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Toddlers Know More Math Than You Think, Study Says

Autism Research
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Children frequently learn by observing people around them. Without any instruction, for example, many toddlers figure out how to turn on a TV or twist open a door handle. Now, scientists have found that 2- year-olds may also rely on probability to make sense of their world.

During agame of probability, many toddlers were able to choose a winning strategy, they found. In the game, the toddlers watched an adult play with one of two blocks to get a prize. When the toddlers played the game, they tended to choose the block that resulted in more prizes.

"In the real world, there are multitudes of possible ways to solve a problem, but how do we learn how to find the best solution?" lead author Anna Waismeyer, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences in Seattle,said in a statement. "In our study, we wanted to see if young children could detect the difference between two imperfect ways of winning a game, and then use the better strategy to their own advantage." [That's Incredible! 9 Amazing Baby Abilities]

During the game, a child watched as a researcher placed a wooden block on a box that triggered a marble to roll out of a nearby machine, producing a noise that entertained the children, the researchers said. One block triggered the marble two-thirds of the time, and a second block of a different color and shape triggered it just one-third of the time.

The children watched the researchers play with the blocks for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, during free play, 23 of the 32 toddlers, or 72 percent, keenly picked the block that triggered the marble two-thirds of the time.

....

More and source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/toddlers-know-more-math-than-you-think_n_5793058.html

Early cerebellum injury hinders neural development, possible root of autism

Autism Research
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A brain region largely known for coordinating motor control has a largely overlooked role in childhood development that could reveal information crucial to understanding the onset of autism, according to Princeton University researchers.

The cerebellum—an area located in the lower rear of the brain—is known to process external and internal information such as sensory cues that influence the development of other brain regions, the researchers report in the journalNeuron. Based on a review of existing research, the researchers offer a new theory that an injury to the cerebellum during early life potentially disrupts this process and leads to what they call "developmental diaschisis," which is when a loss of function in one part of the brain leads to problems in another region.

The researchers specifically apply their theory to autism, though they note that it could help understand other childhood neurological conditions. Conditions within the autism spectrum present "longstanding puzzles" related to cognitive and behavioral disruptions that their ideas could help resolve, they wrote. Under their theory, cerebellar injury causes disruptions in how other areas of the brain develop an ability to interpret external stimuli and organize internal processes, explained first author Sam Wang, an associate professor of molecular biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI).

"It is well known that the cerebellum is an information processor. Our neocortex [the largest part of the brain, responsible for much higher processing] does not receive information unfiltered. There are critical steps that have to happen between when external information is detected by our brain and when it reaches the neural cortex," said Wang, who worked with doctoral student Alexander Kloth and postdoctoral research associate Aleksandra Badura, both in PNI.

"At some point, you learn that smiling is nice because Mom smiles at you. We have all these associations we make in early life because we don't arrive knowing that a smile is nice," Wang said. "In autism, something in that process goes wrong and one thing could be that sensory information is not processed correctly in the cerebellum."

Mustafa Sahin, a neurologist at Boston's Children Hospital and associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, said that Wang and his co-authors build upon known links between cerebellar damage and autism to suggest that the cerebellum is essential to healthy neural development. Numerous studies—including from his own lab—support their theory, said Sahin, who is familiar with the work but was not involved in it.

...

More and source: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-early-cerebellum-injury-hinders-neural.html

Let the Children Play! Especially During Recess

Autism Research
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Effective classroom behavior management has been a hot topic in education for years. Classrooms are full of personalities with one teacher at the head of the class to both manage all of those unique personalities and help them thrive. Haveyouthanked your child's teacher lately?

In a survey of Pre-K-12th grade teachers conducted by the American Psychological Association in 2006, teachers rated help with classroom management as one of their primary needs. Ineffective discipline is one of the most significant roadblocks to promoting effective teaching. And yet, many teachers struggle to find the support they need.

In addition to the fact that disruptive behavior makes learning a challenge, discipline issues can lead to increased stress in the classroom, teacher burnout and safety concerns.

Read more: Let the Children Play! Especially During Recess

Brazil farmers say GMO corn no longer resistant to pests

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By Caroline Stauffer

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Genetically modified corn seeds are no longer protecting Brazilian farmers from voracious tropical bugs, increasing costs as producers turn to pesticides, a farm group said on Monday.

Producers want four major manufacturers of so-called BT corn seeds to reimburse them for the cost of spraying up to three coats of pesticides this year, said Ricardo Tomczyk, president of Aprosoja farm lobby in Mato Grosso state.

