|
Find out the latest news about First Signs programs, products,
and other activities. Then check out what’s happening in the autism community
and with other developmental disorders. Visit us often.
First Signs News
News About Autism and other Developmental Disorders
First Signs Advisory Board Members in the News
National Events
First Signs News
First Signs partners with CDC in their nationwide public awareness campaign
As a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents and
pediatric professionals about early identfication and intervention,
First Signs is partnering with the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) in the development of their nationwide public awareness
campaign, “Learn the Signs. Act Early.”
For more information, please visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/ActEarly/
Back to top
First Signs becomes content partner for Parents' Action for Children
(formerly I Am Your Child)
As a leading provider of
information related to early development, First Signs is collaborating
with Parentsaction.org as a content partner to help parents find resources and
answers to their developmental concerns. Parents' Action for Children is a
national non-profit dedicated to advancing the interests of families and young
children that is organizing parents as a powerful movement to ensure that our
nation's policies reflect our concern and commitment to parents and their
children.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.parentsaction.org/
Back to top
Minnesota First Signs profiled in Autumn 2004 edition of AAP’s Developmental
and Behavioral News
Developmental and Behavioral News’ 2004 Autumn edition published an article
about the outcome of the Minnesota First Signs Program,
titled
First Signs Model
Program Makes Great Strides in Early Detection in Minnesota: Clinicians and Educators
Play Major Role in Increased Screenings.
Back to top First Signs on CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning aired a story titled “Examining
Autism” on
August 29, 2004. The piece featured Rebecca Landa, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, First Signs
clinical advisory board member and director of the Center for Autism and Related
Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute
at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,
and Nancy Wiseman, First Signs, Inc. founder and
president.
Back to top
First Signs collaborates with AAP, CDC, and HHS
on Autism A.L.A.R.M.
A new tool
(Autism A.L.A.R.M.) developed collaboratively by the American Academy
of Pediatrics, Medical Home Initiatives, Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and First
Signs, Inc., helps primary
care physicians to identify and refer children at risk for autism.
AAP News (February
2004)
By Chris P. Johnson, M.D., M.Ed., FAAP
To view Autism A.L.A.R.M., select:
Front |
Back
Back to top
News About Autism and other Developmental Disorders
NBC Today Show to Air Series on Autism
February 21-25, 2005
NBC's Today Show will air an 11-part series
on autism during the week of February 21. The series,
Autism: The Hidden Epidemic, will
explore a variety of topics, including etiology, early signs,
screening and referral, diagnosis, treatments, educational
programs, affect on families, and advocating for your child. Be
sure to tune in and see interviews with
First Signs Clinical Advisory Board Members Margaret
Bauman, MD; Geraldine Dawson, PhD; Stanley I. Greenspan, MD;
Rebecca Landa, PhD, CCC-SLP; Catherine Lord, PhD; and Ricki
Robinson, MD, MPH.
Back to top
A New Autism Magazine to be Launched:
The Autism Perspective-TAP
An exciting new national magazine is about to be
launched. The Autism Perspective-TAP Magazine will premiere
their quarterly, full-color publication devoted to the subject of
autism spectrum disorders; persons with autism, parents, and
professionals. The magazine will cover a variety of issues from the
“here and now” of everyday life, including many of today’s triumphs,
struggles, and hope. The magazine promises to be about options and
different perspectives without taking sides. This will be a forum
for discussion for everyone in the autism community. The all
volunteer Advisory Board is impressive, and the magazine will
present a positive, upbeat, and eclectic variety of perspectives.
Actor Gary Cole, wife, and daughter with autism are featured on the
cover of the premiere issue. Visit the TAP Web site for subscription
information at
www.theautismperspective.org.
Back to top
Scientists Discover Biological Basis for
Autism
A team of brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon
University and the University of Pittsburgh have made a
groundbreaking discovery into the biological basis for autism.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, the
researchers have found numerous abnormalities in the activity of
brains of people with normal IQs who have autism. The new findings
indicate a deficiency in the coordination among brain areas.
Back to top
A Simple Test? New Study Says It's Possible to Spot
Asperger's in Infants
A new study says it may be possible to diagnose
Asperger's syndrome — the neurological disorder that impairs social
skills and communications — at infancy. Researchers at the
University of Florida in Gainesville, Dr. Philip Teitelbaum and Dr.
Osnat Teitelbaum, the lead authors of the new study, say the
disorder can be revealed in infants by tracking unusual body
movements.
Washington Post (Summer 2004).
Back to top
First Signs Advisory Board Members in the News
Early Intervention Lessens Impact of Autism
Contrary to popular beliefs that 50 percent of children with autism will never
speak, new findings by the University of Michigan show that 14 percent of children
with autism are unable to talk by age nine and 40 percent can speak fluently.
First Signs clinical advisory board member, Catherine Lord. Ph.D. led the study.
Back to top
Stanley Greenspan, MD Hosts Weekly Web-based Radio Show about Floortime
Please tune in every Thursday from 10:30 to 11:30 am EST at www.floortime.org.
Email your questions to webradio@floortime.org, or call 877-907-8889 during a
show.
Dr. Greenspan’s new book,
“The First Idea; How Symbols,
Language and Intelligence
Eveloved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans”, is now available in bookstores.
This book explains the theory behind the DIR-Floortime approach. There is also
a special chapter about autism in the book.
Also, be sure to check out the Floortime Foundation’s new Web site at www.floortime.org.
Back to top
National Events
For the most complete listing of upcoming autism-related conferences and events,
visit the Schafer Autism Report.
Back to top | 
