Archive February - Autism Parents Club

ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2010) ? A study of the development of autism in infants, comparing the behavior of the siblings of children diagnosed with autism to that of babies developing normally, has found that the nascent symptoms of the condition — a lack of shared eye contact, smiling and communicative babbling — are not present at 6 months, but emerge gradually and only become apparent during the latter part of the first year of life.

Researchers conducted the study over five years by painstakingly counting each instance of smiling, babbling and eye contact during examinations until the children were 3. They found that by 12 months the two groups’ development had diverged significantly. Intentional social and communicative behavior among children developing normally increased while among infants later diagnosed with autism it decreased dramatically.

The study is published online early and will appear in the March issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

“This study provides an answer to when the first behavioral signs of autism become evident,” said Sally Ozonoff, the study’s lead author, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a researcher with the UC Davis MIND Institute. “Contrary to what we used to think, the behavioral signs of autism appear later in the first year of life for most children with autism. Most babies are born looking relatively normal in terms of their social abilities but then, through a process of gradual decline in social responsiveness, the symptoms of autism begin to emerge between 6 and 12 months of age.”

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder of deficits in social skills and communication, as well as in repetitive and restricted behaviors, with onset occurring prior to age 3. Abnormal brain development, probably beginning prenatally, is known to be fundamental to the behaviors that characterize autism. Current estimates place the condition’s incidence at between 1 in 100 and 1 in 110 children in the United States.

Children with a sibling already diagnosed with autism are known to be among those at greatest risk of developing the disorder. The current study included 25 high-risk children who met criteria for autism at 3 years of age, matched with 25 low risk peers who were developing normally. It was conducted at the MIND Institute and the University of California, Los Angeles. The sole inclusion criterion for the high-risk group was having a sibling with autism; low-risk participants had to have been born after 36 weeks gestation and have no autistic family members.

The children’s development was evaluated at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months of age using a series of widely implemented diagnostic tools, including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Examiners were not told which babies were at high- or low-risk when evaluating the participants’ development.

The researchers found that there were few discernable differences between the two groups at the outset but that after six months, 86 percent of the infants who developed autism showed declines in social communication that were outside the range for typical development. “After six months,” the study found, “the autism spectrum disorder group showed a rapid decline in eye contact, social smiling, and examiner-rated social responsiveness.” Group differences were significant by 12 months in eye contact and social smiling and all other measures by 18 months, the study found.

The study is notable because of the accuracy and precision of its prospective methodology, assiduously recording exact numbers of social and communicative behaviors during lab visits. Previously, researchers have constructed evidence of autism’s earliest manifestations by interviewing parents about when they believed their children’s symptoms first arose or by reviewing home movies for clues to when children begin exhibiting symptoms of autism.

“Until now, research has relied on asking parents when their child reached developmental milestones. But that can be really difficult to recall, and there is a phenomenon called the “telescoping effect” where people usually say that they remember something happening more recently than when it occurred,” Ozonoff said. In addition parents frequently will turn off the video camera when their children are behaving poorly — precisely when autistic symptoms may appear.

Ozonoff said that the study provides a deeper understanding for parents, caregivers and health-care providers and for future research of the developmental trajectory for very young children with autism.

“We need to be careful about how we screen, and we need to know what we’re looking for,” Ozonoff said. “This study tells us that screening for autism early in the first year of life probably is not going to be successful because there isn’t going to be anything to notice. It also tells us that we should be focusing on social behaviors in our screening, since that is what declines early in life.”

“This study also found that the loss of skills continues into the second and third year of life,” she said. “So it may not be adequate, as the American Academy of Pediatrics currently suggests, that providers screen for autism twice before the end of the second year. Autism has a slow, gradual onset of symptoms, rather than a very abrupt loss of skills.”

“Screening may need to continue into the third year of life, since symptom emergence takes place over a long time. If a child starts exhibiting a declining trajectory and a sustained reduction in social communication we want to refer them into therapy, especially if they are at risk,” Ozonoff said, “even before we might be able to make a definitive diagnosis.”

