Autism2011 - Awares international online conference - closes tonight (November 18, 2011)

Autism2011 - the seventh Awares international online autism conference - closes at 11.59pm (UK time) tonight, Friday, November 18, Don't miss this unique final opportunity to put your questions directly to more than sixty of the world's leading autism experts - including Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor Rita Jordan, Professor Gary Mesibov and Dr Darold Treffert.

The conference - run by Autism Cymru (Wales's pioneering national charity for autism) - can be found at www.awares.org/conferences

There are some fascinating discussions currently taking place on a wide variety of autism-related issues. Please do join in the debates before the conference closes - and let friends and colleagues know about the event.

Many thanks to all those - presenters and delegates - who have already taken part and helped to make this as lively, stimulating and informative a conference as ever.

Just to let you know that, although the discussions close tonight, I will be leaving the presenters' papers on the conference site for several months to come.

Please do let me have your feedback on Autism2011, sending it to me at: adam.m.feinstein@gmail.com

Best wishes,

Adam Feinstein
Organiser, Autism2011
Editor, Awares


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AWARES Conference Centre
http://www.awares.org/conferences

Twitter: @AutismAnnounce
http://www.adamfeinstein.org/autism-mailing-lists.html

Put your questions directly to top autism experts - Awares online conference extended until Friday evening (November 18, 2011)

Hi everyone

Don't miss this unique opportunity to put your questions directly to more than sixty of the world's leading autism experts - including Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor Rita Jordan, Professor Gary Mesibov and Dr Darold Treffert.  Due to popular demand, I have decided to extend Autism2011 - the Awares international online autism conference - until 11.59pm UK time on Friday (November 18, 2011).

The conference - which is the seventh annual online conference to be run by Autism Cymru (Wales's pioneering national charity for autism) - can be found at www.awares.org/conferences

There are some fascinating discussions currently taking place on a wide variety of autism-related issues. Please do join in the debates before the conference closes - and let friends and colleagues know about the event.

If anyone has any feedback on Autism2011, please send it to me at: adam.m.feinstein@gmail.com

Best wishes,

Adam Feinstein
Organiser, Autism2011
Editor, Awares
________________________________________

AWARES Conference Centre
http://www.awares.org/conferences

Twitter: @AutismAnnounce
http://www.adamfeinstein.org/autism-mailing-lists.html

New study shows surprising differences in brains of individuals with autism

Hello all,

An exciting new study has just come out from Eric Courchesne's laboratory in San Diego which found that autistic children had about 67 per cent more meurons (nerve cells) in a part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex than children without autism.  The research was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The prefrontal cortex is involved in processing social skills, communication, cognitive functions and language  - all areas in which autistic children often show abnormal development.

Courchesne studied the brains of seven autistic boys between the ages of 2 and 16 after their death and compared his analysis to the brains of six unaffected boys who died at similar ages. The excess of neurons was a bit of a surprise, to say the least, since in most cases, deficits in social skills - like those typically observed in autistic children - are linked to less, not more, nerve tissue.

“When we think of the inability to handle complicated information, we usually think of too little in the way of connections or brain cells,” said Courchesne. “But this is just the opposite.”

For full story, see report dated November 9, 2011:   http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/09/study-autistic-children-have-too-many-brain-neurons/

This is a very significant study.  A top neuroscientist, Dr Christine Ecker - currently taking part in Autism2011 (the Awares international online autism conference I am running at the moment at www.awares.org/conferences) - told me:
I think Eric Courchesne's latest paper is groundbreaking. So far, we have known from many studies using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that the frontal lobe is enlarged in individuals with autism, and also shows a more accelerated growth during in the age of 2-4. However, nobody knew what is causing this increase in frontal lobe volume. For instance, an increase in volume could be caused by a larger number of neurons but also by other factors such as neuronal connections (e.g. an increase in spine density). Unfortunately, the spatial resolution of techniques such as MRI is quite low so we can't visualize individual neurons and only look at the brain in millimeter resolution.

This is one of the first studies to demonstrate - in the postmortem brain - that the increase in frontal lobe volume is actually due to an increase in the number of neurons. Having this insight narrows down the potential genetic and molecular mechanisms of autism and might, in the future, provide new targets for intervention.

The next steps will now be to discover how these prefrontal neurons are connected within the frontal lobe, and also with other regions of the brain, and what effect this will have on autistic symptoms and traits.

Please feel free to comment on this study, if you have any observations.

Best wishes,

Adam Feinstein
Twitter: @AutismAnnounce
http://www.adamfeinstein.org/autism-mailing-lists.html

Autism2011 international online conference now open for discussions

Hello all,

Autism20011 - the Awares international online autism conference I run every year - is now open for discussions at www.awares.org/conferences

Don't miss this unique opportunity to put your questions to more than sixty of the world's leading experts - including Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor Rita Jordan and Professor Gary Mesibov - and to read their papers.

