children.'

21. "Of vaccines and autism" dated 15 September 2006 by LIDIA WASOWICZ from
United Press International at
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060915-094204-101
8r>
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060915-094204-1018
r.

"Now in full bloom among many parents and even scientists and doctors, the
budding view of vaccine as agent of autism began sprouting in the 1980s. It
took firmer root in 1998 with the appearance of a widely publicized, highly
suggestive study -- since then repudiated by the leading medical journal
that published it and retracted for insufficient evidence by 10 of the 13
co-authors who wrote it. The survey of 12 children, led by British
gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield, drew a link from the
measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to bowel inflammation to autism. Ironically,
the MMR shot, which contains three weakened but live organisms that would be
rendered ineffectual by thimerosal, has always been free of the
mercury-based compound many critics view as the culprit in the rise of
autism diagnoses over the past few decades. Spurred by a public-pushed
congressional mandate to study the mercury content in food and medicines,
the Food and Drug Administration conducted a comprehensive assessment of the
risk of thimerosal-preserved childhood vaccines. The 1999 survey found no
evidence of harm, other than some redness and swelling where the needle
pricked the skin, the agency said. However, along the way, federal
researchers discovered that, depending on the vaccine's formulation and
infant's weight, total mercury levels injected into some babies in the first
six months of life -- a critical period for brain development -- surpassed
the safety levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Stressing it was purely a precautionary measure and standing by vaccines'
safety, the Public Health Service (of which the FDA is a part), the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services
Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics promptly issued a
recommendation for the removal of thimerosal from childhood shots. At the
time, the chemical was found in more than 30 vaccines, including several
administered to infants. These were permitted to remain in use until their
shelf-life time ran out, meaning at least some likely would be around as
late as November 2002 -- the FDA's estimated final expiration date for
thimerosal-containing hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b and
diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis inoculations. This staggered withdrawal
disappointed mercury opponents who not only wanted to see an immediate ban
but also looked to a precise cutoff point as a basis for proving their
prediction that once thimerosal exposure decreased, so would the autism
caseload. In any case, critics saw the move as too little too late. ..."

22. "Minister's pledge over autistic children" dated 16 September 2006 from
the Guardian Unlimited (UK) at
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6084875,00.html>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6084875,00.html.

"The government has promised to look into providing more funding for special
education after the Children's Commissioner for England criticised services
for young people with autism. Sir Al Aynsley-Green said it was "shocking
and appalling" that children with autism were not being provided for
adequately. The commissioner's comments came after he met with members of
the National Autistic Society, who are campaigning for improved educational
provision for children with the condition. The society claims services are
limited and training for teachers is inadequate. Schools Minister Lord
Adonis promised higher spending and improvements in special and mainstream
schooling for autistic children. He said: "We accept more needs to be done.
We are going through another spending review and we will look to see what
further we can do so every child on the autism spectrum gets the support
they need." The minister appeared to offer some criticism of the tone of
the Children's Commissioner's attack. He said many children already
received "very good care and an extremely good education...and we need to be
extremely careful about generalisations." But he added: "We do need to do
more in resources and support and expert services to be able to give the
attention to children with autism they deserve." In an interview with the
BBC, Sir Aynsley-Green had said: "It's appalling and it's shameful for our
country, the fifth richest economy in the world, to have so many children
that are not being looked after and given the resources they need to develop
to their full potential. It is shocking and appalling." The National
Autistic Society estimates about 90,000 children in Britain have autism,
which affects communication and social skills."

23. "Science fingers natural bullies" dated 17 September 2006 by Roger
Dobson from The Sunday Times (UK) at
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361804,00.html>
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361804,00.html.

"Children whose ring fingers are much longer than their index fingers are
more likely to be hyperactive and bullying, research has found. The effect,
derived from testosterone exposure in the womb, is particularly pronounced
in boys. Children with long index fingers, by contrast, are more likely to
be neurotic and sensitive. The findings are the latest in a growing body of
research associating the difference in finger lengths with character traits
such as sporting prowess, homosexuality, aggression, promiscuity, autism and
vulnerability to depression. A typical male hand has a ring finger longer
than the index finger, while on women's hands the index finger is likely to
be longer or of similar length. Professor John Manning, an evolutionary
psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire who spearheaded the new
research, said: "High testosterone before birth as indicated by digit ratio
produces behavioural problems like temper tantrums, bullying, fights with
other children, being hyperactive or being easily distracted." Manning,
whose research is published this week in the journal Personality and
Individual Differences, added: "The other very strong relationship to digit
ratio is found in running speeds - there is a pretty good chance of
predicting who is going to win a race." Manning and his team measured the
ratio between the index and ring fingers of 114 children in Britain and
Austria. The researchers then gave the children's parents detailed
questionnaires asking them about aspects of their children's behaviour such
as hyperactivity, inability to pay attention, poor social skills and
bullying. The results shows that the longer a child's ring finger in
comparison with the index finger, the more likely their parents were to rate
them as hyperactive, aggressive or antisocial, with the association stronger
for boys. ..."

24. "Investigator: Teacher wrongly restrained students" dated 17 September
2006 by Joanna Parsons from the Daily Bulletin at
<http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4350370>
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4350370.

"The Chino Valley Unified School District has been found to be out of
compliance with California regulations by a state investigator for
improperly using restraint holds on special education students. A
California Department of Education investigator cited the district in June
for allowing a Newman Elementary School teacher to restrain students without
a behavioral plan in place. A behavioral plan provides individualized
strategies for teachers to use when a child becomes disruptive. The state
also rebuked the district for not providing documents indicating that the
teacher was enrolled in an internship credential program, and for not filing
reports and notifying parents of the incidents. "The teacher was using
ongoing interventions like restraint and isolation, but there was no
indication that these kids have a behavioral plan," said John Vardanega, the
Department of Education's special education consultant, who conducted the
investigation. "(The district) didn't have behavior plans and didn't file an
emergency report." The state's investigation resulted from a complaint
filed in April by Kimble DaCosta, the mother of a 7-year-old boy who was in
the teacher's special education class. DaCosta said she and two other
parents witnessed the teacher holding various children in chairs, twisting
their arms around the back of the chairs and holding their wrists together.
District officials would not release the name of the teacher, citing
personnel matters, but district board members apologized to DaCosta during
their Sept. 7 meeting. "I can truly understand the emotion of the speaker,
the mother. We are talking about a child, and this child didn't get the care
that (he) should have received," said board member John Pruitt. "We took
steps to correct it. But the bottom line - it shouldn't have happened."
State law prohibits restraining students unless they are in danger of
hurting themselves or others. If a child has a history of disruptive
behavior, a behavioral plan is created for that child. If the plan calls for
a restraint hold, it's only to be used if all other non-physical strategies
fail and if the child or others may still be harmed, Vardanega explained.
An emergency report on the incident must be filed with the district and
parents must be notified, Vardanega added. DaCosta said she walked into her
son's class in October and saw the teacher restraining another student. Her
son, Nathan, who has a genetic blood disorder, showed dramatic changes in
behavior at the time. "I do time-outs, but they quit working. I had to drag
him into school, and I was trying to figure out what's going on," DaCosta
said. She said she believes her son's behavior was an indication that he
was being restrained by the teacher as well. ..."

25. "Sunday school strives to give autistic children knowledge of the
divine- God in few words" dated 17 September 2006 by ANNE AURAND from the
Anchorage Daily News at
<http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8204585p-8098508c.html>
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8204585p-8098508c.html.

"Seven-year-old Gage Puff played intently with a wooden train set in the
corner, humming indecipherable words. When a train whistle honked, his
classmate across the room, Jathan Bozeman, 6, plugged his ears and furrowed
his brow, his eyes searching nervously for the door. He made a squealing,
crying sound. Both boys are autistic. They are the first two students in
Marla McCrorie's new Sunday school class for special needs children at
Trinity Presbyterian Church. McCrorie says autistic kids have a potential
for spirituality. She thinks she can teach them who God is. She's going to
try. "I believe they have every right and potential to connect to God and
experience and enjoy him the way the rest of us do," she said. "They might
have a spiritual giftedness that would be untapped if no one tried to
introduce them to God." There's nothing else like it in Anchorage, parents
say. The class is held during the regular church worship time. "I'm
completely thankful for this," said Gage's mom, Kelly Puff, as she, her
husband, and another son dropped off Gage. "We never get to go anywhere
together." Jathan's mom, Deneen Bozeman, said she always leaves Jathan at
home with his dad when she and her other two kids attend church. "It's the
one area I was feeling bad about. I wasn't bringing him to church," Now,
Deneen said, "We'll be able to bring Christ into his life." Neither family
is a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church. McCrorie hoped her "intensive
and special needs" Sunday school would draw some nonmembers to Trinity, but
her motive isn't membership, she said; it's to fill a need in the community.
One in every 166 kids is diagnosed autistic, she said. She planned the
curriculum, decorated the room, shopped for toys and classroom equipment as
a volunteer. Her work is driven by God's love, she said. "I'm just trying
to build a concept of God." McCrorie has assisted special needs students in
the Buddy Bear program at Bowman Elementary School, where she now substitute
teaches. She has written children's books and has a degree in Bible from the
Philadelphia College of Bible. Lessons in her new Sunday school class are
taught without much talking. Pieces of information are doled out in small
bites. The concept of God is a hard one to teach, and it's unclear if the
kids absorbed any of it during their first class last Sunday. McCrorie
showed pictures of a big smiley face that dwarfs little tiny people. "Look
how big God is," she told Gage and Jathan. The boys didn't respond. ..."

26. "Science of autism gets to the basics" dated 18 September 2006 by
Kathleen Fackelmann from USA TODAY at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-17-autism_x.htm
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-17-autism_x.htm> .

"When Ethan Meeder doesn't follow directions at school, it's not because
he's stubborn. The 13-year-old seventh-grader from the Pittsburgh area has a
brain that shuts down when he has to process too much at one time. For
example, last spring Meeder's teacher gave him four commands, one right
after the other. "He just melted down," says his mother, Cindy Meeder.
Ethan has an average I.Q., yet he has trouble with things that most people
take for granted, such as following directions. "He tests like he should be
able to do these things, but he can't," Cindy Meeder says. Ethan has
autism, an incurable brain disorder that afflicts about 300,000 school-age
children in the USA, according to Los Angeles-based Cure Autism Now.
Studies released in July and August have helped increase scientists'
understanding of how autism affects the brain. The studies fit with other
research that suggests that autism is not limited to a few brain regions as
once thought, but instead is a global disorder that affects reasoning,
memory, balance, multitasking and other skills. ..."

27. "Look, listen, touch and smell- Multi-sensory room helps disabled kids
explore, learn" dated 18 September 2006 by KAREN SHIDELER from The Wichita
Eagle at <http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/living/education/15544818.htm>
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/living/education/15544818.htm.