Ozonoff said that the study does not address the etiology of autism or causality. In this study, the infants who participated were at high risk due to having strong family histories of autism, suggesting that genetics play a major role in the later autism diagnoses, despite the fact that their symptoms were not apparent at birth.

Other study authors include Ana-Maria Iosif, Fam Baguio, Ian C. Cook, Monique Moore Hill, Mary Beth Steinfeld, Sally J. Rogers, Sarabjit Sangha and Gregory S. Young of UC Davis and Ted Hutman, Agata Rozga and Marian Sigman of the University of California, Los Angeles.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health.

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Adapted from materials provided by University of California – Davis – Health System.

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ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2010) ? Every moment of every day the brain is forced to process thousands of separate odorants from the world around us.

Through a new study of honeybees, scientists at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute have discovered the brain has an advanced ability to isolate specific odours and recollect smells.

“There’s a lot of information coming into the brain whenever a scent is detected and it would be difficult to process it all,” lead researcher Dr Judith Reinhard said.

“We’ve found that honeybees pick only a handful of so-called ‘key odorants’ out of every complex aroma that they really learn. They may remember just two or three odorants from a couple of hundred, the rest are ignored.”

Colleague Dr Charles Claudianos said if you had to learn the hundreds of compounds your brain would be overwhelmed with information.

“By choosing the key odorants, you can function more effectively without being swamped,” Dr Charles Claudianos said.

The research, published in the latest edition of PLoS ONE, has also allowed the scientists to explore how the learning of odours affects molecules that have been linked to autism and schizophrenia. During their studies, the researchers found that the honeybee brain responds to sensory experience.

“The honeybee brain — like the human brain — adapts to its sensory environment by adjusting the expression of these molecules,” Dr Claudianos said.

Dr Reinhard said the findings could also have an enormous impact on Australian farming. Using the honeybee’s capacity to extract key odorants, scientists will be able to isolate these odorants from the complex aromas of crops. They can then use the key odorants to train honeybees to pollinate specific crops.

“Farmers often have problems making honeybees focus on the crop — the bees go astray and go to nearby forests or national parks and the farmers don’t get a good yield,” Dr Reinhard said.

“If we know the key odorants of the almond aroma, for example, we could use these to train the honeybees in the hive to focus only on pollinating almonds. Then you’d have a much higher likelihood the honeybees would stay in the crop and pollinate it.”

Now the focus for the QBI scientists will be whether humans use the same technique of learning specific key odorants so our brain is not overwhelmed by too much sensory information — early research suggests we do.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by University of Queensland.

Journal Reference:

Reinhard et al. Honeybees Learn Odour Mixtures via a Selection of Key Odorants. PLoS ONE, 2010; 5 (2): e9110 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009110

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ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) ? A genetic link between schizophrenia and autism is enabling researchers to study the effectiveness of drugs used to treat both illnesses.

Dr Steve Clapcote from the University of Leeds’s Faculty of Biological Sciences will be analysing behaviour displayed by mice with a genetic mutation linked to schizophrenia and autism and seeing how antipsychotic drugs affect their behavioural abnormalities.

“We don’t fully understand how the drugs used to treat schizophrenia and some symptoms of autism work,” explained Dr Clapcote. “If we can show they can affect mice with this particular genetic mutation, then it gives us a clue to better understand the illnesses and opens up the possibility of more targeted treatments with fewer side effects.”

A number of autism and schizophrenia patients have been found to have mutations of neurexin 1a, a protein which helps to form and maintain nerve signals in the brain. Scientists in the USA recently discovered that mice with the same genetic mutation display behavioural abnormalities which are consistent with schizophrenia and autism.

Dr Clapcote is planning to build on these initial findings to provide further evidence for a genetic link to the conditions. He also aims to assess the impact on the mice of antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and some symptoms of autism.

“The genetic studies so far are suggesting a common cause for both schizophrenia and autism, which is something our studies will help to establish,” said Dr Clapcote. “However, these illnesses are complex, involving not only inheritance, but other factors such as environment and experience. It’s possible the genetic mutation might create a predisposition, making people more likely to develop autism or schizophrenia.”

