Free Republic

When Brice Glattfelder was about 3 years old, his mother was warned that he might never tie his own shoes. He was 10 when he learned despite his autism to tie his shoes, but he did learn. Educating and life-skills training come slowly to Brice, whose avid interests include football, garbage cans and cement trucks. For his last birthday, his 16th, his mother Katie said, “All he wanted was a bag of cement, and that’s what he got.” There is something else that he’s wanted. Months ago, Brice, who’s now 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, told Katie he knew it probably...

Black Queen Tosses Her Daughter, 4, In The River Because She Couldn't Handle Her Being Autistic!

A “fist bump” and a selfie may have ended Marcus Knight’s educational career right as it started. The student, who has autism, cerebral palsy and a shunt to relieve fluid pressure on his brain, was not allowed to defend himself against allegations in two Title IX investigations this past fall, his mother told The College Fix.

A 12-year-old boy with autism is at risk of losing his two service ducks after officials in his Michigan town allegedly received complaints about the animals from neighbors. Dylan Dyke, of Georgetown Township, keeps his two ducks, named Nibbles and Bill, in a pen behind the family’s home, WOODTV.com reported. “These ducks are his everything,” Jen Dyke, the boy’s mother, told the news outlet. “They’re his whole life.”

Researchers are hailing a breakthrough after they used cutting-edge gene editing to to significantly reduce repetitive behaviour associated with the disorder. The technique, which was performed on mice, could also be developed to treat conditions ranging from opioid addiction and neuropathic pain to schizophrenia and epileptic seizures. Scientists injected gold nanoparticles covered in a “forest” of DNA chains to alter the  the genetic code of mouse models with a form of autism called fragile X syndrome (FXS). The technique, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, resulted in in a 30 per cent drop in repetitive digging, and a 70 reduction in leaping, both...

The ability to focus on detail, a common trait among people with autism, allowed realism to flourish in Ice Age art, according to researchers at the University of York. Around 30,000 years ago realistic art suddenly flourished in Europe. Extremely accurate depictions of bears, bison, horses and lions decorate the walls of Ice Age archaeological sites such as Chauvet Cave in southern France. Why our ice age ancestors created exceptionally realistic art rather than the very simple or stylised art of earlier modern humans has long perplexed researchers. Many have argued that psychotropic drugs were behind the detailed illustrations. The...

(KUTV) — A 12-year-old autistic boy was placed in a Juvenile Detention Center on Monday after brandishing an imaginary rifle at his art teacher, FOX 26 reports. The 5th grade teacher reportedly felt threatened by the child, identified as David Sims, who was arrested by a school police officer. "She (the officer) just put handcuffs on me and told me I need to go with her," Sims said. "They just said, 'We don't tolerate that. We take it as a threat,'" said Amy Sims, the boy's mother. "A threat? He didn't threaten anyone. He didn't do anything but play." Amy...

PICTURED: The grandfather suspected of shooting dead his wife, their daughter and her four autistic children in horror murder-suicide - as police say his former son-in-law was not involved Grandfather Peter Miles is suspected of murdering his wife, their daughter and her four autistic children They were all found dead at the family farm in Osmington, 15km from Western Australia's Margaret River It is believed Peter Miles, called police at 5am (local time) before turning the gun on himself Children's father Aaron Cockman, is not being investigated by police despite marriage breakup with his wifePolice reportedly suspect a grandfather of...

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about autism and ADD is that more than a decade into this public health crisis, our best, smartest government scientists and public health officials still say they have no idea what's causing it. Scary stuff, when parents having a child today realize there's at least an estimated 1 in 150 chance their child will have an autism disorder (1 in 90 if it's a boy). While the government has been utterly unable to stop it, or even tell us what is causing it, they say they do know one thing: it's not vaccines. But today,...

"Like many people with autism, Greg Demer is bright but has difficulty communicating. He has a passion for the history of military aircraft, but he can’t quite keep up a conversation with new people. When he meets someone, he’ll quote from movies or ask them about their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. His mother, Linda Demer, worried that he wouldn’t be able to make complicated decisions about his finances and health care once he turned 18. So, in 2005, a judge in Los Angeles, where they live, granted her conservatorship over Greg. “I wanted to protect him,” she said of...

