I am reading the "Left Behind" series, which I resisted doing for years. Having read "Jesus, the Messiah", books about the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Bible, etc, I thought I had read all I needed. Not so! I can't get enough of the series.

Yesterday was another wonderful day. Actually, it was one of the best days I've had in a long time. My mother had given me many of her outside Christmas lights, and I had determined several weeks ago that this would be the BEST holiday ever! I had purchased outside icesicles and a large lighted snowman. So, my brother, mother and I spent the day putting together the snowman, hanging the icesicles, putting out as many lights as we could, and setting up the "live" tree inside my home. Of course, there was the mandatory trip to Home Depot to buy yet more extension cords and a super deluxe , electric staple gun. Then, when it got dark, we drove around the neighborhood to look at other people's lights. We agreed...I had the best!

This has already been a wonderful holiday! We all met at my sister's beautiful home. The food was too awesome! (Three of the dishes were donations from her friend, a chef from an un-named very exclusive restaurant. Guess he was trying out new recipes on us, as he had a rating sheet we all had to fill out.) My sister's in laws always attend our Thanksgiving feast. I was thinking about how impressed I was with each person. My sister's sister in law is an attorney, practicing across the border, doing "border trade stuff". My sister's to-be brother in law is a land developer from Tucson. It was clear that he has made a bundle, and enjoys spending it. Instead of driving a beat up 4 wheel to do his work, he drives an upgraded Hummer. My sister's mother in law donates her time to PBS and the Humane Society, instead of sitting around with her friends playing cards, gossiping, etc. My niece, the genius-nerd, had 2 friends from the U of A. One, totally by-passed his first year of college, and is a linguistics-computer expert, now translating the Tohono Odom language on line. He is a "consultant" to the U of A Linguistics Dept. The other, said he works in a sandwich shop, and that he dropped out of college. The reality is that he is a video graphics consultant, with no need for a "higher" education at the point in his life. What neat and intelligent people! Then, of course, there is my family! My sister (Doctorate in Early Childhood, Special Ed) is developing course work for ASU, while teaching a number of university courses. My mother, a former Special Ed teacher. My other sister, several degrees, but now "working" at a pizza place w several "famous" people. She said her work environment is like the Howard Stern show, and that people come by just to watch the "show". And, I have 4 college degrees, and am the lead psychologist at 2 prisons. Quite an impressive group of people! And, for me, quite an interesting day! I have to add, that I had a couple of long, wonderful telephone conversations with my "genius" son. In a couple of weeks, he defends his dissertation and will earn the title of Dr. And, his very bright and sweet wife, is right behind him, and will earn her title of Dr., hopefully in May. And of course, there is the littlest member of our family, my sweetest baby (now age 8), who helped put together a gingerbread house. Very enjoyable holiday!

23/11/05 - Health news section Autism family link discovered Relatives of people with autism who do not have the disorder themselves may still display behaviours and brain differences linked to the condition, scientists have found. The discovery could make it easier to spot families at risk of having an autistic child. It could also help in the quest to identify the genetic and environmental triggers for the condition, characterised by emotional detachment and an inability to relate to others. Dr Eric Peterson, from the University of Colorado in Denver, USA, compared the brain scans of 40 parents with autistic children with those of 40 matched parents whose children were normal. The parents of autistic children shared several differences in brain structure with their offspring. These included an unexpected increase in the size of the motor cortex and basal ganglia, both areas linked to movement planning and imitation. The neighbouring somatosensory cortex, bycontrast, was smaller than average. This region is important for understanding social information such as facial expressions - a skill autistic people often lack. There were also reductions in the cerebellum, important for co-ordinating movement, and a frontal region thought to play a key role in understanding the intentions of others. Another study led by Brendon Nacewicz, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School in the United States, tested for avoidance of eye contact, a common feature of autism. While parents seemed normal in this respect, brothers of autistic children avoided eye contact just as strongly as their affected siblings.--------------------------------- Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/thehealthnews.html?in_article_id=369547&in_page_id=1797©2005 Associated New Media