The mice will be run through a series of tests designed to assess behaviour related to autism and/or schizophrenia: hyperactivity, sensitivity to psychostimulants, attention levels, memory, social interaction and learning. Dr Clapcote will also look at verbal communication — using bat recorders to ‘listen’ to the interaction between the mice which takes place beyond the range of human hearing.

“Behaviour is the final output of the nervous system and the means by which autism and schizophrenia are diagnosed, which is why our research focuses on behaviour,” said Dr Clapcote. “Schizophrenia and autism patients both display lower levels of verbal communication and we hope to see this mirrored in the mice we’re working with.”

The two-year project has been funded by a ?250,000 grant from the Medical Research Council. If the research proves successful, Dr Clapcote plans to investigate a proposed link between neurexin 1a and nicotine dependence, as a possible explanation for why a large percentage of schizophrenia patients become dependent on tobacco.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by University of Leeds.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) ? When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

The researchers also report that a drug affecting a specific type of nerve function reduced the obsessive behavior in the animals, suggesting a potential way to treat repetitive behaviors in humans. The findings appear in the Feb. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

“Clinically, this study highlights the possibility that some autism-related behaviors can be reversed through drugs targeting specific brain function abnormalities,” said Dr. Craig Powell, assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at UT Southwestern and the study’s senior author.

“Understanding one abnormality that can lead to increased, repetitive motor behavior is not only important for autism, but also potentially for obsessive-compulsive disorder, compulsive hair-pulling and other disorders of excessive activity,” Dr. Powell said.

The study focused on a protein called neuroligin 1, or NL1, which helps physically hold nerve cells together so they can communicate better with one another. Mutations in proteins related to NL1 have been implicated in previous investigations to human autism and mental retardation.

In the latest study, the UT Southwestern researchers studied mice that had been genetically engineered to lack NL1. These mice were normal in many ways, but they groomed themselves excessively and were not as good at learning a maze as normal mice.

The altered mice showed weakened nerve signaling in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory, and in another brain region involved in grooming.

When treated with a drug called D-cycloserine, which activates nerves in those brain regions, the excessive grooming lessened.

“Our goal was not to make an ‘autistic mouse’ but rather to understand better how autism-related genes might alter brain function that leads to behavioral abnormalities,” Dr. Powell said. “By studying mice that lack neuroligin-1, we hope to understand better how this molecule affects communication between neurons and how that altered communication affects behavior.

“This study is important because we were able to link the altered neuronal communication to behavioral effects using a specific drug to ‘treat’ the behavioral abnormality.”

Future studies, Dr. Powell said, will focus on understanding in more detail how NL1 operates in nerve cells.

Other UT Southwestern researchers participating in the study were co-lead authors Jacqueline Blundell, former postdoctoral researcher in neurology, and Dr. Cory Blaiss, postdoctoral researcher in neurology; Felipe Espinosa, senior research scientist in neurology; and graduate student Christopher Walz.

Researchers at Stanford University also contributed to this work.

The research was supported by Autism Speaks, the Simons Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, BRAINS for Autism, and the Hartwell Foundation.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Journal Reference:

Jacqueline Blundell, Cory A. Blaiss, Mark R. Etherton, Felipe Espinosa, Katsuhiko Tabuchi, Christopher Walz, Marc F. Bolliger, Thomas C. S?dhof, and Craig M. Powell. Neuroligin-1 Deletion Results in Impaired Spatial Memory and Increased Repetitive Behavior. Journal of Neuroscience, 2010; 30 (6): 2115 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4517-09.2010

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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The Autism News | English

Seth Rollins, 29, of Lakeland, a former American Idol contestant, sings and plays guitar with his church group during a worship service at TLC Family Church in Lakeland Sunday morning. February 14, 2010. (photo by Michael Wilson | The Ledger)

By Rachel Pleasant | The Ledger

Seth Rollins’ voice will not go unheard.

The 29-year-old Lakeland resident was eliminated from Season 9 of “American Idol” last week after making it to the second round of competition dubbed Hollywood Week. The competition continues without him tonight and Wednesday on Fox.

While he has suffered what he admits was a “heartbreaking” disappointment, Rollins says he is only getting started.

