Autism Awareness Centre

By Claudia Wallis

With a teacher for a mom and a physician's assistant for a dad, Matthew North had two experts on the case from birth, but his problems baffled them both. "Everything was hard for Matthew," says Theresa North, of Highland Ranch, Colo. He didn't speak until he was 3. In school, he'd hide under a desk to escape noise and activity. He couldn't coordinate his limbs well enough to catch a big beach ball.

Visit www.time.com to read the complete article.

The symptoms of a severe autism spectrum disorder affecting at least 10,000 children in the UK could be reversed following research by Scottish scientists. 

Visit www.medicalnewstoday.com to read the complete article.

[added February 14, 2007]

Today the Internet is the first place many of us turn to for health information – often even before consulting our doctors. We research our diagnoses and check out new symptoms to see how serious they might be. Those of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are frequently online looking for new research and the latest information.

Visit www.about.com to read the complete article.

Autism does not simply affect how people relate to others but has a wide range of effects, a study suggests. US researchers compared 56 children with autism with 56 who did not have the condition. Those with autism were found to have more problems with complex tasks, such as tying their shoelaces, suggesting many areas of the brain were affected.

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By Kelly Dorfman

Sensory Integration (SI) is a complex process that makes it possible for a person to take in, organize and interpret information from our bodies and the world.  Collating sensory information efficiently enables humans to function smoothly in daily life.  For example: Is the soup hot or cold? Are my arms or legs going to bump into anything? Do I need to go to the bathroom?

By Donna Williams

If the largest percentage of cases of autism occur in those with compounding co-morbid (co-occurring) conditions, then the idea of 'pure' autism is actually referring to a rarity...

An international team, led by neuroscientists at the University of British Columbia, have discovered the “on-off switch” that controls how chemical messages are exchanged in the brain, a finding that may lead to new therapies for autism, schizophrenia and mental retardation..

They've found that different genes may be responsible for causing autism in boys than in girls.

By deleting a gene in certain parts of the brain, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created mice that show deficits in social interaction that are reminiscent of humans with autism spectrum disorders.

By Williss Langford

One of the foremost conditions being overlooked by doctors is Hypothyroidism: What I will charitably call subclinical hypothyroidism is being overlooked to the detriment of recovery of children and their Moms. The Thyroid affects everything happening in the body. I say it is subclinical only because the medical tests being relied upon are unreliable! If you wish to prove that, when you get back a favorable TSH, run a TRH. Dr. Kellman of NYC tells us that up to 90% of children and their Moms that he sees fail the TRH test! Or better, run the Iodine test and the Barnes’ Morning Temperature Test as suggested in my paper “Mastering Autism”. Write me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   for this paper and a handout that lists a number of things that make typical thyroid testing unreliable.