Discovery Toys is committed to bringing fun, safe and developmentally appropriate toys and products to children and adults of special needs and on the autism spectrum. Children with developmental disabilities, like all children, develop at a unique rate and pattern of development. Our products have useful applications for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
For those unfamiliar with Discovery Toys, this is a company that provides quality toys for children from newborns all the way up to school age. The company was founded by a group of educators and parents who firmly believed in the power of education through play. The toys they create are meant to encourage imagination, and inspire learning.
A unique aspect of Discovery Toys is their “Autism Toy Guide,” a list of hundreds of toys that are specifically designed to promote learning for children with autism. They have a chart that breaks down the toys by their function, with categories such as “toys that promote sustained engagement,” “toys that encourage pretend play,” and “toys that build skills for cooperative play.” This is a great resource for therapists, teachers and parents alike. To learn more about Discovery Toys and the Autism Toy Guide, visit https://www.discoverytoys.com/pws/InvestInChildren
For parents and professionals alike, Stages Learning Materials is a great resource for those caring for someone with autism. Started by an ABA Therapist in the late 1990’s, it is now one of the leading sellers of autism related learning resources. Perhaps the most popular is the Language Builder Series an important tool for teaching things like receptive labeling, matching and sorting, and something that we do use here at Lighthouse Autism Center with many of our kids. The top-selling autism education product, the Language Builder Picture Cards, was designed to specifically meet the learning needs of children with autism. The research-based Language Builder Series has become a staple in home and school programs around the world and Stages Learning is now the premier developer of learning tools for children with autism. To learn more about what Stages Learning Materials has to offer, visit their website at https://www.stageslearning.com/.
Stages Learning Products
All products are created to stimulate learning at each stage of language development. They feature beautiful real-photo images to capture a child’s attention and engage their minds. Research demonstrates that children with autism are highly visual and literal learners, and these tools support learning strengths.
The photo-based flashcard sets, games, puzzles and posters offer a broad assortment of images to teach a wide range of language skills. The card series provide opportunities to teach identical pre-language matching, categorization and learning similarities. Their work is based on 20 years of experience in helping children learn language skills and new research on digital learning technologies and instructional design also informs their tool development.
Animals and Kids with Autism – The Unique Relationship That Can Develop Between the Two
Published by Indy’s Child By Maggie Loiselle
Helping kids with autism improve their social interaction can be a constant challenge. Being around their peers can produce higher physiological stress levels than those in typically developing children. Researchers have long known that interacting with animals has a positive effect on those with autism, helping to lower their stress levels and develop better social skills. Recently, a Purdue University study tracked the physiological stress in two groups of children as they read silently, read aloud to peers, played with toys, and then played with guinea pigs. The study found higher stress levels in the kids with autism – except when they played with the animals. According to the study, children with autism showed an increase in social interaction when they had a positive source to interact with, such as an animal. The study stressed that not every child responds to animals in a positive way. But, for those who do, the results are encouraging. Depending on the child and the family situation, adopting a pet can be beneficial. So can taking the child to a zoo or to a friend who owns a pet. An additional study is now underway to determine whether an animal’s species affects how children with autism respond.
Educating Local Youth on Autism: Understanding and Approaching It
During a presentation on autism to a third grade class today, our Outreach Coordinator received a rather amusing question, “Does Frankenstein have autism?” With Halloween so close it is certainly understandable why a child might pose such a question. Frankenstein is definitely different. He might not look the same as most people, or speak the same way, or act the same way. While this doesn’t necessarily mean Frankenstein has autism, one can understand why a child being introduced to autism for the first time might think so.
As part of the autism community, we believe it is our responsibility to not only fulfill our mission of providing quality ABA therapy to communities that need it, but we also to spread awareness about autism and educate our community. When a local grade school teacher approached us to give a presentation to her third grade class, we knew this is something we wanted to do, although we had never done it before! By educating our youth, we teach them about what autism is, what it looks like, and things to keep in mind when interacting with someone who has autism. While someone with autism might act differently, hear things differently, or see things differently, it doesn’t mean they can’t be our friend or can’t do the same things we do. It is important that children understand how to accept the differences that come with autism, or any other disability, disease, etc… and know that it is ok to be different. We are so glad to have had this opportunity to teach local children about autism and look forward to having the opportunity to do it again in the future.
