Autistic

Based on the novel by Nicolas Sparks, director Lasse Hallström's romantic drama "Dear John" follows the relationship between Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) as they communicate through love letters during seven years of military deployments. For John's scenes in the Middle East and Africa, livestock coordinator Dan Hydrick provided exotic background animals to give a sense of place. But for Savannah's scenes in the United States involving a young autistic character, Hydrick tackled an even more unusual challenge: teaching a young autistic actor, Braeden Reed, to ride a horse.

When Kim Rollins' son asked for a pair of scissors to take to school a few weeks ago, she was heartened that the fourth-grader, diagnosed with an autism-related disorder, was excited by a class project. No, Sage Rollins explained, he didn't need the scissors for a project. He wanted them so he could cut a window in the cardboard box his teacher sent him to sit in. Sage, 10, told her that his teacher at Ronald Reagan Elementary School, in the southwest Riverside County community of Wildomar, sent him into the box when she became upset with him. Before that, she forced him to sit in a darkened supply closet, according to Rollins.

An autistic man who disappeared a week ago from a Grantsburg camp for the disabled and who relies on medication after a kidney transplant was found alive in the woods, authorities said. Keith Kennedy, 25, of Shoreview, Minn., was weakened but safe. He was flown to the University of Minnesota hospital in the Twin Cities. Searchers had feared that Kennedy, who can speak only four words, might suffer a medical crisis without the anti-rejection drugs he has taken since his transplant in 1995.

Robots aren't known for their soft side. They build cars and defuse bombs; they don't, as a rule, make friends or deal with feelings. But a few groups of researchers around the world are working to build robots for an unusual purpose: Making emotional connections with autistic children who often struggle to interact with humans. There's something about machines that really seems to resonate with many kids with autism, says Maja Mataric, co-director of the Robotics Research Lab at USC. These children often have trouble reading human emotions and social cues - complexities they don't have to worry about when they're around a mechanical being.

At first glance, it might appear that Claire Danes and HBO are a little behind the curve with "Temple Grandin," a biopic about an early autistic advocate and educator. In the years since "Rain Man," autism has created something of a stock character in television and film. Indeed, when Danes was preparing for the role of Grandin, she had to look no further than her husband, Hugh Dancy, who recently starred in "Adam." But you can't be behind the curve when there is no curve, and there is no longer any curve on autism movies because Danes and the makers of "Temple Grandin" have blown it out of the water.

Animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin knew HBO was making a movie about her life. Plans had been in the works for years. But Claire Danes? She didn't know anything about the young actress who had been picked to play her. When the announcement was made, Grandin looked her up on the Internet. Her first thought: "Oooh. This little blond lady … she's going to be able to play me?" Not coincidentally, that was Danes' first reaction too, when director Mick Jackson approached her for the project.

I found Frank del Olmo's Dec. 23 commentary on the progress of his autistic son to be immensely uplifting ("Daring to Dream of Frankie's Future"). As a sister of an autistic brother, I know too well the struggles and challenges families face as a lifetime commitment. Positive stories such as these are not just educational but greatly appreciated. I wish that there were more community services available to help our autistic population. I would like to have more success stories. Thank you, Mr. Del Olmo, for sharing your patience and perseverance with your son. Lena Rivkin Studio City

A 7-year-old girl died after falling out of the window of her family's fifth-floor apartment in the Bronx, police said. Chelsea Maldonado was blind in one eye, autistic and used a wheelchair. Police told the New York Daily News that the lower half of the window had a child-protection guard and that it wasn't clear how she fell out. Neighbors heard the family screaming for help.

Lawrence Christon's article "Kim, the Savant Who Came to Hollywood," Jan. 8), while showing great knowledge of and sensitivity toward autistic people, also shows great ignorance about and insensitivity toward toastmasters. Toastmasters are members of the international, nonprofit Toastmasters International. The steps of our program include getting over nervousness, speaking with sincerity, varying one's voice, using body language, organizing thoughts, working with words, persuading people, speaking with credibility and inspiring people.

Sometimes the twins still talk about their older brother. "Where's Benjy?" they ask. His artwork still hangs on the wall of his bedroom, his books line the bookshelves. When their parents cry, the twins know it's about Benjy. As the 3-year-olds bounce on a trampoline in their Irvine living room, Maureen Graves flips through a photo album of Benjamin, the oldest of her three young sons. Benjamin, who died 15 months ago, was autistic. So are his two brothers. As the photos of Benjy in swim trunks give way to Benjy as Batman at Halloween, Graves shares the story that has enveloped her family for the last five years.

