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Kyle's Treehouse was created to provide hope and unconditional support, along with some great information on treatment options, to those coping with autism. To expand on this mission, they just launched a new initiative: Autism151 - a crusade to collect 150 stories of hope, pride and achievements from within our autism community. We know there are wonderful stories of hope everywhere - all around the world - and we want to bring them together so they can be shared.

Check out the stories of hope already posted to the site. Hear about Alex, whose parents proudly declare, "Alex has autism, but autism doesn't have Alex." Watch Mickie's video which captures a great moment when he is connecting (and adorably imitating!) his grandfather.

Share your story of hope. Upload yours today. And then invite everyone you know to log on and view it.

Posted just yesterday...

Can Kids Recover from Autism?

Yes, they can! How do I know? My son, Kyle, is living proof of it. After years of intense therapy, Kyle emerged from autism.

*~*~*

Kyle's Treehouse is dedicated to empowering all people touched by autism to make effective choices.

Keeping the Treehouse up and running is a labor of love, and we depend heavily on the kindness and generosity of individual donors.

Labels: autism, kyles treehouse

Certain compounds in saliva are different in some children with autism spectrum disorders, a new study shows.

Italian researchers analyzed saliva samples from 27 children with autism spectrum disorders and 23 healthy children of the same age.

The scientists, who included Professor Massimo Castagnola of Rome's Universita Cattolica, focused on small proteins and peptides, which are building blocks of protein, in the saliva samples.

Two-thirds of the children in the autism spectrum disorders group had at least one salivary peptide that differed from children without autism.

It's not clear if autism was the reason for those differences or why those differences weren't seen in all of the autistic children.

Seems to me since there are more than just genetic factors involved with autism than depending or giving too much weight to tests like a saliva test. I think then the doctors will be missing out on environmental factors and other factors like supplemental issues or the inability to properly detoxify.

The study appears in full in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Labels: autism

I'm currently reading a book about autism which is written by the mother of a child who has autism. She mentioned all the research she has done to better understand the disorder. So of course in her studies she came across the famous H.M.

H.M. died this past Tuesday, December 2, 2008, at the age of 82. His real name was revealed after his death: Henry Gustav Molaison. A lot of what we now know about memory, we learned from studies on H.M. H.M. suffered from epilepsy and his entire life became a study; an experiment in real-time.

Epilepsy is something which many children with autism have been wrongly diagnosed with first. This is because the workings of the brain are very much a mystery even today with the advancements in modern medicine. In the book I'm reading the little boy had seizure after seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy but the epilepsy medicine wasn't working and the neurologists (at first) were useless.

I am sure there are many connections and theories about how epilepsy and autism are related. How they can go hand in hand, but it is very clear that is a child has autism that treating just epilepsy will not help.

Experiments in the last century found that by breathing carbon dioxide (CO2), an epileptic patient boosted acid levels in the brain and could terminate a fit, although the molecular switch for achieving this was veiled in mystery. So if there is an oxygen overload of some kind could it cause neurological damage or just a moment of euphoria? I know there are places with actual oxygen bars where people go to purposefully inhale pure oxygen.

Further studies are in the works for finding the exact area of the brain which registers these balances and how to administer a drug which will stop the process and therefore stop a seizure. I wonder if this new research will also benefit people with autism. It will be interesting to see the correlations if there are any.

Labels: autism, epilepsy, neurology

We're nearing the end of April which has been Autism Awareness Month and it is time to reflect over what you have done to help make a difference in regards to this cause.

Toy 'R Us has been pushing Autism Awareness by sending out e-mails to people who opted into their online newsletters. Being one of those people I have been smiling each time I see one of their e-mails in my inbox.

Today they had a downloadable PDF of ten toys which they say "speak to autism." I'm going to link to it so you can have a copy, too because in addition to talking about toys they sell which is their marketing ploy, it also discusses the reasons why certain toys might be helpful. I found the information helpful and enlightening.