Best wishes,

Adam Feinstein


Organiser, Autism2011 and Editor, Awares

Autism2011 - the seventh Awares international online autism conference - opens on November 7, 2011

Hi all,

Just to let you know I am running Autism2011 (the Awares international online autism conference) again this year, from November 7-14, 2011. This always proves a stimulating and informative event, featuring more than sixty of the world's top autism experts to whom you will have unique access. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen has called it 'the finest online conference on the planet.' The Awares conference site is one of the websites of Autism Cymru, Wales's pioneering National Charity for Autism.

This year's presenters include: Simon Baron-Cohen, Rita Jordan, Gary Mesibov, Stephen Shore, Darold Treffert, Merry Barua and Jesse Saperstein.

The conference will include the following topics:

Autism and the Brain
Genetics
Asperger's syndrome
Language issues in autism
Sensory issues
First-hand experiences - Voices from the Spectrum
Education
Biomedical approaches
Immunology
Services
Behavioural issues
Parents' perspectives
Concepts of autism
Psychology
Emotional issues
Screening and diagnosis
Employment
Communication methods
New technologies
Other theories of autism
Savant syndrome
Sexuality issues
Socialising difficulties in autism
Autism in adolescents
Adults with autism
Ageing and autism


For more details about Autism2011 and to register, see www.awares.org/conferences

Please let anyone know who might be interested in this exciting event.

Best wishes

Adam Feinstein

THE TESTOSTERONE STORY - AN UPDATE from Looking Up Volume 5 Number 4 (print and PDF editions)

See

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/looking-up/aZWZ_yKMb80

or read the full article on the web at http://www.lookingupautism.org/Articles/Testosterone-Update.html

Available to read online: ‘World's first autistic choir’ formed

This article, from Looking Up Volume 5 Number 4 Print and PDF editions, is now available to read online.

See 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/looking-up/OkA6xnlwD1M 

for a short extract, or

http://www.lookingupautism.org/Articles/Autistic-Choir.html

for the full article.

Looking Up Volume 5 Number 5 (print edition) out now

Looking Up Volume 5 Number 5 (print edition) is out now.

For more details, see https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/looking-up/IWh1zSkPowk

Autism featured in Argentinian fictional film for first time

The article "Autism featured in Argentinian fictional film for first time" from Looking Up, Volume 5, Number 4 (print edition only) is now available to read online at

http://www.lookingupautism.org/Articles/Argentinian-Film.html

Follow us on twitter!

Autism announcements from Adam's autism mailing lists now automatically produce tweets via our new twitter account, @AutismAnnounce

Now available to read online: Welsh Minister sees impact of new autism research centre at first hand

From Looking Up Volume 5, Number 4 (print and PDF editions),

"Welsh Minister sees impact of new autism research centre at first hand"

now available to read at

http://www.lookingupautism.org/Articles/Welsh-Minister.html

Temple Grandin among the speakers at Autism Cymru's fourth international conference in Cardiff, June 21-22, 2011

Here's a message from my Autism Cymru colleague, Jennie Thomas, about our fourth international conference at the Town Hall in Cardiff, Wales (UK) on June 21-22, 2011. The likes of Temple Grandin are coming over to speak. It's going to be a terrific event:
__________________________

Hello,

Please find below some short snippets of information to whet your appetites for 4th International Autism Conference on 21st and 22nd June 2011. There is a fantastic line-up. 

Please forward to anyone you feel will find this conference of interest.This conference is worth 10 CPD points for public health professionals and 2 days towards PRTL for the social care professionals. 

Dr Temple Grandin is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. major television programs, such as the BBC special "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow". Dr.Grandin didn't talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping, and humming. In 1950, she was diagnosed with autism and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. She tells her story of "groping her way from the far side of darkness" in her book Emergence: Labelled Autistic, a book which stunned the world because, until its publication, most professionals and parents assumed that an autism diagnosis was virtuallya death sentence to achievement or productivity in life. The film of her life, Temple Grandin, has won a whole string of awards recently and is up for several Oscars at this year's Academy Awards.

