IAN Community E-Newsletter - October 13, 2009Date First Published: October 13, 2009 Contents Dear Member of the IAN Community, The Interactive Autism Network is pleased to announce the launch of our long-awaited survey for grandparents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Read this newsletter to find out more about the survey and to explore other topics, and visit our website regularly to keep up to date on our research about how autism affects families. Read and enjoy! The IAN Team Grandparents Survey Launches!The Interactive Autism Network (IAN) is pleased to announce the launch of the Grandparents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Survey. We invite grandparents who have a grandchild on the autism spectrum, and who reside in the United States or its territories, to complete this anonymous internet survey. Individuals may take the survey whether or not their grandchild's parents participate in the IAN Research project. If you know a grandparent with an affected grandchild - please spread the word. It is our hope that the results of this survey will help researchers, policymakers, and advocates learn about the role grandparents play in the lives of individuals with ASD, and how ASD has an impact beyond the nuclear family. Read more in Interactive Autism Network Launches Survey for Grandparents. Celebrating Twins - and All They Teach Us About ASDsTwins have been of great interest to autism researchers for many years because they help researchers untangle genetic from environmental factors in autism. Thanks to participating IAN families, we have just published an article on the largest ever number of twin sets in autism: 277! Read about IAN's findings in... Twins! A Key to the Mysteries of Autism. Interview with Dr. KaufmannDr. Walter Kaufmann, Director of the Center for Genetic Disorders of Cognition and Behavior at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Professor of Pathology, Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is one of the authors of a newly published paper based on IAN twin data. In this interview, he explains the critical role twin studies play in autism research. Find out what Dr. Kaufmann has to say in IAN INTERVIEW: Dr. Walter Kaufmann on the Importance of Twins in Autism Research. Psychotropic Medications Paper PublishedA paper on the use of psychotropic medication to treat children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has just been published in the "Online First" version of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Based on the input of thousands of families participating in the IAN Research project, the study found that 35% of the children with ASD participating were using at least one psychotropic medication, most commonly stimulants (such as Ritalin), neuroleptics (such as Risperdal), or antidepressants (such as Prozac). Read the study abstract. For a family-friendly article about medications, read IAN Research Findings: Medications. |