Today their are nearly 1.5 million children in the United States alone who have been diagnosed with a form of autism. An estimated 150 additional children are add to that number each year. These numbers are alarming and they should make it obvious just how important it is for more research to be done in this area. Research in terms of the cause, the biological effects, treatments and a cure are absolutely necessary.

Click through with this link for information on different Autism Awareness Walks all around the world. Make sure you at least participate by educating yourself further on the topic but it would be wonderful if you could also participate in a walk for the cause and/or donate money to fund research.

As cliche as it might sound, it is true we can all make a difference one person at a time.

Labels: autism

"Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism."

Yes, it is true, I read Science Daily. Now that we're done laughing about that, I wanted to quickly mention one of their tatest articles about autism. Research suggests children, specifically boys, who have autism are at a higher risk for Vitamin D and Calcium deficiencies. So even though they have higher levels of growth hormones and can often be very tall, they are also slender due to thinner bones. You can see the problem that might arise. If their bodies are taller they will need stronger bones to support their limbs. This might be why many children with autism break so many bones.

The doctors involved with this research stress that more investigation needs to be done, but that it is a good idea for you to include a dietician into your child's plan of action when it comes to their disorder.

SOURCE

Labels: autism

From a very young I age I became fascinated with the autism spectrum disorder. Observing children has always been something I revel in and I often can sense things in children that other people cannot. When it comes to autism I am intrigued as to why it causes such turmoil in some children and is barely noticeable in others. I have bought books, done research and signed up for all sorts of groups and newsletters to learn more.

This morning doing my daily reading through the news I stumbled across an article about how studying children with autism while they are running a fever has caused the need for further observation with doctors.

Researchers studied 30 patients with autism and the results were overwhelming. "They found that a fever of at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit improved symptoms such as arm flapping and body rocking, as well as irritability and hyperactivity." Clearly the disorder is completely neurology based, but how can a fever decrease those symptoms?

Of course the argument from other doctors is that a fever can cause lethargy in anyone. But to me this doesn't sound like a matter of lethargy. And a fever of 100.4 is still low enough that it shouldn't change your actions THAT much.

A fever can restore nerve cell communications in the brain, perhaps because the extra heat causes slight inflammation. The stimulation in children with autism causes them to behave more calmly and less erratically. Perhaps instead of being completely due to nerve cell communications it is also due to the immune system focusing efforts on healing the infected part of the body. Or maybe it is related to some sort of bacteria made by the body of a person with autism...? Because when you have a fever bacteria will begin to die due to the higher temperatures around it. Once your immune system stops inducing a fever because it has fought the infection then your body returns to normal temperature and the bacteria can fester again. So if for some reason there is a certain residue of bacteria made by the brains of people with austism then it would make sense they behave substantially different during a fever.

I don't know the answers, I'm not a doctor, but I am thrilled beyond belief that this study has brought forth such questions and possibilities. It has definitely got me thinking!

SOURCE

Labels: autism, fever, research

I really must quickly blog about this, nerd or not, I think it is very interesting and educational. As most of you know, I am fascinated with the brain, in specific, neurological disorders.

Autism is one of the disorders that has most intrigued me. And since I frequently peruse the National Institute of Health's website, I was pleased to see the latest study on Autism.

Largest-Ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues

In short, the article discusses the link between this disorder and chromosome 11.
"A site on chromosome 11 most strongly linked to autism in this study harbors genes for proteins that shuttle glutamate across the synapse."

Chromosome 11 only represents 4 to 4.5 percent of your DNA make-up. It, unfortunately, is already known to be one of the most disease ridden chromosomes in our genetic make-up. Chromosome 11 has been linked to things ranging from breast cancer to more rare diseases like beta-ketothiolase deficiency. The specific gene that is being looked into is neurexin 1. Neurexin belongs to a family of genes that help nerve cells communicate.

Anyway, basically, being able to pinpoint this is huge in the study of autism. Scientists and doctors have always thought that autism might have something to do with a person's genetic make-up, but until this study have been unable to prove that theory. Yay for the Autism Genome Project!

Labels: autism, health