In the news
News Archive
January 2009
Charity chief quits over autism row
January 2009
A senior executive of the world's largest autism charity has resigned in a dispute about whether vaccinations could be a cause of the developmental disorder that affects an estimated one in 100 children.
Richard Luscombe in Miami, The Observer, Sunday January 25th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/25/autism-mmr-vaccine
Government fails to ease care cost fears
January 2009
The green paper on reform of care and support for older and disabled people, due out in the spring, is expected to be very green - that is, it will set out a broad range of options but is unlikely to favour any particular model for change in the way care is funded.
David Brindle, The Guardian, Wednesday January 21st 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/21/long-term-care
Victim support
January 2009
The criminal justice system is learning how to deal more sensitively with people with learning difficulties and mental health problems.
Mark Gould, The Guardian, Wednesday January 21st 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/21/learning-disability-mental-health
Three jailed for gang rape that left girl disfigured
January 2009
Three men who filmed themselves gang-raping a 16-year-old girl before throwing caustic soda over her were jailed for between six and nine years.
Steve Bird, The Times, January 20th 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5548998.ece
Our research was not about prenatal screening for autism
January 2009
We merely aimed to understand what causes differences in autistic traits.
Simon Baron Cohen, The Guardian, Tuesday January 20th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/20/research-autism-health-response-comment
Government urged to boost funding for learning disability services
January 2009
Charities and welfare groups today welcomed the government's commitment to a three-year plan to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, but voiced doubts that it would be achievable without more funding and greater powers for local co-ordinating boards that will be charged with overseeing it.
David Brindle, The Guardian, Monday January 19th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/19/learning-disability-nhs
NHS starts inquiry into deaths of patients with learning difficulties
January 2009
An official investigation is to examine why people with serious learning difficulties have died while under NHS care, after alleged neglect led to at least six fatalities, ministers will reveal today.
Denis Campbell, Health Correspondent, The Guardian, Monday January 19th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/19/nhs-inquiry-learning-difficulties
Gang jailed for caustic soda rape of girl with learning difficulties
January 2009
Three men who raped a girl with learning difficulties before scarring her for life with caustic soda have been jailed.
The Telegraph, Monday January 19th 2009
Newton and Einstein may have been autistic. But is their genius an argument against a screening test?
January 2009
The prospect of a screening test on a pregnant woman predicting her child's autism is not far away, and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, leader of the Cambridge University research team that developed the test, has called for an ethical debate on its desirability.
Marcel Berlins, The Guardian, Wednesday January 14th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/14/autism-genetics-ethics
I don't want to be 'cured' of autism, thanks
January 2009
Discussion of prenatal testing hasn't included the people it plans to eliminate: society disables us more than autism ever could.
Anya Ustaszewski, The Guardian, Wednesday January 14th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/14/autism-health
Genius who wasted $1bn? My son Gary McKinnon was just looking for ET
January 2009
Mother defends hacker fighting extradition to America.
Laura Bannerman, The Times, Tuesday January 13th 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5505489.ece
An obsessive condition that fits in well with computing
January 2009
Comment on the Gary McKinnon article, Tuesday January 13th 2009.
Dr Mark Porter, The Times, commentary January 13th 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5505486.ece
Autism: equality's last frontier
January 2009
For Gary McKinnon, Asperger's has had a profound effect on his ability to fit in to society. When will we accept this disability?
Nadine Stavonina de Montagnac, The Guardian, Tuesday January 13th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/13/autism-health
New research brings autism screening closer to reality
January 2009
New research published today will bring prenatal testing for autism significantly closer, prompting experts to call for a national debate about the consequences of screening for the disorder in the womb and allowing women to terminate babies with the condition.
Sarah Boseley, Health Editor, The Guardian, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/12/autism-screening-health
Autism: A mother's story
January 2009
I've brought up autistic sons - and I would not take a prenatal test.
Charlotte Moore, The Guardian, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/12/prenatal-autism-test
Disorder linked to high levels of testosterone in womb
January 2009
Prenatal screening tests could follow ground-breaking research into 235 children.
Sarah Boseley, Health Editor, The Guardian, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/12/autism-prenatal-testosterone-womb
Long-running MMR case resumes today
January 2009
The long-running case against Dr Andrew Wakefield and his Royal Free colleagues Professors Simon Murch and John Walker-Smith, whose 1998 Lancet paper alleged links between autism and MMR vaccination, resumes at the General Medical Council this morning.
Sarah Boseley, Health Editor, The Guardian, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/12/mmr-autism-case
Toxic treatments for autistic children
January 2009
Worrying about antenatal testing is premature – there are dangerous procedures being performed on children now.
Michael Fitzpatrick, guardian.co.uk, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/12/medicalresearch-autism
If we screen out autism we run the risk of losing genius, too
January 2009
As the numbers of disorders identifiable by prenatal testing grows, the debate about how to handle them is intensifying.
Mangus Linklater, The Times, Monday January 12th 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_linklater/article5496799.ece
New research raises possibility of prenatal screening for autism
January 2009
Prenatal screening for autism moves a step closer to reality today as new research has found ways of potentially identifying the condition in unborn babies.
Murray Wardop, The Telegraph, Monday January 12th 2009
Patient with Down's syndrome starves in hospital
January 2009
There is institutional discrimination in the NHS against people with learning difficulties, says Mencap.
David Batty and agencies, guardian.co.uk, Friday January 9th 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/09/patient-starves-nhs
Peter Howson backs campaign to stop hacker's extradition
January 2009
Peter Howson, one of Britain's most celebrated artists, will complete a series of portraits of Gary McKinnon this month, to highlight the case of the UFO enthusiast who faces ten years in a US jail after hacking into the American Army's computer network, causing it to crash.
Mike Wade, Times Online, Monday January 5th 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5454618.ece
