A gene called TRIO may be a hotbed for autism mutations, an international collaboration focuses on the whole brain and one behavior, and Autism Speaks cuts grant spending.
The TRIO protein interacts with RAC1, which has already been implicated in animal models of autism. Mutations in TRIO yield a protein that either over- or underperforms, at least in cultured rat neurons. The result is that neurons interact too much or too little with each other.
Autism in an older child also affected rates of vaccine reaction reports from parents. Parents of children with autism are more likely than those with neurotypical children to report adverse vaccine reactions in their child with autism. They are also more likely to report vaccine reactions in their unaffected children who have older siblings on the spectrum. These retrospective reports include fever, unusual crying and diarrhea.
One example Silberman gives involves a 14-year-old boy with autism named Connor, who encountered a policeman while waiting for his caregiver in a neighborhood park. The caregiver later realized that the policeman had mistaken Connor’s repeated sniffing of a piece of yarn for “drug intoxication.”
The children’s quoted responses include, “Whispering is rarely as discreet as you think it is,” and “If someone communicates differently than you, still say, ‘Hi.’”