I am so excited about the holidays! This is the first year in a long time, I have felt I could celebrate. I was SO ill for about three years. After going from one doctor to another, with many diagnoses, I finally found a common sense doc who said it was just bad allergies. I am on a ton of allergy meds, but they have kept the pneumonias and bacterial infections away, and I am improving. My father died almost 4 years ago, of Parkinson's and Alhzeimer's. It broke my heart to see this SO active man, my war hero, my spiritual rock, to be slowly eaten away. It was difficult to celebrate watching him slowly being destroyed. Then he died, and I emotionally and spiritually almost died, too. I missed him so, and still do. But, I WILL celebrate this year. I may not have another year to do this, so "the game is on". I have arranged to take my little nephew to see: the BIG Christmas pageant, complete with elephants, donkeys, etc on stage; the Nutcracker; and the ZooLights. I will attend the Messiah! My gifts are out about to be wrapped. My Christmas Letter is already written. My brother will come over and help me decorate the outside of my house. I will buy a tree and ask my mother to help me decorate. The Christmas music is out! It is just TOO cool! And as I said, you never know what the future will bring, so I will celebrate while I can. And be grateful for what I have now!

Several articles:

To the Editor, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine: Humza Igbal, whose story you told so splendidly (Nov. 13 ),Chronicles in Autism/A Boy Recovers: Can Children Be Cured?,http://tinyurl.com/9lvn5 , was one of eight recovered formerly autistic children introduced to an audience of 1200 cheering parents and professionals by stage and screen star Lou Diamond Phillips at our Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) Conference in Los Angeles, in October 2004. We introduced another group of recovered autistic children several weeks ago at our 2005 DAN! Conference in Long Beach. (Visitwww.Autism-RecoveredChildren.com ). Yes, despite the ill-informed pessimism of the presumed experts in the medical establishment who were quoted in your article, autism is usually treatable by knowledgeable physicians, and full recovery is often possible. The Autism Research Institute in San Diego, the sponsor of the DAN! Program, has a list of 1000 parents nationwide who are eager to talk to the media about their child's recovery from autism. The long-standing dogma that autism is an incurable lifelong disability must be discarded. The children, like Humza Igbal, can and must be saved by prompt, informed biomedical interventions - Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., Director, Autism Research Institute

