I really love this site; she’s got a way of focusing on clarity of communication.   Damn, science!   Yes, I know that many parents don’t agree, many more worry, and even more are questioning. Some of those are people...

Some time ago, a link to this quasi-review article crossed my desk. Briefly, it explains why, in the author’s opinion, the subject articles on genetic research in autism are somehow untrustworthy or flawed. In some ways, it’s well-written. I like...

I have been struggling with the question of whether to keep writing on science issues, particularly since it’s not my area of expertise (even though I’m very fond of thinking about these issues). I’ve decided to compromise and try to...

I finally had time to read the recent statement/interview with Dr. Geri Dawson, the Chief Science Officer of Autism Speaks. As you know, we’ve discussed this complicated and angst-inducing issue in the past, primarily with respect to the complexities of...

Here’s another article describing seemingly vague rules about restraints and seclusion, an issue that seems to be growing in importance in recent months. Here is a single excerpt from the COPAA letter: A 9 year old boy with autism in...

Today, Dr. Eric London, from Autism Speaks/Autism Science Foundation and a co-founder of NAAR (which merged with Autism Speaks), announced that he is resigning from the Scientific Affairs Committee and dissociating himself from Autism Speaks. His statement generally refers to...

This brief description of an MRI study from Cambridge relates that two areas of the brain may affect sociability by affecting the value of social rewards to a person. They found that the greater the concentration of tissue in the...

This Slate article talks about the Hawthorne effect, which basically says that positive interactions with people creates positive outcomes, at least for a while. It’s sort of like a placebo effect for behavior. Using facilitated communication as an example, the...

Readers of Exaptation will note that a recent post dealt with Long-Term Potentiation, or LTP. LTP is related to the manner in which signals travel in the brain (very simplified explanation!). This animation of LTP explains the process in much...

This article from Wired describes a very interesting development in neuroscience that could be harnessed to improve teaching of autistic children (and, of course, NT children as well). The essence of the discovery is that there are signals, prior to...