Author: Autism Today News.

Broadcast in Family Fri, May 31, 2024 06:00PM UTC h:648525s:12343084archived In this episode we are joined by three dynamic women who share their perspectives on how to best care for yourself and your family while raising a child with autism.  Arfa Alam, a first generation Muslim American with neurodiverse family returns to share her wisdom and passion with us. Heather Link is a clinical Director who shares her experiences of both providing services and receiving services for her own family. Liza Hellenbrand is the mother of a thriving, 21 year old son with autism who also hosts the Empowered Caregiver…

Watch how MLB star helps friend with autism open wellness centerAfter a communication breakthrough, Reece Blankenship, who has autism, unites with friend and MLB star Matt Olson to create an autism help center.USA TodayMajor League baseball star Matt Olson is having a marquee season on the diamond, but the Atlanta Braves slugger is about more than just home runs.Olson is a close friend of Reece Blankenship, who has non-verbal autism. While Reese doesn’t speak, their quiet bond began when he was in high school.“Reece’s older sister Darren and I were the same grade in middle school and hung out in…

Journey Early, who recently appeared on Season 2 of “Love on the Spectrum,” has always felt two steps behind her peers — and not just romantically. She didn’t show as many facial expressions and started talking later than the average toddler. As a teen, Early would hide her stuffed animals when friends visited and lie about her interests just to fit in. “I would go home and cry because I couldn’t figure out why I was so uncomfortable with being myself,” Early said. “I learned that I couldn’t make friends by being me, so I made friends by pretending to be…

Autism is more common than you might know. About 1 in 36 children has autism spectrum disorder, according to the CDC, and that number has been steadily increasing since the org started collecting data in 2000. More adults are being diagnosed with autism too, studies have found, leading to increased awareness and interest in the disorder. TikToks sharing signs of autism in adults and or little-known symptoms rack up millions of views, and more and more celebrities are starting to come forward with their own autism diagnoses (or sharing that their kids are on the autism spectrum). Related story Tallulah…

We’ve come a long way since Rain Man,” says Catherine Tan, PhD, referencing the 1988 film starring Dustin Hoffman as an autistic savant. For decades, this movie comprised most of the popular knowledge and imagination about autism. While the conversation has become more nuanced, there are groups who are working to expand the understanding of autism further. Tan is an assistant professor of sociology at Vassar College and author of a new book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge (Columbia University Press, January 2024), but her interest in autism began during college with a…

The rate of autism in the world and in Israel is on a constant upward trend as researchers continue to try and analyze its causes. A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, revealed an additional possible genetic origin of autism.Researchers have found that when one of the siblings in the family is on the autistic spectrum, another sibling has a high chance of also being diagnosed on the autistic spectrum.In the last decade, the prevalence of autism has risen to one in 36, and scientists around the world are trying to find the reasons for this. The current hypotheses…

Coping with an autistic child is hard enough in normal times for parents; it is much more grueling during a war against terrorism.A new study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) that investigated the effects of the Hamas attack on October 7 has found that within a month of the horrendous events, both autistic and non-autistic children showed major symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most worrisome was that autistic children – who ordinarily suffer from intense vulnerability – showed a more striking response, and their parents suffered higher levels of depression, stress, and anxiety.The important research accentuated the…

Anti-Bullying Week is a great opportunity to share stories and open conversation about a very sensitive topic. For individuals on the spectrum, bullying can be more prevalent, more severe and, due to communication challenges, even harder to talk about. This article shares personal stories about bullying to inspire change… Wanting to raise awareness of some of the challenges faced by autistic individuals, I spoke with neurodivergent advocates for this article to hear personal stories about bullying, with the hope it will help drive positive change. I started my journey by speaking with Dr. Emily Lovegrove (AKA “The Bullying Doctor”) during…

The Western Cape government has pledged millions to support pupils with autism. The Western Cape government has pledged R68 million to support pupils with autism. Two new special schools and an additional 28 classrooms at existing special needs schools will be built.Civil society organisations and parents of children with autism say it is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.The autism community has welcomed the Western Cape government’s R68-million boost for schools which serve pupils with autism, but say it is not enough.On 29 March, Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier announced that the money would…

When Keischa Pruden’s now 27-year-old son, Aaron, was first diagnosed with autism  as a young child, information about the disorder was fairly minimal. “At the time, there wasn’t much support or information for autistic people or their families at the time.” Fast-forward to today, Pruden is a licensed therapist and autism advocate and she wants the families she helps to have an easier time assimilating to an autism diagnosis than she did.  Dr. Richard Frye, a child neurologist and chief of neurodevelopmental disorders at Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, agrees that for families with children who have autism,…