USAAA Aligns With TouchPoint Autism Services
Prominent Autism Organizations Collaborate for USAAA 2010 World Conference
 SALT LAKE CITY, UT - April 23, 2010 - US Autism & Asperger Association, Inc. (USAAA) holds its 5th annual World Conference in St. Louis, Missouri October 1-3, 2010. Some of the world’s most renowned autism experts will present new interventions and new research in both education and medicine. USAAA is collaborating with TouchPoint Autism Services to host the upcoming conference, which will be held at the Hilton St. Louis Airport Hotel.
"Featured speakers include Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Martha Herbert, and Dr. Stephen Shore, plus nine special panel workshops." |
“USAAA is very excited to be aligned with TouchPoint Autism Services, a Missouri based non-profit organization whose mission is to make a real difference in the quality of life of individuals with autism,” said Lawrence P. Kaplan, PhD, author, researcher and CEO of USAAA. “The main focus of our conference is ‘Autism Education and Treatment: A Path to Wellness’ and bringing families together through support, hope, possibilities and solutions.”
Click here for the entire USAAA Aligns With TouchPoint Autism Services press release.
Click here to visit the USAAA conference web site.
Autism Awareness: There are more than just five senses
Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse
boston.com
Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is not technically an autism spectrum disorder -- making it difficult to address on an IEP -- but many children with autism also have some symptoms of SPD, which is why I'm writing about it under the "Autism Awareness" heading.
"Neuroscientist Dr. Jean Ayres compared SPD to a neurological "traffic jam," |
One of the things we learn early on in school is that we all have five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. But as Hartley Steiner, author of This is Gabriel Making Sense of School, points out on her blog, Hartley's Life with 3 Boys, there are actually seven. In addition to the five we learn about as kids (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell) there are two more -- vestibular and proprioceptive. And those are the ones that pose a particular problem for some kids who have SPD and are on the autism spectrum.
Click here for more information on Autism Awareness: There are more than just five senses.
Workers with Asperger Syndrome or autism can fill workplace needs
Kansas City Star
 Do you need a worker who pays attention to detail? Who will do tedious data entry job? Who won’t waste time gossiping?
You might find that you need someone with autism or Asperger Syndrome.
"But when advocates for hiring such individuals visit with employers, they often run into stumbling blocks |
This is National Autism Month. Advocates have geared up to share sobering statistics about the increasing numbers of children with the diagnosis.
Adults with autism or its milder form, Asperger’s, have a hard time finding jobs now. What will the jobless rate be for that group when — if current statistics are correct — the 1 in 110 children who have autism try to become employed? “
As it is now, lots of people with autism or Asperger’s are looking for full-time jobs, but their gifts are not recognized,” says Sean Swindler, director of community program development at the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training. “Our challenge is finding jobs that fit them.”
Swindler tells of a successful job placement: A man with autism works in a bank, running cash from the tellers’ windows to the vaults.
Click here for more information on Workers with Asperger Syndrome or autism can fill workplace needs.
Translating the Puzzle of Autism into Treatment
By Sarah A. Webb
 After graduating from Yale University and earning her medical degree at Harvard Medical School, Shafali Jeste did a child neurology residency at Children's Hospital Boston. Toward the end of that residency, she realized she wanted to do research focused on autism. "I just saw these kids, and I was fascinated by them," she says of her young autistic patients. "I couldn't believe that we didn't understand what was going on in their brains to make them work like that."
"It's really one thing to read about a set of symptoms and symptom clusters, but it's a whole other issue when you see it actually play out in somebody's life." --David Shirinyan |
So Jeste designed a clinical fellowship in behavioral child neurology, funded with a Researcher-in-Training Award from the Child Neurology Foundation, working with Harvard developmental neuroscientist Charles Nelson. In Nelson's lab, she learned methods for assessing brain activity -- electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking -- to help her understand the formation of neural connections in the brains of infants and toddlers.
Click here for more information on Translating the Puzzle of Autism into Treatment.
When language is blocked, music may offer detour
By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Boston Globe
 Lee and Mary-Helen Black had nearly given up hope their son would speak.
Physically, Tripp was fine, crawling, standing, and walking on schedule. But language eluded him. Lee Black vividly recalled when Tripp, nearly 2, sat in his highchair and tried to sing a children’s song. He started to say “head,’’ then faltered, as if the word had crumbled out of his grasp.
"For his mother, that simple exchange was huge — Tripp had spontaneously used his voice, joining in a bedtime ritual. |
“I watched him freeze,’’ his father said.“That was the ultimate moment.’’
Tripp was later diagnosed with autism, a disorder that can impair children’s ability to speak. Despite years of therapy, he did not talk.
Then last fall, at age 8, he began an experimental program that coaxes speech using singing, movement, and imitation. After 10 weeks, he could say “mama,’’ “dada,’’ “bubbles,’’ and “bye.’
Click here for more information on When language is blocked, music may offer detour.
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 Click here to SHOP Our Partners Now! Donations from our partners will enable the US Autism & Asperger Association to enhance the quality of life of individuals and their families/caregivers touched by autism spectrum disorders and provide educational and family support through conferences/seminars and published and electronic mediums.
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