New Research Looks at Potential Genetic Causes of Autism
Tech & Science News, Published by Newsweek. By Paul Mejia
Although genetics have long been thought to influence autism, researchers have struggled to concretely link individual genes with the condition, as many children who develop it have parents who did not.
Now, two landmark studies recently published in Nature reported researchers working together in over 50 laboratories across the globe discovered dozens of sets of genes (and genetic mutations) that are closely connected to- and may even be able to form the basis of new treatments for – the development of autism.
The new research claims 60 of the approximately 100 recently identified genes are within a “high-confidence” threshold – meaning that mutations in those genes are 90 percent likely to be tied to autism risk. Previously, only nine genes had been linked to autism with high confidence, according to a 2013 student published in Cell.
Researchers working on both studies attribute their success to the fact they were able to read the “letters” in DNA code at much high speeds than predecessors, thanks to advances in next generation sequencing. They said the newfound development of global initiatives is also allowing scientists worldwide to work more closely on pioneering autism-related research.
To read the entire Spring 2015 edition of The Autism Beacon click here.
The earlier a child is diagnosed with autism or developmental delays, the sooner intervention services can start. It’s during this time of rapid brain growth and plasticity that it can help a child the most.
To increase the number of area children who would benefit from early intervention, the Indiana University School of Medicine formed a partnership with Riley Children’s Foundation. Together, they opened Early Evaluation services for autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay at six Indiana locations in South Bend, Lafayette, Bloomington, New Albany, Evansville, and Fort Wayne. Additional sites are planned for later this year.
The services they provided are part of the Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral System (NDBS), a model developed by faculty at the IU School of Medicine. This offers a solution to the need for high quality health care for children in Indiana with neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 68 children are diagnosed with autism in the United States – an overall increase of 30 percent from 2012. In Indiana, the average age of diagnosis is 5.3 years, but early screening with referral for evaluation and diagnosis can occur by age 18 months.
To meet this growing need, diagnostic services are now available for children who have been identified in early screenings as having concerns for developmental delay or autism. The criteria for evaluation appointments are:
Child must be 18-42 months of age
Child must have primary care physician
Primary physician must identify concern based on standardized screening tools (often ASQ and/or MCHAT)
To read the entire Spring 2015 edition of The Autism Beacon click here.
This Saturday, May 2nd there are two community events happening that we would like to let you know about.
The first is David’s Run for Autism. It will take place in Nappanee, IN starting at 8:30am. There will be autism resource tables there, food, games and activities for the whole family. For more details and to register for the run/walk, click here.
The second event will be hosted by IN*SOURCE on Saturday May 2nd from 10:00am-12:30pm at 602 South 8th St. in Goshen IN. The workshop “Be Safe: The Movie, How to Interact Safely with the Police,” will give parents the education and tools to teach their child with autism how to respond and interact appropriately with the police.
We hope that you might be able to attend one of these events. Please continue to check our posts for upcoming community events as well as autism resources!
Ho Ho Ho! Autism Speaks is thrilled to be partnering withSimon Property Group, Inc. and the Noerr Programs Corporation on their Caring Santa program! Caring Santa is an opportunity to connect with multitudes of families that have children with autism and other special needs, providing a more controlled and welcoming environment to visit Noerr’s Santa Photo Experience!
On Sunday, December 7, for two hours prior to the mall opening, 120 Simon Malls across the country will be offering the Caring Santa Program! Register today to schedule an appointment with Santa in a fun and sensory-friendly environment at this private event just for families with special needs!
Click here to schedule a time to see Santa at the UP Mall!
SOLO provides outdoor winter educational and recreational opportunities for persons with disabilities from St. Joseph County, Indiana in an effort order to:
Encourage independence and increase participation in family and community leisure opportunities
Educate the community regarding the capabilities of and opportunities for persons with disabilities
Skiing offers a freedom of movement that most persons with disabilities have never experienced. At the same time, it creates an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and unsurpassed confidence. A person who has difficulty walking will find themselves gliding smoothly down the hill with a new found poise and agility.
