Here is a great new link: Autism Recovery Network's GFCF Diet Links and Recipes

BBC News: You are in: In Depth: MMR Debate.

Why Japan Stopped Using the MMR:
Japan stopped using MMR because it was linked to outbreaks of non-viral meningitis and other damaging side-effects. Doctors say there were problems with the vaccine which was of a different type to that used in the UK.
They stopped using the MMR vaccine in 1993 and reverted to three separate injections for measles, mumps and rubella.

Next IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee Meeting:
The Possible Association between Hepatitis B Vaccine and Neurological Disorders will be the topic of the next committee meeting on March 11-13, 2002 in Washington, DC. A scientific meeting, open to the public will be held March 11, 2002. To attend, your registration must be received by this Friday, February 8, 2002.

Other Meetings and Reports:
*Organizational First Meeting MMR and Autism (meeting two) *Thimerosal and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes (meeting three)
* Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction (meeting four)

John Shestack and Rene Russo

Rene Russo takes action against autism Rene Russo is best known for her action roles in Lethal Weapon 3 and The Thomas Crown Affair. But some of Russo's real-life action comes in autism research, where her voice works for those who are afflicted by a confusing and often misunderstood condition.

View the full Wakefield Article:
Molecular Pathology; Potential viral pathogenic mechanism for new variant inflammatory bowel disease by V Uhlmann, C M Martin, O Sheils, L Pilkington, I Silva, A Killalea, S B Murch, A J Wakefield, JJ O'Leary and an accompanying editorial by Alan Morris and David Aldulaimi will officially appear in the April issue of Molecular Pathology. (This can be opened with Adobe Reader)

Article: How one mother's love changed her autistic child - with dramatic results.
Discovering your son has autism would put the most extraordinary strain on any marriage. When Sandi Collins's son Ben was diagnosed following his MMR vaccination, her relationship with her husband Paul, a former military police officer, deteriorated to breaking point. However, as she and Paul devoted their lives to helping their son - with dramatic results - they also succeeded in rebuilding their relationship.

Article: Resources, companionship can help ease hardships.

How about an autism conference?
FEAT Daily News has just posted their complete list of upcoming February conferences

Also, see our Upcoming Conferences Page

The Power Of One I. D. E. A. Autism Awareness Rally will be taking place in Washington D.C. on April 21, 2002.

The Inner Savant
Are you capable of multiplying 147,631,789 by 23,674 in your head, instantly? Physicist Allan Snyder says you probably can, based on his new theory about the origin of the extraordinary skills of autistic savants.

Drawings by normal 4-year-olds. When four-year-old children draw a horse, they typically choose to establish its contour and familiar features such as a head, eyes, legs and a tail.

A drawing by a three year-old savant. A three year-old child named Nadia became famous for her ability to sketch spectacularly detailed horses and riders from memory.

Fifth IOM Public Meeting
of the Institute of Medicine's Immunization Safety Review Committee will be held on March 11, 2002 at The Foundry Building, 1055 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Room 2004, Washington, DC.
The topic of this meeting will be on the possible association between hepatitis B vaccine and neurological disorders. The meeting will be part of the information gathering process of the committee.
A draft agenda will be posted on our website at www.iom.edu/imsafety by February 25, 2002. The space provided for the meeting is very limited, so please RSVP early and no later than February 25. You may RSVP by calling (202) 334-1342 or emailing us at imsafety@nas.edu. Please provide your name and contact information (organization name, phone number, fax number, and email address). You will receive a confirmation of your reservation.

New T.V. Movie; Stephen King's Rose Red was created directly for television by best-selling author and unparalleled master of horror Stephen King. It is the chilling tale of Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis), an obsessed psychology professor who commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old autistic girl, Annie Wheaton (Kimberly J. Brown), to literally wake up a supposedly dormant haunted mansion, Rose Red, built in 1907 by Seattle oil magnate John P. Rimbauer.

California: U.C. Davis' M.I.N.D. Institute
Researchers Begin Work with Families on Statewide Autism Study.

The Autism Society of America is now accepting nominations for candidates for Board of Directors for three-year terms beginning July 2002.

Controversial Commentary
By Simon Baron-Cohen
Professor of Developmental Psychopathology
and Co-Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University.

New Movie! I am Sam with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Article: At 14, an Outsider Is Feted.

Article: Motivated by the Music.

Theatrical Play (Orange County, California) Bob Randall's play "David's Mother" gives us an up-close-and-personal view of an autistic teen-ager, David Goodman, who lives in a small, cluttered New York City apartment with his mother, Sally. And, as the title indicates, Randall's focus isn't so much on David himself as it is on Sally, and the effects that a lifetime of caring for David have had upon her. Written, workshopped and developed on the East Coast, in Cleveland and in Pasadena in the early '90s, this small-scale play has the earmarks of the various intimate dramas developed for television by the Hallmark Hall of Fame. And that's how it's played by the Rude Guerrilla Theater Company in a strong and occasionally moving production at the Empire Theater in downtown Santa Ana.

Article: British P.M. Tony Blair hints at son Leo's MMR jab. Tony Blair has given his strongest indication yet that his baby son Leo has had or will have the controversial MMR vaccine.

Article: Facing autism. While science seeks the hows and whys, families search for new ways to connect, care and cope.

Just Out!
Dr. Andrew Wakefield to Join ICDRC in Florida.

