Autism Safety Social Media Blitz Begins This Week!
By Lisa Wiederlight, Executive Director, SafeMinds SafeMinds is proud to be a founding member of the Autism Safety Coalition, a group of national organizations that have come together to support Senate Bill 163, Avonte’s Law Act of 2015. This week, the Coalition is kicking off a social media campaign, “Yes to Avonte’s Law” to educate […]
National Groups Launch Campaign To Combat Wandering Deaths
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release June 15, 2015 National Disability & Law Enforcement Groups Launch Campaign To Combat Wandering Deaths, Support Avonte’s Law Washington, DC In light of the growing number of wandering-related deaths in the autism community, a group of national organizations have come together to support Senate Bill 163, Avonte’s Law. The group, […]
Duke University Study Finds Helminths are Beneficial to the Gut Biome Promoting More Good Bacteria and Less Bad
Acting on this discovery could have a profound affect on human health. The idea that from the ecosystem of the human body is leading to inflammation and disease is gaining widespread acceptance. This loss of diversity, known as “biome depletion”, is caused by a variety of factors in modern society and has an effect on every aspect of our body’s development and function, including our brain’s development and function. Most attention among scientists and the media alike has focused on the microbiome, the microorganisms or germs in our biome. However, a substantial body of experimental evidence points toward the presence or absence of larger organisms, helminths or worms, as having a generally more global effect on the body’s function, including alteration in the microbiome.
Autism & Wandering Issue Reaches Capitol Hill
By Lisa Wiederlight, executive director, SafeMinds One of the most urgent problems facing the autism community is that of wandering and elopement, which is a primary cause of mortality associated with an autism diagnosis. Heartbreaking stories of missing children and adults appear on our newsfeed each week. Recognizing that safe minds require safe bodies, SafeMinds […]
Study Finds Autism-Mercury Link Through Elevated Antibodies to Critical Brain Proteins
A study published in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical & Cellular Immunology found indicators of autoimmunity to critical brain proteins associated with mercury exposure in children with autism. The authors, Gehan Ahmed Mostafa and Laila Yousef AL-Ayadhi at the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, in Cairo, Egypt and the Autism Research and Treatment Center in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, respectively, hypothesize that mercury might play a causative role in some cases of autism through increased levels of antibodies to myelin basic protein, or MBP.
Make the Call Today—Ask Your Elected Officials to Attend Autism & Wandering Briefing on Capitol Hill on May 19
By Lisa Wiederlight, Executive Director, SafeMinds It’s a nightmare that most parents don’t want to consider. They turn around, and their child is gone. Research published in the journal Pediatrics has found that half of all children with autism engage in wandering or elopement behaviors, and many die alone without the ability to answer to […]
