Inspiration

Tuesday was an inspiring day for many reasons....not the least of which were the color choices of Malia and Sasha Obama. Simply chic and adorable, very Soft-inspirational. Enjoy.

Instructional Video Seeks To Teach Autistic Children Facial Expression

by Christopher Connallon
Soft Blog Contributor

In an article posted Sunday on the Guardian UK's world news feed writer Maria Cheng details an instructional DVD funded by the British government that aims to help autistic children recognize human facial expressions. The Transporters is an educational DVD program that uses human faces superimposed over vehicles like trains and trolleys to demonstrate the correlation between the vehicles trials and triumphs, and the associated human facial response.

Though the article claims that half the proceeds go to autism charities and research, while the product site promises a quarter of proceeds, the concept and product are interesting and worth noting.

Additionally, an autism themed human interest piece by Jane E. Brody was featured in the health section of the New York Times online today. It's an interesting read, and can be found here.

Logo-A-Go-Go

You may not have noticed this, but Soft has not yet decided on an official logo! I have been experimenting with different fonts and images for a while, but decided to hire a professional to come up with an image that goes with the aesthetic that has been created up to now--but also says something new. After many rounds and meetings, we have narrowed down our options to the following draft images. Please vote (ABOVE) for your favorite to help us decide on our official logo!

SI Focus Magazine Raffle

I just became a subscriber to SI Focus Magazine. Really, it is a gift I wish I could share with the world--all of those who experience or have children who experience SPD, and all of those who have no idea what I am talking about! But, I can't, so instead--one Friday a month I will be raffling off a free subscription.

Anyone who signs up for Sensory World--the social network for Sensory-Related Disorders, TODAY, Friday January 9, 2009--btw. 9am and 11:59pm--will be entered to win. Odds are pretty good!

Click here to explore the site, and if you want to sign up and enter to win!

by Christopher Connallon
Soft Blog Contributor

A story posted today by the Guardian UK outlines the results of a new study which links birth order and parental age with the appearance of autism. This study, unique from previous ones in the size of it's survey, uncovered clues to possible causal factors of autism in relation to an autistic child's parents age, and the time frame in which he or she is conceived, born and develops. Theories suggesting exposure to toxins as a contributing factor indicate environmental elements rather than genetics in the development of autism spectrum disorder.

"I think we're bombarded with all sorts of stuff. And we know from experiences such as thalidomide that there are specific times during development of specific risks with specific chemicals. The problem is there is just so much out there."

read the full story from Guardian UK here

I also came across an interesting New York Times OpEd co-written by University of Wisconsin-Madison epidimiologist Maureen Durkin (the Dr. who headed the above study). From June 2007, "A Spectrum of Disputes"

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