Heritage Behavioral Services Blog

by Kevin Jiang An analysis of 100 million U.S. medical records reveals that autism and intellectual disability (ID) rates are correlated at the county level with incidence of genital malformations in newborn males, an indicator of possible congenital exposure to harmful environmental factors such as pesticides. Autism rates—after adjustment for gender, ethnic, socioeconomic and geopolitical Autism and ID linked to Environmental Factors factors—jump by 283 percent for every one-percent increase in frequency of malformations in a county. Intellectual disability rates increase 94 percent. Slight increases in autism and ID rates are also seen in wealthier and more urban counties. The study, published by University of Chicago scientists in the March 13 issue of  PLOS Computational Biology , confirms the dramatic effect of diagnostic standards. Incidence rates for autism and ID on a per-person basis decrease by roughly 99 percent in states with stronger regulations on diagnosis

The NAO robot increased engagement  of pupils with intellectual disabilities Using a humanoid robot as an educational tool could significantly improve engagement of children with severe intellectual disabilities, researchers have found. Experts from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham found that engagement of pupils who interacted with the autonomous 'NAO' robot was up to five times greater than when in a standard classroom setting. The results of the pilot study was presented at the 2013 Interactive Technologies and Games (ITAG) conference, held in Nottingham University, UK. Five pupils aged 9 to 17– with disabilities including cerebral palsy, autism, the neurodevelopmental disorder microcephaly and general developmental delays – were set individual learning objectives before being videoed as they interacted with the robot across a number of sessions. Their objectives included symbol recognition and task sequencing, number recognition, com

by Alice G Walton PhD Alice G Walton PhD Recently the CDC released its   newest data   on the number of children affected by autism in the country. The health and education records of 8-year-old children in 11 states – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin – were combed to arrive at the new numbers. The finding that many have expressed concern about is that now 1 in 68 children may have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The number is up markedly from two years ago when it was 1 in 88, and seven years ago when it was 1 in 150. But the thing to keep in mind is that these are simply rates at which kids are being identified – so the data may not indicate that autism prevalence has actually jumped that much.