To: National Desk, Health ReporterContact: Anne Purdy, 415-901-0111 or apurdy@fenton.com; Voleine Amilcar, 415-901-0111 or vamilcar@fenton.com, both of Fenton Communications SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- More than 150 parents of autistic children launched a new nonprofit organization, Generation Rescue, today with a full-page advertisement in USA Today bearing a stunning message: autism is preventable and reversible. Generation Rescue parents are successfully treating their children biomedically and removing mercury from their bodies through a safe and proven detoxification treatment known as chelation therapy.The organization's Web site, http://www.GenerationRescue.org, provides treatment information and connects parents with more than 150 "Rescue Angels," parents who are successfully treating their own autistic children using a variety of biomedical interventions individualized for each child. Also announced was the availability of 1,000 parents around the country to talk to media about the reversal of autism in their children."Our message for parents is very simple: autism is reversible," said J.B. Handley, one of the organization's founding parents and father of a son diagnosed with autism. "I see every day with my own eyes how my son Jamie is recovering from what was previously perceived as an untreatable disorder. With the removal of mercury, Jamie's autistic symptoms go away. He got a second chance at life, and we want to let other parents who are struggling out there know it's possible to get their children back."Charlie Hoover's 7-year-old son Lenny of Royal Palm, Florida, suffered the classic symptoms of autism - spinning in circles, repetitive behaviors and tantrums. "After Lenny's diagnosis, the more I read, the more the knot in my stomach tightened," said Hoover. "It was as if our son had died."But after chelation therapy rid Lenny's body of mercury, his symptoms disappeared. Lenny, who loves to play T-ball, is now enrolled in regular kindergarten. "If your child got lead poisoning from eating paint chips, you would certainly do something about that," Hoover said. "What's the difference between mercury and lead?"The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 2,500 since the 1970s. According to the CDC, autism is a life-long disorder that is not treatable."For years we have heard the experts say that autism is a lifelong disability. This simply is not true anymore, thanks to effective biomedical treatments that can restore many, if not a majority, of autistic children to full recovery," said Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., Director of the Autism Research Institute and co- founder of Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!), a network of doctors throughout the country who treat autistic patients."Thousands of formerly autistic patients have shed their autistic symptoms. They now relate normally to their families and to other children. The hand-flapping is gone. The tantrums are gone. Most of these children who used to be lost in their own worlds are now indistinguishable from other children."The Autism Research Institute has nearly 1,000 parents nationwide who are available for media interviews about their successful biomedical treatment of their autistic children with DAN! doctors (contact media@AutismResearchInstitute.com)."Our DAN! doctors determine what each individual child needs, then use safe biomedical interventions to heal that child. Many DAN! Doctors report excellent results from using chelation to rid the body of mercury and other toxic metals," said Dr. Rimland.Recent studies and investigations have indicated that mercury may be behind the autism epidemic. Mercury, the second most toxic element after plutonium, is estimated to be 500 to 1,000 times more toxic than lead. The heavy metal burrows deep into the cells of the brain and other organs and can lead to serious central nervous system damage and crippling neurological disorders. Scientific evidence pointing to mercury poisoning as the cause behind rising autism rates has led many medical doctors to remove the toxin from the bodies of autistic children through chelation."The symptoms of early infant mercury poisoning and autism are virtually identical," said Dr. Boyd Haley, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. "Furthermore, research indicates that autistic children genetically have a harder time excreting mercury from their bodies. This is why chelation has become such a powerful key for unlocking and undoing the disorders associated with autism."Chelation has been used for decades to detoxify people of dangerous levels of heavy metals, due to industrial accidents or other causes. According to the CDC, 60,000 Americans underwent some form of chelation last year, and the therapy is currently under clinical trial with heart disease patients. In autism treatments, chelating "agents" may be administered orally or transdermally (through the skin). Once in the bloodstream, the chelating agent binds to heavy metals and helps remove them from the body."Chelation is one of the most effective ways to rid autistic children of the mercury poisoning which is at the root of their disorder," said Lynne Mielke, M.D., a Pleasanton, California physician, who is part of the DAN! network. "The medical establishment already endorses chelation for acute metal toxicity disorders, and the number of doctors who realize chelation's benefits for the chronic metal toxicity found in autism is rapidly growing."Parents are also eager to help fellow parents navigate the road to treatment for their autistic children. The Generation Rescue Web site, http://www.GenerationRescue.org, offers contacts for more than 150 volunteer "Rescue Angels," who Handley calls the "heart and soul" of Generation Rescue. "We're parents who want to help other parents caught in the nightmare of autism find hope and recovery for their kids," said Handley, who added that the organization is completely founded, funded and run by parents. "Too often parents believe the outdated myth that autism is not treatable or reversible. We're here to tell them otherwise."Biomedical treatments for autism require the support of a specialized healthcare provider who can tailor treatment to the individual needs of a child. While chelation therapy shows great promise, there are many biomedical treatments being used to heal autistic children.To view the ad, visit: http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/052505.pdfAbout Generation RescueGeneration Rescue is a nonprofit organization formed by parents of children diagnosed with autism and other development disorders. Through thorough research, medical consultation and the use of pioneering new medical treatments, the founding parents of Generation Rescue have seen tremendous improvements in their autistic children-including complete recoveries. Generation Rescue's mission is to provide parents the information and support to understand the cause of autism and treatment options. The Web site, www.GenerationRescue.org, gives parents the background to make informed decisions about treatment and connects them with "Rescue Angels," parents of autistic children who voluntarily provide support and guidance on treatment options and providers. Generation Rescue is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit founded in 2005.About the Autism Research Institute (ARI)Established in 1967 by Dr. Bernard Rimland, the San Diego- based nonprofit is world headquarters for research and information on autism and related disorders, and the center of a rapidly growing movement that holds that autism can be treated effectively through intensive behavior modification and a variety of individualized biomedical treatments. ARI maintains the world's largest databank of autistic individuals with over 37,000 detailed case histories of autistic children from 60 countries, and is a major source of information on the epidemic and its causes. ARI also helped develop the Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) project to train physicians and healthcare professionals on successful treatment of autism. ARI is a 501 (c) (3). For more information, contact 619-281-7165 or visit http://www.AutismResearchInstitute.com.--
For more info on kids who are "recovering" or "recovered" from autism, one can also visit Generation Rescue (at www.generationrescue.org ) and talk to the parents there. Aasa------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------150 Parents of Autistic Children Launch Organization, Ad Campaign with Stunning Message: Removing Mercury Reverses Autism in Kids - Rescue Angels' Guide Parents to Biomedical Treatments 1,000 Parents of Recovered Children Available to Media

