Research on Environmental Links to ASD's

The latest research has pointed to a combination of genetic predisposition and an environmental trigger as the suspected cause of ASD's.

This article by The Examiner addresses some specific suspected environmental triggers. I would like to see this study go one step further. In practical terms, what is needed is a list of specific products containing these harmful chemicals that parents can avoid, and a list of safe alternatives that parents can purchase.

The article has been copied from Disability Scoop and The Examiner:

Toxic chemicals found in baby products; some may be linked to autism

May 19th, 2011 3:13 pm ET
Mike Frandsen
DC Examiner
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A new study shows that 80 percent of products tested made for infants and toddlers contained toxic chemical flame retardants that can have harmful effects on health. The products include items made with polyurethane foam such as car seats, mattresses, and changing pads. Of the 80 samples in the study that contained flame retardants, 79 were either brominated or chlorinated.

Brominated flame retardants, or those based in the chemical element bromine, have been implicated as potential risk factors in autism spectrum disorders, cancer, and other health problems. Studies on brominated flame retardants have shown adverse developmental effects on animals.

Brominated flame retardants have increased in household products over the last 30 years because they make them less flammable. However, the toxins from these chemicals can leach from the products into the environment and accumulate in the body. Fetuses and babies are especially susceptible to toxic chemicals.

Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai Medical Center has said environmental causes, including brominated flame retardants, are strongly associated with autism.

“Over the last decade, we’ve developed very good scientific information that links three or four classes of chemicals to brain injury in babies if the exposure occurs during pregnancy,” Landrigan told Examiner.com in 2010. “We’ve found that phthalates, brominated flame retardants, and certain pesticides are linked to loss of intelligence, attention deficit disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in children.” PDD is one of the autism spectrum disorders.

Landrigan is one of the leaders of the National Children’s Study, which is expected to identify causes of autism and many other childhood disorders and diseases.

Donna Ferullo, the Director of Program Research of the Autism Society, said in a press release, “We know that little people tend to bite, lick, mouth, wet and fully experience these products, and absorb more toxins than adults by both habits and percentage of small body weight,” she said. “For example, a wet mattress sends an entirely new combination of untested vapors into a small, vulnerable system. Frequent and multiple exposures to chemicals combined with an inadequate detoxification pathway do not ensure healthy development of the brain and immune system. We strive to limit toxic chemical exposures in both the inception and modulation of autism to protect best quality of life.”



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According to the study, published in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal, of 101 products tested,:

Four products contained penta-BDE, a substance banned in 172 countries and 12 U.S. states.
29 products contained TDCPP or chlorinated Tris, a possible human carcinogen that was removed from children's pajamas in the 1970s.
14 products contained TCEP, a carcinogenic flame retardant.
Andy Igrejas of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families said in a press release, "These are the worst kind of chemicals, and they are a potent symbol of the complete breakdown in chemical management in this country. You bring them into your home hidden in consumer products that seem benign. But they get out of products and into your bloodstream where they begin to damage your health. The government doesn’t do anything about it and that needs to change."

Proposed chemical safety legislation would empower the Environmental Protection Agency to minimize risks from chemicals proven to be dangerous, require safety testing of all industrial chemicals, and require businesses to prove chemicals are safe before using them. Currently, only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals in existence have been tested for safety.

Feel free to post comments at the bottom of this article.

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Suggested by the author:
Toxic Chemicals Safety Act to be on 2011 Congressional legislative agenda
Health advocates rally at Capitol for chemical safety bill; some chemicals linked to autism, cancer
Landrigan calls for more research into pesticides, toxic chemicals, environmental causes of autism
Congress: CDC misled public about Washington, D.C. lead in water crisis, lead was toxic for some
Autism advocate Lyn Redwood discusses mercury vaccine controversy, chelation, treatment and recovery


Continue reading on Examiner.com: Toxic chemicals found in baby products; some may be linked to autism - National DC | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/dc-in-national/toxic-chemicals-found-baby-products-some-may-be-linked-to-autism#ixzz1Mtrp9KZk

Smartphone and Tablet Applications

Have you heard of Ablelink Technologies, Inc? Before yesterday, I had not. They have several applications designed to be used directly by people with autism, learning or other developmental disabilities.

The 3 smartphone/ipad apps that are available now are "Living Safely", "Every Day Skills", and "Community Sidekick".

Detailed information about each app, with screen shots, is available in the Apple App Store, but I know that these apps are also available Nokia and, I believe, Android systems. I personally use Apple products, so have access to better information about Apple apps and products.

I am checking with my daughter's specialists to see if they are familiar with these apps, as they are so new that there are not any user reviews to go by yet, that I have found.

