Autism-World

To help aid a hyperlexic child’s communication, it is important to make a program for a child rather than trying to make a child fit into a program (Kroll). Developing the intent to communicate is of great importance. Allowing the child to take the leading role and then following their lead is the easiest way [...]

A famous psychiatric, Michael Fitzgerald from Trinity College, Dublin has claimed that many geniuses in the fields of science, politics and the arts have achieved success because they had Asperger’s syndrome(AS), a mild form of Autism.
Michael Fitzgerald said that lots of geniuses showed autistic traits, such as Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, George Orwell and H [...]

Social phobia is the fear of being in public, around others. The person can otherwise be normal, functioning, even have a family. The problem is they fear going places where other people will be, like the store, the park, an appointment??anywhere where they might come into contact with another person.
Asperger’s is generally characterized not by [...]

My Asperger’s made me a dedicated seeker of Truth. I sure couldn’t get it from society. The churches I was drug to didn’t know jack. But science resonated with me; they were also seeking truth. I read everything I could lay my hands on with regards physics, chemistry and mathematics. But then I was too [...]

Although it is very likely that I could be re-diagnosed with Aspergers these days, since I was diagnosed with HFA before AS existed. In my experience, I got to know Christ the same way as most other Christians claim to have gotten to know Him. One thing I’ve learned though, is that Jesus is completely [...]

Q:My son was diagnos with PDD-NOS. What is it exactly. His thearapist explained but I still don’t really understand. Please help.
Answer:
PDD-NOS is not autism. This diagnosis is given when they have some symptoms of autism, but not enough to have the Autism diagnosis. Don’t misunderstand me, depending on what symptoms are showing up in the [...]

At 24 months of age any diagnosis on the autism spectrum is a guess as the DSM-IV (the book of all diagnosis) requires that a child be of a certain age and that all other contributing factors be ruled out before an ASD diagnosis is applied.
Also things like mild-moderate are subjective as with all ASD [...]

For Asperger’s the following is needed for Diagnosis:Qualitative impairment in social interaction with at least two demonstrations of impaired social interaction.
The person:Shows a marked inability to regulate social interaction by using multiple non-verbal behaviors such as body posture and gestures, eye contact and facial expressionDoesn’t develop peer relationships that are appropriate to the developmental levelDoesn’t [...]

Asperger’s is a form of autism where the child/person still retains language and communication functions (the movie Rain Man.. Dustin Hoffman had this). Normal autism is defined as the following: symptoms that appear before the age of three which reflect delayed or abnormal development in Language, Social Skills and Behavioral Repertoire.The criteria for diagnosis of [...]

There is no known cure.
There is no known treatment
There is no way to prevent the disease
PDD is a communicable disease.
PDD is also known as Macaw’s Wasting Disease
PDD is fatal – It has claimed the lives of thousands of birds.
PDD has been found in over 50 different species of birds.
Dr. Branson Ritchie heads PDD research at [...]

by Teresa Binstock

Several subsequent posts shall delineate a remarkable parallel between three
traditional areas of research: Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) and a virus that is
known (i) to impair language in some persons, and (ii) to induce seizures or other
epileptiform atypicalities. We not that items i and ii are also seen in LKS.
[...]

Q: What is the difference among autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and high-functioning autism?Can the three be clearly differentiated?
Answer:
The can not be clear-cut. It depends on two main factors:1) The age of the person that is to be diagnosed,2) The qualification of the person who is making the observation.ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) is a “very” wide spectrum [...]

Q: A friend of mine said that she’d read an article that mentioned that a shot given to infants/toddlers may be a cause of Autism but, she couldn’t remember what shot it said could be…
Has anyone read anything about the POSSIBLE link between infant shots and Autism?
Answer:
The stopped putting Thimerasol (the mercury-related preservative) in all [...]

To airline staff and airport security personnel:
This child, [CHILDS NAME], has a condition known as fragile X syndrome. This is a genetic condition. Children with fragile X syndrome can have difficulty learning and so, they may not understand all of your instructions. Additionally, they may be very anxious about meeting new people and have difficulty [...]

As you well know, some children with fragile X syndrome find taking a trip on an airplane to be challenging. In large part, it’s the unpredictability of air travel (e.g., flight delays, unexpected additional security checks) that is the biggest challenge. We have learned from our families some ways to reduce the unpredictability and make [...]

Fragile X syndrome may be underlying behavioral concerns in the classroom for undiagnosed students, especially in early childhood. Behaviors reflect obsessive-compulsive tendencies, hyperactivity, attention deficit, and autism.
Fragile X syndrome is the second most common chromosomal cause of mental retardation. The severity of cognitive, language and behavioral outcomes may be related to the actual number of [...]

