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Autism is once again in the news.  And well it should be.  Diagnosis of this truly heartbreaking disease is coming with more frequency than ever before.  Treatment options are lackluster.  A cure is not in sight and the disorder’s origin is under increasingly heated debate.

Autism is both heartbreaking and devastating.  Heartbreaking because it strikes in early childhood.  And it strikes with devastating symptoms that vary wildly from one autistic child to the next.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) have recently explored the connection between the mental health of parents who have a child diagnosed with autism and the likelihood that they’re offspring will develop autism.  They scrutinized the records of 1,237 autistic children for comparison against the records of 30,925 children without the disorder.  For research purposes only, the mark of mental illness in a parent was defined as one that required hospitalization at some point during life, either before or after the birth of the autistic child.

The research team discovered that a parent with schizophrenia is twice as likely to have a child with autism than a parent without a history of mental illness.  Mothers who battle depression and some personality disorders are also more likely to give birth to children who develop autism.  There is no increased likelihood of autism in his offspring, however, when a father suffers from the same personality disorders and depression.

This UNC study on autism and parental mental health used records dating from 1977 to 2003.  The study group consisted of children who had been diagnosed with autism before their tenth birthdays. 

There is no conclusive answer thus far as to what, exactly, is the cause of autism nor is there a universally accepted reason for the rise in diagnoses in recent years.  Autism is a very complicated disorder and its cause is proving to be just as complicated.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a baffling diagnosis because it comes only when a seemingly healthy infant is laid down for a nap or at bedtime no different from all the other naps and bedtimes that have come before.  The terribly baffling part of a SIDS diagnosis is that it comes only after that seemingly healthy sleeping baby fails to wake up.

SIDS is no less baffling for the medical community than it is to grieving parents and family members.  SIDS is a diagnosis given when no other cause of death can be found during autopsy or other post-mortem examinations.

In recent years, we’ve been urged to be frugal about the fluffy pillows, blankets, and toys we place in a sleeping baby’s bed.  Too much soft bedding can strangulate a sleeping baby who doesn’t yet have the strength to turn his or her head in a different position for freer breathing.

We’ve been advised repeatedly that smoking is linked to SIDS.  Fathers who smoke should seriously consider quitting before the baby’s born, if not before the pregnancy begins.

Babies born to mothers who smoke are at very high risk of dying from SIDS, much more so than babies born to mothers who don’t smoke.  Behavioral and developmental problems are also associated with the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy and/or after the birth of the child.

British researchers have recently announced the possibility of yet another cause of SIDS – two very common bacteria.  Of 365 cases studied, almost half of them, 181 of the 365, involved the presence of Staphylococcus aureaus and E. coli.

The research team, from London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, doesn’t know if the bacteria are solely responsible for the SIDS diagnoses or if the bacteria intensify the ill effects of underlying conditions that were not detected earlier.

At the most recent annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sam was introduced.

Sam is the creation of a team of researchers at the  Center for Technology and Social Behavior, a part of Northwestern University.  The research team calls him a “virtual peer,” developed to explore social interactions with autistic children.

Sam is a programmable, life-size, animated “child”  that is capable of relating to autistic children on several levels of proficiency and function.  Researchers are finding that, as a child becomes more comfortable “playing” with Sam, they gain social skills that transfer to all their social interactions, even those outside the research center.

High-functioning autistic children are often quite vocal, showing exceptional eloquence when speaking of a favored subject, be it trains, volcanoes, or cows.  Their social skills, those needed to seek and maintain pleasant relationships with the people in their environment, are often lacking, however.  This social inhibition can hinder advancement in other areas.

The Northwestern research team has worked thus far with Sam and six high-functioning autistic children ranging in age from 7 to 11.  The children visit Sam in a safe, inviting environment where researchers are monitoring and recording the child’s interactions with Sam.

Their behaviors with Sam are then compared to similar interaction with a real child.  The research is already indicating that the children are exhibiting a higher level of social skills when working with Sam and these same skills are being carried over into the activities with the real child.

