Sebelius: Administration boosts autism research

In an op-ed posted on Yahoo! News, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius writes that the Obama administration has made autism research a national priority, adding $1 billion to the federal budget for autism research over the next 8 years. Her statement comes after the president announced $5 billion in federal funding for biomedical research.Sebelius says autism has emerged as “an urgent public health challenge” with a growing prevalence rate that creates challenges for fam

Monkey business in autism research, part II

Over the last couple of months, I’ve noticed something about the anti-vaccine movement. Specifically, I’ve noticed that the mavens of pseudoscience that make up the movement seem to have turned their sights with a vengeance on the Hepatitis B vaccine. The reason for this new tactic, I believe, is fairly obvious. The fact that the Hep B vaccine is administered shortly after birth seems somehow to enrage the anti-vaccine movement more than just about any other vaccine. Moreover, given that, aside

Journalist: Autism misdiagnoses are skewing research data

On theAtlantic.com, journalist and filmmaker Jody Becker questions current research that has found a rising incidence of autism among American children. Becker says government eligibility standards for services may be driving the increase in diagnoses, as doctors are forced to misdiagnose kids in order to get publicly funded help for them.“Every day, precious time and money is wasted as kids who don’t belong in the autism world get pushed into it,” she says. “Finally, parents are pushing back.”B

Environmental Autism Research Study Follow-Ups? Let’s Even Out Genetic and Environmental Autism Research Funding

Right now, about 10 to 20 times more research dollars are spent on studies of the genetic causes of autism than on environmental ones. We need to even out the funding . Irva Hertz-Picciotto , UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Researcher Recent years have seen the it's gotta be genetic stranglehold on autism research funding identified by Teresa Binstock in 1999 break slightly, albeit ever so slightly, with genetic research still overwhelmingly favored for fun

Autism PDD Research Shows the Annual Cost of Caring For Those With Autism PDD is 90 Billion

Author : Scott Boyd Autism PDD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by atypical social interplay, abnormal communication skills, as well as patterns of interests and behavior that are non-standard Based on current research it is believed to occur one in every one hundred and sixty-six births This same research says that it is the fastest growing developmental disability in America Comparisons to American population growth are starting During the 1990s the United States shows a th

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