Morning News: Rare Baby Gorilla Born in D.C.

Shannon LC Cate — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Upstaging the President-Elect and his little inauguration is an as-yet unnamed, as-yet, unsexed baby gorilla. Born to experienced mother, Mandara, the baby is a welcome arrival to a population of animals considered critically endangered. You know what I found odd about this story, though? Apparently, the zookeepers usually feed Mandara birth control pills. I can see that you wouldn't want babies born too close together, but her next one up is seven. Odd to me that they would use birth control for an endangered animal. But what do I know? Maybe gorillas nurse until they're six. Anyone out there a primatologist? More photos and a link to a video of mother and baby after the cut.

For that matter anyone out there a conflict-free doctor? It seems those are so few and far between that the FDA can't be bothered to sort them out when it comes to drug trials. Almost half of doctors participating in drug trials don't fill out paperwork indicating their conflicts of interest--their investments, for example, in the companies whose products they are supposed to be testing--and as for the doctors who do fill out the paperwork, the folks responsible for collecting the data don't bother to read about said conflicts.

That doesn't reassure me one bit about ethical quandries like the increasing "hope" for a prenatal autism screen. According to researchers, mothers who bear children later diagnosed with spectrum disorders tend to have higher than normal amounts of testosterone in their amniotic fluid. This leads them to think a screen for such disorders could be around the corner, as might in-utero treatment. If it's a matter of testosterone causing spectrum disorders, they might just block the hormone. Of course this is all completely dodgy guesswork at the moment. And autism advocates are concerned that selective pregnancy terminations could wipe out autism and its cousin, the autistic savant, which, as those of us who admire Albert Einstein can agree, can be pretty darned useful. As can folks with lesser gifts than Einstein's. Dare I say I'd rather have autism in the word than not have it, if it means I get to have the various autistic people in my life whom I love and enjoy--and who bring the human population a unique perspective on the meaning of our existence. Of course, the screen wouldn't only lead to terminations. And I'm sure parents of children with spectrum disorders would have been glad to have more knowledge, earlier on, so they could prepare the proper treatment and therapy for their children. And therein lies the ethical quandry.

Finally, as promised, Here's more of that baby gorilla. And here's the page with the video.Is it just me, or is this whole baby gorilla thing really awesome? I don't know about you, but I needed a bit of happy news.

images: washingtonpost.com and nationalzoo.si.edu

Girls with Autistic Spectrum Disorders Less Likely to be Diagnosed

Shannon LC Cate — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

A five-year old boy has an obsession with vacuum cleaners while his five-year old female playmate has an obsession with monkeys. Which kid gets spotted for Autism Spectrum Disorder testing?

According to some concerned ASD researchers, the girl might well be just as likely to have Asperger's Syndrome--a disorder at the mild end of the spectrum--as the boy, but her more socially typical interests mask it long enough for her to go undiagnosed into her teens or even adulthood.

Some researchers claim that girls have different symptoms entirely from boys--showing a higher interest in social interaction, for example, and more of a tendency to look to girls around them for clues about how to dress or act. Boys, these researchers say, are more aggressive and less inclined to work at showing (if not actually feeling) empathy.

Others, like Ami Klin, director of Yale's autism research group look at this mostly anecdotal data with skepticism, cautioning,

"It's a possibility, but I don't know anyone who has tested it and I can think of many exceptions to any rule you come up with about what narrow interests or other traits each gender has."

More plausible to many is the probability that behaviors that look abnormal in boys more closely follow social expectations for girls, masking girls' disorder for much longer. When a preschool or even older girl plays alone with one toy for hours at a time, she might be seen as shy or even well-behaved by comparison to a boy doing the same, since boys are often expected and encouraged to be more active or aggressive than girls.

Whatever the cause of missed diagnoses, it is perfectly clear that girls are suffering from the problem, as we come to realize that early intervention is key for helping children with spectrum disorders. As attention to the ASD gender gap increases, that very gap may narrow. Right now, boys are thought to outnumber girls with spectrum disorders 10-1. That statistic may prove to be more about recognition than actual fact.

Strollerderby : spectrum disorders

Morning News: Rare Baby Gorilla Born in D.C.

Girls with Autistic Spectrum Disorders Less Likely to be Diagnosed