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The drug Abilify has received federal approval for treatment of irritability and aggression in children with autism, the drug’s makers say.

The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism (the website and the book) exists to help people with autism and their families make sense of the bewildering array of available autism treatments and options, and determine which are worth their time, money, and energy. We also want to encourage respectful attitudes towards autistics and people with autism.

Webinar - All About Apps for Education: Just the Apps and Nothing but the Apps Thursday, May 5, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Mountain – Web-Based Training, register Discover the wonderful world of apps for education. This webinar will help you navigate and maximize your use of the iPod/iPad. The presenters will take you on an app adventure and share a variety of apps in such categories as early childhood, literacy, autism, communication, organization, and more. Funding for this webinar is made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education. The source of funding is from federal award, Grants to States-Special Education CFDA 84.027, P.L. 108-446 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Basic Vocabulary Organization in PRC Devices Monday, May 16, 2011, 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mountain – PACER Center, Bloomington, MN, register This free workshop is for parents and professionals to learn more about Unity vocabulary organization included in all Prentke Romich Company PRC Communication or AAC Devices.  Participants will be introduced to the vocabulary options available.  This workshop will be held in the PACER computer lab where participants can bring their own device or use computer emulation software (Vantage Lite PASS software version 5.02).  The training will include hands-on experience to become familiar with how Unity supports creation of spontaneous novel communication, and to teach basic device operations such as customizing messages, changing icons, hiding keys, and backing up the device. The presenter is PRC Regional Consultant Helen Canfield.  The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Classroom Suite Version 4 Foundations Wednesday, May 18, 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mountain - PACER Center, register This workshop is designed for educators, SLPs, OTs, AT specialists, paraprofessionals and parents who are new to (or have limited experience with) Classroom Suite V.4. The goal of the Foundation Workshop for Classroom Suite V.4 is to enable educators to use Classroom Suite to teach early concepts, reading, writing, and math to students struggling because of learning difficulties or access issues. This workshop is sponsored by Cambium Learning Technologies. Registration fee $225. Kurzweil 3000 Version 11 Foundations Thursday, May 19, 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mountain - PACER Center, register This workshop is designed for educators, SLPs, OTs, AT specialists, paraprofessionals and parents who support students with learning disabilities and are new to (or have limited experience with) Kurzweil 3000. This workshop is sponsored by Cambium Learning Technologies. Registration fee $225.00. Putting LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) to Work: AAC Strategies to Promote Communication Friday, May 20, 2011, 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mountain – PACER Center, Bloomington, MN, register Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) is a therapeutic approach based on neurological and motor learning principles.  The goal is to give individuals who are nonverbal or have limited verbal abilities or speech a method to independently and spontaneously express themselves.  This workshop is for parents, professionals, and SLPs and will give an overview of the LAMP treatment approach, discussion of the components of LAMP and how and why children with autism would benefit from using a voice output AAC device, and discussion of features that are beneficial for teaching language to children with autism and other disabilities.  Lunch will not be provided.  A one hour lunch break will be taken and maps to area restaurants will be provided.  This free workshop will offer 0.5 ASHA CEUs.

On behalf of the Autism Subcommittee of the Council on Children with Disabilities, please note the current AAP autism resources for health care professionals and parents. Find more information about these items as well as additional resources at: http://medicalhomeinfo.org/about/cocwd/autism.aspx. Be sure to check out the sneak preview of the autism toolkit contents - only for AAP members (see below). Sound Advice on Autism - The AAP has developed a series of audio interviews with medical experts and parents of children with autism who answer parents' frequently asked questions. Conversations include: screening, diagnosis, treatment, alternative therapies, prevalence and causes of autism. AUTISM: Caring for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Toolkit for Clinicians - A clinical resource (on CD-ROM) to assist in the recognition, evaluation, and ongoing management of ASDs. SNEAK PREVIEW for AAP Members - including samples and additional content information!! Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) - This booklet provides critical information about ASDs and answers parents' most common questions. This booklet will help to identify ASD symptoms so that an intervention program can be started as soon as possible.   Is Your One-Year Old Communicating with You? - This brochure encourages parents to share any concerns about their baby's language development with their pediatrician as early as possible. It also provides early language and social milestones checklists. 

While medication is often used to treat children with autism, “strikingly little evidence” exists to support the approach, researchers said Monday. That’s the conclusion of an analysis published online in the journal Pediatrics looking at 10-years worth of studies on the effectiveness of antipsychotics and other drugs in treating children with autism.

An easy, five-minute checklist could help doctors identify autism in children as young as 12 months, offering kids an important head start on treatment, researchers said this week.

Click here to download the registration form for this event (PDF) What: Recent studies indicate that the rate of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children with Down syndrome (DS) is higher than previously reported. Early detection of ASD is critical because early intervention has been associated with more favorable child outcomes and therefore, the presence of ASD in a child with DS has implications for treatment and special education decisions. However, identifying ASD in children with DS is difficult because of overlapping symptoms, the presence of cognitive and language delays and deficits, and other developmental factors. Moreover, little is known about what autism assessment measures are valid for use with children with DS. This talk reviews the various issues surrounding the accurate identification of ASD in children with DD and presents a set of considerations to assist evaluators in selecting appropriate screening and diagnostic assessment protocols. When: May 18, 2011 1:00-2:30pm Mountain

Click here to register for this event What: The Center for Autism and Related Disorder will host a CARD Montana Autism Conference on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at the University of Montana. The one-day conference will take place from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm in the University Center Theater, located at 32 Campus Drive in Missoula. The conference is free and designed especially for parents, caregivers, students and practitioners. Attendees will learn about applied behavior analysis (ABA) and how it can be used to effectively to treat individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), as well as strategic and effective treatment programs for children with ASDs. Attendees also have the opportunity to meet Joe Mohs, who has recovered from autism and is living proof that recovery is possible. Where: University Center Theater 32 Campus Drive Missoula, MT When: Saturday, November 19, 2011 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Mountain Contact: For questions, contact Marcia Kmetz at drkmetz@hotmail.com.

“We are finding more solid evidence, based on higher quality studies, that these early intensive behavioral interventions can be effective for young children on the autism spectrum, especially related to their cognitive and language skills,” said lead author Amy Weitlauf, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator. “But the individual response to these treatments often varies from child to child.”

Some novel programs are addressing a growing gap in health care: helping the millions of survivors of serious childhood diseases find treatment when they grow up. Thanks to medical advances, there are a growing number of survivors of childhood cancers as well as patients living longer with diseases like cystic fibrosis and spina bifida. More children have diseases like diabetes and asthma that will follow them into adulthood. Nearly 25% of children have at least one of a list of 18 chronic conditions, according to federal survey data.

Developing effective, real-world-ready approaches to providing early diagnosis, treatment, and supportive services for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the goal of 12 research grants awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). These grants are part of a broad research effort to provide models for the delivery of needed services to children, youth, and adults with ASD, across different communities and care settings, appropriate to each age and individual. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).