Cure for Autism? We went to this place in 2004 www.son-rise.org Our son absolutely loves their Therapy Program; we bought some videos and they all tell us they have cured Autism. We love to take our son there for their one week of Intensive Therapy when we have the funds.

Another rough day at work.... Actually I should say, a rough week! Our sweet, adorable boy scouts (tongue in cheek) rioted and tried to escape on Wed night. The Swat team went into effect and we had to call for back up from the prison across the street. I showed up on Thursday AM to about twice as many kids locked down as we have lockdown rooms for. My job is to clear them from a mental health perspective, and somehow...With my magic wand, of course, fix them all so that they will be normal, and appropriate. These are not normal kids, and probably never have been! Additionally, I had to work with a kid who was trying to carve his mother's name on his arm. For the most part, no matter what kind of mother these kids have had, they just adore and love their mothers. I kind of like that...And I guess they see me as a kind of substitute mother. Poor kids! Anyhow, I also had to work with a couple of kids who had gotten into a fight (they were unsure exactly why), to help them resolve their issues. And then, had to do intake evals on the 7 kids who were just transferred. We were expecting less. We got 8 medical and mental health charts, 7 kids and 6 transfer summaries. It was somewhat stressful trying to figure it all out, especially when the kids each claimed to be each other!!! Why am I in this field??? My mother was a Special Ed teacher for a good 20 years. My sister was a Special Ed teacher/administrator for 25+ years, and I've been working with troubled kids for about 20 years. It takes its toll! But, you know what??? I really like working with the not normal kids. Guess it's more of a challenge, and also, I guess I feel I can be of best service here.

It has already been a crazy week. We are getting kids with more significant mental health issues. One of my kids is beginning to have nightmares about all the people he has shot. Another, who with a friend held off a swat team, (and consequently his friend was shot and killed), will face adult charges. He has on-going nightmares, and fears about what will happen to his life. It is so draining... and unfortunate! This ia a hard job, and I see my staff burning out...and angry. It is all to be expected! I need to support them. They feel their work environment is out of control, and this effects their personal lives...and mine as well. The kids have a whole bucketful of mental health problems. Many times, their mothers were drinking/drugging while they were pregnant, so the kid is born a "crack baby" or a kid w FAS. It is stressful, to figure out how to help these kids, to keep them from assaulting other kids or staff, or killing themselves...and then to give them treatment. Interestingly enough, we get few Autistic kids. Maybe they do not have the violence in their lives. Certainly, they are not the "gang" type kids, and they are not diagnosed as being Conduct Disorder or Anti-social Personalities. We do get some kids with the Aspergers Spectrum Disorders, but they have substance abuse issues, and an ADHD diagnosis to boot. We are usually treating the ADHD and the substance abuse at this point as the Aspergers is a less pronounced problem. On the other hand, Thanksgiving is coming up, and the kids and staff are looking forward to that. I will be on call that whole week, AGAIN, but will manage somehow! In my personal life, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. It will be the first time in many years when my siblings will all be together for this event. This has got to bring joy into my mother's life. I will bring my camera, and we will take LOTS of photos.

