For the past five years, London's Heathrow airport has recreated the same exact departure experience, Groundhog Day-style, for a 21-year-old autistic man who gets too stressed and confused to fly if his conditions change.
Everyone has baggage. Some of us have heaps and heaps of matching luggage we tote with us everywhere we go; some of us have suitcases of issues that seem small but weigh us down; many of us have quirks and idiosyncrasies that swing between annoying and charming. And then there are those of us who have mental and…
As part of Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism Programs, 11-year-old Jodi DiPiazza — who was diagnosed with autism at age 2 — took the stage, sitting at a huge grand piano, and played Katy Perry's "Firework." As a baby, Jodi did not speak or make eye contact. At three, she struggled with…
Carly Fleischmann is a 17-year-old author who has a form of autism that prevents her from speaking. Doctors said she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child, but Carly eventually began using a computer to communicate and now carries an iPad with her so she can "talk" on the go.
As advanced as we've gotten with our scientific and technological skills, it seems as we can still be brought down by the simplest of errors. That's what happened recently at the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, where they experienced a freezer malfunction that has defrosted 150 brains.
The Jezebel inbox receives all sorts of interesting messages, from helpful tips to furious gibberish. Often, the missives strike us as poetic — in the chaos of the mailbag, we can find a sense of peace. As such, we have taken it upon ourselves to let some messages grow into the poetry they are meant to be. And we will…
Navigating this stupid broken job market is tough enough for your average high school or college graduate, but what about those who fall on the autism spectrum? Despite what the Big Bang Theory and Rainman tell us, autistic people aren't all hilariously kooky magic engineers from space (Special Skills: Knowing when…
For decades, critics have attacked the Rotenberg Center in Boston — which was originally founded to treat severely autistic and mentally disabled children but also accepts kids with ADHD, mental illnesses, and juvie rap sheets — for its use of electric shock therapy. (You may recall Jennifer Gonnerman's 2006 Mother…
In the ongoing hunt to figure out what's causing the alarming increase in autism in children, there's a new finding that's bound to stir up a lot of debate. The study in question found that there appears to be a link between obesity in mothers and autism in their children. This is one of the first studies to connect…
Want an excuse not to varnish that chair? Here you go: it could raise your kids' risk of autism. This probably isn't a huge issue for the occasional home-improver — but for people who work with varnish and other solvents as part of their jobs, it could be a big problem.
Though the idea that vaccines are linked to autism has been disproven
The researcher who helped popularize the belief that vaccines cause autism has already been discredited
Dolphin therapy programs claim that swimming with the sea mammals can cure conditions from chronic fatigue syndrome to autism. However, aside from a few small studies suggesting that dolphin fun may help with depression and, oddly, eczema, there's no evidence for these claims. Also, as much as dolphins may like playing …
A pair of high-tech glasses could help wearers read other people's emotions. But don't start celebrating the arrival of telepathy just yet.
New research suggests that environmental factors may play a much bigger role in autism than previously believed — and one culprit may be antidepressants.
After giving 16 women a small dose of testosterone, British and Dutch researchers found they were less able to judge the mood of facial expressions they were shown, according to the BBC. Scientists say this supports the idea that exposure to the hormone during brain development in the womb leads to autism.
A landmark 1998 study purporting to show a link between vaccines and autism has now been exposed not just as "bad science," but as a fraud.
A Towson University student has posted a YouTube video saying she saw her mentor teacher hit and kick 3-year-old autistic students. After reporting the abuse she was suspended, and now school officials are suggesting Asperger's syndrome is affecting her teaching.
Scientists think oxytocin, the much-vaunted "cuddle hormone," can be used as a nasal spray to reduce shyness. But will a handy spritz really turn all shy caterpillars into social butterflies?
[New York, June 29. Image via Getty}
Remember the girls from Miami University
Researchers have found that a key brain system is similar in creative, mentally healthy people and people with schizophrenia, bolstering the notion that the factors that contribute to mental illness may also confer benefits.
The idea that depression is useful
In a long interview with Time, Jenny McCarthy says of parents of autistic kids, "Hope is the only thing that will get us up in the morning." But is the kind of hope she's offering actually dangerous?
Jenny McCarthy is crying "censorship" over Lancet's retraction of a discredited study linking autism to vaccines. Says one blogger, "Jenny, honey, the science has left the building. Why are you still here?" [Strollerderby]
Temple Grandin, which aired this weekend on HBO, explored not only its subject's navigation through a neurotypical-dominated world, but also her somewhat surprising decision to help slaughterhouses better kill cattle.
An MSNBC interview with Temple Grandin, the animal behaviorist whose experience with autism is the subject of an upcoming biopic, shed light not only on the disorder but on social — and antisocial — life as we know it.
• Yvonne Roberts questions the recent study on the existence of the G-spot in an amazing article for the Guardian. "What constitutes a 'fact' in the scientific analysis of female sexual arousal is far from clear," she writes.
Contradicting the beliefs of Jenny McCarthy and other parents, a report released today says there's no evidence that autistic kids have more digestive problems than others, or that special diets can help the condition.
