It's great that diversity is extending to the neurological, but there's a danger in portraying those on the spectrum as inherently miraculous Brian Bowen Smith / FOX Kiefer Sutherland and David Mazouz in the new show Touch Alexander is the author of A TV Guide to Life: How I Learned Everything I Needed To Know from Watching Television. I know plenty about people on the autism spectrum. Communication and social skills present them with considerable challenges. They attach great importance to predictability and routine. They have highly specific tastes and preferences and become intractable when these are not met. They have difficulty understanding and processing human emotion, including their own. All of them are male, and all but one of them are young. And they have the ability to perform superhuman feats of memory and mathematics. I know all this, of course, only from popular culture. So maybe I don’t know as much as I think I do. Given the current prevalence of autism in the real world it’s not surprising to see it reflected in current entertainment. In fact, one might go so far as to say that autism is “hot” right now. Last month, Fox previewed a new … Continue reading →

It's likely you know a child with autism as the prevalence of the disorder continues to grow at alarming rates. According to the Utah Registry of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, one in every 77 Utah children has some sort of autism spectrum disorder. Research has shown that early intervention and intensive behavioral therapy can help children with autism lead almost normal lives, including going to public school, but the necessary treatments can cost families thousands of dollars a year. "Treatments can cost around $40,000 a year for the behavioral programs because these children require very individualized one-on-one care," said Laurie Bowens, director of the Bridges program at Kids on the Move. "Most insurance plans don't cover that treatment either." Now one Utah representative is proposing a solution to help families get the treatment they need. Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, is sponsoring House Bill 272, which would create a pilot program for autism funding. Menlove says there is no denying the need for such a program. "We have a growing number of parents who are mortgaging their homes, selling everything they own trying to pay for these services," Menlove said. "If treatment is provided in the early years, 40 to 50 … Continue reading →

"The reservoir of genetic diversity contained in the oceans' microbial life is a huge potential source of natural products and genes with applications in medicine, food development and bio-energy," says Curtis Suttle, an expert on marine virology and microbiology at the University or British Columbia and member of the panel. "The question is whether they fall under a regime of 'freedom of the high seas' which allows the discoverer to keep what they find, or under a regime of 'the common heritage of mankind' which would require benefits from the use of genetic resources to be equitably shared amongst countries." Marine genetic resources discovered in coastal waters are subject to bilateral 'benefit sharing' under international agreements currently being ratified. But no such agreements govern the patenting and commercialization of proteins and genes harvested from international waters. "Marine genetic resources within national jurisdiction are subject to requirements for benefit sharing under the Nagoya Protocol, and it is time to consider a parallel agreement for areas beyond national jurisdiction," says panelist Marjo Vierros with the United Nations University (UNU). The UNU is the academic arm of the United Nations system. "Any agreement should include mechanisms to support marine scientific research and invention … Continue reading →