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With 1 in 68 people on the autism spectrum, most churches will encounter a number of people of various ages and backgrounds who are autistic. I am autistic and a Christian, and my faith is a very important part of my life. As a child, I had little use of language and was very “typically autistic.” But as an adult, I learned to use language, and now I teach churches worldwide about autism. I work with leaders from the Church of England, and I wrote their national autism guidelines at the request of the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend...

For families dealing with autism, going to church can be difficult. Children with autism often struggle in new environments. Large crowds of people can be overwhelming to them. They are often bothered by certain noises, bright lights and even smells. Many of the individuals have limited verbal skills. There are safety issues for those who have a tendency to wander. I have talked to way too many families who said, “it is just too hard, so we don’t go” or “we can’t find a church willing to accept our child.” What a terrible shame. The families are not to blame....

Have you ever heard of a church that turned away a little boy because he had red hair? What if a mother was greeted at the children’s ministry check-in with news her redheaded son had to go back home? No, you can’t imagine. If any church ever sent home a child because of their natural hair color it would make the evening news! Now, have you ever heard of a church that turned away a little boy because he was on the autism spectrum? What if a mother was greeted at church check-in with the news that her son with autism couldn’t be...

I’ve written previously (here and here) about the possible connection between autism and vaccines made with aborted fetal cells. Now, the September issue of the prestigious Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology has published a study conducted by scientists at Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute that shows an spike in autism in country after country where vaccines using fetal cells from aborted babies have been introduced. The implicated vaccines are MMR (measles/mumps/rubella), Varicella (chickenpox), and Hepatitis A. Using data from the U.S. government, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Western Australia, researchers found a spike in autism around the world after vaccines using...

Police are investigating after a group of teens in Bay Village, Ohio, allegedly tricked an autistic 15-year-old into creating an ice bucket challenge video, then dousing him with urine, feces, spit, and cigarette butts. The video was filmed on the boy's cell phone and posted to Instagram, according to his mother, Diane. (Local news outlet WJW withheld the family's last name to protect the boy's identity.) The victim's brother, Jacob, told WJW: I mean, the first thing that popped into my mind was like, why could someone – how could someone do this? How could someone really be this cruel...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-AUGUST 27,2014 STATEMENT OF WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, Ph.D., REGARDING THE 2004 ARTICLE EXAMINING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where I have worked since 1998. I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report...

A UC Riverside-led team of researchers says it has found conclusive evidence that a naturally produced enzyme in the body is responsible for autism and other neurological disorders in people with Fragile X syndrome. Fragile X is a mutation of the X chromosome associated with obsessive-compulsive and repetitive behaviors as well as learning deficits. People affected by Fragile X have been shown to have structural differences in brain cells, such as underdeveloped neural receptors. :snip: The study is the cover story for the latest edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. :snip: Often, such discoveries are the first step in a...

At a time when election officials are struggling to convince more Americans to vote, advocates for the disabled say thousands of people with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and other intellectual or developmental disabilities have been systematically denied that basic right in the nation’s largest county. A Voting Rights Act complaint to be filed Thursday with the U.S. Justice Department goes to a politically delicate subject that states have grappled with over the years: Where is the line to disqualify someone from the voting booth because of a cognitive or developmental impairment? The complaint by the Disability and Abuse Project...

The Maryland teen who admitted to torturing an autistic boy while and filming the abuse has been sent to a juvenile facility where she'll stay for up to four years. Lauren Bush, 17, pleaded guilty in juvenile court last month to distribution of an obscene video and second-degree assault. Under her sentence, she'll be released before she turns 21, NBC Washington reported. Her case was moved from an adult court — where she faced up to 80 years in prison — to the juvenile system. The lighter sentence outraged the victim's father, who wanted the high school junior punished as...

In the study, researchers administered a dose of suramin to 25 male mice, whereas another 25 males received a saline injection instead. All mice were "maternal immune activation mouse models," meaning animals that exhibit autism-like behaviors following a virus infection in their mothers during pregnancy. This single dose, the researchers report, corrected the social behaviors seen in autism spectrum disorder. The mice, for instance, spent more time interacting with both mice and objects they had never interacted with before, compared to those injected with a saline solution. The benefits lasted for five weeks after the drug was washed out of...