""Paint," Andrew said, patting one of the handprints that line a wall of the
new Multi-Sensory Environment room at Heartspring. Yes, Andrew, paint. And
so much more. Look, in the corner behind you, at the loft. Even with
movement and language problems, you can climb the steps to the platform. If
you're brave, you can jump off, sinking into the giant pillows below. If
you're feeling unsure, you can slide down the far end, landing on a tumbling
mat. Did you see the tall colored bubble tube when you came in? It runs
automatically, but it also has an on-off switch that Shae, who doesn't talk,
can use as she learns about cause and effect. Look at the ball pit, where
Micah and William are disappearing and reappearing. You can't understand
what Micah's trying to say, but boy, can you see how this makes him giggle
and wiggle. Oops! William just disappeared, except for his feet and legs.
Oh, and there's so much more in this room, which opens today with an
official ribbon-cutting at 5:30 p.m. The grown-up dignitaries will be here
then, thanking the K.T. Wiedemann Foundation for the $22,000 grant that made
this room possible. They will be talking about how it will help children
ages 5 to 21 who have autism and other disabilities and noting how there
isn't another room of this size and scope until you get to the East Coast.
But this room is really about kids. Look into the future, and see all the
fun the students will have as they use the textures and lights and sounds
and even smells to reinforce what they're learning at Heartspring, a school
for children with multiple disabilities. See how this room might be
motivation for a child who doesn't want to finish a lesson -- but does
because he knows he can explore the bubble machine or sound tubes later.
See how calming it might be for a child to sit on a sheepskin rug and watch
slow-changing slides of butterflies on the wall. See how much fun it would
be to have all this stuff in a corner of your office. See why the
Heartspring teachers and therapists are so excited?"

28. "Knowing autism, helping kids- Mom doesn't want other parents also left
waiting unaware" dated 18 September 2006 by MICHELLE CROUCH from The
Charlotte Observer at
<http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15545814.htm>
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15545814.htm.

"When Mariame Boujlil's son, Zachary, turned two and still wasn't talking,
she started to wonder if something was wrong. But the doctor told her not
to worry. "He said, `You speak Arabic and French at home, so he's just a
late talker,' " Boujlil recalled. "I had to fight for a referral to a
specialist." It turned out her son was autistic. Autism experts say it's
common for children of immigrants to be diagnosed late because of the
language barrier, a lack of awareness among parents and the fact that many
immigrant children are exposed to more than one language. As a result of
her experience, Boujlil has started a new nonprofit to raise awareness of
autism among immigrants. The group, called World Alliance for Families and
Children, will also provide support to families whose children have already
been diagnosed. Its first fundraiser, a carnival, was Sunday. "Moms who
don't speak English often don't know how to advocate for their child," said
Boujlil, who moved to Charlotte from Morocco 11 years ago. "Now that I know
the shortcuts, I want to share them with others." Bonnie Lowe, director of
operations for autism services in Mecklenburg County, said the group will
help fill a gap in care. Some immigrant families see developmental
disabilities such as autism as taboo and don't want to accept that their
children may need help. Others don't see a doctor regularly so their
children aren't diagnosed until they start school. "By then, a lot of
valuable time has been lost," said Charlotte pediatrician Andrew Ighade.
Already, Boujlil's group has helped several families. ..."

29. "'Spectrum of empathy' found in the brain" dated 18 September 2006 by
Rowan Hooper from New Scientist.com at
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10108-spectrum-of-empathy-found-in-th
e-brain.html>
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10108-spectrum-of-empathy-found-in-the
-brain.html.

"Ever wondered how some people can "put themselves into another person's
shoes" and some people cannot? Our ability to empathise with others seems to
depend on the action of "mirror neurons" in the brain, according to a new
study. Mirror neurons, known to exist in humans and in macaque monkeys,
activate when an action is observed, and also when it is performed. Now new
research reveals that there are mirror neurons in humans that fire when
sounds are heard. In other words, if you hear the noise of someone eating an
apple, some of the same neurons fire as when you eat the apple yourself.
So-called auditory mirror neurons were known only in macaques. To determine
if they exist in humans Valeria Gazzola, at the school of behavioural and
cognitive neurosciences neuroimaging centre at the University of Groningen,
the Netherlands, and colleagues, put 16 volunteers into functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners and observed their brains as they were
played different noises. The volunteers heard noises such as a sheet of
paper being torn, or of someone crunching potato chips. Then the same
subjects were scanned again, this time whilst tearing a piece of paper, or
eating potato chips. "We combined the data from listening and execution and
looked to see if the activity in the brain overlaps," says Gazzola's
colleague Christian Keysers, also at the University of Groningen. Sure
enough, it did overlap. Motor neurons associated with mouth actions
(crunching) and hand actions (ripping) were activated in both cases. The
overlap occurred in areas of the brain such as the bilateral temporal gyrus
and the superior temporal sulcus. "The mirror system is a particular form
of Pavlovian association," says Keysers, referring to the classic
behavioural experiments where dogs were trained to associate food with the
noise of a bell. "Each time you crunch a potato chip you hear yourself
crunching the chip, and now when you hear someone else crunching it
activates your own action neurons." ..."

30. "Parent Up in Arms After Autistic Child Goes Missing at School" dated
18 September 2006 by Don Logana from WTOC News at
<http://www.wtoctv.com/global/story.asp?s=5424543&ClientType=Printable>
http://www.wtoctv.com/global/story.asp?s=5424543&ClientType=Printable.

"We don't know where your child is. Those words would send any parent into
a panic. It happened Friday at Butler Elementary School in Savannah. This
wasn't just any child, but a 9-year-old autistic boy who is supposed to have
his own personal supervision. When his mom arrived to pick him up from
school Friday, no one knew where Kenya Gholson was. He was missing for
almost an hour. The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is looking
for answers, and his mom isn't sure her son is safe at school anymore.
"Nobody could find him," Kenya's mom, Renee Mikell, told WTOC. "Nobody knew
where he went." Renee picks her son up every day. Friday, there was no sign
of Kenya. "They had no response, no nothing, no clue," Renee said. "Nobody
took initiative to call police, call campus police. Anything." Teachers
searched, Renee panicked. Kenya has a professional who is supposed to keep
an eye on him until Renee takes him home. "She wasn't even doing her job,"
Renee told us. Kenya ended up in a neighborhood four blocks away from the
school. In order to get there, he had to walk down four streets. A woman saw
him walking in the middle of the road and knew something wasn't right. "He
was just walking in the street, cars were honking at him," Ellouise Johnson
told WTOC. "I knew something was wrong with the child." Ellouise held
Kenya's hand and called the police, who reunited mother and son. Renee
couldn't thank Ellouise enough. "I couldn't leave the baby," Ellouise said.
"I just had that feeling it was something." "I was so happy to find my
baby," Renee said. "It didn't make sense." Renee tracked down
Savannah-Chatham superintendent Dr. Thomas Lockamy to get answers. He
promised it would never happen again. "We can only do better, that's all we
can do," said district spokesperson Bucky Burnsed. Burnsed says school
officials believe Kenya followed other students walking home from school.
According to Burnsed, school officials did call police, and Butler
Elementary personnel were given a safety refresher course Friday afternoon.
..."

31. "Warning shot over MMR jabs" dated 18 September 2006 by LINDA
SUMMERHAYES from The Scotsman (UK) at
<http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=91&id=1380112006>
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=91&id=1380112006.

"Doctors are warning parents in Edinburgh that they risk causing measles and
mumps outbreaks because they are not having their children immunised.
Take-up of the controversial MMR vaccine in south Edinburgh is the lowest in
mainland Scotland with one in five children still not being immunised by the
time they are six years old. Experts believe the parents of these children
are still too frightened to have their children inoculated following claims
that the vaccine is linked to autism. They say that these children not only
risk contracting measles, mumps and rubella at a later age but could also
start an outbreak. The latest NHS figures show that 21 per cent of
six-year-olds in the south of Edinburgh have started school without
completing their preschool course of the vaccine. In the rest of the city,
one in ten children is not immunised. Health bosses are now considering a
widespread letter campaign warning of the dangers and inviting parents to
have their children immunised. NHS Lothian's director of public health Dr
Alison McCallum said: "It may be recalled that the original fears over MMR,
which have now been thoroughly discredited, occurred around 2001 and we
first saw a dip in immunisation rates then. "Parents need to know that it
is never too late to protect their children against these diseases."
Measles and mumps are killer viruses and the World Health Organisation has
said that 95 per cent of the population must be vaccinated to protect those
who have not been immunised. Concerns about the MMR jab were triggered in
1998 following now-discredited claims by Dr Andrew Wakefield, who suggested
it may be linked with autism and bowel problems. Since then, around ten per
cent of children have regularly not completed their course of MMR vaccines
in the Lothians. Dr Peter Shishodia of Muirhouse Medical Practice said he
could understand why parents were worried but said their fears were
unfounded. He said: "It is a perceived fear and I've got some sympathy for
the parents. The MMR offers fairly good protection but it's not 100 per cent
and you need to have 95 per cent immunised for herd immunity to be
achieved." ..."

32. "States Get Federal Grants to Help People with Disabilities Live in the
Community" dated 18 September 2006 in a press release from the Department of
Health and Human Services at
<http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/101039>
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/101039.

"Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt today awarded nearly $20
million in grants to states to develop programs for people with disabilities
or long term illnesses. The "Real Choice Systems Change Grants for Community
Living" will help states and territories help people with chronic illness or
disabilities to reside in their homes and participate fully in community
life. "These grants will help states take full advantage of the
opportunities to reform their Medicaid long-term care systems offered by the
recently passed Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 and remove barriers to
equality for the 54 million Americans living with disabilities," Secretary
Leavitt said. "They will help persons with disabilities exercise meaningful
choices about how and where to live their lives." The eight states
receiving 2006 awards are; California, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina,
New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Kansas. For this round of grant
awards, CMS will require states receiving grant money to address at least
three of the six goals necessary to transform Medicaid program incentives
away from institutional care with options for care at home and in the
community.

The goals include:

* Improving access to information regarding the full range of
community-based services available

* Promulgation of more self-directed service delivery systems

* Implementation of comprehensive quality management system

* Development of information technology to support community living

* Flexible financing arrangements that promote community living
options

* Long-term supports coordinated with affordable and accessible
housing

33. "Defending Thimerosal-and Putting Our Children at Risk" dated 18
September 2006 by James Ottar Grundvig in The Epoch Times at
<http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-9-18/46086.html>
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-9-18/46086.html.