While Community Sidekick is aimed at someone who can go out into community on their own, it is the most reasonably priced of the three apps today, at $9.99.

Every Day Skills ($24.99 today)and Living Safely ($19.99 today)are self-paced lessons. If a person can use and benefit from these lessons, they are not prohibitively priced. I would certainly love the opportunity to try out one of these lessons with my daughter and see if it appeals to her before purchasing the app. Without reviews from other users, it is a shot in the dark.

I think that the Ablelink Technologies, Inc website and the app store descriptions are worth looking at. http://www.ablelinktech.com/

Are You Artistic?

I do oil paintings on canvas, and my daughter loves to paint with tempera on construction paper. She loves to glue things, and loves to use markers and crayons. I have thought about bringing some of my acrylics and canvas to her space to do some art together.

Well, there is a social network that offers opportunities and supports for artists who have disabilities! It is called the The Disabled Artists Social Network.

When you visit the website there is a tab for "blog" and here is one post from that blog:

From

Laurie Homan:

SHIFT

An international juried exhibition for artists with disabilities

Deadline for submissions: March 11, 2011

VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, announces a call for art for artists ages 18 and older who have a physical, cognitive, or mental disability. Artists are invited to submit up to four artworks of any media that address the theme of Shift – an investigation of a moment of change in one’s life that alters the direction of a person’s path.

For more info: www.vsarts.org/shift

To submit artwork: www.callforentry.org

Selected artists will be notified by April 29, 2011.

Selected artwork will be exhibited at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC in June 2011.
DanSocialNetwork · Jan 27 · Tags: vsarts.org"

To visit this website, copy and paste this URL:
http://disabledartistssocialnetworkbuyandsell.wall.fm/index

One of the links on this website took me to another interesting site that supports the arts for people who have disabilities. This site includes dance, theatre, music, art galleries, exhibits, film and television.
Copy and paste this URL to view this site:
http://www.disabledonline.com/link-directory/arts-entertainment/

Also, visit VSA, the International Organization on Arts and Disability
They have links to sources of adaptive tools for artists and opportunities for artists to show their work. The offer resources to art teachers who want to address special needs in the classroom. To visit VSA, go to http://www.vsarts.org

Travel, Part 2, More Tour Operators Who Specialize in Accessibility

Tour Operators

At http://www.disabledtravelers.com/tour_operators.htm they say:

"There are many different tour operators that offer accessible travel & tours. Some specialize in cruises, safaris, scuba diving, travel with service dogs, and group travel, while others can arrange a wide variety of tours for individuals or groups. Many U.S. based tour operators offer trips around the country as well as Europe, Australia, U.K., and other parts of the world. If you know where you want to go, then your search for a tour should be easy. However, if you're unsure about where you want to go, then you may have a hard time picking just one! We have done our best to find every tour operator offering accessible tours. Check Adventure Travel for more options and don't forget to do some research using our access guides and message boards."

Copy and Paste the URL and visit this site for LOTS of tour operators who can provide specialized assistance to disabled individuals who would like to travel. This website is great! It highlights products that can be purchased to make travel easier on disabled people. It lists tour operators who can take people on real adventure vacations who might not have had access to that kind of experience in the past.

Thinking About Vacation? Want to Travel?

I have copied this article for you. I had no idea such a service existed and I think it is very interesting!


Trips Inc. in the media




Barrier Buster: Company Shows The World To Developmentally Disabled Adults

by Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard
January 4, 2004

Several years ago, leading a tour group of four in London, Jim Peterson spied a sign in a store window advertising five tickets to the evening's Eric Clapton concert at Prince Albert Hall.

Peterson immediately bought the tickets. "I took it as a sign from God that there were five tickets and five of us," he said.

Among Peterson's four developmentally disabled charges was a paraplegic man in a wheelchair.


A Trips Inc. group tests the Elk Lake waters last September. Damon Quade (right) and Justin Hale (rear) served as chaperones on the venture.
Photos: Trips Inc."We had seats close to the stage, but (the ushers) said we couldn't sit there with the wheelchair because of fire regulations," Peterson said. Theater officials worried that in a fire, the wheelchair-bound man wouldn't be able to evacuate quickly.

"So I told them he could get up and walk if there was a fire," Peterson said. "That was a lie, but it was a great show."

Such are the steps Peterson will take to ensure his travel company's special clients receive equal access to adventure and recreation. In the case of Prince Albert Hall, which is not wheelchair accessible, Peterson said he was determined "to use it just like everybody else."

Peterson's Eugene-based firm, Trips Inc. Special Adventures, takes developmentally disabled adults from across the country to destinations worldwide.

Launched in 1991, when Peterson ran four expeditions and served about 70 people, Trips now takes a total of 700 to 750 disabled vacationers on a total of about 40 adventures each year.