“There’s a reason I’m not there. I don’t have any regrets,” said Rollins, an insurance adjuster for Progressive.

While “American Idol” is the most recent – and most high-profile – chapter of Rollins’ singing career, it is hardly the beginning.

Rollins, a Maryland native who said his family is full of talented singers, discovered his voice when he was 16 on a trip to Kings Dominion, a theme park in Virginia.

“They had a karaoke booth. It was one of those things where you record a song and it’s like $5. I sang ‘Water Runs Dry’ by Boyz II Men,” Rollins said.

When his family heard the recording, they were blown away. Rollins’ talent was discovered.

The next several years were filled with love and change. He met his wife, Stephanie, – who won $50,000 on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in 2008 – during a mission trip to Mexico in 1999. In 2001, he moved to Lakeland to marry Stephanie and that same year they joined Lakeland’s Tree of Life Church. Soon they had their son, Samuel, 5, whose autism was frequently referenced during “American Idol,” and 15 months ago the couple had their daughter, Faith.

Rollins took the helm of his church’s youth worship singing team in 2001. Four years later he began leading the church’s adult group.

“(He’s) very versatile and diverse. He can put forth a hymn as quickly as he can put together a more contemporary style of worship,” said the executive pastor, Loretta Lawrence-Harmon, who helps oversee the worship and music ministry.

Church was his only singing outlet until he decided to make a go at “American Idol.”

His first “American Idol” try was during Season 6 auditions in Birmingham, Ala. To jog your memory, it was during Season 6 that Sanjaya Malakar’s hair received so much attention and Jordin Sparks was named the winner.

Rollins, meanwhile, didn’t make it past the first round of tryouts in Birmingham.

As Rollins explained, despite TV editing that makes it appear as if tens of thousands of contestants are all seen and judged in the matter of a couple of days, in reality it is a process that takes weeks.

It begins when contestants get only a few seconds to sing before about a dozen production assistants. Successful contestants go on to perform in front of producers and then the executive producer. If they’re still in the running, they get their shot in front of the show’s big-name judges, including the infamously critical Simon Cowell.

Undaunted by his lack of progress during Season 6, Rollins headed to Charleston, S.C., for Season 7 auditions. If you’ll remember, David Cook came out the winner that year.

Charleston proved somewhat more kind for Rollins, in part because of what he had learned from the previous season.

“People with gimmicks were the ones getting pulled aside,” said Stephanie Rollins.

So, for Season 7, Rollins and his brother wore T-shirts featuring son Samuel proclaiming, “Please pick my Daddy. My Daddy can sing.”

The ploy worked and Rollins made it to the producer round, though that was the end of the line for him.

He didn’t audition during Season 8 because of his wife’s impending delivery of Faith.

“I was kind of over it, too,” he added.

After that year off, however, Rollins knew he had to try again in Season 9, in part because it would be his last chance. American Idol hopefuls must be 28 or younger, meaning this was Rollins’ final opportunity. He turned 29 during the process of auditioning.

He headed to Orlando, along with his family and a big sign with a picture of his kids that said, “Don’t make our daddy cry.”

Assistant producer round: check. Producer round: made it. Executive producer round: yep. And so, five weeks after his initial Orlando tryout, he was finally singing in front of Randy Jackson, Kara Dioguardi, Cowell and guest judge Kristin Chenoweth. Out of those thousands who had initially tried in Orlando, he said, it came down to about 70 who made it to the TV judges.

He sang “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

They loved it.

“Kristin said she liked how I rearranged the song. Kara was nice, too. Simon said it was boring but they didn’t show that on TV. They all gave me a yes,” Rollins said.

He was in.

“It was awesome. It was the beginning of something new in my life,” he said.

That was Aug. 28. Hollywood Week didn’t start until Jan. 10, giving Rollins and his family several nerve-wracking months during which they had to keep the secret from their friends and loved ones.

He took voice lessons, the first in his life, and counted the days.

His first day of singing before the judges in Hollywood, this time without Chenoweth but with new cast member Ellen DeGeneres, was a Tuesday. In the solo round he sang, “A Song for You” by Donny Hathaway.

