Author: AHO Admin

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute Launches Life Course Outcomes Research Initiatives

AHO Admin

A.J. Drexel Autism Institute Receives $3.6 Million Gift to Launch Life Course Outcomes Research Initiatives The A.J. Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University has received a grant of $3.6 million from an anonymous donor to launch four major initiatives of its Life Course Outcomes research program, focused on understanding and improving quality of life issues for people on the autism spectrum at all ages. This program is led by Autism Institute professor Paul Shattuck, PhD, a nationally recognized expert on these issues. Click here to read the full story  

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The Benefits Of Employing People With Autism

AHO Admin

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Not a term that rolls off the tongue easily but increasingly big corporations such as Microsoft and SAP have launched programs to attract candidates with ASD for roles which require certain skill sets.  ASD is the name for a range of conditions that affect the way a person sees the world, processes information and interacts with people. The term covers high-functioning autism such as Asperger’s. Under-employment is high among autistic adults. Only 14% of adults with autism held paid jobs in their communities, according to the National…

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Chocolate Spectrum Cafe offers training to adults, teens with autism

AHO Admin

Jupiter’s Chocolate Spectrum Cafe and Academy offers training to adults, teens with autism. The Chocolate Spectrum Café and Academy is a groundbreaking enterprise, offering adults and teens with Autism and other developmental disabilities the chance to learn a unique skill and be involved in a lifelong, purposeful experience.    The company, founded by Valerie Herskowitz in 2013, trains program participants to make gourmet chocolates and pastries, as well as learning how to be café baristas. In some cases, graduates of the Adult Training Program are employed by The Chocolate Spectrum,…

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Startup Touts Unique Talent Pool: Workers with Autism

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Tech startup Daivergent connects contractors on the autism spectrum with clients in need of their skill sets. Alexis Prendergast, a Brooklyn 25-year-old who has autism spectrum disorder, is the first to admit there are skills she hasn’t mastered. “Mostly it’s social stuff. I miss some cues,” she says. Her wiring also lends unusual strengths, like an ability to focus for long stretches on tasks requiring great attention to detail. Happily, she found an employer looking for someone just like her. The full story can be found here  

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New biomarker panel could accelerate autism diagnoses

AHO Admin

Investigators have identified a group of blood metabolites that could help detect some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These findings are a key step toward developing an ASD biomarker test. Investigators at the UC Davis MIND Institute and NeuroPointDX, a division of Stemina Biomarker Discovery, have identified a group of blood metabolites that could help detect some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Part of the Children’s Autism Metabolome Project (CAMP), the largest metabolomic ASD study ever attempted, these findings are a key step toward developing an ASD biomarker…

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Ford Looking To Hire Workers With Autism

AHO Admin

A major American automaker is looking to tap the potential of workers on the spectrum. Ford Motor Company said it is launching a pilot program this week designed to employ people with autism. Through the initiative dubbed “FordInclusiveWorks,” the company said it will establish five new positions in product development that were “created to suit the skills and capabilities of people with autism.” If successful, participants in the pilot program will ultimately enter Ford’s standard recruiting process, company officials said. Read the full story here… And more here…

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Reveal fitness tracker records stressors for children with autism

AHO Admin

Fitness trackers are great, but their applications could go far beyond simply tracking how many steps you take. For example, they could be used to seriously help people who need it — like children with autism. That’s the idea behind a new health tracker from a company called Awake Labs, which has just launched an Indiegogo campaign for the Reveal — a fitness tracker that’s aimed squarely at helping kids on the autism spectrum. So how does the Reveal help these kids? Reveal essentially measures the wearer’s body’s response to anxiety, helping understand…

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Autism with intellectual disability linked to mother’s immune dysfunction during pregnancy

AHO Admin

From Science Daily: Pregnant women with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, proteins that control communication between cells of the immune system, may be at significantly greater risk of having a child with autism combined with intellectual disability, researchers have found. The research also suggests a potential immune profile for the differentiation of autism combined with intellectual disability, as distinct from either autism or developmental disability alone. “Inflammation during the second trimester in the mothers of children with autism who also have intellectual disability was significantly greater than in…

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People on the Spectrum 66% less likely to get Cancer

AHO Admin

      A reprint of the Bullet Points People with autism had more variation in genes known to cause cancer Yet they were 66% less likely to be diagnosed with the disease, study found Experts: Findings could pave way for new treatments for both conditions Scientists already studying whether cancer drugs could help treat autism   People with autism are significantly less likely to suffer from cancer, a study has revealed. While they have more gene mutations known to cause cancer, they are 66 per cent less likely to be…

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Brain Scan Software can spot Adults with Autism

AHO Admin

“THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS BEFORE. WE FINALLY OVERCAME THE PROBLEM.” A computer algorithm called a “classifier” can distinguish between adults with and without autism by studying brain scans. The software found 16 key connections that allowed it to tell, with high accuracy, who had been traditionally diagnosed with autism and who had not. The team developed the classifier with 181 adult volunteers at three sites in Japan and then applied it in a group of 88 American adults at seven sites. All the study volunteers with autism diagnoses had…

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