Read more: Brazil farmers say GMO corn no longer resistant to pests

Many With Autism Lack Knowledge On Sex, Study Finds

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Adults with autism face a greater risk of sexual victimization than their typically-developing peers, researchers say, and a lack of education could be part of the reason why.

In a survey of adults with and without autism, 78 percent of those on the spectrum reported at least one instance of sexual victimization compared to less than half of their typically-developing peers.

People with autism were more than twice as likely to say that had been raped and over three times as likely to report unwanted sexual contact, according to findings published in the September issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Read more: Many With Autism Lack Knowledge On Sex, Study Finds

De-stress groups by peers help mothers of autistic kids

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Programmes teaching “mindfulness” and “positive psychology” helped mothers of children with autism to reduce their stress and depression, according to new study.

Most services for such families focus on the disabled child, researchers say, but improving the mental health of parents is likely to make them better caregivers and that, in turn, could improve their child’s development.

“There are literally decades of studies that have described the high levels of stress and distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms that mums and dads of children with developmental disabilities suffer, and I didn’t want to describe anymore, I wanted to do something about it,” says Elizabeth Dykens, who led the new study.

“So this is really for parents - it was for their mental health and well-being, for their own adult development,” says Dykens, an associate director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development in Nashville, Tennessee.

“And I think that’s what really sets it apart from the traditional interventions that are much more child oriented,” she says.

Read more: De-stress groups by peers help mothers of autistic kids

Autistic brain 'overloaded with connections'

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"Scientists discover people with autism have too many brain 'connections'," the Mail Online reports. US research suggests that people with an autistic spectrum disorder have an excessive amount of neural connections inside their brain.

The headline is based on the results of a study that found that at post-mortem, brains of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have more nerve cell structures called “dendritic spines” – which receive signals from other nerve cells – than the brains of people without ASD.

Brain development after birth involves both the formation of new connections and the elimination or "pruning" of other connections. The researchers concluded that people with ASD have a developmental defect in the pruning/elimination of dendritic spines.

Further examination of the brains of people with ASD found that more of the signalling protein mTOR was found to be in its activated state than in brains of people without ASD.

A process called autophagy, where older structures and proteins within cells are removed and broken down, was also impaired.

The researchers performed further experiments to show the mTOR signalling inhibits autophagy, and without autophagy pruning of dendritic spines does not occur.

Read more: Autistic brain 'overloaded with connections'

Music Therapy Helps Autistic Children Find Their Voices in Nepal

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KATHMANDU, NEPAL -- The walls of a small, brightly lit room are decorated with colorful musical instruments. A guitar is stored in one corner of the room. In another, a keyboard lies on the floor. A table against the wall holds a flute and two traditional Nepalese drums, a tabla and a madal.

Maulik Bhandari, 7, slowly steps into the room, looking down at his feet and gripping his mothers hand. He shows no interest in the instruments or the man seated on a stool in the room.

But when the man begins to strum the guitar, Mauliks eyes light up. He instantly lets go of his mothers hand and moves toward the man.

Maulik is beginning his daily music therapy session at the day care center run by AutismCare Nepal, the first organization to provide music therapy for people with autism, in Kathmandu, Nepals capital.

Within a few minutes, Maulik is singing his favorite English nursery rhyme, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He keeps up with the melody and enunciates the occasional word. Moving in rhythm with the music, he points skyward whenever the song mentions the star.

Mauliks mother, Alina Bhandari, 33, takes him to the day care center each day, traveling by bus for more than an hour from their home in Lalitpur, a district adjoining Kathmandu district.

Before he began therapy in April 2013, Maulik used to hit people, Bhandari says. He could not sit still or communicate basic needs such as asking for food when he was hungry.

But from the time he began music therapy, Maulik has followed what is said to him and communicates his basic needs. Although he still does not speak in full sentences, he started using single words to communicate last January, Bhandari says.

Read more: Music Therapy Helps Autistic Children Find Their Voices in Nepal

More Articles ...

  1. Disorganized Brain Cells Help Explain Autism Symptoms
  2. Gut Bacteria May Play a Role in Autism
  3. A Study by Focus Autism Foundation Finds: CDC Whistleblower Reveals Widespread Manipulation of Scientific Data and Top-Down Pressure on CDC Scientists to Support the Fraudulent Application of Government Policies on Vaccine Safety
  4. Love thy neighbour, it's good for the heart: study

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Information deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Check for pricing and trainings. Terms subject to change.

Horse Boy Method and Movement Method are not intended or offered as a cure for autism. Ameliorative effects may or may not occur. The Methods were found to be very useful with Rupert's son Rowan and with other children. Subsequently numerous university studies have been done and suggest a positive effect and the Methods are endorsed by neuro scientists. There is no guarantee of outcome.

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