Thursday, November 19th
Autism 203: Holidays
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 (different room location W3747A, see instructions on back)
Instructor: Steve Becker, PhD
“Coping with Holiday Stress”

The Special Education Service Agency (SESA) and the Alaska Autism Resource Center (AARC) are pleased to offer this series in Alaska free of charge. There are three ways you may connect to this Autism series:

Inside Anchorage area: Local Anchorage participants are welcome to attend in person at SESA’s Anchorage office. The lecture will be held in the Boardroom, which has a 20-25 person limit. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. SESA’s address is: 3501 Denali – Suite 101.

Outside of Anchorage area: To connect via videoconferencing: Access to videoconferencing equipment, such as Polycom, and to an Internet connection (SESA uses GCI’s SchoolAccess, using a router to connect to a partial T1 line) should be arranged. Many rural school districts have this type of equipment, as do some other sites. Please follow your district or agency procedures to schedule the videoconference with your service provider and tech staff.

To connect via teleconference:
Participants may also teleconference in by dialing 1-888-254-2858 and requesting to join the SESA autism videoconference lecture. You need to mute your phone. There will be a limit of ten telephone connections. You may want to get a group together and use a speakerphone. If you call after 6 p.m., ask for the “on call.”

Hope to see you or hear from you on Thursday!

Download The Original PDF Flyer Here.

By ERIC ADLER

The Kansas City Star

Each year, tens of thousands of children diagnosed with autism, from mild to severe, enter adulthood and leave the safe confines of schools and their services behind.Every day, their parents, such as Jennifer Smith-Currier of Gardner, worry what will become of them.

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1569350.html

By Michelle Diament

November 10, 2009

Mothers of adolescents and adults with autism experience chronic stress comparable to combat soldiers and struggle with frequent fatigue and work interruptions, new research finds. These moms also spend significantly more time caregiving than moms of those without disabilities. Researchers followed a group of moms of adolescents and adults with autism for eight days in a row. Moms were interviewed at the end of each day about their experiences and on four of the days researchers measured the moms’ hormone levels to assess their stress.

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/11/10/autism-moms-stress/6121/

A Powerful Identity, a Vanishing Diagnosis

Much of the growing prevalence of autism, which now affects about 1 percent of American children, according to federal data, can be attributed to Asperger’s and other mild forms of the disorder. And Asperger’s has exploded into popular culture through books and films depicting it as the realm of brilliant nerds and savantlike geniuses.

But no sooner has Asperger consciousness awakened than the disorder seems headed for psychiatric obsolescence. Though it became an official part of the medical lexicon only in 1994, the experts who are revising psychiatry’s diagnostic manual have proposed to eliminate it from the new edition, due out in 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html?_r=1

By: Amy Norton

Reuters Health

When one identical twin develops the developmental disorder autism, the risk of the other developing it is high — substantially higher than it is for fraternal twins, a new study confirms. The study, which gathered information from 277 twin pairs in which at least one had an autistic disorder, found that when one identical twin developed an autistic disorder, the other one also did 88 percent of the time.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE59L4MW20091022

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

Children with autism have mercury levels similar to those of other kids, suggesting the mysterious disorder is caused by a range of factors rather than “a single smoking gun,” researchers said on Monday. The researchers at the University of California, Davis, initially found that children aged 2 to 5 with autism had mercury levels lower than other children because the autistic kids ate less fish, the biggest source of mercury that shows up in the blood.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE59I4W020091019

By Lee Howard

Diane Stephenson of Groton has three tangible reasons for wanting to know as much as possible about autism. Stephenson, associate research fellow at Pfizer Inc.’s Groton laboratories who helped start an autism research unit there earlier this year, has two nephews and a niece with the neurological disorder, which is often accompanied by language difficulties, behavioral problems, sleep interruptions, poor eye contact and low social skills.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=019e5c81-642a-4600-90e6-dd5846d3fd22

Autism 201: Social Skills

Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009
Instructor: Steve Becker, PhD
“Sexuality and Relationships”

Download The Original PDF Flyer Here.

Stay Tuned For Details