""I have to listen to my autistic son scream and bang his head against the
wall for sixteen hours a day. It's driving me nuts. It's ruining my family.
I once trusted the CDC and the vaccine program, but I no longer do." The
speaker is a mother from Albany, New York. Yelling, and with clenched fists,
she could hardly control her emotions as she addressed a panel of Center for
Disease Control (CDC) executives at an "Autism Listening Session" held in
the autumn of 2004. She was the first speaker, and things did not get any
better after her. Anger and despair filled the auditorium as 21 parents
spoke of their trials in dealing with the after effects of the mercury
poisoning delivered to their children through the nation's mandated
vaccination program. There would have been more parents ready to speak, but
this session followed upon a ten-hour day of dry scientific panels on
research on autism. Many were obligated to go home to feed, bathe, and put
their Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) kids in bed. For those parents like me
who didn't get a chance to speak, we wrote our questions or suggestions on
3x5 index cards and turned them into the CDC. My suggestion was more of a
challenge: The CDC should launch a study testing a pool of ASD kids versus a
pool of normal children from the same age groups and same parts of the
country for heavy metals contamination and essential metals (like iron and
magnesium) makeup in order to compare the profiles. If all ASD kids showed
mercury in their blood and/or urine, then the CDC could then focus on that
clue. At issue in my simple suggestion is the role in the onset of the
autism epidemic devastating children throughout the United States¬ of the
mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which is used in vaccines. The news
coverage on ASD children in the past five years has outstripped the coverage
for the previous twenty years combined. Why? Because more children today are
diagnosed with some deficit on the autistic spectrum than ever before. There
are more children in 2006 with autism than in any year in the twentieth
century. The special education records of all 50 states would bear this
point out. And so would the CDC's own studies. They just seem to have a
tough time analyzing their own data to see that the explosion of autism rose
in the same geometric rate as those vaccines that were added to the
immunization schedule, taking a once dormant, sleepy program consisting of
two to three vaccines in the 1970s and supersizing it to 24 vaccines today.
Why won't the CDC do the very simple research that would confirm in the
populations of affected children the role of mercury in autism? ..."

34. "Back-to-School: Books and Bullies" dated 18 September 2006 by GREGORY
T. CROFT from ABC News at
<http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2430140&amp;page=1>
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2430140&amp;page=1.

"For many kids, returning to school is an exciting time, but for some, going
back to school means returning to a dreaded ritual: Facing school bullies
again. A new study shows just how big a problem bullying is and how
helpless teachers can be to stop it. The National School Boards
Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) reported that many
students commonly witnessed other children being bullied, physically or
psychologically intimidated or belittled. The CUBE study was the result of
a nationwide survey of 32,000 students to gauge their feelings on safety and
bullying in their school environments. The students who participated in the
study ranged in grades 4 to 12 and were from 15 urban school districts.
Brian Perkins, the chair of CUBE and the principal investigator of the
study, says two of the most worrisome findings were that more than half of
the students surveyed said they saw children being bullied at least once a
month, and that almost 40 percent said teachers and schools could not stop
the bullying. The study indicated that as students got older, their
confidence in their school's ability to stop the bullying declined. The
study showed younger students reported the most bullying: The number of
students in grades 4 to 6 who said they were bullied regularly was more than
double the number of similar reports from students in grades 9 to 12. The
study showed gender did not seem to matter, as boys and girls seemed to
think and feel similarly about bullying. However, Perkins said that
bullying was a significant concern because of its great influence on student
academic performance. ..."

35. "Study Says Teacher Training Is Chaotic" dated 18 September 2006 by BEN
FELLER from The Associated Press in The Washington Post at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR200609180
0698.html>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091800
698.html.

"Aspiring teachers emerge from college woefully unprepared for their jobs,
according to a study that depicts most teacher education programs as deeply
flawed. The damning review comes from Arthur Levine, former president of
Teachers College at Columbia University. His report, released Monday, comes
as public schools are under federal orders to have a qualified teacher for
every class. It casts doubts on the most basic aspects of how teachers are
taught. Teacher quality has a huge influence on whether students pass or
fail. The coursework in teacher education programs is in disarray
nationwide, the report says. Unlike other professions such as law and
medicine, there is no common length of study or set of required skills.
Then there are a host of other problems: low admissions standards,
disengaged college faculty, insufficient classroom practice and poor
oversight, according to Levine's study. "Teacher education right now is the
Dodge City of education: unruly and chaotic," said Levine, who now heads the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. "There's a chasm between what
goes on in the university and what goes on in the classroom." In taking on
his own field, Levine said he is not out to bash teacher education. Rather,
he said he hopes his candid assessment and recommendations will lead to
changes. He found some exemplary programs but said most are poor or
mediocre. He called for turning education schools into professional schools,
rooted in practical experience. The response from Levine's peers was mixed.
Representatives of the teaching profession embraced many of Levine's themes
but took exception to some ideas as misguided or elitist. The four-year
study is based on surveys of deans, faculty, alumni and school principals,
along with 28 case studies of various kinds of education schools. In those
surveys, school principals gave teacher education programs low grades. Many
teachers who graduated from the programs said they were often unprepared for
their jobs. "The findings are sobering, and we take them seriously," said
Sharon Robinson, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges
for Teacher Education, which represents 800 schools. She said Levine's
motives are true and his "tough love" findings have credibility. ..."

36. "Autism may force couple to give up child" dated 19 September 2006 from
the Adelaide News (Australia) at
<http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20437983-5005962,00.html>
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20437983-5005962,00.html.

"A GOLD Coast couple say they want to make their seven-year-old autistic
daughter a ward of the state because they cannot cope with her behaviour.
Primary school teacher Robert Lachlan and his wife Debbie from the Gold
Coast suburb of Benowa said their daughter Emma suffers from autism, needs
constant supervision, and the strain has pushed them to "breaking point".
"This is not a stunt and it's not an easy thing to do," Mr Lachlan told the
Gold Coast Bulletin today. "We have to give her up, she's going to become a
ward of the state because we just can't go on." Emma, who cannot speak, was
getting harder to control as she grew older. She banged walls, drew on
them, ran away, did not obey instructions and needed constant supervision.
The couple have another daughter, nine-year-old Tiffany, who has a less
severe case of autism but also needs constant care. A spokesman for
Disability Services Minister Warren Pitt said the department was fully aware
of the case and were working with the family to help them avoid
relinquishing Emma to the state."

37. "Medical Journals Slammed By Former Editor" dated 19 September 2006
from the Life Style Extra (UK) at
<http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=RO1929177J&news_headline=medical_j
ournals_slammed_by_former_editor>
http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=RO1929177J&news_headline=medical_jo
urnals_slammed_by_former_editor.

"Medical journals have become "creatures of the drug industry" rife with
fraudulent research and packed with articles ghost written by pharmaceutical
companies, an ex British Medical Journal editor has claimed. In a highly
critical book Dr Richard Smith, who edited the BMJ for 13 years, said:
"Medical journals have many problems and need reform. The research they
contain is hard to interpret and prone to bias and peer review. The process
at the heart of journals and all of science, is deeply flawed." Dr Smith,
author of a new book entitled 'The Trouble with Medical Journals' and now
chief executive of United Healthcare Europe, said the book was an honest
analysis of trends in medical journal publishing and a frank account of his
own experiences as editor of the BMJ. He said: "It is increasingly apparent
that many of the studies journals contain are fraudulent, and the scientific
community has not responded adequately to the problem of fraud." He added:
"I went away to Venice to write this book and I was rather taken aback by
how negatively it turned out. When I put together all the evidence on
journals I was surprised by the extent of the problems." Dr Smith went on:
"Medical journals have increasingly become creatures of the drug industry.
The authors of studies in journals have often had little do with the work
they are reporting. "The use of ghost writers by pharmaceutical companies
is rampant and many studies have conflicts of interest that are not
declared." He estimates that research fraud is probably common in the
30,000 or so scientific journals published throughout the world. The book,
published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press, cites a number of dramatic
cases of questionable research including Dr Andrew Wakefield's MMR paper
published in the Lancet in 1998 that cast doubts on the safety of the triple
vaccine which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The same journal
published a study six years later concluding there was no evidence to
support a link between MMR and autism. ..."

38. "ADHD Cases Linked To Lead, Smoking" dated 19 September 2006 from the
Associated Press at
<http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=health&id=4579366>
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=health&id=4579366.

"About one-third of attention deficit cases among U.S. children may be
linked with tobacco smoke before birth or to lead exposure afterward,
according to provocative new research. Even levels of lead the government
considers acceptable appeared to increase a child's risk of having attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, the study found. It builds on previous
research linking attention problems, including ADHD, with childhood lead
exposure and smoking during pregnancy, and offers one of the first estimates
for how much those environmental factors might contribute. "It's a landmark
paper that quantifies the number of cases of ADHD that can be attributed to
very important environmental exposures," said Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant
director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in New York. More importantly, the study bolsters
suspicions that low-level lead exposure previously linked to behavior
problems "is in fact associated with ADHD," said Trasande, who was not
involved in the research. The study's estimate is in line with a National
Academy of Sciences report in 2000 that said about 3 percent of all
developmental and neurological disorders in U.S. children are caused by
toxic chemicals and other environmental factors and 25 percent are due to a
combination of environmental factors and genetics. "The findings of this
study underscore the profound behavioral health impact of these prevalent
exposures, and highlight the need to strengthen public health efforts to
reduce prenatal tobacco smoke exposure and childhood lead exposure," said
the authors, led by researcher Joe Braun of the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The study was to be published online Tuesday in the
journal Environmental Health Perspectives. ..."

39. "Autistic savant shares his genius" dated 19 September 2006 by Olga
Craig from The Age (UK) at
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/autistic-savant-shares-his-geni
us/2006/09/18/1158431644905.html>
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/autistic-savant-shares-his-geniu
s/2006/09/18/1158431644905.html.