Exposure to environmental pollution may cause brain changes that make people more vulnerable to developing autism or schizophrenia, according to a new study published in Environmental Heath Perspectives. This research falls in line with a 2013 study published in JAMA Psychiatry, which demonstrated an epidemiological link between pollution and autism; the researchers found that children who lived in areas with high levels of traffic pollution seemed to be more likely to be diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder. […] While most research on pollution focuses on large-particle pollution—the only type monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—this research focused on the...

RICHMOND (KPIX) — A father followed his 9-year-old autistic son onto the school bus Friday morning and attacked his son’s bully, said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. Burnis Hurd, 44, is charged with 273 D, which is child abuse and corporal injury to a child. He is in jail on $50,000 bond. After they boarded the bus, the son pointed out an 11 year old boy who had been bullying the 9-year old, Gagan said.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)COVINGTON, La. —A Covington teen with autism is recovering in the hospital after he was knocked out in what some people call the "knockout game." The boy was struck so hard his jaw was broken in two places and he underwent surgery. "He has autism he would never hurt anybody," said a Covington mother who did not want to be identified. The woman believes her son was the victim of the knockout game. The 17-year-old is still recovering from a blow he never saw coming. "They cannot think that its OK, because it's not, and I don't want them to...

We don’t have a gun problem in this country. We have a brain problem. And it is going to get worse. After reading just some of this killer’s autobiography, only up to age 12, I am starting to believe that we need to STOP MAINSTREAMING kids with asperger’s or highly functioning autism. And I have a son with it, same age as this guy. His childhood parallels my son’s except: I DIDNT FORCE HIM INTO SCHOOL. By 4th grade he was homeschooled all the way through. You will not see my son in the news for killing people. First, the...

The killers online manifesto. He wanted to kill a year ago.

MRI images from a neurotypical control (left) and an adult with complete agenesis of the corpus callosum (right). The corpus callosum is indicated in red, fading as the fibers enter the hemispheres in order to suggest that they continue on. The anterior commissure is indicated by light aqua. The image illustrates the dramatic lack of inter hemispheric connections in callosal agenesis. Credit: Lynn Paul/Caltech (Medical Xpress)—Building on their prior work, a team of neuroscientists at Caltech now report that rare patients who are missing connections between the left and right sides of their brain—a condition known as agenesis of...

...'forced him into a dog cage and poured syrup and kitty litter over him' A six-year-old boy whose mother forced him into a dog cage then poured syrup and kitty litter on him was rescued after neighbors heard him screaming, 'Do you love me?' to his abuser, authorities said. The boy's mother, Crystal Jean Hostetter, 24, and her long-term girlfriend, Sarah Elizabeth McClain, 30, allegedly abused the boy - who has psychological issues and does not like sticky substances - for two hours on Saturday. Neighbors witnessed the treatment and alerted authorities. The two women, from Douglasville, Georgia, appeared in...

Researchers say stem cells could lead them to the right drug to treat autismUC San Diego scientists say they've made a breakthrough in autism research. Researchers found using stem cells can help them find the right drug to treat the disorder. NBC 7's Liberty Zabala explains how the research could one day lead to a cure. Autistic stem cells are starting respond to experimental drugs in what San Diego researchers are calling a breakthrough in the disorder affecting one in 68 children. UC San Diego scientists took stem cells from children with autism and reprogrammed them into brain cells. “It...

Children with autism relieved of symptoms following therapy that includes camel milkDubai: Can camel milk help children with autism? Two American mothers who sourced camel milk from the Middle East say it definitely can, citing circumstantial evidence of their children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) responding positively after therapy that included camel milk. Author Christina Adams shared her camel milk story with XPRESS following a meet-up organised by Autism UAE, Stepping Stones, Child EIMC and Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products (EICMP) at The Majlis Dubai, a new camel milk cafe next to Jumeirah Mosque. American-born Zeba Khan,...

A new Johns Hopkins study discovers an association between prenatal exposure to antidepressant medications, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and developmental delays (DD) in boys. Researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health found that early prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — commonly prescribed for depression, anxiety, and other disorders — increased the risk for ASD three-fold. Common SSRIs include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), and sertraline (Zoloft). The study of 1,000 mother-child pairs is published in the online edition of Pediatrics. In the study, investigators analyzed data from large samples of ASD and...