Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyse the children's urine, they found that each of these groups had a distinct chemical fingerprint, with clear and significant differences between children with autism and unrelated controls.[...]
Autism is currently diagnosed using a series of behavioural tests, and while children can show symptoms of the condition when as young as 5 months old, a clear diagnosis is not usually possible until they are age 2 or 3 years. This is problematic, because there is growing evidence that the earlier behavioural therapies for autism are started, the better the chances of children being able to lead relatively normal lives.
"If you could identify kids who were at risk much earlier by a chemical test rather than by observing the manifestation of full-blown behaviour, we could get them into therapy much earlier," says Nicholson.
And once again, let me reiterate that this is not a day to leave our 2-year-olds in the park. It is meant for kids age 7 or 8 and up. And it needn’t be more than an hour or even a half hour. And you can just take a walk around the block, if that’s all you or your child are ready for. And you can give them cell phones! I just want to get kids out of the house so they can frolick and maybe even plan to do this strange thing where they ask a friend to “come out and play” again. And it’s a great time for parents to meet each other, too! The way to really make any community safe requires reviving just that — community! Connect with your neighbors and everyone watches out for everyone else.
Marie Boswell, 35, says friends and family have been amazed by her son's distinctive 'ok' sign in the 20-week scan taken at Wythenshawe Hospital.
Marie, of Wythenshawe, Manchester, said: "It's really funny, the thumb is so clear - we can't believe it.
"I have big hands but nothing on the scale of his - he looks like he's wearing boxing gloves! We're thinking he might make a good goalkeeper.
5. In a tree. In 2000, about a million people in Mozambique were forced from their homes when floodwaters ravaged the country. Or make that a million and one. A Sophia Pedro lived in a treetop for four days, waiting for her rescue and hoping that it would come before her baby did. Rescue did come, but it was moments too late – just minutes after the woman gave birth in the treetop, medics descended from a helicopter to retrieve them and cut the umbilical cord. Sophia and her daughter both recovered just fine.
Researchers have found that the ability to tell fibs at the age of two is a sign of a fast developing brain and means they are more likely to have successful lives.
They found that the more plausible the lie, the more quick witted they will be in later years and the better their abiliy to think on their feet.
It also means that they have developed "executive function" - the ability to invent a convincing lie by keeping the truth at the back of their mind.
Dad, you need to get out of the ladies' room. It is cleaner and nicer, but even though you're accompanied by your little girls, you are going to freak people out. I also agree the men's room is not ideal. But you can quickly glance inside, make sure there is no one at a visible urinal, and whisk the girls into a stall with you. Ideally, you should get in the habit of anticipating toilet needs so that before it's an emergency, you have a chance to see if you can locate single-stall facilities that allow you to lock the door. Sometimes there are special handicapped or family toilets at museums, etc., that would work. In a year or so, when you feel your older daughter shouldn't be entering the men's room at all, you can stand outside and wait for a mother and child and ask the mother if she will keep an eye on your little girl while she does her business. And thank you for a toilet question that does not involve the country-dividing issue of toilet seat up or down.