"The instant Derek Paravicini heard the sound of the music, he broke free
from his parents' grasp and headed towards it. The little girl on the piano
stool took a tumble as the then four-year-old boy, blind, autistic and
severely learning impaired, pushed her out of the way and began playing in
her place. "It was utterly extraordinary," says Adam Ockleford. "He was
hitting the notes with his hands, his feet, his nose, even his elbows. It
was clear he had never had a lesson, yet he produced this wonderful version
of Don't Cry For Me Argentina." Mr Ockleford, a music psychologist and then
head of music at Linden Lodge School for the blind and intellectually
impaired, realised at once that the child frantically bashing keys was a
prodigy. Today, at 27, Paravicini is acknowledged as one of only 23 autistic
savants in the world. He is one of those rare people with severe learning
difficulties, who is a genius in one particular area. He can neither count
to 10 nor tell left from right. He needs round-the-clock supervision:
without carers he could not dress or feed himself. But Paravicini has the
extremely rare gift of universal, absolute pitch and remembers every piece
of music he has ever heard - not only the melody, but what each instrument
is playing, just as Mozart could. Paravicini's precision is greater than
professional musicians', despite his inability to communicate clearly with
language. After listening to a melody once, he can play it without error.
His international audience is immense - a few months ago he played to
several thousand people in Las Vegas, and in the next few months will play
in Hollywood and Connecticut. His first CD, Echoes Of The Sounds To Be, a
jazz compilation, will go on sale on Amazon next month. Paravicini lives at
the Royal National Institute of the Blind College in Surrey, where he spends
much of each day at the piano. But if his first love is music, his second is
meeting people. He can conduct simple conversations but, in common with many
who have autism, he reverts to echolalia, repeating what has just been said
to him, when he cannot comprehend the comment. Suddenly, he announces:
"I'll play now." Mr Ockleford guides him to the piano and Paravicini flexes
his fingers. As they ripple across the keys, the haunting Mozart Sonata in A
fills the room. Engrossed, Paravicini and his piano have become one. He
slips effortlessly into Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble Bee. Just as
swiftly, as he began, he stops. ..."

40. "Seaside Therapeutics Awarded Grant From Autism Speaks to Evaluate
Therapeutic Potential of Proprietary mGluR5 Antagonists in Animal Models of
Autism" dated 19 September 2006 in a press release from Seaside
Therapeutics, in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine at
<http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/661906/seaside_therapeutics_awarded_gra
nt_from_autism_speaks_to_evaluate_therapeutic/index.html?source=r_health>
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/661906/seaside_therapeutics_awarded_gran
t_from_autism_speaks_to_evaluate_therapeutic/index.html?source=r_health.

"Seaside Therapeutics, in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine,
is pleased to announce acceptance of an Autism Speaks grant award to assess
efficacy of mGluR5 antagonists as a treatment for autism. "We are proud to
receive recognition and funding from the scientific advisors and leadership
of this respected organization," said Randall Carpenter, MD, co-Founder,
President and CEO of Seaside Therapeutics. "I would personally like to thank
Autism Speaks for supporting our efforts to develop novel treatments
designed to specifically normalize brain development and behavior in
individuals with autism. This award will support research performed in
collaboration with Richard Paylor, Ph.D. to assess efficacy of our lead
compound, STX107, for treating abnormal behaviors observed in animal models
of autism. STX107 is a selective mGluR5 antagonist licensed from Merck &
Co., Inc. Seaside Therapeutics is currently performing the safety studies
required to begin testing in humans. STX107 has already demonstrated
profound efficacy for some symptoms of autism and the studies funded by this
grant will provide insight regarding the potential to treat the core
behavioral symptoms of autism." Dr. Paylor's laboratory at the Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, Texas will assess the efficacy of Seaside's
mGluR5 antagonists in mice genetically engineered to exhibit 'autistic-like'
behaviors including: abnormalities in social interaction, compulsive
behaviors and anxiety-related responses. "Recent studies have demonstrated
that mGluR5 antagonists can effectively treat abnormalities in brain cell
function, seizures and learning in animal models of autism. It is our
hypothesis that mGluR5 antagonists will similarly improve autistic-like
behaviors," said Dr. Richard Paylor, Associate Professor, Baylor College of
Medicine. Please visit at http://www.seasidetherapeutics.com/ for more
information on our company and drug development programs. ..."

41. "Parents of autistic boy sue district" dated 20 September 2006 by ELLEN
LYON from The Patriot-News at
<http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1158717313779
00.xml&coll=1>
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/11587173137790
0.xml&coll=1.

"A Hampden Twp. couple allege in a federal lawsuit against the Cumberland
Valley School District that their son, who has a high functioning form of
autism, was repeatedly bullied and harassed by students and teachers from
1998 to earlier this year. "His educational history at the defendant
district is a tragic and tortured account of gross negligence, deliberate
indifference and unsympathetic discrimination by students and school
personnel alike," Andrew and Karen Bloschichak claim in a U.S. Middle
District Court lawsuit. The abuse and discrimination "exacerbated" their
son's Asperger's syndrome and caused him to regress, the suit states. The
Bloschichaks seek unspecified monetary and punitive damages for "economic,
psychological, emotional and physical injuries." The suit also names
Beverly Wilson, the district's director of special education; Sandy
Baughman, the boy's fifth-grade teacher; June Seiler, his fourth-grade
teacher; Kim Duke, his third-grade teacher; and Kathleen Luft, former
principal of Shaull Elementary, where the boy attended. Superintendent Jean
Walker said yesterday she can't comment on litigation, and the employees
named in the suit are not allowed to comment. "Any time we have a student
with any particular special need, we ensure that the staff who are working
with that student has the appropriate training," Walker said. Luft, now
supervisor of elementary curriculum in the Mechanicsburg School District,
could not be reached yesterday afternoon. The boy, who is identified only
by his initials in the lawsuit because he is a minor, was diagnosed with
Asperger's syndrome in 1998 and also found to be "mentally gifted." The
lawsuit describes him as "a strikingly handsome young man, talented with a
brilliant mind, particularly in the area of math." The suit says the boy,
now 14, was subjected "to a pervasively hostile environment of bullying by
non-disabled students and abusive staff" since first grade. Students
taunted and humiliated him, ransacked his backpack, took his school
supplies, stole his lunch box, covered the back of his head with spit and
filled the hood of his jacket with spit balls and paper, according to the
suit. ..."

42. "Ability to read and spell 'inherited'" dated 20 September 2006 from
The Age (Australia) at
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Ability-to-read-and-spell-inherited/
2006/09/20/1158431761950.html>
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Ability-to-read-and-spell-inherited/2
006/09/20/1158431761950.html.

"Kids who are good readers are often great spellers too, and now Australian
scientists have uncovered a genetic explanation as to why. Researchers from
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane tracked 650 sets of young twins to work out
how much reading and spelling abilities are controlled by genes. The study
found that the ability to read and spell were about 50 per cent inherited,
with a child's upbringing and schooling controlling the other half. But
what was most remarkable, says University of Melbourne researcher Anne
Castles, was the discovery that the same genes were involved in both
activities. "That means that from a genetic perspective, a child that's
good at one should really be good at the other, or they'll struggle with
both," Professor Castles told AAP. The strong genetic link between reading
and spelling surprised the researchers because anecdotal evidence shows many
people believe they're good at one but not the other. Prof Castles said
it's now clear that such people can blame their personal experiences - not
their genes - for the disparity. The study, published in the journal
Reading and Writing, does not identify the actual genes involved in reading
- a discovery yet to come. But it is the first to investigate and link the
genetic patterns of both activities. Prof Castles said the finding had
implications for how children learn and "suggests that if a child has a
spelling problem we really should be looking a bit more closely at how their
reading is". The researcher and colleagues from Macquarie University and
the Queensland Institute of Medical Research compared groups of identical
twins, who have exactly the same genes, with non-identical pairs, who share
half. The twins were given telephone reading and spelling tests, with
researchers working out that skills showing similar results among the
identical pairs had a stronger genetic basis. The scientists also evaluated
the two main skills involved in reading - the ability to sound out words
aloud and the ability to recognise words by sight that don't follow the
phonic rules, like "yacht". They discovered that these specific skills
involved two distinctly different sets of genes, which explains why kids are
often competent at doing one but not the other. "So it's really important
when we're teaching children to read that we look really closely at how
they're going with these two processes," Prof Castles said. "And if we find
trouble with one, we need to really target that separately with
remediation." Her next goal is to find out exactly how a child goes from
having a particular genetic propensity to developing or not developing these
reading skills."

43. "Half fertility clinics allow parents to pick gender- Embryo screening
usually checks for abnormalities, but also predicts sex" dated 20 September
2006 from the Associated Press at <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14929492/>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14929492/.

"Boy or girl? Almost half of U.S. fertility clinics that offer embryo
screening say they allow couples to choose the sex of their child, the most
extensive survey of the practice suggests. Sex selection without any
medical reason to warrant it was performed in about 9 percent of all embryo
screenings last year, the survey found. Another controversial procedure -
helping parents conceive a child who could supply compatible cord blood to
treat an older sibling with a grave illness - was offered by 23 percent of
clinics, although only 1 percent of screenings were for that purpose in
2005. For the most part, couples are screening embryos for the right
reasons - to avoid passing on dreadful diseases, said Dr. William Gibbons,
who runs a fertility clinic in Baton Rouge, La., and is president of the
Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which assisted with the
survey. "There are thousands of babies born now that we know are going to
be free of lethal and/or devastating genetic diseases. That's a good thing,"
he said. However, the survey findings also confirm many ethicists' fears
that Americans increasingly are seeking "designer babies" not just free of
medical defects but also possessing certain desirable traits. "That's a big
problem if that's true," Boston University ethicist George Annas said of the
sex selection finding. "This is not a risk-free technique," he said
referring to in vitro fertilization, which can over-stimulate a woman's
ovaries and bring the risk of multiple births. "I don't think a physician
can justify doing that to a patient" for sex selection alone, Annas said.
Survey results were published on the Internet Wednesday by the medical
journal Fertility and Sterility and will appear in print later. The survey
was led by Susanna Baruch, a lawyer at Johns Hopkins University's Genetics
and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., with the cooperation of the
reproductive medicine society. It involved an online survey of 415 fertility
clinics, of which 190 responded. They were asked about pre-implantation
genetic diagnosis, or PGD, which can be done as part of in vitro
fertilization, when eggs and sperm are mixed in a lab dish and the resulting
embryos implanted directly into the womb. In PGD, a single cell from an
embryo that is three to five days old is removed to allow its genes and
chromosomes to be analyzed. About 1 of every 20 in vitro pregnancy attempts
in the United States last year used PGD, the survey found. Two-thirds of
the time it was to detect abnormalities that would keep the embryo from
developing normally and doom the pregnancy attempt. In 12 percent of cases,
PGD was used to detect single-gene disorders like those that cause cystic
fibrosis. Three percent of cases were to detect problems that mostly affect
males, because they have only one copy of certain genes. ..."

44. "Toxic mercury contaminating more species, report shows" dated 20
September 2006 by Jane Lay from the San Francisco Chronicle at
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AV1.
DTL>
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90AV1.D
TL.

"Mercury pollution from power plants and other industrial sources has
accumulated in birds, mammals and reptiles across the country, and only cuts
in emissions can curtail the contamination, says a report released Tuesday
by a national environmental group. The report is the first major
compilation of studies investigating mercury buildup in such wildlife as
California clapper rails, Maine's bald eagles, Canadian loons and Florida
panthers. In all, scientists working with the National Wildlife Federation
found 65 studies showing troublesome mercury levels in 40 species. "From
songbirds to alligators, turtles to bats, eagles to polar bears, mercury is
accumulating in nearly every link of the food chain,'' said Catherine Bowes,
an author of the report who manages the federation's mercury program in the
northeastern states. High mercury levels in popular fish such as swordfish
and canned albacore tuna prompted government health warnings in 2004 aimed
at pregnant women and children. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can damage
fetuses and cause mental retardation, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy,
blindness and deafness. ..."