We welcome both adults and children at least 8 years of age to join us. SOLO is open to students with physical, visual, auditory, or significant mental impairments
Monday, December 1, 2014 6-7 pm Logan Center 2505 E. Jefferson Blvd, South Bend Membership and orientation meeting. All students, families and volunteers should attend. Learn about SOLO’s plan for this year and vote to elect SOLO Board of Directors.
Monday, December 15, 2014 6-7 pm Logan Center 2505 E. Jefferson Blvd, South Bend Exercise and training session for students and volunteers. Student registration and medical forms must be turned in by this date.
Monday, December 22, 2014 7-9 pm Swiss Valley Ski Area Jones, MI If Swiss Valley is open, we will conduct an on-slope training session for all new and returning volunteers, which will introduce you adaptive training tools and techniques, and allow volunteers to practice using them. If Swiss Valley is not open yet, alternate date is Monday, December 29, 2014.
Saturday, January 3, 2015 9-10:30 am Rum Village Park South Bend, IN First session for the cross-country skiing and snowshoeing program. There will be a training session for new nordic volunteers immediately following the ski session. The program will run for 6 consecutive weeks. If there is not enough snow, we will do an alternate activity like hiking.
Monday, January 5, 2015 6-10 pm Swiss Valley Jones, MI First session for the downhill skiing program. The program will run for 6 consecutive weeks, unless there is a cancellation due to weather conditions, in which case the program will be extended an additional week. All students and volunteers are welcome to ride the bus that leaves from and returns to Memorial’s Lighthouse Place (Medpoint) in Granger. Call the Snow Line at 574-245-9634 to make sure we are skiing.
Danny’s Wish iPads for Autism applications will only be accepted September 1st through December 31st of each calendar year. Applications received and approved will be acknowledged by email & submitted to lottery for the next allocation of iPads awarded. Unfortunately incomplete applications will not be considered for award. iPads will be awarded each April of each calendar year.
The Mission of Danny’s Wish
The mission of Danny’s Wish is to provide life enhancing resources to families of children with autism and autism related spectrum disorders
The Danny’s Wish iPads for Autism Campaign provides free iPads to families of nonverbal children with Autism. Through the efforts and support of friends and family like you, Danny’s Wish has already provided thousands and thousands of iPads to children, providing the gift of speech and communication.
These children affected lack the ability to communicate simple wants and needs. Ask any parent of a child who cannot communicate and you will understand how ultimately frustrating and disheartening it can be. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear your own child cry and not know why, or see the pain and frustration on their faces because they cannot communicate with you?
The applications available on the iPad give these children the ability to communicate with friends and families, some for the first time.
Our Ipad for Autism campaign has become the primary focus of Danny’s Wish. Your generosity and support provides a needy child and their family with the gift of speech and communication.
Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks annual ipad grant application opened in 2014. Sign up for their community connections newsletter to receive more information!
Over the past 10 years, no disorder has become so familiar to Americans, yet remained so mysterious, as autism.
Now affecting 1 in every 68 children born in the United States—up from 1 in 166 a decade ago—the condition has so far resisted nearly all efforts to cure it, curb it or even precisely define it. As a result, speculation and controversy surrounding the disease has mounted, leaving parents unsure what to believe and doctors frustrated with a lack of options.
But an unusual partnership between science, business and philanthropy may soon provide some answers. Autism Speaks, Google and geneticist Dr. Stephen Scherer have devised an ambitious plan to upload the complete genomes of 10,000 autistic patients and their families to a cloud database that will be searchable, sortable and shareable with researchers around the world. The plan, known as the Autism Speaks Ten Thousands Genome Program—or AUT10K—aims to harness the combined power of big data, crowdsourcing and genetic know-how to isolate the causes of autism and find new genetic targets for treatment.
If successful, the $50 million project could not only help doctors understand and treat autism but change the way illnesses are tackled in the 21st century.
Despite the best efforts of world-class scientists, the research on autism so far has only hinted at its roots and possible cures, said Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks. “We have raised money for the National Institutes of Health for the better part of 10 years, and they have already spent about $2 billion of it, and we still don’t have any breakdown of autism,” he said, referring to NIH. “They’re sort of nibbling outside the palace, and they can’t get in.”
