Autism

23 Stories

Scientists restore brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder

A therapy that restores brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder may offer a strategy for treating conditions like autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.
Jon Hamilton
Raising a child with autism in Kenya: Facing stigma, finding glimmers of hope

In Africa, there is a shortage of specialists and a lack of financial support for famlies who can't afford therapy. We look at how three families are coping.
Scovian Lillian
Brain cells, interrupted: How some genes may cause autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia

Researchers have identified 46 genes that can disrupt a process that is critical to early brain development. The finding could help scientists find new treatments for disorders including autism.
Jon Hamilton
National

A boy on the autism spectrum struggled with a haircut. His barber saved the day

Getting haircuts was one of Jackson's biggest fears. But one barber's patience and creativity made the ordeal something he now looks forward to.
Autumn Barnes
Washington is sending youth in crisis to out-of-state boarding schools; taxpayers pick up the tab

Some parents with kids in crisis in Washington are making a heart wrenching decision. They’re sending their children to out-of-state therapeutic boarding schools. And taxpayers are picking up the tab. While these are outlier cases, they highlight ongoing gaps in in-state services — gaps that were laid bare during the COVID pandemic.
Austin Jenkins
He’s 13-years-old, autistic and stuck in the hospital for the holidays. He’s not the only one

It's a growing problem in Washington: kids with developmental disabilities and complex behaviors who are stuck in the hospital with no reason for being there. Usually, they end up in the hospital after a crisis or an incident. But once the child is medically cleared to leave, their parents or their group home won't come get them citing inadequate supports to manage the youth's needs. While the state searches for alternative placements, the child waits.
Austin Jenkins
‘The situation is dangerous.’ Parents sound alarm over troubled in-home care provider

Mysterious bruises. An unreported burn. Two vulnerable clients left alone overnight. These are just some of the complaints that families are leveling against Aacres WA — a troubled residential care provider that gets tens of millions of dollars a year from the state to care for people with developmental disabilities. Now state officials say they’re investigating.
Austin Jenkins
'He's Incredibly Confused': Parenting A Child With Autism During The Pandemic

Feda Almaliti is the mother of a 15-year-old son with severe autism and an advocate. She describes how the challenges of the coronavirus crisis are exponentially more difficult for families like hers.
Courtney Dorning

Mary Louise Kelly
Researchers Link Autism To A System That Insulates Brain Wiring

Brains affected by autism appear to share a problem with cells that make myelin, the insulating coating surrounding nerve fibers that controls the speed at which the fibers convey electrical signals.
Jon Hamilton
How Super Sniffer Dogs Are Helping Detect Disease Around The World

Our canine buddies can do more than play fetch. Turns out dogs' incredible sense of smell is a secret weapon in medicine.
John Henning Schumann

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