45. "'Lite' Choice in School Reform- Using Turnaround Specialists Is Common
-- and Futile, Study Says" dated 20 September 2006 by Daniel de Vise from
The Washington Post at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR200609190
1468.html>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901
468.html.

"A report released today by a Washington think tank says the Prince George's
County school system consistently chose the least drastic option available
to 16 schools when faced with the academic equivalent of a management
shakeup after years of low test scores: appointing "turnaround specialists"
to make the tough decisions that would improve them. Under-performing
schools in Prince George's, Baltimore and elsewhere across the nation have
seized on the turnaround specialist as a quick fix that satisfies the
federal No Child Left Behind directive, which requires chronically
low-performing schools to choose some form of alternative governance, such
as a new staff or management by a private company. The report by the Center
on Education Policy cites the Prince George's system as emblematic of a
national trend: When school systems are forced to take corrective action,
they tend to chose the least radical -- and least corrective, it says --
option. "It is 'restructuring lite,' " said Jack Jennings, president of the
nonpartisan center. The criticism comes one month after John E. Deasy, the
new schools chief, announced an ambitious $33 million effort to improve
scattershot performance in the 133,000-student system. It includes $13
million in remedial programs to target two dozen campuses that have missed
performance targets for several years. He plans to fill those schools with
an army of new specialists in reading, math and standardized testing, many
of whom Deasy believes were "being used insignificantly," sequestered in
district offices or floating ineffectively from school to school. "There
isn't a day that goes by that we aren't talking about these 24 schools,"
Deasy said. "I mean, it is a daily conversation." By most accounts, the
specialists dispatched to Prince George's schools in the 2005-06 academic
year have had little effect. Rather than appoint full-time change agents,
Prince George's school officials added turnaround duties to the already
crowded schedules of a group of mid-level administrators. Principals see
them no more than once or twice a week. Deasy, who started as schools chief
in May, said he quickly surmised that "the turnaround specialist model was
not going to deliver the results." ..."

46. "Autistic youth last seen Friday" dated 21 September 2006 by John
Burman from The Hamilton Spectator (Canada) at
<http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/
Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158790226962&call_pageid=1020420665036&c
ol=1014656511815>
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/L
ayout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158790226962&call_pageid=1020420665036&co
l=1014656511815.

"Halton police say a missing autistic Burlington teenager could be in
Toronto masquerading as a Toronto Star reporter or a financial adviser.
Alexander David Murrell, 15, was last seen at his home around 9:30 a.m. last
Friday. Police say Murrell is used to going into Toronto on the GO train
and fancies being a reporter, although lately he has been interested in
finance. Police also said the youth is sometimes gone overnight. "This
situation is unusual because he has been gone longer," said Detective
Sergeant Steve Skerrett. Halton police have notified Metro Toronto police
missing persons unit, GO Transit, and the Toronto Transit Commission to be
on the lookout. "It could be that he has met up with and followed someone,"
added Skerrett. Murrell does not need specific medication and speaks well,
police said. He's described as six foot, 240 pounds, has light brown short
hair, brown eyes and is right handed. He was last seen wearing black pants,
beige shoes and a blue jean shirt and carrying a green backpack. He may also
have been wearing prescription glasses. Anyone with information is asked to
contact Halton police criminal investigations unit in Burlington at
905-825-4777 or 905-634-1831, ext. 2315, or Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-8477."

47. "Many neighbors express concern over group home" dated 21 September
2006 from The Lawrence Ledger at
<http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17226365&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id
=425643&rfi=6>
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17226365&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=
425643&rfi=6.

"Six autistic men would move to a home at 54 West Long Drive. Nearly two
dozen residents of the Long Acres neighborhood went before Township Council
on Tuesday night and asked for help, expressing concern at the prospect of
the arrival of a group home for six autistic men on West Long Drive. But
Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun and Municipal Attorney Kevin Nerwinski
told residents there is very little the township could do, because state law
allows group homes to be located in any neighborhood. The law says a group
home shall be permitted, so there is no latitude for township officials to
ban it, Mr. Krawzun said. Eden Acres, part of the Eden Family of Services,
purchased a house at 54 West Long Drive in May for $555,000, according to
records on file at the Lawrence Township tax assessor's office. The agency
is planning on placing six autistic men in the five-bedroom house, which had
belonged to former mayor and township councilwoman Doris Weisberg and her
husband, Jerry. Larry Russo, of Sunset Road, said an Eden Acres employee
told him that one of the men "may be violent in nature." He also said when
residents inquired further, they learned that state law permits up to 15
people to occupy a group home. "It raises a lot of concerns for the
neighborhood," Mr. Russo said. Unless the men are under proper supervision,
"there could be a risk" to neighborhood children from the occupants, he
added. "It's difficult raising a family in these times, but safety in my
own neighborhood is not (an issue) that I want to deal with," Mr. Russo
said. "I want to be sure that everything is safe there (at the group home)."
..."

48. "To improve the brain, school works the body- Students with lower
reading scores take a gym class right before a literacy class, and early
results are promising" dated 21 September 2006 by Meg McSherry Breslin from
the CHICAGO TRIBUNE at
<http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15571266.htm>
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15571266.htm.

"Freshmen who struggle in reading class have a new assignment this fall at
Naperville Central High School: more time in the gym. Long regarded as a
leader in physical education reform, the Naperville school's latest effort
involves trying new research linking increased physical activity with
academic success. A small group of students with lower reading scores takes
a specially designed gym class immediately before their literacy course.
The program is being closely watched nationally by leading researchers
studying the effect of exercise on brain function. Among them is Harvard
psychiatrist Dr. John Ratey, who includes a study of Naperville's program in
his upcoming book on exercise and the brain. "I've said for years that
exercise is like Miracle-Gro for the brain," he said. "But now we're
learning so much more about it, and just how much exercise causes a huge
increase in the growth factors in the brain." Ratey said research has
revealed that exercise allows brain cells to bind together faster, making
students more ready to learn. He and some educators say such findings are
critical now because physical education programs are under attack in the
United States. Many schools are cutting back or eliminating gym to squeeze
in more time for core academics and the strict demands of the federal No
Child Left Behind law. Even as the nation grapples with growing childhood
obesity rates, the percentage of students in daily physical education
classes has declined from 42 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2005,
according to the Centers for Disease Control. Illinois is the only state
that requires daily physical education for every grade, though about one in
four districts gets waivers for less-frequent classes or no classes because
of money or time constraints. "There's just a tremendous amount of pressure
on schools to achieve ... and the strategies are to eliminate recess and
physical education," said Darla Castelli, assistant professor at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a leading researcher on the
impact of exercise on student achievement. "Even in schools that do have
phys ed, students are pulled from P.E. for remediation. Children are sitting
for six or eight hours with minimal activity, and that's just not what kids
need." Paul Zientarski, Naperville Central's longtime physical education
leader, had Ratey's research in mind when he decided to try a morning
physical education class last year for freshmen with below-average reading
scores. Students who opted into the 7 a.m. class took a remedial literacy
class immediately afterward, whereas others with similar skills had their
reading class several hours after gym. Eleven students took the early
morning class last year and the results were promising, Zientarski said.
Standardized reading scores edged up the equivalent of 1.4 grade levels. As
a result, school officials decided to study the idea further this school
year with a larger group. Thirty freshmen with below-grade-level reading
scores enrolled in Central's remedial literacy class. All of them are taking
early morning physical education with above-average aerobic activity, but
only half will have reading class immediately afterward. The rest will take
reading in the afternoon, when the effects of the early exercise may have
worn off. ..."

49. "Lots at stake in autism debate" dated 21 September 2006 by LIDIA
WASOWICZ from United Press International at
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060916-020717-737
1r>
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060916-020717-7371
r.

"The continuing debate over whether vaccines play a role in
neurodevelopmental disorders is more than academic, with children's health
and industry wealth hanging in the balance. If the thimerosal theory --
which holds the mercury-based compound once widely used in childhood
vaccines responsible for at least some cases of autism and other problems --
starts to gain traction in court, and vaccine makers and government agencies
are found liable for neurological damage to infants, the cost to the $6
billion-a-year industry could rival that of tobacco or asbestos litigation,
some analysts believe. An estimated 40 million American children were
immunized in the 1990s, and, if current projections hold true, roughly
240,000 might get an autism diagnosis. Thus far, more than 5,000 claims of
thimerosal-related harm to children have been filed by parents in a special
federal tribunal under the no-fault National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program. The plan was created by the government in 1988 to prevent drug
companies from fleeing the market, and endangering the immunization program,
due to climbing liability costs. That figure compares to 2,438 reports
submitted in 2003 and 18 in 2001. Since its inception, the program has paid
more than $1.5 billion on about 1,900 complaints. Several hundred similar
claims were brought against vaccine makers, and others await trial in civil
courts, although no plaintiffs' awards have been forthcoming thus far, said
Charles Siegel, partner in Waters and Kraus in Dallas, the first U.S. law
firm to file such a suit. By now, the mercury-laced preservative has been
phased out of vaccines administered in the United States to youngsters under
7. However, it still resides in certain booster -- notably tetanus and
diphtheria -- and about half of flu shots. The latter are advised for
pregnant women and babies as young as six months under new, broadened
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which stress the
amount of mercury present falls well within levels the federal government
considers safe. The agency has declined to recommend that doctors select
thimerosal-free shots for mothers-to-be and babies. The only supplier for
children younger than 2 -- Sanofi Pasteur -- has increased its capacity to
make vaccines devoid of mercury, but because the government has expressed no
preference, some of the capacity has gone unused, thimerosal opponents point
out. Largely at parents' goading to follow the lead of Japan and Europe, at
least seven states -- California, New York, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri,
Delaware and Washington -- have banned thimerosal from infant vaccines. At
least a dozen others have pending legislation to do so. To critics'
amazement and annoyance, pediatricians have vigorously protested such moves,
viewing them as unnecessary, misguided, misleading and potentially dangerous
if they frighten parents into refusing to immunize their children against
diseases that once decimated young populations. As these developments would
suggest, rather than assuage apprehensions, the government's call in 1999
for removing thimerosal from childhood shots divvied up extra doses of
doubt. If the compound was so blameless, why would the government request
and the pharmaceutical companies acquiesce to its banishment, albeit a
partial one, critics asked. And why, as the vaccine schedule expanded, did
no one total up the new amounts of mercury children would receive as a
result, an exercise in simple arithmetic that could have precluded the
overdose the 1999 report unearthed, they wondered. Their fears were fueled
by such disquieting reports as an analysis of scientific literature on
mercury toxicity led by Sallie Bernard, executive director of the
parent-founded, thimerosal-opposing group SafeMinds (Sensible Action for
Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders). She and colleagues drew an
alarming parallel of more than 100 characteristics and symptoms shared by
autism and mercury poisoning. ..."

