Mon Feb 08, 2010
Older Moms / Older Dads
A while back I listed an article that cited older dads had a higher likelihood of fathering an autistic child.
Not to be outdone, today CNN lists the same story line but this time puts the onus on older moms. In any event, I think it's having our reproductive organs battered by the environment for an extended period of time that helps increase the likelihood of an autistic child. I suppose it is one potential caution note for having children later in life.
Older mothers' kids have higher autism risk, study findsBy Madison Park and Miriam Falco, CNN
February 8, 2010 10:12 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- A 10-year study examining 4.9 million births in the 1990s has found more evidence that there's a link between autism and the mother's age at conception.
"The risk of having a child with full syndrome autism increases with maternal age," concluded researchers at the University of California, Davis, who examined data from all births in their state for the decade. The findings are published in the February issue of the journal Autism Research. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/08/autism.mother.age.risks/index.html?hpt=C2
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Wed Feb 03, 2010
California Autism Rates
An interesting study that is watered down by the journalist's subjectivity running amok. To paraphrase her less than subtle thesis "There is no autism epidemic, it's only folks with money trying to get an autism label for their kids to save money." As if that made any frickin sense at all.
I'm presenting it more for the facts and the map than for the narrative commentary.
L.A. Confidential: Seeking Reasons for Autism's Rise By MELINDA BECK
Researchers from Columbia University, in a study published in the current Journal of Health & Place, identified an area including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and some less posh neighborhoods that accounted for 3% of the state's new cases of autism every year from 1993 to 2001, even though it had only 1% of the population.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703422904575039351632663996.html?mod=WSJ-hpp-MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
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Mon Feb 01, 2010
DT Trainer
My boys have been using the DT Trainer off and on for about five years now. Right now, Michael really enjoys it. What I like about the DT Trainer is the ease with which you can change up the programs and the reinforcers, so the options grow with the child. Quite frankly, we can't afford endless hours of therapy, so this is a nice compliment to the tutoring the boys are getting at school and at home.
Well, that's my free plug. If you ever speak to Karl Smith, the founder, tell him hello for me.
http://www.dttrainer.com/jos/
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