Copyright 2010 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/autism/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3xqHhttp://mnt.to/f/3xqHAs a pivotal paper linking childhood vaccinations to autism is discredited, a new study finds no evidence that the measles vaccine-given alone or as part of a combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine-increases the risk of autism in children...Autism Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3xp2http://mnt.to/f/3xp2 Researchers who studied records of all births occurring in California in the 1990s found that the risk of having a child with autism was significantly higher when the mother was older, regardless of the father's age, except when the mother was younger, the risk was also higher if the father were older...Autism Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3xfXhttp://mnt.to/f/3xfXThe Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community...Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3xcWhttp://mnt.to/f/3xcW The Los Angeles Times: "Twelve years after Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his research in the international medical journal the Lancet purporting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism, the journal on Tuesday formally retracted the paper. ... the U.K. General Medical Council's Fitness to Practice Panel concluded that [Dr...Autism Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3xc4http://mnt.to/f/3xc4Rae Sonnenmeier, clinical associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at the University of New Hampshire and staff member at UNH's Institute on Disability, is available to discuss the announcement yesterday (Feb...Autism Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3x8khttp://mnt.to/f/3x8kThe Lancet, a premier British medical journal, retracted a study published in 1998 that drew a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and increased incidence of autism. Alan Percy, M.D...Autism Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3x7fhttp://mnt.to/f/3x7fThrough the use of instructional DVDs, parents of children with autism can learn how to teach their child to communicate and improve their behavior, according to research published in the January 2010 issue of The Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions (published by the Hammill Institute on Disabilities and SAGE)...Autism Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3x2Shttp://mnt.to/f/3x2SA new study from UC Davis Health System identifies for the first time a brain protein called SynDIG1 that plays a critical role in creating and sustaining synapses, the complex chemical signaling system responsible for communication between neurons. The research, published in the Jan...Neurology / Neuroscience Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wYPhttp://mnt.to/f/3wYPChildren with autism would likely receive better treatment if supporters of the two major teaching methods stopped bickering over theory and focused on a combined approach, a Michigan State University psychologist argues in a new paper...Autism Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wXchttp://mnt.to/f/3wXcAutism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, is a sponsor of the first-ever International Autism Conference (IAC) in Manila, Philippines. The conference, reaching out to the Asian autism community and organized by the Autism Hearts Foundation and Autism Hearts Philippines, is being co-sponsored by Autism Speaks with partners UC Davis M.I.N.D...Autism Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wQRhttp://mnt.to/f/3wQRChildren as young as five months old will follow the gaze of an adult towards an object and engage in joint attention, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. The findings, published in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, suggests that the human brain develops this important social skill surprisingly early in infancy...Autism Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wPJhttp://mnt.to/f/3wPJAn Australian-German team of scientists at Freie Universitat and the Queensland Brain Institute in Brisbane, Australia, has found a way to measure the attention span of a fly. The findings could lead to further advances in the understanding of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism in humans...ADHD Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wNnhttp://mnt.to/f/3wNnNourishing Hope, an autism wellness advocacy organization in San Francisco, will be hosting the Autism: Hope in Action Conference on January 30, 2010 at the South San Francisco Conference Center from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Learn more at http://www.AutismHopeInAction.com...Autism Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wKBhttp://mnt.to/f/3wKBGwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services, announced an investment of £1.7 million, over three years, to develop and improve services for adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), their carers and their families...Autism Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wJMhttp://mnt.to/f/3wJMTwo recent, separate publications identified regions with higher than expected numbers of autism cases - or clusters - in California. Using data collected by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on 2.5 million births including almost 10,000 autism cases from 1996-2000, investigators at UC Davis1 uncovered several clusters of elevated risk for autism...Autism Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wGGhttp://mnt.to/f/3wGGNon-expert is not often a term that one would associate with scientific research, but it could become a new trend in psychology research. Some recent studies have begun to rely on non-expert students to observe and provide data during experiments. In a research project about early autism detection in infants, Dr...Autism Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wCFhttp://mnt.to/f/3wCFMaturation disorders of nerve terminals may trigger autism; researchers in Heidelberg publish in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences For brain cells to communicate, the contacts to each other must function. The protein molecule neuroligin-1 plays an important role in this as it stimulates the necessary maturation processes at the contact sites (synapses) of the nerves...Autism Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wzFhttp://mnt.to/f/3wzFScientists at the Queensland Brain Institute have found a way to measure the attention span of a fly, which could lead to further advances in the understanding of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism in humans. The researchers combined genetic techniques with brain recordings and found different mutations that either increase or decrease a fly's attention span...ADHD Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wyMhttp://mnt.to/f/3wyM Scientific Learning Corp. (NASDAQ:SCIL) today announced that the Australian Government's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has named the Fast ForWord ® family of products as an approved intervention for children under age six who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)...Autism Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wwWhttp://mnt.to/f/3wwWNearly two-thirds of the children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders recorded in the National Birth Defect Registry (NBDR) also suffer from structural birth defects, according the national nonprofit, Birth Defect Research for Children (BDRC). The group reported that most of the defects affect the face, head and central nervous systems of newborns...Autism Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wqphttp://mnt.to/f/3wqpUnderstanding the causes of autism and schizophrenia could be a step closer for researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute at The University of Queensland after they unravelled the secret world of the wasp genome. The neuroscientists were part of an international consortium that has spent four years sequencing the genome of three parasitic wasp species...Autism Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3wbWhttp://mnt.to/f/3wbWThe subtle but ongoing pressures of human evolution could explain the seeming rise of disorders such as autism, autoimmune diseases, and reproductive cancers, researchers write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...Autism Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3w9zhttp://mnt.to/f/3w9z Studying a rare disorder known as tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), researchers at Children's Hospital Boston add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that autism spectrum disorders, which affect 25 to 50 percent of TSC patients, result from a miswiring of connections in the developing brain, leading to improper information flow...Autism Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3w6dhttp://mnt.to/f/3w6dChildren with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) process sound and language a fraction of a second slower than children without ASDs, and measuring magnetic signals that mark this delay may become a standardized way to diagnose autism. Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia report their findings in an online article in the journal Autism Research, published today...Autism Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:00:00 PSThttp://mnt.to/f/3w5Mhttp://mnt.to/f/3w5MIf your New Year resolutions are already fading fast, The National Autistic Society (NAS) may have the perfect opportunity to get back on track. The UK's leading charity for people affected by autism is inviting people to join its 2010 active challenge team and raise vital funds to help and support people affected by autism...Autism