Where Have You Gone - Richard Femenella and Sound Design For the past ten years we have been involved producing a gala to benefit Families for Effective Autism Treatment. For me personally, this was one of my amazing experiences being involved in Autism causes. I got to perform a song I wrote for my son, Where Have You Gone, with a performance group of children called SOUND DESIGN. Watching this is getting me excited for the April 26, event, Artists for Autism at the Lou Ruvo Center. When communities come together to help people, the feeling is magical. Thanks Richard By: Richard Femenella … Continue reading →

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 15, 2013 In a small initial study, researchers report functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows a particular type of behavioral therapy is correlated with positive changes in brain activity in children with autism. Researchers from the Yale University Child Study Center used fMRI to measure the impact of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) on both lower- and higher-functioning children with autism. fMRI allows researchers to see what areas of the brain are active while processing certain stimuli in this case human motion. Researchers compared pre- and post-therapy data from the fMRI scans of 5-year-old subjects. From this review, they saw markedchanges in how the children were processing the stimuli. The study is foundin the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The cool thing that we found was that these kids showed increased activation in regions of the brain utilized by typically developing kids, explained researcher and graduate student Avery C. Voos, one of the lead authors of the Yale study. After four months of treatment, theyre starting to use brain regions that typically developing kids are using to process social stimuli. We can say that we … Continue reading →

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Autism is a complicated disorder affecting one in 88-kids, but its treatments are often not covered by health insurance. Families can find themselves facing a mountain of debt to care for autistic kids. A bill filed Thursday on Tennessee's Capitol Hill aims to change that by taking on insurance companies. Sponsor Senator Jim Tracy acknowledges it will be a "tough fight" to make it happen. "If we can get the insurance companies to cover the treatment, these children have the opportunity to grow into productive adults, taxpaying citizens," Sen. Tracy told Nashville's News 2 Friday afternoon. "Thirty two other states have done this, or something similar to it." Jennifer Kates knows the issue well as the mother of a 12-year-old of an autistic child named Harper who now is in 6th grade. "He was not using language functionally; he was not making good eye contact, not socializing with his peers," she said, adding, "Now he is fairly high functioning because of the early interventions and the therapies when he was younger." While talking with Nashville's News 2 Friday, the college English teacher at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro proudly wore a pin as a member of Autism … Continue reading →