The Autistic Place

Research highlights include how we see faces in our dreams, understanding how young and old adults learn, helping stroke survivors speak using fMRI, an explanation about autism and facial recognition and ways to possibly forestall Parkinson's disease.

The National Autistic Society (NAS) has launched a guide to assessing and supporting adults with autism after the charity's I Exist campaign revealed a widespread lack of understanding and training in the condition amongst social care professionals. There is currently very little guidance for those who carry out assessments of need.

Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links to both nicotine addiction and autism. The finding has led to speculation that existing drugs used to curb nicotine addiction might serve as the basis for potential therapies to alleviate the symptoms of autism.

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) has released a statement by its Vice President and Director of Programs Dr.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are taking part in an international effort to gather DNA samples from 2,000 autism patients and their families over the next three years. The initiative, called the Simons Simplex Collection, is the first coordinated effort to create a database of information about families with only one autistic child.

The UK Autism Foundation is delighted that the Patron of UKAF, Lee Scott MP has been short listed for the ePolitix Disability Champion Award 2008. Lee Scott MP has campaigned night and day for all people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome, not only in the London Borough of Redbridge but right across the UK.

Thousands of the world's top scientists and clinicians in the human genetics field are presenting their latest research at the 58th Annual Meeting of The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 11-15, 2008.

From a young age we are taught about the five senses and how they help us to explore our world. Although each sense seems to be its own entity, recent studies have indicated that there is actually a lot of overlap and blending of the senses occurring in the brain to help us better perceive our environment. Researchers J.E. Lugo, R.

The American Medical Association journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine has published a new study by researchers at Cornell University indicating evidence of an environmental trigger for autism among genetically vulnerable children. It is the first peer-reviewed study to positively associate the prevalence of autism to a factor related to the levels of precipitation in the areas in which children live.

Dame Stephanie Shirley one of Britain's leading autism campaigners recently visited the London Borough of Redbridge for the first time to deliver an Autism Lecture in Woodford Green, Essex, on the invitation of the autism charity, the UK Autism Foundation. She is also one of the UK's top entrepreneurs, arriving in Britain from Austria at the age of 5 years old; a child refugee fleeing the horrors of Nazi-occupied Germany.

On Saturday 22nd November, mental health professionals and members of the public who are affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) will all come together for the 2008 OCD Conference at Imperial College London. This annual conference has been designed to inspire, invigorate and educate participants and provide an opportunity to share personal experiences of a condition which affects an estimated 1.8 million people in the UK alone.

Paul Offit, MD, announced today that all author royalties earned from the sale of his new book, "Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure," will be donated to the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We are very pleased to partner with Dr.

Researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute have found that infants later diagnosed with autism exhibited unusual exploration of objects long before being diagnosed.

Researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute have found that infants later diagnosed with autism exhibited unusual exploration of objects long before being diagnosed. Studying a group of children at high risk for developing autism, the researchers found that those eventually diagnosed with the disorder were more likely to spin, repetitively rotate, stare at and look out of the corners of their eyes at simple objects, including a baby bottle and a rattle, as early as 12 months of age.

Scientists have identified the first gene that is associated with a common childhood language disorder, known as specific language impairment (SLI). The gene - CNTNAP2 - has also been recently implicated in autism, and could represent a crucial genetic link between the two disorders.

The UK Autism Foundation has congratulated the President Elect of the United States of America Senator Barack Obama on winning the race to the White House. Autism campaigners from all over the world have contacted Barack Obama to wish him well. During the campaign Senator Obama pledged his support for parents, carers and people with autism by announcing a detailed autism plan.

Paul Offit, M.D., has announced that all author royalties earned from the sale of his new book, "Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure," will be donated to the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We are very pleased to partner with Dr. Offit, and to accept the royalties of his book for the work done here at the Center for Autism Research (CAR) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia," said Dr.

Populations of children who live in counties with higher levels of annual precipitation tend to have higher prevalence of autism, according to a report released on November 3, 2008 in Archives of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This association may indicate that autism may be influenced by an environmental trigger associated with precipitation. In the past several decades.

A major initiative has been launched in the United Kingdom on Monday 3rd November in a bid to convince the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Chancellor Alistair Darling to reach out and help the vulnerable - families with autism in the Budget. Autism campaigners in the UK point out that the credit crunch and the recession is devatating the vulnerable and the marginalised.

Leading experts on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and child development will discuss new advances in the identification, treatment, education, and family dynamics of autism and associated disorders, at the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders' (ICDL) 12th Annual Conference on Nov. 7-9 in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.