autism

Deborah Skouson called to her Facebook friends to help her out after a minor emergency. Her daughter, Cami, who has autism, is fixated on one particular shirt – a pink short-sleeved cotton tee with flower designs all over it. Cami had recently worn out the top, and it had been discontinued. Skouson asked her friends online if they could help track down an exact replica of the shirt, and in kind, she was sent 161 shirts. It’s safe to say that Cami won’t be wearing them out any time soon. [1]

The number of Zika cases spread by mosquito bites in Florida has risen to 25, and with the number expected to rise further, airplanes have been flying over Miami spraying naled, a neurotoxic insecticide which kills adult mosquitoes. Some scientists are warning that naled may be more dangerous than the Zika virus itself.

By the time Owen Suskind was 3 years old, his parents knew their lives would be anything but typical.
Owen had seemed “normal” up until that point, when his motor skills suddenly deteriorated, and he lost the language he had attained. He was diagnosed with autism, and Owen’s father, Ron Suskind, said it was like “Someone kidnapped our son.” [1]

If you’re the type of person who loves getting together with friends, meeting new people, and conversing with others, new research suggests you might have been genetically “programmed” that way.

Hallee Sorenson, who has autism, had her 18th birthday party at a bowling alley. The excited teen was ready for all of her friends to show up and wish her well, however she was devastated when not one person showed up. Instead of spending her 18th birthday party socializing and eating cake, she spent her special day crying.
Hallee’s cousin, Rebecca Guildford, was heartbroken for her relative. She said, “Hallee is funny, sweet, caring, smart, an athlete, a jigsaw puzzle champion, a wonderful student, and a best friend to all.”

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry shows women who have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are 59% more likely to give birth to a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than women without the disorder.

People with developmental disabilities are often mishandled by law enforcement simply because police officers don’t know how to communicate with them and deal with their erratic behavior. But one Virginia police department is taking steps to make sure this stops happening.

Researchers have found a common denominator in the brains of people with schizophrenia and autism: low levels of vitamin B12.
For the study, researchers examined the brains of those who have already passed away, with age ranging from the beginning of birth to 80 years old. Researchers found that vitamin B12 levels were 10 times lower in the oldest people compared with the youngest, indicating that levels decline consistently over the course of many years.

After the state House voted in favor of the medical marijuana bill, marijuana activists were biting their nails for fear the Senate would find a way to slow or stall the bill, but the bill passed last week.
Supporters knew they’d been successful, as Governor Tom Wolf had vowed to sign it into law. And the governor did not disappoint. Wolf signed the bill on Sunday, making Pennsylvania the 24th state in the nation to embrace marijuana as a legitimate form of medical treatment.
Wolf said:

For years pregnant women have been told to limit their fish consumption due to high levels of mercury in some types of seafood. However, a recent study has found pregnant women who eat some of the same fish they’ve been told to avoid may confer protective effects on fetal brain development and protection against autism.