http://www.themotherhood.com/ The Most Recent Items from Motherhood.com. en-us IAN, the Interactive Autism Network, is an innovative online project designed to accelerate the pace of autism research by linking researchers and families. Anyone impacted by an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can become part of IAN's online community to stay informed about autism research, provide feedback, and make their voices heard. http://www.themotherhood.com/stories/3044 A genetic research on more than 100 families prone to autism by Harvard researchers shed new light on the devastating disease affecting as many as 1 in every 150 children in the United States (according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s estimates) and might eventually lead to ways to treat it. Study leaders Dr. Christopher A. Walsh and Dr. Eric Morrow of Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues studied 104 Muslim families from Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. They especially turned to these families from the Middle East, because the Middle East is a part of the world with large families and a tendency for cousins to marry, characteristics that increase the chances that offspring will inherit rare mutations. In 88 of the families, first-cousin marriages were common. All had family members with autism. “Marriages between first cousins increase the prevalence of neurological birth defect by about 100 percent” the researchers wrote in the July 11 issue of the journal Science. http://www.themotherhood.com/stories/3014 Fragile X has been known for decades, but an explosion of new research, prodded along by advocacy groups like the National Fragile X Foundation and FRAXA, is yielding insights that have implications for understanding and treating autism--and perhaps a number of other conditions too. http://www.themotherhood.com/stories/2973 Joined on Sun Jun 22 05:30:00 UTC 2008 http://www.themotherhood.com/profiles/933 Scientists are looking for the earliest signs of the mysterious disorder as desperate parents hunt for treatments that may improve their children's lives. http://www.themotherhood.com/stories/2913 A new wave of activists wants to celebrate atypical brain function as a positive identity, not a disability. Opponents call them dangerously deluded. http://www.themotherhood.com/stories/2870 Joined on Wed May 14 03:56:02 UTC 2008 http://www.themotherhood.com/profiles/869 Joined on Tue May 06 19:14:37 UTC 2008 http://www.themotherhood.com/profiles/850 Joined on Wed Apr 02 14:32:28 UTC 2008 http://www.themotherhood.com/profiles/787 http://www.themotherhood.com/forums/36/topics355 Joined on Thu Jan 17 22:25:52 UTC 2008 http://www.themotherhood.com/profiles/694 http://www.themotherhood.com/forums/36/topics318 http://www.themotherhood.com/forums/36/topics235 http://www.themotherhood.com/forums/36/topics197 http://www.themotherhood.com/forums/36/topics164