The purpose of these recommendations is to provide general guidelines to aid clinicians in making referrals for fragile X syndrome testing.
Individuals for Whom Testing Should Be Considered

Individuals of either sex with mental retardation, developmental delay, or autism, especially if they have (a) any physical or behavioral characteristics of fragile X syndrome, (b) a family history [...]

Below is a list of Asperger’s Syndrome characteristics.
Cognitive Characteristics?of Asperger’s Syndrome:
Susceptibility to distraction
Difficulty in expressing emotions
Resistance to or failure to respond to talk therapy
Mental shutdown response to conflicting demands and multi-tasking
Generalized confusion during periods of stress
Low understanding of the reciprocal rules of conversation: interrupting, dominating, minimum participation, difficult in shifting topics, problem with initiating or [...]

In the child in whom the diagnosis is suspected, a high resolution chromosome analysis is often first performed to insure that no other chromosome disorder is present, since features such as mental delay, microcephaly, or seizures can be seen in other chromosome abnormalities. Concurrent with the chromosome test, a fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis [...]

Large typical deletion
70%
Hypopigmentation is common

UBE3A mutation
5-7%
Possibility of normal carrier mother

Paternal uniparental disomy
2-3%
Inheritance of both 15s from father

Imprinting defect
3-5%
Some have IC deletion, some do not

Other chromosome abnormalities
2%
Unusual chromosome rearrangements

Unknown
15%
All diagnostic tests negative (FISH, methylation, UBE3A mutation analysis)

Technorati : Angelman Syndrome

For several decades the chromosome study of AS individuals revealed no abnormalities, but with the development of improved methods a very small deleted area was found in chromosome 15. Molecular methods such as FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) now demonstrate a deletion in about 70% of individuals with AS. The deleted area, although extremely small, [...]

In 1965, Dr. Harry Angelman, an English physician, first described three children with characteristics now known as the Angelman syndrome (AS) (1). He noted that all had a stiff, jerky gait, absent speech, excessive laughter and seizures. Other cases were eventually published (2-8) but the condition was considered to be extremely rare and many physicians [...]

Angelman syndrome is usually not recognized at birth or in infancy since the developmental problems are nonspecific during this time.
Parents may first suspect the diagnosis after reading about AS or meeting a child with?Angelman syndrom.?The most common age of diagnosis is between three and seven years when the characteristic behaviors and features become most evident. [...]

Angelman syndrome was known as a distinct clinical entity before the genetics were fully understood. It has taken years of research to elucidate the different genetic mechanisms that can lead to AS. There are 4 major genetic mechanisms that cause Angelman syndrome:

1.Chromosome 15q11 -q13 deletion (a very small piece missing) accounts for 65-75% of AS [...]

In 1996/1997, the laboratories of Dr. Joseph Wagstaff from Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard School of Medicine and Dr. Arthur Beaudet from Baylor College of Medicine found a single gene on chromosome l5q called UBE3A that caused Angelman syndrome (figure 3). They showed that some patients with AS have mutations in the UBE3A gene. [...]

Angelman Syndrome Foundation Web Page
Space for this site is provided as a public service by the University of California, San Diego. Dan Harvey’s Angelman Syndrome Information Site If you are an inquisitive parent, conducting research or writing a paper this is the site to visit…
Autism World
Frank van Hof’s Angelman Page

Heaven must be missing an Angel…….. [...]

* Embryology (Board Review)* Principles of Clinical Cytogenetics* Color Atlas of Genetics (Thieme Flexibook)
* Clinical Child Neuropsychiatry* Handbook of Chromosomal Syndromes* Surgical Endocrinology: A Clinical Syndromes Approach
* Prader-Willi Syndrome : Development and Manifestations* Genetics and Genomics of Neurobehavioral Disorders (Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience)* Handbook of Neurodevelopmental and Genetic Disorders in Children* Understanding Mental Retardation (Understanding Health [...]

Individuals with Angelman syndrome usually have near normal life spans and good health. While Angelman syndrome children usually deal with issues such as hyperactivity, attention deficits in school and poor eating and sleeping patterns, many of these issues lessen with age. Usually adults with Angelman syndrome are not capable of living independently but many learn [...]

In the majority of families there is only one individual affected by Angelman syndrome. In these families the affected person usually has a piece of one of their chromosome 15s missing ( deletion ). Deletions can be detected down the microscope or by looking at a persons DNA, their genetic material using special techniques in [...]

The behavioural features of Angelman syndrome are very characteristic. They are first apparent as feeding problems in infancy and a poor sleeping pattern. Many Angelman syndrome children require far less sleep than a normal child. The children are typically happy and sociable and laugh with minimal provacation, sometimes inappropriately in situations which others would not [...]