“Ellen said I sang good, but I didn’t do a lot on stage,” Rollins said. Stephanie is quick to add that is to be expected.

“He’s a worship leader. The goal is not for people to look at him but for people to look at God,” she said.

Overall, Rollins said, his reviews during the solo round weren’t great, but they were enough to send him on to the group performance round.

He and three other men, including Michael “Big Mike” Lynch, whom Rollins had first met in Orlando, formed a group. Two of the members made it through, including Lynch and Tim Urban. Rollins did not.

The elimination was a hard blow for Rollins, obvious by his reddening, watery eyes as he talks about the outcome. But that’s not to say the auditions weren’t worth it.

“Confidence,” Rollins replied when asked what he’ll take away from the experience. “Having been cut twice before, I was one of 181 to make it to Hollywood and one of 96 to make it to the group round.”

Rollins is now working on his first single, “Speak a Word,” a song he describes as “inspirational.” It’s being recorded with the help of a cousin, one of those musically talented family members. He’s also writing an album that he hopes will be finished by the end of the year. Also, he’s planning a concert at his church for March that will benefit an autism organization. More information can be found at sethrollinsmusic.com.

Watching Rollins practice with five other members of his church’s worship team, it is hard not to wonder if this disappointment was profound enough to shake his faith.

The answer, he said without wavering, is no.

“The journey is what’s important. The journey is what matters. I did everything I could to keep going,” he said.

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20100215/NEWS/2155049/1326?Title=Seth-Rollins-Was-Cut-on-American-Idol-But-Keep-Listening

Archives: Seth Rollins audition – American Idol (Season 9)

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By BOB LEWIS, The Associated Press Political Writer

RICHMOND, Va.- Legislation that would compel insurers to pay for expensive but effective treatments for children with autism won overwhelming passage Tuesday in the state Senate despite opposition from mighty insurance and business lobbies.

On a 27-13 vote, Sen. Janet Howell’s bill advances to the House, where a companion measure died on a tie vote in a subcommittee two weeks earlier.

The bill would mandate coverage by certain employee health plans for applied behavior analysis, the treatment that psychiatric and medical officials say is the most effective and promising for children with autism. Insurers say ABA is an educational service, not a medical one that should be covered.

Howell’s bill restricts coverage to children from age 2 years through 6, and limits annual insurance outlays for ABA to $35,000. Because of the record $4 billion gap facing the next state budget, it exempts state employees from required coverage until 2015.

“This bill is so limited, and it breaks my heart it’s so limited,” Howell said. “But it’s a small step, a baby step, for children with autism spectrum disorder and their families.”

Autism Speaks, a national advocacy group for families of autistic children, contends that mandated ABA coverage in Virginia would increase the cost of health insurance premiums per insured by $10 to $25 a year, less than a 1 percent increase.

A 2008 study by the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission said 7,509 children 20 or younger with autism received special education and related services in public schools as of December 2007. That’s a little more than half of the nearly 14,000 estimated cases of autism in Virginia.

Opponents, including Virginia’s health insurers, the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, contend mandated coverage would mean higher premiums, forcing employers to either drop insurance plans, lay off workers or even close.

While the bill faces tougher challenges in the strongly Republican House than the Democratic-controlled Senate, Tuesday’s victory was significant for supporters in a General Assembly known for its hostility toward spending mandates on businesses.

By only a 19-21 vote, the bill survived a floor amendment from Sen. Frank Wagner that would have marked the bill for death by adding state employees to those entitled to mandated ABA coverage. That would have required new spending in a budget already facing draconian cuts to public schools, health care and other traditional priorities.

“If we think it’s good enough for our private insurance plans in Virginia, then it ought to be good enough for our state employees,” Wagner said, saying businesses were struggling no less than state government.

Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico, whose suburban Richmond district is rich with state employees, agreed.

“I happen to have experience in my family with autism. I am very familiar with the impact that autism has on families, but to say that we cannot cover state employees because of the fiscal constraints is almost ridiculous,” said Stosch, an accountant and a member of the budget-writing Finance Committee.