Destinations include Mexico, the Bahamas, Greece, Scotland, France and dozens of domestic stops that include Hawaii, Alaska, Disneyland, Nashville, Florida, Las Vegas, San Francisco and a dude ranch near Tucson.

Customers of Trips come with a variety of disabilities, ranging from autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy to blindness, assorted physical handicaps and mental retardation.

Peterson is one of a handful of for-profit entrepreneurs nationwide who specialize in this work. Demand has increased as a growing number of families and other advocates have pushed to bring fun into the lives of special-needs people.

Peterson's company has grown to the point where it now has six full-time paid staff, and uses 200 trip chaperons from around the country.

The chaperoning can be demanding. Some clients live in group homes and need 24-hour care.

And the vacation packages are spendy. An annual four-day Christmas gathering in Portland runs $945; a nine-day Oahu vacation costs $2,645; five days in Disneyland can be had for $1,590; and 10 days in Greece has a $3,395 price tag.

The price includes airfare, lodging, meals and entertainment. The ratio of travelers to chaperons runs 3-to-1 or 4-to-1. That small group supervision - which includes dispensing medications and other personal care - plus the multitude of safety provisions Peterson insists upon, drive the price.


Trips Inc. travelers and staff members visited Paris last June to see the Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney and the Louvre.
Photos: Trips Inc.
Still, Peterson said demand outstrips the trips he can supply.

It's not uncommon for the 20 to 30 slots available for a summer camping expedition in Central Oregon to be full six months in advance, said Rhonda Reed, travel coordinator for Trips. On those outdoor expeditions, the chaperone to traveler ratio is 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 for safety reasons, Peterson said.

Limited Opportunities

Peterson started the business a decade after failing to find adequate vacation opportunities for a disabled foster child in his care.

"I found a lot of camps, but what about going to San Francisco for a baseball game?" he said. "I thought about starting my own travel service, and 10 years later I did."

Peterson's personality drives the Trips paid staff. His philosophy is straightforward: Special needs folks need vacations like the rest of us, and the best way to educate the world about the disabled is to take them out into the world to recreate.

"I want the perception out there that we aren't all that different," he said. "People with developmental disabilities aren't made of glass."

Monica Venice is proof of that. Next week, the 38-year-old Cottage Grove woman with Down syndrome will embark on her fifth Trips vacation - this time on a cruise to the Bahamas.

"She usually does one every year," said Monica's mother, Becky Venice, noting that the journeys give her "very independent" daughter the incentive to work at McDonald's and save for traveling.

"It is so thrilling for her to have the opportunity to do a trip like this without Mom and Dad along," Becky Venice said. "Trips gives her as much freedom to be as independent as she can be."

Monica, who has been to Branson, Mo., Disneyworld, Hawaii and Mexico with Trips, said her most memorable venture thus far is the jaunt to Hawaii when she and her group swam with friendly marine mammals at the Dolphin Quest facility. "I kissed a dolphin," she said, giggling.

Letting Go of Kids

Some parents and guardians of special needs people tend to be overprotective and dismiss the supervised vacations offered by Trips and other similar firms, Becky Venice said.

"I've tried to talk it up to other parents to let their kids do this, but it's hard for them to put their kids in the hands of strangers," she said.

Janine Nilsen found Trips when she started looking for an organization for her son, Eric, to travel with after he graduated from Cottage Grove High School. Eric Nilsen, 29, has Down syndrome, and now works in the high school cafeteria.

"It's important for parents of kids with special needs to let them travel," Janine Nelson said. "These kids need real experiences to grow."

Nilsen said the tour groups are a chance for her son to be an ambassador for the special needs community. "To show the world they are not monsters," she said.

Nilsen recounts a vacation Eric took to Hawaii, and he and his group stopped at an Oahu bar. "A group of Japanese businessmen walked in, looked at them and were taken aback," she said. "Eric walked up to them and said 'Hi' and that melted the ice instantly."

Venice maintains she wasn't nervous when Monica took her first vacation without parents. She's known Peterson for almost 30 years, dating back to when both were volunteers for Special Olympics.

"He is such a natural with the population," Venice said. "He just connects with these guys and they love him."

Peterson, who has a master's degree in special education, said the vacations his company offers are the only chance for many disabled people to break their sometimes regimented routines.

"Traveling improves their confidence," he said. "They are adults, so let's get them out there to see the world."


Details, Details, Details

Operating out of a two-story house on West Sixth Avenue in Eugene, the Trips staff plans the minute details of each adventure.

Aside from plane tickets, there are hotel room assignments, special diets and accommodations, instructions for medications, traveler profiles and the lining up of chaperons.

