Guest blogger & Autism Super hero sibling: Culzean Giammatteo After the school year came to a close in the summer of 2013, I spent most of my time indoors, on whatever electronic device I had access to, reading. On this particular evening I was reading like I normally do and my brother, Vico, was... Continue Reading →
#GivingTuesday: This history & how to help non-profits
By Lisa Ackerman What comes after Thanksgiving Thursday? First, Black Friday. Then, Cyber Monday and don’t forget #GivingTuesday! Today is a day to support nonprofit organizations across the country. Just as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become traditions in the United States, organizers are seeing #GivingTuesday as a tradition celebrating the joy of giving.... Continue Reading →
#Autism is now 1 in 45 – will anyone listen?
By Lisa Ackerman In December 2013 the University of Minnesota published a study regarding the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population in Minneapolis. The results documented the ASD overall rate: 1 in 48. Another major finding from the Somali population showed autism rates are 1 in 32 (1.) In a new report released today two startling findings (2)... Continue Reading →
Meet Me at the National TACA #Autism Conference
Janice Kern TACA National Conference Coordinator TACA hosts events every week somewhere in the country. There are coffee talks, family picnics, TACA Meetings, Autism Learning Seminars, Family Hikes, TACA Birthday Parties and the list goes on. It’s a fact that TACA has some of the most creative volunteers you’ll ever meet. If they... Continue Reading →
Review of Double-blind Placebo-controlled Study On the GFCF Diet
By Gita Gupta Study Reports That the GFCF Diet is Nutritionally Safe A recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study by Hyman et al (2015) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26343026 looked at the Gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet and established that it is safe and does not carry any nutritional risk. The study excluded kids with ASD who have gastrointestinal symptoms. For... Continue Reading →
A Change for #Autism?
By Lisa Ackerman On September 15 2015, Dr. Thomas Insel announced he will step down as a director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NMIH) and Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) (1.) This change is effective November 1, 2015. On this blog we have written about the IACC and their efforts since inception back... Continue Reading →
Why Would a Government Panel Question Universal #Autism Screening?
By Lisa Ackerman When a serious developmental disability increases from 1 in every 10,000 US children in 1970 to 1 in 68 in 2015, how should the government respond (1)? One would think perhaps scale up screenings? Increase support? Look into cause and treatments? Sadly, the newest report is the opposite, to put a stop... Continue Reading →
The Annual Cost of Autism Continues to Soar
By Lisa Ackerman (Original post in May 2012 with updates in July 2015) In May 2012, new figures were released to highlight a huge increase in the annual autism costs. Autism costs had soared to $137 billion a year (1). This represented a three-fold increase within the last decade. Fast forward 3 years and those... Continue Reading →
Missing Bernie
By Lisa Ackerman There are many days I miss Dr. Bernard Rimland. This week is no exception. He is a true pioneer for families living with autism. If you are not familiar with dear Bernie, please read his tribute (1.) He was a great man. In my office is a treasure sent to me from... Continue Reading →
Why not cure #autism?
By Lisa Ackerman An article was published recently titled Why Aren’t We trying To Cure Autism? (1.) This article spoke to me. Why is an autism cure such a taboo? We want a cure for everything for those who want a cure, right? I would love to talk about curing autism. The reality for many... Continue Reading →
Moving Autism Forward by Team TACA 