50. "New Information Regarding Uncommon Psychiatric Adverse Events For All
ADHD Drugs" dated 21 September 2006 from Health Canada at
<http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=240879>
http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=240879.

"Health Canada is informing Canadians that the prescribing and patient
information for all drugs used for the management of ADHD (Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder) is being revised to provide information about the
potential for psychiatric adverse events, including rare reports of
agitation and hallucinations in children. This update comes in light of an
ongoing review of psychiatric events associated with the use of these drugs
and follows Health Canada's May 2006 Public Advisory regarding rare
heart-related risks for all ADHD drugs. At that time, Canadians were advised
not to use ADHD drugs if they have high blood pressure, heart disease or
abnormalities, hardening of the arteries or an overactive thyroid gland.
Standardized labeling that identified risk factors for rare heart-related
side effects, and new recommendations to physicians were added to the
prescribing information for all ADHD drugs. ADHD drugs are generally safe
and provide benefits for Canadians in their treatment of ADHD when used as
directed. Decisions about taking any of these drugs indicated for ADHD
should be made in consultation with a physician. Patients taking ADHD drugs
should consult with their physician if they have any questions or concerns.
Health Canada continues to monitor the safety of ADHD drugs and Canadians
will continue to be informed if new safety information arises. These drugs
include Adderall XR, Attenade, Biphentin, Concerta, Dexedrine, Ritalin,
Ritalin SR and Strattera. For more current information on ADHD prescribing
and patient information, see Health Canada's Public Advisory regarding
<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2006/2006_35_e.html>
New Cautions Regarding Rare Heart-Related Risks for All ADHD Drugs."

51. "SENATOR FUSCHILLO AND ASSEMBLYWOMAN PHEFFER ANNOUNCE NEW LAW TO
PROTECT AUTISM PATIENTS FROM INSURANCE DISCRIMINATION- Local Parent of
Autistic Child Praises State Lawmakers For Their Efforts" dated 21 September
2006 in a press release from State Senator Fuschillo at
<http://www.senatorfuschillo.com/press_archive_story.asp?id=14959>
http://www.senatorfuschillo.com/press_archive_story.asp?id=14959.

"Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (8th Senate District), and Assemblywoman
Audrey I. Pheffer (23rd Assembly District) today announced the enactment of
a new law, which they sponsored, that will help protect autism patients from
discrimination by ensuring that services for the treatment of autism
spectrum disorder are covered by health insurance. "It is the essence of
discrimination that people with autism were being denied insurance coverage
for certain medical treatments that they would otherwise be covered for if
they didn't have autism," said Senator Fuschillo, a member of the Senate's
Health Committee. "With the enactment of this new law, New York State can
now ensure that coverage is not denied solely because of an autism
diagnosis. This is a tremendous victory for autism patients and their
families." "This new law is a vital first step in promoting awareness and
treatment for these disorders. I will continue to work with my colleagues to
examine not only insurance coverage issues, but also to look at the programs
provided for treatment and find methods to possibly improve access to and
content of these programs," stated Assemblywoman Pheffer. "Autism is a
complex neurobiological disorder that impacts the families of affected
individuals almost as much as those who have autism themselves,"
Superintendent of Insurance Howard Mills stated. "Governor Pataki has fought
to expand the availability of health insurance coverage for children and all
New Yorkers, and it is only right that those who struggle with autism
spectrum disorders have equal access to the same medical care as everyone
else." The new law will help protect autism patients from discrimination by
ensuring that services for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder are
covered by health insurance. State regulated insurance companies whose
policies provide coverage for hospital, surgical, or medical care will no
longer to be able to exclude coverage for diagnosis and treatment of medical
conditions otherwise covered by the policy solely because the treatment is
provided to diagnose or treat autism. The law also defines autism as a
neurobiological disorder instead of a mental health disorder. Some insurance
companies denied coverage for autism because they classified it as a mental
health disorder instead of a physical condition. Merrick resident Michael
Giangregorio, who is the father of an autistic child, praised the new law.
"As a parent I'm elated and grateful to Senator Fuschillo and Assemblywoman
Pheffer for their leadership on the insurance issue. Now a diagnosis of
autism can no longer be held against my son Nicholas or any other person
with the diagnosis of autism. I no longer have to here 'Mr. Giangregorio,
although your insurance coverage provides for Speech Therapy, your son's
therapy will not be covered because your son has a diagnosis of autism.'"
..."

52. "Why We Need a National School Test" dated 21 September 2006 by William
J. Bennett and Rod Paige in The Washington Post at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR200609200
1587.html>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001
587.html.

"We need to find better and more efficient ways to produce an educated
population and close the achievement gaps in our education system. Americans
do ultimately get themselves educated -- at work, after school, online, in
adulthood -- but a lot of time and money are wasted in the process. Ever
since the Commission on Excellence in Education declared in 1983 that
America is "at risk" because of the lagging performance of its schools, this
country has been struggling to reform its K-12 system. The education
"establishment" has wrongly insisted that more money (or more teachers, more
computers, more everything) would yield better schools and smarter kids;
that financial inputs would lead to cognitive outputs. This is not so.
Forty years ago the sociologist James S. Coleman made clear that there's no
reliable connection between the resources going into a school and the
learning that comes out. Fifty years ago economist Milton Friedman made
clear that in education, as in other spheres, monopolies don't work as well
as markets. That's why most Republicans and some Democrats favor school
choice in its myriad versions and why many, like us, have also embraced
today's other important education reform strategy: standards, testing and
tough accountability for schools. But there's a problem. Out of respect for
federalism and mistrust of Washington, much of the GOP has expected
individual states to set their own academic standards and devise their own
tests and accountability systems. That was the approach of the No Child Left
Behind Act -- which moved as boldly as it could while still achieving
bipartisan support. It sounds good, but it is working badly. A new Fordham
Foundation report shows that most states have deployed mediocre standards,
and there's increasing evidence that some are playing games with their tests
and accountability systems. Take Tennessee, for example. It reports to its
residents that a whopping 87 percent of its fourth-graders are "proficient"
in reading. Yet the National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that
the number is more like 27 percent. That's a big difference. Or consider
Oklahoma. In one year the number of schools on its "needs improvement" list
dropped by 85 percent -- not because they improved or their students learned
more but because a bureaucrat in the state education department changed the
way Oklahoma calculates "adequate yearly progress" under the federal law.
So while the act is clearly starting to get results, it is also starting to
suffer from the law of unintended consequences. We can now see that it gives
states entirely too much discretion over standards and tests while giving
federal bureaucrats too much control over how schools operate. The remedy?
As both of us have long argued, Washington should set sound national
academic standards and administer a high-quality national test. Publicize
everybody's results, right down to the school level. Then Washington should
butt out. ..."

53. "Sacked McDonald's worker killed boss in frenzied attack" dated 22
September 2006 by Riazat Butt from The Guardian Unlimited (UK) at
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1878340,00.html>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1878340,00.html.

"A sacked McDonald's worker who stabbed his former boss to death in a
"horrific, frenzied, ferocious and crazed attack" in revenge for losing his
job was jailed for life yesterday. Shane Freer, 21, killed Jackie Marshall,
56, with an eight-inch hunting knife, punching her and lunging at her in
front of customers who had been dining at a Chichester branch of the fast
food chain last year. Freer, who suffers from Apserger's syndrome, denied
murder but pleaded guilty at Lewes crown court in East Sussex to
manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He will be
detained indefinitely at a secure unit under the Mental Health Act. Judge
Anthony Scott Gall said: "What took place was a deliberately cold-blooded
and wholly irrational killing of Mrs Marshall, a loving wife with children
and grandchildren. One cannot even begin to contemplate the impact on the
people in the McDonald's at the time." Addressing the defendant, the judge
added: "There is no doubt you suffer from an abnormality of mind which
arises from the condition of arrested and retarded development. You have no
remorse or insight into what you did or why it was so unnecessary and wrong
- it was totally without justification. You have no understanding of the
impact of this on her family or your own family and therefore there is no
barrier to repetition." The court heard that a week before the attack Freer
had been suspended for hitting a girl who had been firing pieces of carrot
and wet napkin at him through a straw. On the day of the killing, April 16,
he attended a final disciplinary meeting at the restaurant, where he was
told of his dismissal for gross misconduct. He also learned that he would
not be allowed to reapply for his former position of dining area assistant.
Simon Russell-Flint QC, prosecuting, said Freer reacted badly, crying and
holding his head, and threatened to kill Mrs Marshall, who was his line
manager. ..."

54. "Organization gets disabled outdoors" dated 22 September 2006 by Bob
Frye from the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW at
<http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_471656.htm
l>
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_471656.html
.

"When Cindy Waeltermann founded AutismLink as a resource to help autistic
children and their parents, she probably didn't envision spending any time
around worms. That all changed recently. Working with Wheelin' Sportsmen
-- an arm of the National Wild Turkey Federation that exists to get people
with physical challenges outdoors -- Waeltermann and a group of autistic
children and their families found themselves fishing a private lake near
Eighty Four earlier this month. Waeltermann didn't bait any hooks -- "I may
be director of this organization, but I don't do worms," she said -- but the
event was a hit anyway. "They had a blast," Waeltermann said of the kids.
"A lot of them caught their first fish. The smiles on their faces was so
cute." That's what the Wheelin' Sportsmen program is all about, said Jim
O'Brien, the Greensburg resident who serves as the program's event
coordinator for the northeastern U.S. Its goal is to help the disabled -- be
they in a wheelchair, blind, deaf, an amputee, or someone with autism --
enjoy the outdoors. "If someone has the willpower to get out there, we can
make it happen," O'Brien said. The program was originally founded in 1996
by Kirk Thomas, who found himself in a wheelchair after a freak accident
just a few years earlier. A 6-foot-5, 321-pound guard on the University of
Mississippi football team, he was hunting deer Nov. 29, 1992, in Alabama,
when a tree that loggers had cut part way through fell on him, striking him
in the shoulder. The blow caused all sorts of internal injuries and broke
his back. The pain, he said, was unbearable. "I said my prayers to die and
didn't die, so then I said my prayers asking to die," Thomas recalled. A
friend found him broken and bleeding in the woods. He ultimately spent seven
days in intensive care and 52 days overall in the hospital. Months of
rehabilitation followed. All the while, one of his chief worries was how he
was ever going to hunt and fish again. Family members and friends took care
of him, but in meeting with other disabled people, he came to realize that
they didn't have the same opportunities that he did. Thomas set out to
change that, forming what was then known as the Wheelin' Sportsmen of
America. He ran that group as a volunteer until October of 2000, when it
merged with the Turkey Federation. Thomas now works as a full-time
employee, giving disabled people all over the country the chance to get
outdoors. Able-bodied volunteers help carry out those activities. Interest
in the program has skyrocketed. The program offered 125 events three years
ago; there will be 600 or more this year. Membership in the group has grown
from 963 in 2001 to more than 23,000 now and is still climbing. "It's a
program anyone can get involved with. It's for the young. It's for the old.
It doesn't make any difference what your disability is," Thomas said. "It's
been the greatest blessing in my life. It's just cool. It really is,
brother. It's awesome."