“I think that this will open up a whole world of autism research,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re going to save 25 years of research in a matter of 18 to 24 months.”
Already the project is paying dividends. Later this year, Dr. Scherer will be publishing a paper based on an analysis of the first few thousand genomes to be uploaded that shows, as expected, that autism consists of more than a single condition.
Unlocking the mysteries of autism
“We have new, unpublished data that shows autism is really a collection of different disorders,” said Dr. Scherer, director of the Centre for Applied Genomics at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. “This is so much the case that even in families where siblings have autism, they often have different forms of the condition and therefore need to be treated in a manner specific to their sub-type.”
This is big news for people struggling with autism, which has the unfortunate distinction of being a spectrum disorder—meaning it is characterized by a range of symptoms that may or may not stem from a singular cause.
“A spectrum disorder is the kiss of death for pharmaceutical companies,” Wright said. “They’ll say to me, ‘That’s too much work; we’re not going to tackle that.'” While this first paper may not be enough to guide the production of new treatments, it is, by any estimation, a major step forward.
Scientists have long believed that studying genes is the key to understanding disorders like autism, Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s. By seeing which gene mutations are shared by people with a certain condition, researchers can isolate the causes of the disease and design drugs to treat it.
But that is easier said than done. The complete human genome contains close to 25,000 genes and takes up about 100 gigabytes of storage—the equivalent of 10 high-definition movies—when uploaded to a computer. Storing, much less analyzing and sharing, all that information is far beyond the capacity of most universities and research institutions.
Enter Google and its seemingly limitless computing capacity. About a year and a half ago, David Glazer, a Google engineering director in search for a new challenge, formed a team within the company to find life-science projects that could benefit from using its cloud platform, which was designed to store and analyze massive data sets. Autism Speaks, which had already been collecting genomes from patients and their families for 15 years, seemed the perfect fit.
“Part of Google’s business is to make our cloud platform useful and available to anyone who has hard, scalable information and data problems to solve,” Glazer said. But “until fairly recently, a biologist didn’t need a tool more powerful than Excel to work with all the data that they were able to gather. That’s changed, particularly with the advent of genomics and genomic sequencing. “This is a tremendous opportunity to really put our platform to use,” he added, “and, of course, being a great customer for our platform.”
That the lead researcher for Google’s first life-science client should be Dr. Scherer makes some historical sense. His signature work greatly contributed to the massive increase in data now produced by many geneticists.
In 2004, Dr. Scherer discovered a major form of genetic variation that researchers had previously overlooked. For decades, scientists had believed that all people were born with two pairs of every gene—one from their father and one from their mother. But using a new form of high-resolution scanning technology that allowed him to examine DNA more closely than ever before, Scherer and his colleagues found that people can have three copies of a gene, or one, or even none at all. Sometimes these copy number variants, as they are known, make no difference to a person’s development. Other times they lead to serious developmental conditions, such as autism.
“Some genes are fine in only one copy, and some are fine in zero copies, believe it or not,” he said. “But there are a set of genes that if you only have one copy, or three copies, anything away from the typical two, it causes developmental problems. And that’s what we’ve seen in autism.”
Large-scale genome sequencing
Dr. Scherer’s research—for which he was named a possible recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Medicine—”opened up a new area of inquiry” in autism research, said Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, a pediatrician and autism researcher at University of Alberta. “It’s really because of that work that’s laid the groundwork for the advances that comprise the autism 10K project,” which he said had “tremendous potential to accelerate progress.”
An Ontario native, father of two and avid hockey fan, Scherer talks about AUT10K as a dream come true for a scientist used to working—and sometimes straining—within the bounds of conventional research.
“As a grad student 20 years ago, I used to dream about this technology,” he said. “We did this poor man’s science for so long, looking at little snippets, snapshots of the genome trying to figure out what it meant. We’re doing now what I call the perfect genetic experiment.”
Autism Speaks is not the only group pursuing a cure for a disease through large-scale genome sequencing. Earlier this year, the NIH awarded a $12.6 million grant to five American universities, including the Boston University School of Medicine, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, to analyze whole genome sequences of Alzheimer’s patients. In 2011, the Mayo Clinic announced an effort to sequence the genomes of thousands of its patients; it later selected Complete Genomic to do the actual sequencing.
