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The Hatching Hope Foundation brings advocacy and support to Dallas-Fort Worth families… triplets, was diagnosed with autism in 2012 at age 2.5, she struggled to find much-needed information, services and social supports in her area. This struggle motivated Sabrina to commit her life to helping underserved families in Ft. Worth, Texas … she founded the Hatching Hope Foundation, an organization that provides parent training about autism, individual and family support services, and special education advocacy. In 2019, Keshawn tragically passed away from Osteosarcoma, a rare form of … someone who really understands what it’s like to be a parent living with a child with severe autism. Our Facebook support group, Autism Mocha Moms , has been another great way to connect with parents in the community. The group was created to …
The Autism Care Network works to expand access to autism diagnosis in Canada… becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the need for autism assessment. We’re fortunate to work with a wonderful group of community pediatricians who are engaged with lots of autistic kids, so we saw an opportunity for them to take on an advanced practice role in autism diagnosis. We began to work on developing the optimal training approach to support this group and came up with a three-step educational process. We’ve done the training three times now and we’re … child communicates, expresses themselves and plays. We also shared information about community resources, how the different supports and services are funded, and how families navigate services. The second phase was mentored assessments in the …
Autism in Africa: Transforming care and services for a brighter future… spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities face stigmatization, delayed diagnosis and limited access to support services. In many countries, challenges in service delivery are compounded by humanitarian concerns like armed … meeting of the minds focused on advances in global science, practice and policy. As I sat among this distinguished group ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I was proud to represent Autism Speaks alongside my … and UNICEF to launch the Global Report on Children with Developmental Disabilities . Developed with technical and financial support from Autism Speaks, this report is a roadmap for advocates and policymakers in underserved countries around the …
Autism Speaks national board member Dr. Tom Frazier appointed to federal autism committee… has been appointed as one of two new members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee ( IACC ), an advisory group on federal autism activities. He will serve alongside other public stakeholders as well as federal committee members … IACC plays a critical role in deciding where our federal priorities should lie in funding autism services and research to support autistic people across the spectrum and of all ages,” said Dr. Frazier. “I look forward to working to ensure that …
Autism and ‘optimal outcomes’… to rethink what we mean by “optimal outcomes” For years, we’ve been using this term to describe a relatively small group of people with autism who, with therapy and support, experience such a marked decrease in autism symptoms that they no longer meet the criteria we use to diagnose the … re-defining “optimal outcome” as the best possible outcome based on each child’s personal characteristics and available supports . We find this as a much more suitable concept for developing autism services and setting goals for each child, …
COVID-19 survey reveals widespread challenges for autism community and wider disparities for minority communities … community are struggling even more, particularly with basic needs.” Minority respondents, who made up about half of the group surveyed, reported more struggles with a variety of needs related to the pandemic, basic needs, daily routines and education. The largest disparities were in the areas of food insecurity and receiving distance learning supports, with nonwhite respondents experiencing twice the food insecurity of white respondents and twice as likely to not receive any distance learning supports. Food insecurity was measured as food for the household having run out and families not having enough money to buy …
Expert Q&A: Explaining the conditions that accompany autism… In this Q&A, Amanda Bennett Palladino, MD, MPH, shares some of the most common conditions that accompany autism and offers support and resources to those coping with co-occurring conditions. Amanda Bennett Palladino is a developmental and … their care team. I frequently refer families to the Autism Speaks website to access the free Tool Kits that are designed to support families in addressing some of the most common co-occurring conditions. Families can find resources related to … caring for people with autism. Find local experts and/or advocates, participate in a research study or community advocacy group, find an online community if you can’t find a local one. The resources are there, in one form or another, if you just …
Autism Speaks awards over $550,000 for autism research… more effective, personalized care in the years ahead,” said Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Andy Shih. “We are proud to support a promising group of young scientists who are propelling the field of autism research forward in new directions.” Grant applications …
Expert Q&A: Dr. Ryan Adams shares tips and resources to end bullying… in the UC Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a member site of the Autism Speaks-supported Autism Care Network . His research focuses on adolescents, peer victimization, bullying and depressive symptoms. … some examples of strategies you offer in the guides? We know the most effective way to stop bullying is giving the larger group of bystanders the tools they need to recognize when it’s happening and get involved. A lot of times, people get away … with bullying by saying they were kidding, so we teach kids that doesn’t matter. Then, we give them different strategies to support the person being bullied. For example, the easiest thing to do if you witness bullying in school is not to laugh. …
Improving autism therapies by exploring the roots of social avoidance… brain activity while anticipating the social cue (smiling face) that they’d guessed correctly. And within the autism group, the children with severe symptoms showed greater brain activity when anticipating the non-social cue (upward arrow) than they did the smiling face cue. Support for the social-motivation hypothesis We see these findings as confirming and extending the social motivation …