55. "Toy Guide Focuses on Special Needs Kids" dated 24 September 2006 by
JEFFREY GOLD from The Associated Press in The Washington Post at
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR200609240
0372.html?referrer=emailarticle>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR2006092400
372.html?referrer=emailarticle.

"Like most 5-year-olds, Nicholas loves to play. But not every toy is fun for
Nicholas, who is autistic. "It's hard to find something just for him. It's
pretty aggravating shopping for toys for him, at times," said his mother,
Jennifer Navarro. "Some toys that are meant for his age group are too
complicated, but some are too simple." Two years ago, Navarro got some help
in finding good choices for Nicholas by consulting a guide compiled by
experts at the nonprofit National Lekotek Center and distributed by the New
Jersey-based retailer, Toys R Us Inc. "I thought it was wonderful. I've
never seen anything like that before," said Navarro, 32. The latest version
of the free guide will be available Monday at Toys R Us stores and online.
The family, which lives in Naplate, Ill., did not have good luck with items
from catalogs aimed at special needs children. "He's advanced over a lot of
those and they don't hold his interest," Navarro said. And Nicholas also
wanted to play with toys like those used by his brother, Peyton, 3. Navarro
said the right toys help with the development of Nicholas, an active boy who
loves to play outside as well as with laptop computer learning toys such as
LeapPad. "If I gave him a set of blocks, instead of making a building or
making a castle, he will line them up from one end of the room to the
other," Navarro said, adding that this is typical of many autistic children.
Nicholas will also line up other toys, such as miniature cars. "He doesn't
play with them (toys) like other kids," Navarro said, so she has found toys
that help him learn to read and speak, including those that play rhyming Dr.
Seuss stories. The 85 toys in the guide are sold nationally, with just six
available only at Toys R Us stores, said company spokesman Kelly Cullen.
The company is printing 600,000 copies of the "Toy Guide for
Differently-Abled Kids," about 100,000 more than last year, and absorbing
all costs, which will not be disclosed, Cullen said. Wayne-based Toys R Us
started the guide in 1994. ..."

56. "Making vaccines worth it- The drugs are energizing profit for Big
Pharma" dated 24 September 2006 by Thomas Ginsberg from The Philadelphia
Inquirer at <http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/15592429.htm>
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/15592429.htm.

"Making vaccines to prevent disease and death, long a noble but low-profit
corner of the drug industry, is undergoing a major evolution. But it's
coming with a price. Since 1985, the number of illnesses preventable by
vaccines, from traditional scourges like diphtheria to newer targets like
cancer, has doubled and is still rising with scientific breakthroughs. At
the same time, just a handful of vaccine-makers now dominates the market,
and prices they charge Americans for the growing number of recommended shots
have risen from an inflation-adjusted $84 to almost $1,200 - a 14-fold
increase. Now, after decades priced below what most experts called their
actual value to society, vaccines at high prices are energizing profits for
several big pharmaceutical companies, including some Philadelphia-area firms
employing thousands of people. There is a flurry of research into new
vaccines and even "preventative therapies" for conditions like diabetes,
osteoporosis and cigarette addiction - all of which would command premium
prices. The rising prices, at the same time, are drawing scrutiny from the
public, insurers and regulators. For now, Americans are accepting the costs,
unlike some European countries that have balked, experts say. "Vaccines
really have been undervalued" at just a few dollars per dose, said Lance
Rodewald, head of immunization services at the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. "But new vaccines are not as cost-effective as the
old vaccines. The risk is always there that they could become" overpriced.
Sharon Levine, an associate medical director at Kaiser Permanente, the
California-based health insurer for 8.6 million people, said: "The question
is, what is a reasonable profit margin on that line of business, and how
does it get spread across the community?" Price is just one element of what
increasingly looks like a vaccine boom, with global sales predicted to grow
from $8 billion this year to $18 billion by 2010. Scientific breakthroughs
and a flood of government and charitable funding - much of it for Third
World epidemics and a potential flu pandemic - may be creating a bonanza in
a business that had become valued less for profit than for public health and
corporate image. ..."

57. "Giving Kids the Chaff: How to Find and Keep the Teachers We Need"
dated 25 September 2006 by Marie Gryphon from The CATO Institute at
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6700
<http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6700> .

"New research on the role that teachers play in student achievement is
demonstrating that higher- quality teachers can significantly improve
educational outcomes, especially among poor students. But finding and
retaining the best teachers remains a struggle for school administrators,
and political considerations often prevent school districts from attracting
and hiring high-quality teachers. Although many of the attributes that make
great teachers are elusive, school administrators seldom hire teachers
possessing the qualities that are known to boost student achievement. In
fact, high-ability teaching candidates may fare worse than their
lower-ability counterparts because of biases in the hiring and compensation
system, and they are more likely to leave the profession after a few years
for other careers. Across-the-board salary increases will not improve the
quality of the teaching profession as a whole because salary increases draw
more weak teaching applicants as well as strong ones, and dysfunctional
hiring processes prevent the best applicants from being chosen from an
enlarged applicant pool. Only new hiring policies that effectively separate
the wheat from the chaff can transform the teaching profession. But
administrators are unlikely to change their hiring practices unless they are
given real incentives to do so. In districts where school choice fosters
competition among schools, public school administrators seek out
higher-performing applicants and work harder to retain them. That effect is
especially pronounced in low-income districts and can meaningfully improve
educational outcomes for poor students. School choice can help improve the
quality of the teacher labor force, thereby boosting student achievement and
restoring meritocracy to the education system. ..."

58. "The Age of Autism: Rattled regulators" dated 26 September 2006 by Dan
Olmsted from United Press International at
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060918-015001-196
1r>
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060918-015001-1961
r.

"A shakeup at the CDC and the shaky performance of the FDA raise some
serious questions relevant to the debate over the huge rise in reported
cases of autism. Both federal agencies are key to assuring Americans -- and
particularly those whose children receive an ever-increasing load of
vaccines -- that there is no relationship whatsoever between the shots and
autism. But both agencies have come under fire this month in ways that make
you wonder how much confidence to have in their overall performance. First,
the Food and Drug Administration. The agency responsible for the safety and
efficacy of prescription drugs got walloped by the prestigious, independent
Institute of Medicine, whose "often damning" conclusions portrayed an agency
"rife with internal squabbles and hobbled by underfinancing, poor management
and outdated regulations," according to a lead story in The New York Times.
To be fair, the study was commissioned by the FDA itself, which said in a
statement that "substantial work" to remedy the problems has already been
done. But consider two of the IOM's four main findings: -- "There is a
perception of crisis that has compromised the credibility of FDA and of the
pharmaceutical industry." -- "FDA and the pharmaceutical industry do not
consistently demonstrate accountability and transparency to the public by
communicating safety concerns in a timely and effective fashion." This
column has pointed out several examples of that -- including our series
titled "Pox," about concerns that the new, combined
measles-mumps-rubella-chickenpox shot might be triggering autistic
regression in susceptible children. Two children in small clinical trials
of the four vaccines subsequently were diagnosed with autism. But
manufacturer Merck & Co. acknowledged that the cases from Olympia, Wash.,
weren't reported to the FDA until after the drug was approved last year.
The FDA didn't bother to respond to our questions about those cases -- a
lack of "accountability and transparency" of the first order. The FDA seems
to have a siege mentality whereby legitimate questions about drug safety are
sometimes treated as insults that are beneath comment. Perhaps, with the
IOM report on the table, that will start to change. Now to the CDC. The
agency both recommends the childhood immunization schedule and monitors
vaccine safety. In July, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., introduced
legislation to take the safety function away from the CDC. "There's an
enormous conflict of interest within the CDC and if we fail to move vaccine
safety out of the CDC, public confidence in the safety of vaccines will
continue to erode," said Weldon, a medical doctor. ..."

59. "Allen Brain Atlas has Enormous Potential to Help Unlock the Mysteries
of Neurological Diseases and Disorders Affecting Millions Worldwide" dated
26 September 2006 in a press release from the Allen Institute for Brain
Science at http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060926/sftu010.html?.v=68
<http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060926/sftu010.html?.v=68> .

"The completion of the Allen Institute for Brain Science's inaugural project
signals a remarkable leap forward in one of the last frontiers of medical
science -- the brain. The Institute today announced the completion of the
groundbreaking Allen Brain Atlas, a Web-based, three-dimensional map of gene
expression in the mouse brain. Detailing more than 21,000 genes at the
cellular level, the Atlas provides scientists with a level of data
previously not available. Since humans share more than 90 percent of their
genes with mice, the Atlas offers profound opportunity to further
understanding of human disorders and diseases such as Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism and addiction. About 26 percent
of American adults -- close to 58 million people -- suffer from a
diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. "This project is an
unprecedented union of neuroscience and genomics," said philanthropist and
Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, who provided $100 million in seed money
to launch the Allen Institute for Brain Science and its first project, the
Allen Brain Atlas, in 2003. "The comprehensive information provided by the
Atlas will help lead scientists to new insights and propel the field of
neuroscience forward dramatically." Publicly available at no cost, the map
shows which genes are active -- or "expressed" -- within the brain and which
regions and cells they are expressed in, thereby linking them to particular
brain functions. "This is a multidisciplinary project of unprecedented
scale," said Allan Jones, the Institute's chief scientific officer. "It
combines the scientific disciplines of math, physics, neuroscience, and
genomics to define where those 21,000 genes are expressed and activated in
the brain. There's no other information set like this." ..."

60. "Scientists Decode Molecular Details Of Genetic Defect That Causes
Autism" dated 26 September 2006 from <http://www.mpg.de/>
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany in Science Daily.com at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm> .

