Family link to autism

Parents of children with autism have double the odds of having been hospitalized for a psychiatric condition than parents of children without autism, a comprehensive review of Swedish medical registries found.

The findings by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were published in the May issue of Pediatrics.

The study incorporated data on 1,237 children who had been diagnosed with autism before age 10, as well as about 31,000 controls. Both mothers and fathers with schizophrenia were roughly twice as likely to have a child with autism, the study found. Mothers (but not fathers) with depression and neurotic and personality disorders had an increased risk of having a child with autism.

"This study might help us pinpoint some more genetic ties to more cases [of autism]," said study lead author Julie Daniels.

Thanks to everybody who is helping...

Wow! I can't tell you how wonderful it's been hearing from everyone. While I deeply appreciate those of you who clicked the donation button and sent me some of your hard-earned money it's been amazing to hear from everyone sending me their support. I laughed at some notes and cried at others. I was really scared but I'm glad I sent the email out...I am a very lucky guy.

adam

For those of you who didn't receive an email. I sent out the following email to everyone in my contacts folder. Again, apologies to all who didn't wish to receive the email...I didn't mean to offend.


========================================================

Hello All-

I hope this email finds you all well. I am doing very well and for those of you who don't know, I am currently attending Columbia University's Teacher's College in New York City. I am enrolled in their intensive Special Education Master's program with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis. I know, it's a mouthful. Essentially what it means is I am being taught how to teach children with a wide range of language, social and emotional deficits/disabilities. More importantly, I am being taught how to induce missing capabilities in these children. Teaching children who can't speak how to speak, can't read how to read, can't make eye contact how to make eye contact. It's an exhilarating and exhausting journey. I'm going to include more on the program below but the reason you're getting this email is simple. I left a fairly lucrative career in television/media production to embark on this path. While I am enrolled in this program I am working full-time as a Teaching Assistant so the math is simple. Take one six-figure job, subtract 85% of the income and the result is obvious. I could use a little help from my friends during this change.

***The help I am requesting is simple. If you can donate a few dollars, a few hundred dollars, a few thousand dollars or a few million dollars it would go quite a long way to helping me out. If you can't, won't, shouldn't, mustn't then that's fine. I'd still love to hear from you.

How do I adopt a special education teacher (donate to the cause)?
Easy. Just go to my blog at marvelouschildren.blogspot.com and click on the 'Make a donation' button below my picture on the left side of the page.

Is this a joke?
A fair question considering my sense of humor but no, I could really use some help...jelly belly donations are also welcome. Have you seen the cost of jelly bellys lately?

Why am I on this list?
An even better question. You are on this list because you have somehow made your way into my 'Contacts' folder. When this idea first popped into my head the idea was to send to everyone in my list. A couple of days passed and it occurred to me, belatedly as most things do, that there would be people in my contacts list whose receipt of this email would be embarrassing to me. The more I thought about it the more horrifying the prospect seemed so I began a mental editing. I soon realized that the only reason I was considering taking this person or that person off is the personal embarrassment I might suffer which stuck me as more of a fear-based decision than one grounded in common sense. So if you're upset or find this in poor taste I am sorry. It's not my intention to embarrass myself or make anyone uncomfortable, it's simply to ask for help. I am generally really bad at asking for help so this is pretty huge for me.

What's this program you're enrolled in?
The best question yet. Applied Behavior Analysis is "the science of applying experimentally derived principles of behavior to improve socially significant behavior." I am enrolled in a program at Columbia that focuses on the application of these principles to classrooms and more broadly to education. There are millions of children in the United States falling behind or falling through the cracks. Our methodology is proven to work with the special education population (So far I have worked with emotionally disturbed middle schoolers and children with profound deficits such as autism and intellectual disabilities (Can't write, can't talk). You can find out a lot more in an article that appeared in the Teacher's College Magazine HERE.

What's with your blog?
My blog is a work in progress so feel free to give me any criticisms you want to. I also have a website marvelouschildren.com. Both are designed to help me if I decide to do private work and to give me a platform to put my views out there. The blog is primarily a place to post interesting stories and videos I come across. It is no way affiliated with Teacher's College.

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."