The research team says pairing autistic children with a technological tool like Sam is an ideal situation.  As a rule, autistic children seem to be genuinely fascinated by technology.

There’s a lot of talk going around lately about special needs children.  These children, or their parents, are commanding special classrooms, special schoolhouses in some cases, special doors, sidewalks, tutors, and all sorts other things.  They should have those special things.  Especially if those special things enhance their education or quality of life at school, home, and at play.

But aren’t all children special needs children of a sort?  What about the child who needs to have drum lessons because his best friend is taking them?  And the child who needs a new outfit to wear to school at least once every, single week?  Or the one who is so special that she only eats foods that are white so very special care must be made when packing her lunch?  Deny these requests and the reasons for their special-ness will flow like a fountain.

Special needs children aren’t just those struggling with physical, mental, or developmental issues.  Every child is unique, with special needs as unique as the child.

When it’s the creative and artistic nature of a child that is the gift, he or she will excell in a learning environment designed to stimulate these talents and learn alongside other special needs children of similar performance levels.

Scholars of mathematics and the sciences are often considered special needs children, especially in joking fashion by their peers.  After all, conversations with these deep and abstract thinkers can seem like speaking a foreign language.

Most schools and parents alike encourage the special needs children with exceptional athletic abilities.  Stadiums, baseball fields, swimming pools, and room for lots of adoring spectators are part of school campuses everywhere.

Got kids?  They’re all special needs children.  Just ask them.

In April 2008, the American Heart Association (AHA) issued a warning regarding certain medications commonly prescribed for ADHD children.  The medications in question have been linked to an increased risk of dangerous cardiovascular events, including sudden cardiac death.

The AHA recommends children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD children, taking stimulants, tricyclic antidepressants, and other psychotropic drugs should undergo routine electrocardiogram (ECG) screenings at regular intervals as long as these particular medications are taken.

Not all ADHD children are at risk for cardiovascular distress but an ECG screening at the beginning of treatment with these drugs is considered the best way to rule out any as-yet-undetected heart conditions that might be affected by the drug treatment.

According to the AHA, almost 2% of the general population of American children is expected to have a heart condition that has not been detected.  Sometimes these conditions gradually make their presence known but sometimes realization comes in a sudden, tragic event, especially when triggered by outside forces, such as stimulant drugs.

ADHD children taking the medications in question are at risk for elevated blood pressure readings and accelerated heart rate.  These conditions are a result of the stimulating action of the drugs they are taking for ADHD.

The number of ADHD children in the United States is estimated to be 4% to 12% of all children of school age.  In 2003, more than 2.5 million of them were on stimulant drug treatments.  Children with known cardiac conditions are 33% to 42% more likely to be diagnosed also with ADHD.

Ask any proud parent to describe an exceptional child and almost all of them will say, “Mine!”  And it’s true.  Every child is exceptional, in his or her own special way.

In some, less personal, situations, however, a more clearly defined description of the term, exceptional children, seems to be called for.

For the sake of bureaucracy, almost all children enrolled in the American public school system are categorized as normal, or average.  At the very lowest end of the scale, below the lowest average mark, is a group of children often categorized as special needs children.  These children often live with mental, physical, and developmental disorders that make learning difficult.

At the very opposite end of that scale is the group of children categorized as exceptional children.  For these children, learning seems to come as easily as knowing how to breathe.

The quick, easy ability to learn that is exhibited by these exceptional children places them easily at the head of their classes.  They enjoy learning and it shows.

Another characteristic shared by exceptional children is that they bore easily.  Maintaining pace with the rest of an average class is often too slow to command the focus and attention of exceptional children.  Their minds wander.  Sometimes they disrupt class.

The federal government has officially recognized the needs of the special needs population of American school children.  All public schools are required to operate classes and/or classrooms and learning programs that meet the needs of these children.

The federal government has not so recognized the special needs of the children at the opposite end of the scale, the exceptional children.  At this point in time, each state defines its standards of education for gifted and talented students.  In some states, the definition is left up to the individual school district.

All children are exceptional children and they deserve to get an education that best meets their individual special needs, regardless of what those needs are.