Reed, the travel coordinator and a licensed travel agent, puts it all together, Peterson said.

"We had a trip to Orlando (Fla.) once where we had people coming from 16 different airports," Reed said. "That was stressful."

Peterson insists that all staff members, even the office manager, take at least one trip "so they understand how important their jobs are."

Reed for example, has made several trips to Scotland and France. Tour leaders are also given flexibility to veer off the planned schedule to accommodate different interests.

"We set the itinerary, but they aren't canned trips," Peterson said. "We want people to experience everything."

Reed last June traveled with a group to Paris, and had to make some minor schedule changes. "They liked the Louvre so much they wanted to go back, so we did," she said. "If they don't like museums, I have to find something different for them to enjoy."

Peterson relies on paid group leaders and a network of 200 chaperons to keep his travelers safe. Chaperons, from a variety of backgrounds, are a mix of paid staff and volunteers. For the unpaid, Trips covers the costs, such as airfare, lodging and meals.

A special education teacher in Maryland makes a point of volunteering for one trip a year, Peterson said, while a Wyoming woman travels with Trips as many as 10 times a year.

"The only way it works is if I've got good chaperons," Peterson said, adding that all are thoroughly vetted, including background checks and interviews to screen their disposition and attitude.

Adam Gratch, a program supervisor for the Arc of Multnomah County, has chaperoned seven trips and is slated to head to Nashville in March.

"It's an incredible opportunity," he said. "You get to meet new friends and have new experiences."

Gratch said he appreciates Trips because the firm takes disabled folks to places they would never see on their own.

"They make connections that last well after the trip has ended," Gratch said. "There's a lot of learning that goes on."

Peterson said four couples who met on the trips have married.

Screening clients

Not all folks with developmental disabilities are fit for travel. Peterson requires each to submit a profile, and makes sure a person's social skills will fit with any given group. Formerly a director for a group home for the developmentally disabled, Peterson scrutinizes each profile for any disqualifying issues.

"Our biggest concern is safety. We're not coming at this from a travel agency perspective," he said. "If there are medical concerns that we can't handle, we'll have to say no, maybe another trip at another time."

The business has flattened out since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - mirroring the national travel atmosphere - but remains profitable, Peterson said. "This is something that will not make you rich," he added.

Those who know Peterson said he operates Trips out of a deep affection for the disabled. "He loves the population," Venice said. "And his enthusiasm and demeanor rubs off on those people he hires."

Peterson said he loves the clients and their sheer joy in a recreational setting.

"If I had the chance to do it for another group, I wouldn't," he said. "These guys don't complain about the weather. They are simply grateful."
Trips Inc. Special Adventures

Business: Travel agency that caters exclusively to developmentally disabled adults. Conducts roughly 40 trips a year and serves as many as 750 clients a year.

Owner: Jim Peterson
Employees: Six paid staff plus a volunteer chaperon force of 200
Founded: 1991
Headquarters: Eugene

Copyright © 2004, The Register Guard
Reprinted with permission

More Exciting Research Re: Treatment of Intellectual Disability

Drugs Could Be Game-Changer For Intellectual Disability
By MICHELLE DIAMENT
May 2, 2011 Text Size A A
An antibiotic regularly used to treat acne and strep throat is one of a handful of drugs that researchers are discovering could alter outcomes for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
For Chase Brown, 14, the medication known as minocycline appeared to make a difference. Since taking the drug, the boy who has fragile X syndrome pays more attention in school, exhibits a greater ability to have back and forth conversation with others and his behavior meltdowns have subsided, his mother says.
The best part: unlike antipsychotics, Chase’s mom says the medication is not sedating her son.
And he isn’t alone. In a small study in which Chase participated, 70 percent of individuals with fragile X responded to minocycline, seeing similar improvements in communication, behavior and learning.
The drug is one of a few undergoing trials currently, which researchers say could ultimately lead to a development once thought impossible: the reversal of intellectual disability. Moreover, if successful, researchers say the medications could also have implications for those with autism and other conditions, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Comment by Sheree:
This article came to me through Disability Scoop, and they provide a link to the original LA Times article, which does mention a side-effect that occurs in some patients, reduced appetite and/or stomach upset. Other articles on this topic mention that the side effects sometimes subside after a few days of use. Some doctors are prescribing this medication off-label at parent's request and many of those have been surveyed about their observations. Many parents reported some improvements, but since it was not a controlled study, it is assumed that their is some placebo effect going on in at least some cases.

The original article also makes reference to a "ray of hope" for those who are born with Down Syndrome.

To read the original article copy and paste this URL
latimes.com/health/la-he-fragile-x-20110501,0,7738702.story