Archive for September 2012

Monthly Archive

Finding Joy in the Little Things- One Mother’s Story

Autism and the Kindness and Unkindness of Strangers: Part 4 of 5

Today’s video is part of a series of blogs that looks at the kind and sometimes unkind encounters that parents of children with autism sometimes face. Today we’d like to thank Jennifer Di Bona, a parent of a child with autism, for sharing her story of a funny misunderstanding and how sometimes you just have to laugh.
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Drug Shows Success in Treating Social Withdrawal Behaviors in Children with Fragile-X

You may have heard the exciting news about a drug being studied that shows promise in treating social withdrawal behaviors in children with Fragile-X and potentially autism. We wanted to find out more information about this drug arbaclofen (or STX209) and its effects on Fragile-X, so we sat down with Bryan King, M.D. and Director of Seattle Children’s Autism Center and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. King has been consulting with the pharmaceutical company that designed this drug and leading its trial at Seattle Children’s.

theautismblog: What is the relationship between Fragile-X Syndrome (FXS) and autism?

Dr. King: Fragile X Syndrome is a disorder associated with a specific gene defect. The product of the gene is a critical regulator of brain activity, and children with this disorder typically have significant cognitive and behavioral difficulties. In some studies, as many as 40% of individuals with FXS have an autism spectrum disorder. Since the underlying brain processes are being uncovered in FXS, and because of the overlap with autism, drugs that target FXS are of tremendous interest.

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Clean Up In Aisle 2- One Mother’s Story

Autism and the Kindness and Unkindness of Strangers: Part 3 of 5

Today’s video is part of a series of blogs that looks at the kind and sometimes unkind encounters that parents of children with autism sometimes face. Today we’d like to thank Katrina Davis, a parent of a child with autism, for sharing her story of a trip with her son to the grocery store.

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Good Cop, Bad Cop and Autism- One Mother’s Story

Autism and the Kindness and Unkindness of Strangers: Part 2 of 5

Today’s video is part of a series of blogs that looks at the kind and sometimes unkind encounters that parents of children with autism sometimes face. Today we’d like to thank Shannon Ramsey, a parent of a child with autism, for sharing her story of how one police officer’s understanding made all the difference when her son went missing.

Part 1 of Series

Part 3 of Series

Part 4 of Series

Part 5 of Series

Autism and The Kindness and Unkindness of Strangers- Part 1 of 5

Parenting a child with autism means lots of ups and downs, sameness and unpredictability, laughter and tears.

And with each of those  -stories. Lots of stories.

For this series of blogs, we interviewed parents of children on the spectrum about the kindness and unkindness of strangers when in public. If you parent such a child, I bet you too have a library of stories. Join us as our parents share their adventures, big and small, from trips to the grocery store to trips on an airplane. Read full post »