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Medication Treatment of Co-Occurring Illness in Autism Spectrum Disorders
One of my first mentors in psychiatry said early in my career: “when a disorder impacts an organ in the body, other problems and challenges often follow suit within that same organ.” This is apparent in many areas of medicine: a leg deformity related to a prior growth problem may lead to joint...
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Autism Treatment: Addressing the Changes and Challenges
This past March, it became clearer than ever that the scope of autism is changing. With new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifying that 1 in 68 children in the U.S. are now affected by autism, a nationwide conversation ignited on how to address the...
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Evidence-Based Practices for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Making the Best Treatment Decisions for Your Child
The rise of wide-ranging treatment approaches for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has provided parents with the ability to construct an individualized approach to best suit each child’s unique needs. However, sorting through all of these options can become overwhelming for many of the families...
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Mount Sinai Researchers Receive NIH Grant to Study Promising Treatment for Autism Subtype
Scientists at the Seaver Autism Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), a promising treatment for a subtype of autism called Phelan McDermid Syndrome (PMS). The grant...
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An Interdisciplinary Treatment Program in the School: A New Model
From our vantage point in 2012 there is nearly unanimous agreement among the scientists who study autism, that it is really many diseases, and some have suggested that we call it the “autismS.” Along with the three key diagnostic signs (language and social disorder as well as a rigid adherence...
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From Assessment to Intervention: Strategies for Identifying and Monitoring Treatment Progress in ASD
Evidence based treatment and the assessment of treatment effectiveness are dependent upon the collection of data during the evaluation process providing information about symptoms, impairment and abilities in children with ASD. Such an assessment allows for a seamless transition from diagnosis to...
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Q&A with Renowned Autism Expert Dr. Catherine Lord – Identifying Children with ASD and Finding Services After Diagnosis
Renowned autism expert Dr. Catherine Lord is the Director of NYP’s Center for Autism and the Developing Brain (CADB). Opening in early 2013, CADB will be the region’s most comprehensive center for diagnosing and treating patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Dr. Lord shared some of her...
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Some Thoughts on Early Diagnosis and Effective Treatment of ASD
I am the director of an Early Intervention agency and until recently was its primary Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) evaluator. I am a bilingual child psychologist and have been diagnosing and ruling out ASD in children below age three for several decades. We’ve seen ever-earlier diagnosis (down...
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A Review of a Randomized Control Trial of DIR/Floortime Therapy
Parents and clinicians frequently face the issue of making informed decisions amongst heated debates over the most effective approaches for treating young children with autism (Prizant and Wetherby, 1998). Of the current approaches used to treat autism, there lies a continuum ranging from intensive...
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Comprehensive Approach to Working with Individuals with Autism
Families and individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders receive an endless bombardment of information pertaining to various therapies and approaches to address their complex needs. Navigating these therapies can be extremely confusing and for many it has become something comparable to a full time...