"Using an animal model,
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm#> brain
researchers in Göttingen have examined the effects of mutations that cause
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm#> autism in
humans. These are mutations in the genes which carry the building
instructions for proteins in the neuroligin family. The study published in
the scientific journal Neuron (September 21, 2006) shows that neuroligins
ensure that signal transmission between nerve cells functions. In the brain
of genetically altered mice without neuroligins, the contact points at which
the nerve cells communicate, the synapses, do not mature. The researchers
assume that similar malfunctions are experienced by autistic patients.
Autism is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses. Around 0.5 percent
of all young children have a syndrome belonging to the "autistic spectrum".
The main symptoms of this developmental malfunction are delayed language
development or no language development at all, disturbed social behaviour
and repetitive behaviour patterns. In many patients, the disease is
accompanied by mental
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm#> disability.
Autistic individuals exhibiting high intelligence or outstanding skills in a
particular area, called "savants", such as the main character in the film
"Rain Man", are rare. Even up to the middle of the last century,
exceptionally cold emotional behaviour on the part of the mother was given
as the cause for autism. However, the "refrigerator mom" theory has now been
refuted. The belief widely held in the 1990s that the measles,
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm#> mumps and
rubella vaccine could cause autism in small children has no scientific basis
at all. Today, it is clear that genetic factors are the major cause of the
illness. Studies of
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925143554.htm#> identical
twins have been particularly convincing in demonstrating this fact - the
probability that the identical twin of an autistic person will also be
autistic lies between 80 and 95 percent. ..."

61. "Autism Speaks Lauds Congressional Approval of Landmark $7.5 Million
Military Appropriation for Autism Research- Years of Advocacy Result in
Legislation Creating First Department of Defense-Sponsored Medical Research
Program for Autism" dated 26 September 2006 in a press release from Autism
Speaks at http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/dod_autism_funding_approved.php
<http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/dod_autism_funding_approved.php> .

"Autism Speaks, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness
of autism and raising money to fund autism research, today praised Congress
for including a $7.5 million line item for Department of Defense-funded
autism research in the final Fiscal 2007 Department of Defense
Appropriations bill. The bill now goes to the President for his signature.
This newly-created Department of Defense research program will complement
the autism research funding already sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health. Each year the Department of Defense invests tens of millions of
dollars in various medical research programs. In FY 2005, for example, the
DOD funded breast cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer research
initiatives. This appropriation measure marks the first time such spending
has been directed toward research into autism, a disorder that now affects
one in every 166 children. Based on the most recent prevalence estimates,
at least 4,600 children and minor dependents of active duty families have
autism, and the cost of their treatment exceeds $200 million per year.
Autism Speaks has been advocating for military spending to support autism
research for more than three years, beginning with the efforts of the
National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), the organization it merged
with in February 2006. This initiative was also supported by several other
leading autism organizations. "This appropriation represents an historic
moment for the autism community," said Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism
Speaks. "We are succeeding in getting our elected officials to recognize the
scope of the autism epidemic and the need for more money to effectively
fight this battle in the laboratory." "Our volunteers have worked
tirelessly to ensure that their voices were heard on Capitol Hill," said Ann
Gibbons, a member of the Autism Speaks board of directors who has led the
organization's efforts on this issue. "We thank the members of Congress and
their staff members who took the time to meet with us and listened to our
urgent call for increased autism funding." ..."

62. "Autism debate goes digital" dated 26 September 2006 by LIDIA WASOWICZ
from United Press International at
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060926-043432-994
7r>
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060926-043432-9947
r.

"With neither side ceding, the war of words, and mindsets, over the causes
of autism continues -- in full view of the Web-surfing world. Making use of
digital communication that gives them unprecedented access to a global
audience, the challengers of orthodoxy question the validity of studies that
nix a connection between autism and vaccines. For its part, the much larger
group supporting such research results also has an online outlet on the
numerous public health, pediatric group and university sites the medical
establishment urges parents to visit. As it stands, despite mounting and
often-cited evidence mainstream medicine maintains its acquittal of vaccines
in the rise of autism diagnoses in America's children, the minority movement
convinced of their culpability is growing in number, momentum and tenacity.
When in May 2004 the esteemed independent Institute of Medicine -- a
component of the National Academy of Sciences that serves as the country's
premier science adviser -- judged theories trouncing the mercury-based
preservative thimerosal once widely used in childhood vaccines and those
implicating the measles-mumps-rubella shot to be scientifically
unsupportable and urged investigators to turn their attention to more
"promising" areas of research, many considered it a coup de grace to the
vaccine-autism proposition. They couldn't have been more wrong. One year
to the month later, in a highly visible show of no confidence in the
conclusions, the freshly minted Generation Rescue launched a nationwide
campaign to resurrect the theory many thought had been laid to rest. During
a news conference called in San Francisco to mark the event, as well as its
own formation, the organization rejected the vaccine-clearing findings as
based on "vastly manipulated epidemiological studies." Instead, the
advocates offered their own take on the causes of autism -- in a full-page
ad appearing in leading U.S. newspapers. "Autism is preventable and
reversible," the defiant headline proclaimed. "It is critical that we have
all the facts about this epidemic, including recent developments about
autism's relationship to mercury poisoning and how the right detoxification
treatment can entirely reverse the disorder." The ad then invited readers
to visit the Web site of the group "founded for parents by parents (and)
dedicated to empowering parents with the truth to help their children heal."
Just what that truth is depends on who you ask and, in the end, on who you
trust. For parents torn by persuasive forces pulling in opposite
directions, that can be a tough call -- one that leaves little room for
error, considering its potentially life-altering consequences. Misjudging
the evidence, believing in the wrong cause can condemn a child to needless
suffering. The mercury-malady relation may be in dispute, but that the
ambiguity hurts children is not. If the vast and venerable majority is
right, thousands of youngsters undergoing the detoxifying chelation
technique advocated by groups like Generation Rescue are being unnecessarily
exposed to a process most mainstream physicians regard as ineffective at
best and risky, even potentially deadly, in the worst-case scenario. If the
small but significant contingent of parents, doctors and their supporters
have the answer, then thousands others are struggling with an ailment that
could be alleviated with an already available therapy. It is a dilemma
unfamiliar to past generations, which rarely questioned whether "doctor
knows best" -- but all too common for modern-day families who, in the
absence of clear-cut answers, may no longer be certain where to turn for
advice. ..."

63. "Seeking allies in autism fight" dated 28 September 2006 by LIDIA
WASOWICZ from United Press International at
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060928-042439-2141
r
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060928-042439-214
1r> .

"Parents' push for progress in autism research and discovery has meant a
pull for political allies. As families of children with the disorder and
their supporters appear before federal committee hearings and state health
panel reviews to demand long-overdue attention and action, some
congressional and community leaders are starting to line up behind their
cause. Among others, Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a medical doctor and
persistent critic of the use of thimerosal in vaccines, has sponsored
legislation to ban the mercury-based preservative from flu shots. The
compound has been phased out of most childhood vaccines. Rep. Dan Burton,
R-Ind., called congressional hearings in April 2002, when he was chairman of
the House Government Reform Committee, to investigate an autism link to
childhood vaccines after his grandson was diagnosed with the disorder.
Regardless of its scientific merit, the idea of a vaccine connection to the
disorder appears to have garnered broad grassroots interest, he said, noting
47 percent of parents who contacted their representatives believe in such a
link. Among those testifying, Dr. Andrew Wakefield -- whose controversial
research suggests the measles virus may be linked to inflammatory bowel
disease in children with developmental disorders -- described finding traces
of the microorganism in the small intestines of 75 of 91 youngsters with
autism but in only five of 70 children without the disorder. Although the
study did not look at the role of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and in
fact did not even determine whether the children had received the
immunization, it set off a wave of speculation implicating the attenuated
virus contained in the shot in neurodevelopmental disorders -- a notion the
American Medical Association and other major health groups discount.
Perhaps because the stakes are so high or the passions run so deep, in the
last decade few pediatric disorders have managed to capture as much
attention on the political stage and in the popular and professional press
as has autism. Even so, fewer still leave so many vital issues fluttering
in the wind of uncertainty. When it comes to this perplexing disorder,
which affects an estimated 48 million people worldwide, questions of causes,
cures and even counts continue to elicit an unsettlingly diverse range of
interpretations. This is troublesome because disagreement on one key piece
of the puzzle translates to lack of consensus on the bigger picture. Getting
a fix on the range of a problem, for example, is a critical step toward
reaching its roots and rectifying its remedies. ..."

64. "Autistic teen's stolen tryke has been found" dated 28 September 2006
from WOOD8 News at http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5462631
<http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5462631&nav=0Rcd> &nav=0Rcd.

"24 Hour News 8 helped in the recovery of a teenager's stolen tryke. Cody
Shupe is autistic with Asperger syndrome, which means he is highly
functional, but still disabled. He delivers newspapers and needs his special
bike in order to do his job. As Cody was on his route Monday on Woodward
Avenue in Wyoming, he walked up to a house to deliver a paper, turned
around, and noticed his tryke was gone. Cody says he saw the thief ride away
and then called the Wyoming Police Department. Holding true to his word at
work, Cody finished his route, using a baby buggy. Tuesday morning, when 24
Hour News 8 heard about the missing tryke, we contacted police who said the
Fraternal Order of Police in Grandville and Wyoming is willing to look into
replacing Cody's bike if wasn't found. "That would be good, so my mom
wouldn't have to pay too much money," Cody told us Tuesday afternoon. After
24 Hour News 8 aired the story about the missing tryke, the Wyoming Police
Department called us to say the bike was found. We then called Cody's
family. They said a woman, who watched our story, called police to say she
recognized the bike at a neighbor's home. When officers arrived, they saw
some kids playing with Cody's bike. Police questioned the kids, who told
"he-said/she-said" stories about what happened. "A lady near the Wyoming
Library found it then called us. We called her and said thank you," Cody
said. Cody's mother told 24 Hour News 8 that they have plans to meet with
the woman. Police returned the bike, which was banged up and missing its
horn, back to an ecstatic Cody. Officers say no charges will be filed."

65. "Police, firefighters get help with the autistic" dated 28 September
2006 from CBC News (Canada) at
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2006/09/28/autistic-hel
p.html>
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2006/09/28/autistic-help
.html.

"When you're autistic, it's easy to be misunderstood. A P.E.I. mother and
her autistic son wanted to do what they could to keep any misunderstanding
from leading to trouble. Janet Norman-Bain and her son, Alex Bain, spent
much of the summer raising money to bring Dennis Debbaudt, a speaker
specializing in how to deal with autistic people, from the United States to
Charlottetown to have a session with local law enforcement and fire
personnel. Norman-Bain wants police and other emergency responders to
recognize the disability - and know what to do - for the sake of the safety
of her son. "He's independent and out in the community now, but may not
have the verbal skills that are expected," Norman-Bain told CB

(Message over 64k, truncated.)