Childcare plan for the autistic by Patricia Karvelas, 15nov05
A NATIONAL chain of childcare centres for the autistic could be integrated into ABC Learning Centres under a proposal to help parents cope with the disorder.If the plan is endorsed, parents paying up to $60,000 a year to get in-home care for their autistic children will be able to pay the kinds of childcare fees other parents pay. James Morton, who founded the AEIOU Centre, the only full-time childcare program for young children with autism, has developed the plan and won support from the publicly listed ABC to roll it out nationally. Autistic children suffer from a range of learning difficulties including poor concentration and communication skills. The numbers of sufferers has been rising in recent years, placing additional strain on limited facilities. At the moment, Dr Morton runs a centre in Brisbane with annual fees of $14,000. Dr Morton said ABC chief executive Eddy Groves had offered to share free of charge the listed company's premises with the AEIOU. He said under the proposal, AEIOU would run the program, pay specialist childcare workers with skills in autism and collect fees from parents on a not-for-profit basis. ABC would pay for the premises and overheads. "Parents would pay a childcare fee and the federal Government would supply the extra funding so that their fees were kept low,"Dr Morton said. "ABC would provide the space and the overheads for free." ABC Learning Centres chief executive officer for education Le Neve Groves said the benefits of providing early intervention programs for autistic children were immense and said ABC was proud to be able to provide facilities to assist. "Autism Spectrum Disorder is diagnosed in at least one in every 300 children aged between two and five years of age and represents more than 50 per cent of children with learning difficulties," Dr Groves said. A spokesman for Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson said the Government was considering the issue. "A proposal has recently been put to the Government. It is quite a complex matter and the minister is waiting for advice from her department," he said. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,17248837,00.html

I am overcome with sadness about some of the kids I work with. I knew this would be an emotionally difficult job, but it is proving to be harder than I envisioned. My heart breaks for some of these kids, and rejoices at the same time. I see MANY FAS kids, parents whose whereabouts is unknown, parents in jail or prison, ADHD kids, Tourettes, and yes...Aspergers Syndrome. Kids left on their own, and of course gang involvement. One kid several weeks ago, burned throughout his body at the age of 12. Disfigured for the rest of his life. I am working with one family. The father in one prison where I work, the son in my juvenile prison. You wonder how they ever make it at all. Several kids who have held off entire Swat teams, who are facing adult charges. One kid yesterday, abandoned by his mother, father in prison, given to the Grandmother who can no longer care for him, supposed to be released yesterday, CPS will take over but he is a Tribal kid, so he is in limbo...but nowhere to go! What does this kid have to hope for? I am constantly amazed at how resilient these kids are, how they seem to eventually just shake it off, and keep going. And who is waiting for them, their support system??? Their gang! So, they are willing to do anything for this gang, because these people are the only ones who seem to care. A sad commentary on our society!

