By Lisa Ackerman When Temple Grandin’s life story was featured in a fantastic, academy award winning HBO movie the scene between the psychologist and Temple's mom Eustacia made me cry for two reasons (1.) For one, it's heartbreaking to hear the autism diagnosis followed by no cure, nothing you can do, and to consider institutionalization.... Continue Reading →
So autism is common. Who cares?
By: Dr. Bob Sears – Pediatrician and TACA Physician Advisory Member Before you yell at me for the title, pause and sense the sarcasm. I do care; I care deeply. As a full-time practicing pediatrician, I have continued to witness an alarming increase in the number of healthy babies in my practice who regress into... Continue Reading →
1 in 88 hit me hard
New numbers, same reality By guest blogger: Alison Hamilton One in 88 hit me hard. I wasn't surprised, sadly. This isn't the first time since Leah's diagnosis that the autism rate has taken a jump in the wrong direction. But this one felt more personal. The CDC calculated one in 88 using children born in... Continue Reading →
Day Two: Autism ACTION month
In honor of autism awareness ACTION month, we will be asking friends of TACA to do something every day in April. Today’s task is very simple. Please take two minutes to watch a great video about Charlie and how his community is rising up to help him. Here is the link: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kernfamily/TACACAMPAIGN2012 Here are several... Continue Reading →
April = Autism Action Month
Today is World Autism Awareness day to kick off Autism Awareness month. Some folks consider today a day of celebration. Some folks do not. There is a dad that sent me a very profound, touching email this morning about his severely affected son. His son does not sleep more than a few hours at a... Continue Reading →
The Autism Epidemic continues to rage on…
Will the new CDC autism rates make this disease a priority? By Lisa Ackerman Back in 1999, I was lost. I didn’t know what autism was. It was a foreign word with a vague reference to the movie Rain Man and a character played by Dustin Hoffman. Back then, when I started searching for answers... Continue Reading →
April is Autism Awareness Month
By Lisa Ackerman There are a lot of dreams for two grown people who come together, in love, with dreams to be lucky enough to create a family. In the early stages, you giggle "what will their eye color be?" while you silently pray they turn out identical to the ones you stare at. You... Continue Reading →
I CHOOSE ELLIOT..
Guest Blog By - Laura Sylvester Our autism journey has been a rocky one. Like most families we have marched forwards and backwards at times. In our quest to help Elliot be the best he could be, we have had to take some seemingly “backward” steps before we could continue “forwards.” One of those “backward”... Continue Reading →
My Bad-Ass Autism Survivor Story…
By guest blog writer - Julia Berle May 13, 2005 was a joyous day in our household. On this day, seven years ago, our child Baxter no longer qualified for the diagnosis of autism. He had been re-evaluated three years after receiving the label and no longer fit the diagnostic criteria. We were elated. ... Continue Reading →
A Physician’s Perspective on the Proposed DSM-5 Autism Diagnostic Criteria
By Dr. Bob Sears- TACA Physician Advisor With the upcoming proposed changes in the DSM - 5 diagnostic criteria for autism, many parents are worried that their child may no longer qualify for much-needed services. One 2009 study published in Pediatrics (1) revealed that almost 40% of children who were previously diagnosed with autism improved so... Continue Reading →
Moving Autism Forward by Team TACA 