Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation to help study a rare cell type associated with intuition and quick decision making. This is another research into a biological approach to treating Autism. I do not disagree with any progress made in autism research. I just think that much more research and the funding needed to do the research need be done on the environmental cause of autism. This research is of the cell type Von Economo Neurons (VENs). These cells are believed to grow in humans sometime after birth, and increase in numbers until age 4. It is believed that these VENs do not develop normally in children with autism. VENs not developing normally could be a reason why Autistic children are plagued with social disabilities. Virtually no research is being conducted into the environmental factors involving autism. This lopsided approach to autism research is widely criticized and for good reason. It is common sense not to put all your eggs in one basket. This is exactly what these scientist and the funding for their research is doing. If autism is not researched holistically then the chances of finding the cures or causes of Autism will remain elusive.
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Autism Research
Saturday, September 12th, 2009Family update
Saturday, August 8th, 2009It is now August and the family is once again living in Chicago land. we find ourselves in Lombard Illinois. We are now paying just about 6 times the rent we were paying at Oaklawn apts. in Canton Illinois. we are still on the same limited income as before only now we have lost our vehicles, we are on a tight budget. the children are doing ok. I would say Lauren is adjusting to the neighborhood and has managed to make friends. she had to loose out on the remainder of her track season in Canton. She was upset about this but is adjusting as she has no choice in the matter. Arek attended school for about a month before the school year ended. In the short time period he actually went on the potty not consistently but he did begin the process of being potty trained. Arek is talking much more and it is an exciting time as far as his development goes. Brett is doing well, he being 13 is bored most of the time. Allissa and Amanda are now mostly potty trained and developing well. Lisa is doing good as well. We still are fighting the discrimination case against our landlords at Oaklawn apts. Now it is being investigated by the dept. of Human rights. All in all our family is hanging in there and attempting to enjoy life as it is. More detailed updates are soon to come it is late and when i next find the time i will update.
Digital Photo Gift Ideas for Your Newborn Baby
Monday, March 30th, 2009The best ideas to turn your digital photos of your new baby into great digital gifts.
See more at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1602418/digital_photo_gift_ideas_for_your_newborn.html
Illinois Special Olympics State Basketball Championship
Friday, March 27th, 2009This a news story on the Illinois State Special Olympics basketball tournament held March 13th- 15th 2009.
See more at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1601658/illinois_special_olympics_state_basketball.html
Discrimination still persists
Friday, March 27th, 2009The dept of human rights who was supposedly investigating the discrimination complaint against our former landlords Fulton County Housing Authority decided their was not enough evidence. What a joke. The report eluded to things that never happened, interviews that did ot take place. It also included a denial that the former landlord had any knowledge of Brad being disabled. Fact: the housing authority on 4 different occasions received for income verification purposes our award letters from Social security disability. Exactly how could a Housing authority not know the person is disabled? Further they said that Bradley never requested a reasonable accommodation. They also stated receiving a request for an accommodation but said it was not on the proper from, Ridiculous. The matter is now up for review by the Illinois Human Rights Commission. They received a 24 page reason why the case should not have been dismissed and hopefully they will do the right thing and not drop the ball on this one. Since moving from the Fulton County Housing Authority owned property we moved into this house from hell. The one good thing about the HUD funded projects is they keep property up to codes. We are now facing eviction again for what amounts to complaining to the city about the deplorable conditions of the property. The judge we got is the same as last time and because of this we requested a jury trial. It is sad that people can get away with renting property to others knowing it is in such bad shape that the life and health and safety of the renters is at risk. We have to keep fighting this discrimination until somebody does the job that needs to be done. Other news here in Canton relating to discrimination is the school board just fired a teacher because the principal did not like her. The community is outraged and is forming a group to protest, petition, and fight the discrimination of the school district. The mayor candidate race is heating up as the former mayor Bohler settled a discrimination suit against a secretary during his last term of office and the current mayor Meade is running to keep his office. It is sad that a person who may or may not be a good mayor has to screw up and do something stupid. This as it is stated by Bohler" minor non issue" not only cost the city money but was a very serious charge and should preclude him from being mayor period. Look what happened to Clinton.
Family Update
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009The weekend went well Lauren’s team won the state championship. The family bonded and enjoyed a camp fire on both Sunday and Monday nights. It was fun Brad, Lauren and I all went and gathered wood around the local country roads. Nature provides plenty of wood that has fallen to the ground no need to buy it. Monday night we had a possum enter our yard but we startled it and it left. Arek still making progress in communicating. He has major sensory issues which we are working on. We still all waiting for an attorney for the eviction we are facing on march 23rd. We hired an attorney to represent us in the personal injuries suffered by our family. Hope it works out cause the attorney gets 33&1/3. today I found out a local teacher who from the comments posted about her suggest was a great teacher was dismissed y the school board for what amounts to personal differences between herself and the principal. Discrimination charges were filed before this incident which makes you wonder what the motivation behind the firing really was. Autism rating today was mildly stressful Arek was pretty good all day. he still strips down to diaper as soon as he gets home from school. He is in school for only 4 hours a day but it is long enough he needs to stim when he gets home. Autism education reform is still desperately needed as far as training and equipment here in canton. the schools do what they can with what they got. We still have not received our income tax or SSA stimulus payment. Financially we are under water and the bubbles are slowly leaving our lungs. certainly we could use some more income and better budgeting. The past 6 months have been very trying on us as a family and hopefully the end of our struggle is soon. I am still taking medication which helps some but does not perform miracles. I am i the process of finding a psychiatrist. My therapist is great his name is Dr. Phil. been trying to spend more time with the family and less time endlessly fighting the travesties I have been subjected to. It is a strain on our family and almost to the point of just giving up which for me is nearly impossible. That is all for now write more later as info comes along.
