By Toni Lapp
Two reporters from the Chicago Tribune won top honors from the Association of Health Care Journalism over the weekend for their series on dubious autism treatments, reports that AHCJ judges said “bring new clarity to a notoriously murky subject.”
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By Toni Lapp
I was recently at a gathering that included other parents with children on the autism spectrum, and one of the parents declared loudly that he hated it when people faulted autism treatments that were not supported by science. Given that it was a social setting, I didn’t say anything… then.
At risk of being called a cynic, I’m going to offer my thoughts now. After all, if you are paying thousands of dollars for an experimental treatment and your child is showing a lessening of autistic symptoms, why listen to naysayers?
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By Toni Lapp
You would think that everyone affected by autism would be united in their views on the subject, but that is far from the case.
Should researchers continue to look for a link to vaccines or should they investigate genetic testing? Should taxpayer money fund employment incentives? Should health insurers be mandated to cover ABA therapy?
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By Sarah Smith Nessel
As the mother of a child on the autism spectrum, I’m becoming increasingly dismayed by the notion that children like my son are somehow deficient and need to be “cured.” I realize I’m stepping into a minefield here. A diagnosis of Autism or one of its related disorders can be a wrenching event for a family, particularly if the child is so severely affected that he or she is deemed unlikely to ever speak, laugh or connect with another person in any meaningful way.
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By Jeanne Holverstott, M.S.
Question: It seems like summer can be full of pitfalls for my son with Asperger’s — the structure has gone away, and he’s no longer in contact with classmates. He is content to play on the computer all day, but seems to get moody more easily. Should we treat summer vacation as a long break from school-year stress, or what?
Answer: Summer vacation presents a contradiction: Children with autism spectrum disorders thrive on structure, routine, consistency. Summer vacation throws these principles of ASD parenting and behavior management in flux.
» READ MOREBy Kate Duffy
A while back, Toni, the SpectrumConnection editor, asked me to write about how far parents should go to help their teens on the spectrum land a job. Since then, several of our Hot Topics parents have shared their kids’ job search stories with me, and I realized there was no easy answer to her question. For the most part, though, their stories revolved around the kids’ inability to accurately read situations, to remember instructions and to multitask to make a deadline. Looking at that list, it sounds like business as usual on the job for most of us — which is why it is so very important that our kids start learning about the world of work as soon as they can.
That’s why the short answer to Toni’s question is this: do what you need to do.
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