2002 Autism Rally in Washington D.C.
From Unlocking Autism:
Mark your calendars now to attend the 3rd Annual Autism Awareness Rally in Washington, DC April 21, 2002. Unlocking Autism once again brings you The Power of ONE! this year on the mall in Washington, DC on April 21, 2002 from 12 noon to 5pm. Pack your blanket and sunscreen and come for a day of family and community fun! We will have an activity section for the kids. Learn how YOU can make changes in your state and across the nation. Keep tuned to the our website at www.unlockingautism.org for speakers and additional information. Grab some friends, rent a van, fill it up and head for DC this spring! We hope to see you there! P.S. If you haven't sent in a picture for the Open Your Eyes project, the deadline is quickly approaching. We want to double the size of the exhibit for this year! Get us those pictures you took over the holidays to us today!

From Rick Rollins, autism advocate:
Governor Gray Davis of California today announced that, despite a record $14 Billion budget shortfall, he has included in the upcoming 2002-2003 State Budget $17.2 million General Fund increase to maintain services for consumers diagnosed with autism.

President Bush, acting Tuesday on his No. 1 domestic priority, signed into law a sweeping education bill that will require new reading and math tests, seek to close the education gap between rich and poor students and raise teacher standards.

Article: He's a champion in spirit. High school swimmer with autism has been an inspiration, say coach and fellow Quaker teammates.

Article: Laura's Little Miracles

Writer Emerges From Martian Past
The title of Clare Sainsbury’s book about Asperger’s syndrome, Martian in the Playground, sums up exactly what she felt like at primary school: she looked perfectly normal but she felt like an alien. “Half the time my parents were told I was a gifted child, and half the time that I should be in a school for kids with special needs,” she says.

Autism figures soar in America
The number of children diagnosed with autism in America is continuing to increase at a rate of more than 20% a year, according to the latest figures published by the US Department of Health. The figures show that in the year 1999/2000 the number of schoolchildren in America with autism was 65,396 compared with 53,576 the previous year.

Autistic children enjoy day at movies.
They had a screening room at the Muvico Paradise 24 Theater in Davie, Florida all to themselves. The special, early morning showing was a gift from speech therapist Valerie Herskowitz to her clients. Many theatergoers don't understand why autistic children act up. Some people have made rude comments, said Herskowitz of Plantation.
"The parents' feelings get hurt," said Herskowitz, whose son, Blake, 10, also has autism. "Some try and avoid the situation." Many mothers and fathers do like Hoaglund and take their children to the theater at times when the seats are less filled. Others don't go to the movies at all, Herskowitz said.

Nature's notes soothe autism. Rosemarie Mason is bringing up three autistic sons. She tells how sound therapy (AIT Auditory Integration Training) has calmed their manic and often frightening behaviour.

Girl finds a new life in Scouts. Ten-year-old Megan Gagnon has autism. But the girl, who once threw glass more than she spoke, would wear only one color and was a painfully finicky eater, has blossomed through communicating with customers about cookies.

Always golden. Two students who competed in the Special Olympics make progress in Walker Middle School's autistic class, and one moves up to Sickles High.

Sheriff’s deputy Robert Kahn is doing his part to help keep kids from being harmed.
Author Robert “Bob” Kahn holds two books he has written to help children and adults understand the dangers of strangers and bullies. Robert Kahn wants to keep his kids safe. He wants to keep your kids safe too, but he can’t be everywhere at one time. So he wrote the books “Too Safe for Strangers,” and “Too Smart for Bullies.” He has two more “Too Smart” books for release in January and has seven more in the works. (Sherrif Kahn has an 11 year-old autistic son.)
www.FutureHorizons-autism.com.
For more information, write to:
Future Horizons, Inc.,
721 W. Abram St.
Arlington, Texas 76013
call 800-489-0727
or e-mail info@FutureHorizons-autism.com

Faceblindness by Bill Choisser

Take The Autism Quotient Test for adults.
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults.

Room for some calm in autistic pupils' lives.
Linda Hall has dedicated her life to helping children with autism to lead fulfilling lives. She became fascinated by the condition after hearing a talk on it almost 30 years ago and has risen from being a teaching assistant to deputy head at a leading school for children with autism.
Mrs Hall is keen to equip a “sensory” room, intended to calm the children and to increase their concentration through sounds, lights and textured surfaces.
The room, which will cost about £15,000, will include a sound-light floor and a musical wall. If a child touches a certain zone it will light up and make a sound. Equipment showing children how to interact with the environment will include patterned and textured areas and other stimuli including wind chimes, glistening balls, light-reflecting beaded curtains, tactile walls, wobble boards and water features.
An NAS spokeswoman said: “The children love these rooms. You see them reaching out to touch the different things. People with autism are prone to sensory overload. These rooms allow them to control what their senses take in. They can dim the lights or make different sounds. It’s a way of allowing their senses to calm down.”

Looking past limitations
The conviction in Evan Stosick's voice when he says he'll be the next Albert Einstein makes everyone in hearing distance believe his dream will come true. The fact that the 12 year old is autistic doesn't detract from his aspirations, but is evidence that he already knows how to overcome larger obstacles than most of us will ever face. In spite some of his limitations, the Dexter resident keeps excelling.

A Debate is brewing over whether British P.M. Tony Blair's son Leo has received his MMR vaccine, fueling continued speculation over the safety of the vaccine.