This is a fascinating article on being Autisic.
When autism isn’t a disability By Jeremy Campbell
Marc Fleisher, who suffers with autism, has written a book about how he lives with the condition and gives advice to others - Picture by ANITA ROSS MARSHALL 05 3092 P1
Marc Fleisher, who suffers with autism, tells Jeremy Campbell how he has learned to rise above the condition. Marc Fleisher sits opposite me doing something which would have been impossible for him 20 years ago. He is demonstrating how an object placed near on edge of a table can cause great anxiety. He does so in an extremely articulate way, and opens my eyes, illustrating clearly the challenges he has faced during his 38 year life. This remarkable man has a degree in maths and a masters, both from Brunel University, and has just completed his second book. His first was an autobiography, which was in his head, chapter by chapter, in perfect order before he wrote it. The publisher barely changed a word from his first draft. The second book, which has just been published, was harder work. It is a guide on how to deal with life, for people with autism. Marc, who has lived in High Wycombe all his life, has mild Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism which affects thousands of people. He has been the victim of abuse, of misunderstanding, and of misdiagnosis. But with lots of support, and much determination and passion, he has achieved what even a few years ago, was thought to be impossible. He is now an experienced public speaker who campaigns for rights, research, funding and understanding of autism."The most important thing is that people with autism deserve the same rights as everyone else. I'd like people to know that if they have any form of disability, it does not mean that you can't set yourself high goals and reach them. "He lost his mother to cancer in 1991, but she, and other members of his family, provided an essential support that has helped him succeed in so many areas. He says: "My family have been very supportive. They always believed I that I could go further."This contrasts to other people, including the doctor who diagnosed him as "mentally retarded" when he was young. He was eventually properly diagnosed, and attended the Chinnor Resource Unit for autistic children through his school years. It provided exactly the right sort of help, but there are problems in the support system."When youngsters with autism leave school, there is often a great big void. All the support they get through their school years is gone, and we need that gap to be filled up. In many cases that can only be done through good support from the Social Services."There is still a lack of understanding about the condition."The biggest gap in my life has got to be socially. I am very lonely sometimes. It is a loneliness that almost never goes away. I feel stuck on a desert island, like I can talk to my family on a radio, but don't ever get to see someone for years and years. That fear, that incredible isolation for years, that's how it feels."‘The biggest gap in my life has got to be socially. I am very lonely sometimes’ Marc Fleisher There are other problems which seem less serious, but which present constant challenges."Autistic people take everything literally. I went for a drink with a friend in a pub, and he offered to pay for the drinks by saying "It's on the house, mate". This completely threw me, and I looked on the roof for the drinks, and was the laughing stock of the village. I only found out a few hours later the true meaning of it. So called grey areas can be a problem. If you give instructions to somebody autistic you have to be very precise.The example of the object falling off the table describes what he calls the depth of feeling. Marc explains: "This is a very important point and can often be overlooked. If I put an object on the edge of the table, so it may or may not fall off, an autistic person looks at this object, and sees that it might fall on the floor and make a loud clatter. Many autistic people are susceptible to loud sounds. So they will look at this object, and it will be illuminated in their mind."He compares this to a person knowing a loved one was far away hanging off a cliff, and that they had to make it there to save them. When the autistic person makes it to the precarious object, he says: "The incredible relief and the happiness, has exactly the same intensity of feeling as (rescuing a loved one from falling off a cliff)". He does stress that many people do not have autism as acutely as others, and that there is no known cure for the condition, so the focus must be on helping people manage and live with the anxieties. With the help of friends he has learned to do many things in life. One hurdle was going shopping. His fear was that he would forget to pay, get arrested and be taken away. He calls that a worry chain, a sequence of events which leads to the ultimate concern separation from loved ones, or being in a situation out of his control. His other fear was getting on the the Tube and getting across London. He can now use the whole Tube network, and his next objective is to get on the buses. The story of his life, and his second book, a guide to dealing with life with autism, are incredible achievements, but more importantly are very well written, and great to read, either for advice and guidance, or just as an insight into a slightly different, endlessly fascinating world. Survival Strategies for People on the Autism Spectrum, by Marc Fleisher, £12.99, pub. Jessica Kingley, ISDN 1843102617

There is some correlation between the Cytomegalovirus and Autism. Normal assay testing on this virus has a high incidence of false negatives, therefore, a more sensitive testing needs to be done. This virus can not be killed in the human body, using any method that I know of, so the only treatment is to strengthen the immune system. Perhaps this virus is part of the "autism epidemic".