State law requires insurers to include coverage for autism in comprehensive healthcare policies. Now, lawmakers want to go a step further, requiring coverage of a particular autism treatment: applied behavioral analysis. Insurers are resisting. They don't question the effectiveness of the therapy; they just say it doesn't fit the definition of "medical" treatment. Their position reflects how crucial parts of the healthcare system are wedded to the status quo, regardless of what's best for patients.

As the father of a teenage son with autism, I have coped with many challenges: finding the right school for a boy who can't sit still and has trouble connecting with peers; managing medications to help tame his anxiety and other symptoms; learning to negotiate endless one-sided conversations about my son's two obsessions — animated movies and animals. But those demands have never annoyed me in the way The Question does. Rarely does a week pass without someone asking me: "So what do you think?

First came the footprint. Then a series of them. Then a boy's rain-soaked striped shirt laid out on a log. By Tuesday afternoon, a four-member search team, one of dozens scoping the thickly forested San Bernardino National Forest, had the boy — alive, though tired and hungry. "Thank you … you saved me," the boy said in a low voice. Joshua Robb, an autistic 8-year-old who had been missing for more than 24 hours after running away from his elementary school in Twin Peaks, was found in "pretty good shape" in a rugged ravine 1 1/2 miles from the school, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said.

If parents have a child with some form of autism, there is a 19% chance that their next child will have autism too, according to a new report. Experts said the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the most comprehensive of its kind and should be used to counsel families. "Parents are concerned — could this happen again?" said study leader Sally Ozonoff, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute in Sacramento. Although researchers have long known that autism runs in families, most previous estimates of the risk of recurrence range from 3% to 10%. Those estimates have been based on small numbers of families and an older, narrower definition of autism than the one used today.

Two of California's largest health insurers have agreed to pay for costly behavioral therapy for thousands of autistic children — services the companies have long resisted covering. Under pressure from regulators, Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross said they would pick up the initial cost of a treatment known as applied behavior analysis. Insurers, worried about rising demand for expensive services as the number of autism cases grows, have argued that the therapy is not a medical treatment but an educational or social service exempt from coverage.

Adapted from the bestselling children's novels by Megan McDonald, the new film "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" sees its precocious young heroine conquer the threat of a dull season out of school with the help of her fun-loving aunt and her mischievous little brother. But the movie, which opened in theaters Friday, also represents the first big job for the Sherman Oaks-based nonprofit Exceptional Minds. The organization that completed the end title sequence for "Judy Moody" comprises a group of autistic young adults who are gifted in animation, graphic design, visual effects and editing.

"Rain Man" producer Mark Johnson's April 16 letter misses the point. The issue is not how many charity premieres he and his cast attended, but how honestly the film deals with autism. An extremely small percentage of autistic patients have the ingeniousness found in Dustin Hoffman's character. The "Rain Man" portrayal is not helpful and only further confuses the public about this disease. I would have never thought that a delicate subject such as autism could be treated in such a tactless and campy manner.

I will never know if I was born autistic. Many of my age, 42, were born when little was known about it. A pair of dedicated parents, both teachers, and two older brothers made every effort to help me join the mainstream. Thousands more near-autistics occupy the extreme of a human spectrum. Autism, or any degree of it, is not hopeless. We deserve treatment as lovable humans, not reprogrammable robots. We may not know how to express our feelings, but that doesn't mean that we don't have them.

By the time summer school starts in early July, Caleb will probably walk into class with a golden retriever at his side. Caleb Ciriacks is a 7-year-old severely autistic boy who for the most part doesn't speak. He shrieks and paces when he gets anxious, and on occasion he pinches and scratches others. Eddy is Caleb's service dog, tethered to the boy by a red strap. The dog keeps Caleb from running off into crowds or darting into traffic, and he knows to intervene when the boy starts to feel anxious.

Children with autism have slightly bigger brains than children without autism by age 2, research has shown. And a new study has found that, though the enlargement continues, the increased growth does not.  Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found in 2005 that 2-year-olds with autism had brains that were 5% to 10% larger than children without the neurological condition, but didn’t know if the autistic children’s...