Exposures of pregnant women and children to common thyroid-hormone-disrupting toxins may be linked to the increased incidence of brain development disorders, according to a review published in Endocrine Connections. The review describes how numerous, common chemicals can interfere with normal thyroid hormone actions, which are essential for normal brain development in foetuses and young children, and suggests a need for greater public health intervention. We have reviewed the documented exposures of pregnant women and children to mixtures of thyroid-hormone-disrupting chemicals and propose that the data sets provide a plausible link to the recent increased incidence of neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism...

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, found that people's erroneous beliefs about an association between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism were a predictor of people's lessened intention to get a Zika vaccine. The study also found that people's perceptions of the severity of the Zika virus as well as their general belief in the power of science to solve problems increased their intention to get the vaccine. "When a new disease arises, people who lack understanding of the new threat may extrapolate from their knowledge of other diseases," said Yotam Ophir. "We found...

RUSH: Yesterday was the annual Ernie Els for Autism charity golf tournament, and it’s always held at Old Palm. Ernie puts this tournament on in conjunction with my old buddy Marvin Shanken of Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazines. The beneficiary of this is an autism school and center that Ernie and his wife Liezl have started up, and it’s gotten bigger than they ever dreamed it would be, as has this tournament. It attracts PGA Tour pros from all over the state of Florida, on a day off for them, and it attracts a lot of donors. And it’s...

Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, not content to do slap and tickle histories, has gone on to trivialize a malady that afflicts millions. "Nancy MacLean, the Duke University historian who wrote Democracy in Chains, the deeply conspiratorial and much-criticized biography of public choice economist James Buchanan, told an audience in New York last week that Buchanan and other early leaders of the limited-government movement 'seem to be on the autism spectrum,'" Robby Soave reports on Reason.com. "According to MacLean, there is a connection between autism and libertarianism, and that connection is not feeling 'solidarity or empathy,' and having 'kind of...

Are you concerned that your child might be autistic and want to know right away? Here is the latest in autism research that could be helpful in answering your questions including a possible blood test for Autism. Health experts are in agreement that the sooner you and your pediatrician know whether your child is autistic, the better are their chances of receiving the help they need to aid their social and mental development. Unfortunately, however, diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be difficult, and is primarily done by observing a child's behavior and development to make a diagnosis. A diagnosis...

"The parents of special needs children are especially vulnerable to state intervention."This mom's story in The Washington Post will kick anyone in the gut. Texas writer May Cobb was out for a day with her mom, her husband, and their autistic 5-year-old who, miraculously, was doing great. By great, Cobb explained, she meant he had not had a single meltdown during the hour they were at a park and on the boardwalk near Lady Bird Lake in Austin. He hadn't stripped off all his clothes, and he wasn't banging his head over and over again. Sure, his hair was messy—his...

Many studies have identified variations in the genetic code that seem to be more common in people with psychiatric disorders. This approach goes a step further to show how genes are more or less active in the brains of people with various conditions. The study confirmed that genetic variations contributed to the patterns of activity in the brains, but as the authors wrote, “there is undoubtedly a contribution from environmental effects.” Psychiatric disorders have some overlapping symptoms, making them difficult to diagnose. The molecular signatures in the new study suggested that schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism have dysfunctional synapses, the points of...

"We do not need to go to war with America. America is committing collective suicide," Vladimir Putin told his assembly members recently. "We just have to wait until they are all in the psychiatric hospital," the Russian President said. Putin pointed to the "way they are using electricity" to define what he sees as a death spiral trend for the country that once considered the Russian threat to be at an end. International authority on the dangers of electromagnetic fields (EMF), Dr. Dietrick Klinghardt says America is racing itself to extinction because of three horrible, self-imposed threats, namely Autism, Alzheimer's...

Autism, Vaccines, Heavy Metals, Mercury & Chelation Wellness

A new study published in the September 2014 volume of the Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology reveals a significant correlation between autism disorder (AD) and MMR, Varicella (chickenpox) and Hepatitis-A vaccines. Using statistical analysis and data from the US Government, UK, Denmark and Western Australia, scientists at Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute (SCPI) found that increases in autistic disorder correspond with the introduction of vaccines using human fetal cell lines and retroviral contaminants. vaccineEven more alarming, Dr Theresa Deisher, lead scientist and SCPI founder noted that, “Not only are the human fetal contaminated vaccines associated with autistic disorder throughout the...