io9Books & Comics

An autistic savant spent 20 years designing an entire city on paper

The French city of Urville exists in two places: in the mind of Gilles Trehin and in the elaborate drawings Trehin created. But what’s incredible isn’t just the detailed designs he created for the city’s architecture and layout, but the entirely plausible history for his fictional city. When Trehin was 12, he began working on … Continued

Tech News

Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism, Please Vaccinate Your Children

Yet another study has found no association between vaccines and autism. Mercury, the ingredient in vaccines suspected of causing learning disabilities, hasn’t been used to preserve the medicines since 2001. And since then, the incidence of autism has still increased. That’s what researchers found in a study published yesterday in the open access science journal … Continued

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Why do we want autistic kids to have superpowers?

Tonight sees the launch of Touch, Kiefer Sutherland’s show about a father whose non-neurotypical son turns out to be able to predict future events. This comes on the heels of Alphas, which also gave us Gary, another person who appears to be on the autism spectrum but who has the ability to see hidden energies. … Continued

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Do you reside somewhere on the autism spectrum? In the near future, you may not.

For the first time in seventeen years, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (D.S.M.) is undergoing a significant revision. One of the mental conditions facing major emendations in its D.S.M. definition is autism. If the changes go through, a recent analysis suggests that the rate of official diagnosis for autism, … Continued

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What impact do disorders like Asperger syndrome have on a budding relationship?

Navigating the uncertain terrain of the dating world can be tough for just about anyone, but it is often especially challenging for people with autism spectrum disorders, who typically suffer from impaired social skills that can make establishing strong interpersonal connections difficult. In this moving article (an excerpt of which is included below), The New … Continued

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Why our minds have probably evolved as far as they can go

Humans evolving into hyper-intelligent beings is a powerful idea in science fiction, but that’s probably where the idea will have to stay. Our brains have reached an evolutionary “sweet spot”, and we can’t get much smarter without making major trade-offs. That’s the finding of psychologists Thomas Hills of the University of Warwick and Ralph Hertwig … Continued

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What happens when mice become autistic

In search of cures for autism, scientists have often used mice as a model. Some of the rodents display behaviors typical of human autism, and researchers use these mice as test subjects for experimental treatments. But now a group of researchers has figured out how to genetically engineer autistic mice, which could bring us closer … Continued

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Autism starts affecting babies’ brains as early as 4 months old

Autism takes a heavy toll on families — autistic teens are more likely to be bullied, and families with autistic kids are likelier to have lower incomes. But now at last, we’re starting to learn more about what causes autism. The International Meeting for Autism Research is taking place right now in San Diego, and … Continued

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A 5-minute test that could spot autism in infants

Spotting Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at an early age is invaluable for treatment. The first symptoms of the disorder usually manifest when children are two, and there is often a significant delay between when parents spot the signs and when they tell their doctor. But a new paper published in the Journal of Pediatrics proposes … Continued

Tech News

Tech Start-Up Exclusively Hires People with Asperger’s Syndrome for Their Technological Prowess

Aspiritech, a Chicago-based tech start up, is a software testing firm that exclusively hires people with Asperger’s syndrome. Why? Because apparently, people suffering from Asperger’s make for the perfect software tester. And this isn’t even news! Studies have shown people with Asperger’s thriving in tech fields because it supposedly makes them feel “safe” and gives … Continued

Tech News

Bill Gates Says It’s an Absolute Lie to Link Vaccines and Autism

Dr. Wakefield’s study once showed a link between vaccinations and autism. Too bad it was based on fraudulent data and “an absolute lie”. Bill Gates has pledged 10 billion dollars to make it the “year of the vaccines”. Specifically, Gates’ $10 billion will be spread over 10 years. In an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta … Continued

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Gawker Book Club: Seth Mnookin’s The Panic Virus

Our latest iteration of the Gawker Book Club features The Panic Virus, a forensic and infuriating account of the genesis and spread of the vaccines-cause-autism meme by Vanity Fair contributor and Gawker pal Seth Mnookin. The Panic Virus is an autopsy of a vicious idea: The false contention that the rise in autism rates over … Continued

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Study that linked autism and vaccines was “an elaborate fraud”

British doctor Andrew Wakefield already lost his medical license over his faulty research linking vaccines and autism, but now a new report says his 1998 paper, published in the Lancet, was actually fraudulent. British journalist Brian Deer was paid by the Sunday Times and Channel Four to examine Wakefield’s research, and the results were just … Continued

Tech News

How Kinect Got an Autistic Kid Gaming

GamingNexus editor John Yan has a four-year-old son with a mild form of autism. The little guy’s tried to play 360 and PS3 but has trouble getting a hold on the controllers. With Kinect, though, he was an instant pro. In a heartwarming post entitled “I think Kinect is OK, but it’s the best $150 … Continued

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Will all babies get tested for autism in the womb?

British researchers have identified up to 300 genes that cause autism, and they hope to have mapped all the genes responsible for the condition within two years. And they believe that eventually, all newborn children could be tested for autism. A group of Oxford researchers, writing in the journal Nature, say that they’ve identified several … Continued

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The Robot Uprising Against Autism

This is Bandit, a robot that’s modeled after a human but manages to look unmistakeably synthetic. And for the autistic children Bandit treats, this disconnect from realism is entirely the point. While even close family members can have extreme difficulty connecting to those with autism, machines can be extremely effective. With such an idea in … Continued

ScienceHealth

Father Invents System to Help Autistic Son Communicate

As a result of severe autism and learning disabilities, eleven-year-old Callum Lodge is unable to talk. In order to allow his son to communicate with the world around him, his father has developed Speaks4me, an electronic communication system. As you can see in the video, Speaks4me appears to allow the user to choose images in … Continued

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It’s Official: Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism

A federal court ruled over the weekend that a formerly common additive in vaccines does not cause autism. So will that be enough to prevent a new era of deadly but preventable epidemics? The federal “vaccines court” ruled in three different cases that a mercury-containing additive, thimerosal, that was in many vaccine until 2001, does … Continued

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Autism Genes Are Linked to Early Learning

Most studies of autism link it to genetics. The condition is often referred to as the “geek syndrome” because some studies have shown a high incidence of autism in areas like California’s Silicon Valley, where highly technical people are having children together. Scientific studies have backed up the idea that autism is genetic, identifying several … Continued

Tech News

35,310 Lego Star Wars Clone Trooper Army Invades Earth

What are 35,310 Lego Star Wars Clone Troopers mini-figs doing together, apart from planning a planet invasion after breaking out of the giant Lego storage cathedrals? Raising awareness and funds for autism, that’s what. So if you wondered where all those helmets at the Lego stormtrooper cloning machine go to, check the gallery for some … Continued