Dr Brenda Smith Myles is an associate professor at the University of Kansas. She writes and speaks internationally on Asperger Syndrome and autism. Her recent books include Asperger Syndrome and Sensory Issues: Practical Solutions for Making Sense of the World, and Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments: Practical Solutions for Tantrums, Rage and Meltdowns

Dr Sally J. Rogers is a developmental psychologist and a Professor of Psychiatry at the M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California Davis. She is the principal investigator of several autism research projects. In addition to research, she is also a clinician, providing evaluation, treatment, and 
consultation to children and adults with autism and their families. The intervention model that she developed with her colleagues at University 
of Colorado Health Sciences Centre – the Denver Model - is internationally known. In the last ten years, she has worked closely with
public school districts to incorporate best practices in autism into inclusive educational programmes for children with autism.

Professor Tony Charman’s main research interest is the investigation of early social cognitive development in children with autism and the clinical application of this work via screening, epidemiological, intervention and 'at risk' studies. He is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and works in a clinic at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust where he works in a diagnostic service for children with complex neuro-developmental conditions. 

Final words from Dr. Tony Attwood, world renowned expert on autism spectrum disorders: "Temple Grandin is my hero. She has my vote for the person who has provided the greatest advance in our understanding of autism this century." 

For more information, please contact:

Jennie Thomas

Event Manager

Autism Cymru

Cardiff

E-mail: jennie@autismcymru.org

Awares site being re-launched soon!

Autism Cymru’s pioneering bilingual website, Awares, to be

 re-launched shortly

www.awares.org.uk

Awares - the pioneering bilingual website started up by Autism Cymru, Wales’ national charity, in December 2002 - will be re-launched shortly. At its 2002 launch, the then Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services, Jane Hutt, called Awares a key building block in the establishment of the unique national autism strategy in Wales.

The new-look Awares, edited by Adam Feinstein – who also runs the highly acclaimed Awares annual international online autism conference and edits Autism Cymru’s international web portal, AutismConnect - will be bigger and better than ever. The new structure will allow the administrators more immediate access to, and control over, all aspects of the site, allowing it to be updated at the touch of a button. It will keep users fully informed of the very latest autism research findings, news and views and facilities to provide vital assistance to people with autism, their relatives, hands-on practitioners and medical staff in Wales. 

 Awares will continue to host monthly on-line seminars where users have the unprecedented opportunity to put their questions directly to top experts from the world of autism.  Previous presenters at these seminars have included Lorna Wing and Donna Williams. A separate discussion forum will allow users to exchange views with each other on a wide range of issues. There will also be blogs by a variety of contributors.

The new site includes an on-line library with video- and audio-clips of presentations by leading world autism authorities, in-depth and up-to-the-moment articles on many issues - such as diagnosis, sensory problems and the latest thinking on Asperger’s syndrome - and a special section on autism and the criminal justice system. There will also be information on training, including details of Deis-Cyfle – a three-day  training package and self-evaluation tool developed jointly by Autism Cymru and the Irish Society with the aim of increasing employability and providing greater opportunities for school leavers with autism spectrum disorder.

There will also be a list of the events being organised by Autism Cymru and a section featuring useful links, including ways of contacting local authorities and schools in Wales.

For more information about this unique and invaluable online resource for Wales, please contact Adam Feinstein at adam.m.feinstein@gmail.com

About myself

I am the author of the acclaimed book, A History of Autism: Conversations with the Pioneers, published by Wiley-Blackwell in the UK and the USA in 2010. I give talks on autism around the world and broadcast regularly for the BBC.  (I am a keynote speaker, with Lorna Wing, at the National Autistic Society's Professional Conference in March 2011.

 

I am also the editor of two autism-related websites - the pioneering bilingual Awares (www.awares.org) and AutismConnect (www.autismconnect.org.uk), both run by Autism Cymru, Wales's national charity for autism -  and am the editor of the international autism newsletter, Looking Up (www.lookingupautism.org), which I founded in 1998.  The PDF version of Looking Up is now available in English, Russian,  Chinese, Hindi and Urdu, with more languages to come. 

 

I run the annual Awares international online autism conference (www.awares.org/conferences), the largest of its kind anywhere (more than sixty top experts and thousands of delegates online), which Professor Simon Baron-Cohen has called "the finest online conference on the planet."

 

My blog can be found at   http://adamfeinstein.wordpress.com/

 

Best wishes,

 

Adam Feinstein
-- 
Adam Feinstein
http://adamfeinstein.wordpress.com/

Four new autism articles from Looking Up available

Hi everyone,
We have just made four more autism articles from Looking Up available from
http://www.lookingupautism.org/Articles/

Article	Author
Temple Grandin the movie - and the woman - triumph at the 2010 Emmys
Blood test ‘could revolutionise diagnosis of autism’
FAREWELL TO A UNIQUE STAR	Dr Darold Treffert
THE DEATH OF KIM PEEK, THE ‘REAL RAIN MAN’

Best wishes,
    Adam
--
Adam Feinstein
http://adamfeinstein.wordpress.com/

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