Commentary

I am not one who offends easily, nor do I consider myself overly-sensitive. However, there are some words that should simply be extinguished from our vernacular. "Retard" is one of them. Earlier this week, I was out shopping…

Today is January 31, 2012. For Derek Hoare, this simply means it's day number 230 -- the number of days his 10-year-old daughter with autism has been kept from him by Child Protective Services (MCFD) in Canada. The tragedy began in…

At the moment, the biggest story in all of professional sports has been the unprecedented play of NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. For those unaware, Tebow is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and has led his team to an…

A challenge for many parents of children with autism is finding age-appropriate activities that help improve their social skills and interaction with others. For some, the Cub Scouts (part of The Boys Scouts of America) can provide a great…

Caltech researchers believe they have evidence that those with high functioning autism (HFA) don't seem to care what other people think of them. This lack of “theory of mind,” or the capacity to know what others think and feel is not a new…

A recent study from the University of Boston suggests that individuals with high-functioning autism are more likely to be atheists and to reject organized religion in general. Data garnered from autism forums and surveys of individuals…

The Australian reports that researchers have identified two biologically different strains of autism, a breakthrough likened to the discovery of different forms of cancer in the 1960s. Researchers from the University of California…

A couple of interesting news reports on vaccines and autism were recently juxtaposed. The Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA) has conducted extensive research on the vaccine compensation program as it relates to…

Many children with autism have a well-documented interest in trains, enthralled by their motion and predictable patterns. They tend to prefer trains to planes because of their back-and-forth motion, in contrast to the variability of flight…

When I recently took my fifteen-year-old son with Asperger's to his weekly therapy session, I was thrilled when he was offered the chance to participate in drum therapy. Instantly, I recalled the days when he was a toddler throwing a…