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Submitted by Ashwin Krishnan Statewide Autism and Medi-Cal/Medicaid Data Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Prevalence in California ○ 4.5% of 8-year-old children in California were identified with ASD in 2020, significantly higher than the 2.8% national average (https://www.kidsdata.org/). ○ 1 in 22 four-year-old children in California are on the autism spectrum (https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.go v/ncbddd/autism/data.html). ● Rising Demand…

(Article from flysfo.com.) SFO Opens First Sensory Room for Neurodivergent Travelers and Families Interactive space includes full-scale aircraft interior mock-up for pre-flight acclimation SAN FRANCISCO – December 16, 2024 – The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) announced the opening of its newest amenity: a Sensory Room specifically designed for Neurodiverse travelers and their families. This interactive room…

Friends of Children with Special Needs

Profound Autism: A Label to Help Those Who Need it Most Earlier this year, we addressed the confusion and discord that arise from people using one word — autism — to describe two different things, an identity and a disorder. In her excellent opinion piece in Spectrum News, Alison Singer addresses the same issue and…

From Housebound to Hiking Mt. Tam How Love and Determination Helped an Autistic Boy Break Through Neurosensory Barriers By Lisa Louis My favorite childhood memories include the creeks, fields, and forests of the Adirondack foothills where I grew up. The sound of wind blowing through pine trees, the babbling of a fast-running creek, glorious multi-colored…

Did you know? Stanford’s Adult Neurodevelopment Clinic is expanding, and this year will be in a position to serve more adults with autism. ​This year, Dr. Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, a psychiatrist, joins Dr. Janet Miller (psychologist) and clinical director Dr. Lawrence Fung. The clinic will be adding another psychologist in May. The expansion will allow the clinic to see…

Her opinionated “The Politics of Autism” offers timely lessons for the autism community, if you can overlook the flippant digressions Not to be confused with Jack Pitney’s 2015 work by the same title, Siegel’s new book, left, would have been more aptly named something like “Reality Checking Autism: A Better Path Forward,” suggests our reviewer.BOOK…

A new paper looking at autism prevalence in California tells us what we old-timers already know: autism rates here have increased almost exponentially over the past several decades.(1) Yet to this day, some academics suggest that the autism increase doesn’t exist.(2) These doubters question the consistency of data collection and point to greater skill on…

The 1992 dedication of Aurelia House at the Arthur Schawlow Center in Paradise, California. Left to right: Charles Townes; Carol Berger, an autism researcher; Arthur Schawlow Jr., known as Artie; his father, Nobel laureate Arthur Schawlow; and actor William Christopher, an autism activist best known for portraying Father Mulcahy on “M*A*S*H.”​(Photo from Optics & Photonics)Professor Arthur SchawlowBy…