http://virginiahughes.com/2009/09/13/family-ties-compel-some-scientists-to-tackle-autism/ Science Writer Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:18:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://virginiahughes.com/2009/09/13/family-ties-compel-some-scientists-to-tackle-autism/#comment-1484 CATEA's Blog Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:46:31 +0000 http://virginiahughes.com/?p=1609#comment-1484 [...] VirginiaHughes.com – September 13, 2009 . . .Gregory Abowd, who develops video-capturing technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, first realized he could apply his work to autism in 2002, when he was reviewing family videos. Abowd’s 5-year-old son, Aidan, had been diagnosed with autism three years earlier. Watching footage of Aidan as a toddler, Abowd was shocked to see dramatic behavioral changes in his son between 18 and 26 months of age, including physical posturing and a discomfort around his mother. . . .Over the following few years, Abowd and his students began developing ’smart’ video technology that automatically records important events during therapy sessions by monitoring the therapist’s use of a pen and paper outfitted with electronic sensors. Since then, he has created similar systems to help teachers and parents identify early signs of developmental delay. Having children with autism “gives me the desire to work on the problem, but also an understanding of how it impacts people like me,” Abowd says. “There’s nothing that beats having passion about something. After Austin (above) and his brother were diagnosed with autism, their mother Beth Malow, an expert in sleep disorders, began studying the link between autism and sleep. More on this article [...] [...] VirginiaHughes.com – September 13, 2009 . . .Gregory Abowd, who develops video-capturing technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, first realized he could apply his work to autism in 2002, when he was reviewing family videos. Abowd’s 5-year-old son, Aidan, had been diagnosed with autism three years earlier. Watching footage of Aidan as a toddler, Abowd was shocked to see dramatic behavioral changes in his son between 18 and 26 months of age, including physical posturing and a discomfort around his mother. . . .Over the following few years, Abowd and his students began developing ’smart’ video technology that automatically records important events during therapy sessions by monitoring the therapist’s use of a pen and paper outfitted with electronic sensors. Since then, he has created similar systems to help teachers and parents identify early signs of developmental delay. Having children with autism “gives me the desire to work on the problem, but also an understanding of how it impacts people like me,” Abowd says. “There’s nothing that beats having passion about something. After Austin (above) and his brother were diagnosed with autism, their mother Beth Malow, an expert in sleep disorders, began studying the link between autism and sleep. More on this article [...]

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