Howell appealed to colleagues to reject the amendment and “not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

During the debate, Lavada Robertson of Franklin County and Amy Trail of Vinton, mothers of autistic children, watched from the Senate gallery and wept silently. While Howell’s bill comes too late to help their children, “I don’t want any other moms to have to go through what we have,” Trail said.

On the Web: Legislative Information System: Bill SB464

Source: http://wjz.com/wireapnewsva/Mandated.insurance.coverage.2.1498566.html

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By Kathleen Moore | The Boston Globe

If a quiet car ride to school sounds like bliss, take note: Sometimes, your child’s wandering eyes and backseat natterings can teach you a valuable lesson. Such was the case with young Zach Levine.

A little over three years ago, the then-fourth grade student became fixated with the New England Center for Children, a private school for autistic children that he passed each day on his way to school in Southborough. Who were these children, he asked, and why didn’t they go to his public school in the same town? What did autism mean, and what could he do to help them?

Ian Levine did his best to answer his son’s questions, but at a certain point he’d exhausted his parental wisdom.

“So I got a little more information on the school, and I found out they were holding a 5K fund-raising race,” said Ian. “Zach asked if he could run.”

Zach Levine ran that race and then some. For the next two years he spearheaded a fund-raising team, Kids Helping Kids, that attracted dozens of runners, including classmates, family friends, local business owners, and his younger brother, William.

His efforts raised almost $11,000 for the school’s Michael S. Dukakis Aquatics Center, which provides therapeutic exercise for its students. They also earned Zach a place of honor at the New England Center’s gala in December, when he received one of three annual awards for exemplary fund-raising.

Along the way, Zach found out every thing he could about autism.

“We have other teams that have raised that kind of money, but generally they are corporate teams or friends and families of children with autism,” said Joseph Ziska, the center’s director of donor relations. “It is truly unique for a 10-year-old to have taken such an interest in our work. It really touched us.”

That feeling goes both ways.

“I used to wonder why kids with autism didn’t play sports, but then I learned that some things in their brains don’t function like mine. They need help, but they are just like me. They don’t think anything different from me,” said Zach, now 13. “I like to help people who may need some help. To help someone else is the best feeling in the world.”

His father and mother, Keri Levine, take a deep breath when they hear Zach speak. These are not idle musings, they say, and they are nothing new. The couple doesn’t want their son to become self-conscious, but neither, too, do they want him to change.

“We’re not sure where it all came from, but he’s been like this since he was a baby. He’s always cared about other people,” Ian said. “We’ve kind of stood back and let him show us the way.”

When he was in first grade, Zach’s attention was drawn to a boy who had a learning disability and used a wheelchair. His classmates froze. Zach melted.

“No one really talked to him, and I thought it would be nice to talk to someone who didn’t have someone to talk to,” Zach said, matter-of-factly.

“It was a little awkward but I would just say stuff that was on my mind – about sports teams, the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Eagles – and sometimes he would make a noise or smile, which meant he enjoyed what I was saying.”

A few years later, he met another classmate whose learning disabilities segregated her from the mainstream.

Last year, Zach made a point of eating lunch with her a few times in the school cafeteria. This year, he visits with her during one of his free periods every Friday.

“It’s just one study period a week, and I figure if I can help someone who doesn’t have the same abilities as me, it’s worth it,” he said. “If the other kids ask me why, I just say it’s because I’m friendly, and I think it’s nice to help others out.”

As he said this, Zach started to get antsy. He wasn’t ready to field heady questions about his character, and he wasn’t not sure whether he was running late for basketball practice. Like any teenager, he has interests that run the gamut, from a fantasy football league he’s organized to the homework he’s yet to finish. His mother fielded the next question: Will Kids Helping Kids be running again on May 8, when the center holds its fourth annual 5K?

“When they called to see if he’d be running again, we wanted to make sure he really wanted to do it,” she said. “We baited him over dinner. We didn’t want him to do it for us or anyone else. He said he wanted to, so that’s the plan.”

At this, Zach perked up.

“I want to improve my time, ” he said. “I think I can do better this year.”

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/02/14/southborough_13_year_old_runs_to_help_local_school_for_autistic_children/

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