Thinking in pictures

Resource list

Associations and Sources of Information

Autism Society of America

7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 300

Bethesda, Maryland 20814-3067

301-667-0881

800-3-AUTISM

www.autism-society.org

Largest parent support group in the U.S. Has many local chapters.

Autism Research Institute

4182 Adam Avenue

San Diego, California 92116

www.autismwebsite.com

www.autism.org

www.autism.com

Information on biomedical treatments, auditory training, sensory problems, and many other treatments. They publish a very informative newsletter on new treatments and scientific research.

Gluten Free Casein Free Support Group

www.gfcfdict.com

MAAP Services, Susan Moreno

P.O. Box 529

Crown Point Indiana 46307

219-662-1311

www.maapservices.org

chart@netnitco.net

Information for older high-functioning individuals and Asperger' syndrome.

Judevine Center for Autism

1101 Olivette Executive Parkway

St. Louis, Missouri 63132

314-482-6200

www.judevine.org or www.judevine.org/autism/resources.html

Contains excellent links in their resources section to many autism and Asperger sites.

National Institute of Mental Health

Office of Communications

6001 Executive Blvd. Room 8184, MSC 9663

Bethesda, Maryland 20892

301-443-4513

866-615-6464

www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm

Contains basic information about autism.

National Autistic Society in England

393 City Road

London, England ECIVING

44-(0)20-7833-2299

www.nas.org.uk

Good general information site. Has good objective information on auditory training and other treatments. Use the search box located on this site. Searches for many different kinds of information can be done.

Tonyattwood.com.au

A good source of information on Asperger' Syndrome.

www.thegraycenter.org

Contains information on teaching social skills to children with autism.

Emily Post' The Etiquette Advantage in Business: Personal Skills for Professional Success by Peggy Post and Peter Post. This practical book provides many tips on how people should behave at work. It will be useful for learning work-related social skills.

Physician' Desk Reference

Order from www.Amazon.com

The Doctor' Bible for information on medications. They also have books on herbal and nutritional supplements. They are available in many libraries and at your doctor' office. All FDA Black Box warnings are in these books.

Pubmed — provides free access to summaries of studies published in scientific journals. This database is run by the National Institute of Health. To access, type Pubmed into either the Google or Yahoo! search engine. There are several different Pubmed search pages that search different databases. The best one is labeled ncbi PUBMED NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE and it has an easy-to-use search box near the top of the page.

Google Scholar searches scientific papers. Go to www.google.com and click on «scholar» on the tool bar.

Therafin

19747 Wolf Road

Mokena, Illinois 60448

800-843-7231

708-479-7300

www.therafin.com

The squeeze machine manufacturer.

Irlen Institute

5380 Village Road

Long Beach, California 90808

www.irlen_institute.com

IrlenInstitute@irlen.com

Has information on colored glasses and colored overlays to help with visual processing problems.

Sensory Integration International

P.O. Box 5339

Torrance, California 90510-5339

www.sensoryint.com

Information on sensory problems.

College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD)

243 N. Lindberg Blvd., Suite 310

St. Louis, Missouri 63141

314-991-4007

888-268-3770

www.covd.org

info@covd.org

Information on finding doctors who can treat visual processing problems.

Publishers of Books on Autism and Asperger Syndrome

Autism Asperger Publishing Company

P.O. Box 23173

Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66283-0173

877-277-8254

913-897-1004

www.asperger.net

Future Horizons

721 West Abram Street

Arlington, Texas 76013

800-489-0727

www.futurehorizons-autism.com

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

116 Pentonville Road

London NI 9JB United Kingdom

44-(0)20-7833-2307

www.jkp.com

Pro-Ed Inc.

8700 Shoal Creek Blvd.

Austin, Texas 78757-6897

www.proedinc.com

Has books on Lovaas, ABA, and discreet trial methods.

Sites Run by People with High-Functioning Autism or Asperger' Syndome

www.autismtoday.com

Karen Simmons

info@autismtoday.com

A good site for parents to get information and to communicate with other parents.

Grasp — the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership

125 East 15th Street

New York, NY 10003

645-242-4003

info@grasp.org

www.grasp.org

Contains lots of links to other sites, run by people with autism or Asperger'.

www.neurodiversity.com

Web site with lots of information run by Kathleen Seidel.

In her profile she writes, «We've recognized the characteristics of autism in both sides of our family and no longer regard autism as an aberration, but regard ourselves and our loved ones as a remarkable tribe.»

www.WrongPlanet.net

A great Web site with lots of links made by Alexander Plank, a student who has created an online community.

www.aspennj.org contains an extensive list of state support groups and has information on bullying and teasing.

I would like to conclude this list of sources with a warning. There is no magic cure for autism and parents must be cautious to avoid being misled by extravagant claims by people who are promoting their brand of therapy. Treatments that are effective should work with reasonable amounts of effort. A treatment program that works for one child may be useless for another. Treatments and educational programs that are effective can be implemented without spending huge sums of money. Dedicated parents and good teachers have made their own effective programs after reading different books. They did not have to have expensive training. A parent should follow his or her own good instincts. Try different programs or methods and keep the things that work and eliminate the things that do not work. Combining several different approaches is often effective.