Why do poor treatments sometimes get results?

By Rick Colosimo / April 27, 2009 / Comments Off on Why do poor treatments sometimes get results?

This Slate article talks about the Hawthorne effect, which basically says that positive interactions with people creates positive outcomes, at least for a while. It’s sort of like a placebo effect for behavior. Using facilitated communication as an example, the author details one reason why researchers in the softer sciences (as opposed to hard sciences…

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Email asks NJ Gov’r Corzine about autism

By Rick Colosimo / April 27, 2009 / Comments Off on Email asks NJ Gov’r Corzine about autism

After weeks with no response from the Christie campaign on my question about the candidate’s position on autism (I guess he believes twitter is for press releases rather than conversations), I looked over NJ Gov’r Corzine’s scant website. No presence for autism there either; in fact, neither of these websites contained a search box. I…

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Animation of Long-Term Potentiation and DNA

By Rick Colosimo / March 27, 2009 / Comments Off on Animation of Long-Term Potentiation and DNA

Readers of Exaptation will note that a recent post dealt with Long-Term Potentiation, or LTP. LTP is related to the manner in which signals travel in the brain (very simplified explanation!). This animation of LTP explains the process in much greater detail. Other visualizations relevant to understanding some of the scientific research regarding autism include:…

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Sneak peek!

By Rick Colosimo / March 26, 2009 / Comments Off on Sneak peek!

This is the inaugural post for ASD World, which will officially launch on April 2, 2009. Yes, World Autism Awareness Day. Please take part in an activity near you or donate to a favorite cause. Initially, I will blog here as I build an advocacy practice to assist the parents of children with autism. I…

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