"What I've been reading" is moving

After giving it a lot of thought, I've decided to stop publishing the monthly "What I've been reading" feature here on the blog. Instead, I'll be posting articles of interest — the same stuff, including insights, opinions, science and news — on Facebook and Twitter.

I'll do my best not to clutter your feed with too many articles. However, this will allow me to pay more attention to writing for this blog, and will make the other updates more timely.

So, I hope you'll take a moment to follow me on Facebook and Twitter — or both! If you want to stay up to date with this blog, be sure to subscribe for email updates.

As always, thanks for reading...and tell a friend!

PS If you want to catch up on old posts, they're not going anywhere!

What I’ve been reading — June 2015

Opinions and Insights

Why Do Friendships Fade for So Many Autism Spectrum Parents? This one really hit home. Read more

Father’s Days. A cartoonist’s journey into first-time (and special needs) fatherhood. Beautiful. Watch it

Parents New to Autism: Don't Fall for Pseudoscience like DAN! or MAPS. The title says it all. Read more

Questions for Ari Ne'eman: Partnering with participants "We have an opportunity to re-envision the quality of our autism conversation. It’s a chance for us to build a more inclusive vision, one that acknowledges that autistic children will grow into autistic adults. If we do our jobs right, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing." Read more

We Are All Part of One Spectrum. (HT to Emily Brooks.) "...if the Autism Rights Movement’s history will be told as a successful one, it will be because all voices were heard, including mine, including the voices of the ones you don’t believe have a lot to say." Read more

Science

Large Swedish study casts doubt on autism 'epidemic' "'The authors present probably the best data available on whether [autism] symptoms have increased over time,' says David Mandell, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. 'Their findings suggest that they have not.'” Read more

Body clock genes may set pace for sleep issues in autism. "People with autism are twice as likely to carry alterations in genes that regulate the circadian clock, or the body’s sleep-wake cycle, as those without the disorder. The findings, published 6 May in Brain and Development, may help to explain why most children with autism have troubled sleep." Read more

News

When 2 Teens Found a Friendship No One Believed They Could Have "I don’t care that’s its taken 17 years for Kreed to find a friend because this friendship was worth the wait." Inspiring. Read more

Daniel Smith, proprietor of an MMS company, convicted " If this weren’t being used on disabled children, I would consider hiding behind a church ( a fake church in my opinion) as being reprehensible. But that act pales in comparison to the harm caused to individuals." Read more

Young man with autism is now a world renowned artist Read more

Who Decides Where Autistic Adults Live? Sometimes the best of intentions can lead to disastrous results. Read more

The forgotten history of autism

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_silberman_the_forgotten_history_of_autism From the TED website: "Decades ago, few pediatricians had heard of autism. In 1975, 1 in 5,000 kids was estimated to have it. Today, 1 in 68 is on the autism spectrum. What caused this steep rise? Steve Silberman points to 'a perfect storm of autism awareness' — a pair of psychologists with an accepting view, an unexpected pop culture moment and a new clinical test. But to really understand, we have to go back further to an Austrian doctor by the name of Hans Asperger, who published a pioneering paper in 1944. Because it was buried in time, autism has been shrouded in misunderstanding ever since."

A proper and accurate understanding of the history of autism will lead to greater acceptance and, one can hope, better services and support.

The behavior that wasn't

When your ASD kid starts prodding around his rear constantly while on the toilet, you — like us — might think it's a new tic or stim. You'll think, "Obsessive noodling back there might be a sign! We must fix this, and quick!" That's how we felt the past several weeks when C started his backyard explorations with great vigor and persistence. I mean, it was getting gross. And worrisome.

Then, the other night, my wife looked at the toilet paper and saw them. THEM! Tiny pinworms, a parasite so common that the first four pharmacies she called were sold out of the over-the-counter remedy.

No wonder he was constantly fiddling around with himself: he was scratching an insatiable itch. And what did we do? We did what you do when faced with a challenging new behavior: we offered quiet reminders and gentle redirection. No shame, no guilt, no punishment. But no real help, either.

And now we're kicking ourselves. We were pathologizing a behavior instead of looking for a much simpler, more logical explanation.

This is the trap you can fall into: thinking everything is an Issue, something to be fixed or corrected. (Of course, it would have helped if he could have told us what he was feeling, but that's another post).

Anyway, we have a new motto: not everything’s a behavior — sometimes it’s worms!

As for the the remedy: it works. One dose and the digging stopped.

What I’ve been reading — May 2015

Here are some things I’ve read this past month that I found helpful, informative, or inspiring. If you like this and find it helpful, please share with others. Thanks!

Opinions and insights

#AutismAcceptance: Finding Freedom in Autistic Parenting "In learning to understand and accept the many differences that come with being an Autistic person and knowing what it was like trying to force myself into a mold I couldn’t possibly fit, I was able to be a better Mom." Read more

Feeling judged as a parent? "Canadian parenting expert Ann Douglas spoke with BLOOM about her new book Parenting Through the Storm—a collection of strategies for raising children with mental health, behaviour or learning challenges, and maintaining your own health and happiness in the process." Read more

Should You Worry about Video Game Addiction in a Child with Autism? "Children with autism are drawn to video games for their stunning visuals, predictable play expectations, user-controlled pace of the game, and opportunity to avoid social judgment." Read more

Running Around Outside Can Help Improve Executive Functions "Active play, defined as play that has physical movement as a core component, includes organized sports, a walk in the woods, playing tag, or body surfing in the ocean, and can improve skills like organization, planning and focus." Read more

What should define autism: deficits or abilities? A new approach to thinking about the diagnosis. Read more

Listening to parents can help docs see early autism signs "Children with autism are typically diagnosed at about age 4, when social deficits and other symptoms set them apart from their classmates. But some children show subtle signs of the disorder as early as 6 months of age. Recognizing these signs is important: Mounting evidence suggests that early intervention can improve social and communication skills in children with autism." Read more

Learn Why There is No Real Autism Epidemic More debunking of the myth of an "autism epidemic," with statistics. Read more

News

Feds Rethink Stance On Speech Devices "Speech may soon be federally recognized as more than just what happens in a face-to-face conversation after thousands of people with disabilities and their advocates said that communications by phone, text and email are also important." Read more

French country home designed and built for patients with autism. Read more

Chair that Blue Valley students helped create for kids with autism may be headed to market Read more

Adults with autism are at risk for host of health problems "Adults with autism are at an increased risk for diabetes, depression and a number of other health problems, according to a large survey of electronic health records published 24 April in Autism." Read more

UBC students develop wearable device that monitors anxiety in autistic children Very interested in this: "A wearable device developed by students at the University of British Columbia shows promise in preventing meltdowns in children with autism." Read more

Science

Questions for Eric London: Alternative diagnoses for autism There is so much in this article I like and agree with. Summarizing: "Listing detailed symptoms rather than assigning a single diagnostic label may be a better way to understand neurodevelopmental disorders." Read more

Questions for Miller, Kaplan: New neurons' role in autism "Protein production is known to go awry in some forms of autism, and researchers are beginning to home in on the molecular players involved." Read more

For adults with autism, few good choices for treatments "Only one type of intervention improves the quality of life of adults on the spectrum and helps them establish social relationships, concludes a sobering report released earlier this month by the National Autism Center, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization." Read more

Better behavioral tests may save trials of autism treatments "The sooner we merge the best of what biology and behavior can offer, the sooner we will achieve our ultimate goal of safe, effective treatments for the full spectrum of autism symptoms." Read more

Rare regressive disorder is not autism, new findings suggest Read more