| Autism Society National Conference Opens Next Week The Autism Society will gather the many experts, families, professionals, and individuals with autism who make up the autism community to St. Charles, Ill., next week for the 40th National Conference and Exposition on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Online registration closes Sunday, July 19, so sign up today at www.autism-society.org/conference. Read more ... Conference Highlights MedicAlert Foundation and Autism Society Launch New Program to Safeguard Individuals and Families Living with Autism MedicAlert Foundation International, the leader in emergency response medical information services, has teamed up with the Autism Society to provide protection and peace of mind through a new program, Medic Alert + Safe and Sound®, offered under the respective registered trademarks of the cooperating sponsors. The official launch of the program will take place at the Autism Society’s 40th National Conference at the Pheasant Run Resort and Spa in St. Charles, IL, from July 22-25. Read more … AMC Sponsors Family Movie Night at Autism Society National Conference Don’t miss Family Movie Night at the Autism Society National Conference! Sponsored by AMC Entertainment, it offers a great chance to relax as a family after a busy day at the conference. The movie will be a showing of Kung Fu Panda on Thursday, July 23, from 7-9 p.m. in the St. Charles Ballroom. Conference Symposium on “Science that Makes a Difference” This year’s Autism Society National Conference will feature the first-ever Science Symposium, on July 23 beginning at 8:15 a.m. The day opens with a panel discussion on how the key institutions that serve our citizens with autism and their families will view progress and challenges for families and professionals in the future, followed by a series of cutting-edge talks with extensive opportunities for speaker-panel-audience discussion. Read more … IACC Holds Town Hall Meeting at Autism Society Conference The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) will hold a Town Hall Meeting on July 24, 2009, at 10:45 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Autism Society National Conference in St. Charles, Ill. The town hall meeting is an opportunity to share your comments, feedback and questions regarding services for people with ASD and their families. Read more …
Don’t Miss Sensory-Friendly Showing of Harry Potter The next AMC/Autism Society Sensory Friendly Film will be Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, July 25 at 10 a.m. local time. We will also be showing G-Force on August 1. Read more … UFC Legend Randy Couture Fights for Autism Five-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) winner, Randy Couture, will fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to raise awareness and support for autism. On Saturday, August 29, Couture will fight at the first Portland UFC event; following the fight he will host a V.I.P. fundraising event called “Natural Understanding” to benefit the Autism Society of Oregon. The fundraiser will be held at the Marriott Downtown Portland Hotel. Read more … Rocking the Boat for Autism Five men are rowing up the east coast to make a difference in the lives of people affected by autism. John Lose, Larry Maher, Dan McCann, James O'Donoghue and Ryan Meyer are “Rock the Boat for Autism” - a grassroots nonprofit organization -- who are rowing from Boca Raton, Fla., to Sea Isle, N.J., this summer to raise $250,000 for the Autism Society. Read more … Senate HELP Committee Moves Comprehensive Healthcare Reform On July 15, 2009, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) passed the Affordable Health Choices Act, a comprehensive healthcare reform package, by a vote of 13-10. The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, which also has jurisdiction over healthcare reform, is expected to release and make changes to its version of the bill in the coming weeks. Read more … HELP Committee Gets New Ranking Republican; Holds Hearing on Bullying Representative John Kline (R-MN) became the Ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. The Committee's Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittees held a hearing entitled, "Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying." Read more … Medicaid Answers Questions on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released one of a series of Medicaid Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) designed to provide guidance on the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The FAQs address questions that have been submitted to the ARRA mailbox, CMSOARRAQuestions@cms.hhs.gov. The new FAQs can be accessed at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/09_Medicaid.asp. Pennsylvania’s SB 850 Budget Bill Risks Autism Services The political news in Pennsylvania suggests that the House Appropriations Committee may vote Senate Bill (SB) 850 out onto the floor of the House as a "vehicle" for the budget. SB 850 is a bill that passed in the Senate that includes extraordinary cuts to the autism budget. Read more … Autism Coverage Language Removed from Ohio State Budget The autism insurance language in the Ohio budget bill, which was included in the senate version, was dropped in the conference committee. Although we were not able to secure the autism insurance language in this budget bill, our voices were heard, and those advocacy efforts will help us in the future. Further updates on insurance coverage for autism may be available when HB 8, which is the original bill that addressed autism insurance coverage, is considered. New Study Pinpoints Difference in the Way Children with Autism Learn New Behaviors Researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have collaborated to uncover important new insights into the neurological basis of autism. Their new study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, examined patterns of movement as children with autism and typically developing children learned to control a novel tool. The findings suggest that children with autism appear to learn new actions differently than do typically developing children. As compared to their typically developing peers, children with autism relied much more on their own internal sense of body position (proprioception) rather than visual information coming from the external world to learn new patterns of movement. Furthermore, researchers found that the greater the reliance on proprioception, the greater the child’s impairment in social skills, motor skills and imitation. Read more … Mothers of Children with Autism have Higher Parental Stress and Psychological Distress Researchers at the University of Washington's Autism Center asked mothers about their experiences raising their children, and found that moms of children with autism had higher levels of parenting-related stress and psychological distress than mothers of children with other developmental delays. Children's problem behavior was associated with increases in both parenting-related stress and distress in both groups, but this relationship was stronger in mothers of children with autism. Read more … Artist Plans Plein Air Painting Day to Benefit Transition Program Artist and mother-of-three Nancy Bea Miller is organizing a plein air (outdoor) painting day to benefit Camphill Special School's Transition Program for teens and youth with developmental disabilities. Read more … INDATA Project Hosts Special Pre-Conference on Augmentative and Alternative Communication The INDATA Project will host a special pre-conference focusing on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) on Thursday, August 6, 2009, at 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Avenue, Room 209, in Indianapolis. This AAC pre-conference is being held in conjunction with the 2009 Statewide Assistive Technology Conference taking place the following day, Friday, August 7. Read more … 'Mini-DAN!' Set for Southern California Next Month The Autism Research Institute will present a condensed version of the Defeat Autism Now! treatment guidelines, Sunday, Aug. 16, at the conclusion of the 4th Annual "Back to School" Autism/Aspergers Conference, held at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101. Read more … Scholarships Available for Special Education Certification The Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire will offer scholarships to a limited number of highly qualified students in its Special Education Teacher Certification in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) beginning fall 2009. Read more … New Tool to Help Children with Autism Sleep Researchers estimate that between 40 and 80 percent of children with autism have difficulty sleeping. Difficulty falling asleep, inconsistent sleep routines, restlessness or poor sleep quality, and waking early are just a few of the problems, according to WebMD. The Good Nite Lite offers parents a way to help their kids learn healthy and acceptable sleeping habits that fit in better with the family's normal schedule. Read more … New Movie Tells Story of Asperger’s Romance Romance can be risky, perplexing and filled with the perils of miscommunication - and that's if you aren't Adam, for whom life itself is this way. Read more … Asperger Syndrome and Dating: A Guide for Teenagers In The Guide to Dating for Teenagers with Asperger Syndrome, Jeannie Uhlenkamp addresses common topics that arise when talking about teens and dating, with a focus on the needs of teens with AS. Using the fictional characters Haley and Jerome, Uhlenkamp presents the information in an advice-column format written in language that resonates with young people. Read more … A Rare Glimpse of Life with Autism Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see life through the eyes of someone with autism? Walk a mile in his or her shoes? Diagnosed as an adult, Judy Endow gives you the unique opportunity to do just this through her latest book, Paper Words: Discovering and Living with My Autism. Read more …  | 
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