But they do think they can be the first to show large-scale results. “We’re working fast, nimble,” Scherer said. “We’re following the Google model, so I think we’ll be first.”
Scherer and Autism Speaks hope to have all the genomes uploaded to Google’s cloud database by the end of 2015. Meanwhile, Google is at work on interfaces that will allow both researchers and families to search and analyze the data.
If all goes to plan, said Wright, who co-founded Autism Speaks after his grandson was diagnosed with autism, the treatment outlook for autistic patients will look very different two years from today.
“We’re going to have a lot of interest on the part of pharmaceutical companies and treatment organizations” once they have genetic targets and a breakdown of the disease, he said. “So to me this is heaven. This is heaven.”
—By Douglas Quenqua, special to CNBC.com
To see the original article on cnbc.com click here.
When Bobbie and Kyle Robinson’s son Samuel was born in 2012, both had good jobs and good insurance: She is a teacher and he is director of operations for a university basketball program. The future looked bright for the young, growing family, but everything changed the following year when Samuel was diagnosed with autism.
The Robinsons learned their health insurance wouldn’t cover his treatment, which costs about $60,000 a year, leaving them scrambling to find the money. They took out a loan, borrowed heavily from their parents and held a fundraiser. Bobbie Robinson’s father even postponed his retirement to help with their medical bills.
They managed to scrape up the money, but Bobbie Robinson was forced to go on medical leave so she could shuttle Samuel to therapy five days a week — a total of more than 300 miles.
“We’ve paid for health insurance for years, and when we really needed it, we found out that we don’t have it,” said Kyle Robinson, director of basketball operations at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. “That’s an extra level of stress for families. We found a way this year but eventuallyresources dry up.”
Kyle Robinson’s employer, the state of North Carolina, does not offer employee benefits that cover autism therapy, but a growing number of large private employers such as American Express Co., Capital One Financial Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and United Technologies Corp. are extending their health plans to include comprehensive coverage for autism. With 1 in 68 children receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of autistic children has grown dramatically in the past few decades.
Not surprisingly, more employees are asking for benefits that cover autism treatment, said Lorri Unumb, vice president of state government affairs for Autism Speaks, an advocacy group based in New York.
“There’s been a huge spike in the number of companies offering coverage,” she said. Sheattributes the increase in part to the growing number of states that are passing laws requiring insurers to cover autism treatment. Currently, 37 states have laws in place, according to Autism Speaks. Indiana was the first to pass autism insurance legislation in 2001.
While most insurance plans cover someautism therapies, like speech, physical and occupational therapy, few fully funded plans offered by smaller employers cover appliedbehavioral analysis, or ABA therapy, which is one of the most effective — though costliest — treatments for autism. This is the treatment Samuel Robinson receives.
While state laws don’t apply to self-funded insurance plans, large companies are stepping up voluntarily. Among large self-funded employers, 82 percent offer autism coverage, according to Mercer’s 2013 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.
“Employers have been very receptive,”Unumb said. “In the self-funded world, many companies pride themselves on having excellent benefits to stay competitive.”
In January, JPMorgan Chase began offering autism benefits through its health plan, covering intensive behavior therapy, such as the costly ABA therapy.
Stephen Cutler is JPMorgan Chase’s general counsel and an adviser to Access Ability, the company’s employee resource group for workers with disabilities. In a written statement, he said: “With almost 160,000 employees enrolled in our U.S. medical plan, we are confident that this important new offering will change the lives of many of our employees.”
The Robinsons may get some relief as well if the North Carolina state Senate approves a pending bill requiring insurers to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder. The bill would cover screening,diagnosis and a variety of therapies including applied behavioral analysis, which would be covered up to $36,000 a year.
“Obviously, it’s going to pay a significant portion of our son’s therapy,” said Kyle Robinson. “We’d have to sell our house otherwise, and our wedding bands, to get the therapy he needs. We’ve seen so much improvement that we can’t not do it for another year.”
To read the original article, visit the link below.
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Lighthouse Autism Center offers ABA therapy for children with autism. Contact us to learn how our innovative clinical model can help your child make greater progress, faster, all while having fun.
