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By FRANK URQUHART

Scottish scientists have paved the way for potential new treatments for autism after discovering a link between the condition and abnormalities in a gene important for learning and memory.

The link was established by researchers at Aberdeen University following a study of four children with severe autism in the North-east of Scotland. They discovered that the children each had a rare re-arrangement of chromosomes that had disrupted a gene known as EIF4E.

A spokesman for Aberdeen University said: "The resulting imbalance makes the brain more prone to the repetitive thought processes seen in autism.

"The detection of a link between the gene and autism opens up a potential new target for treatment in the future."

The findings appear in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

Dr. Edward (Ted) Carr Will be Missed....

On June 20^th, 2009, I learned that my dear friend

and colleague Dr. Edward (Ted) Carr

was killed in a car accident.

By Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA-D

CARD Founder and Executive Director

Ted was the leading professor in the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Over the past 33 years, he published numerous papers on issues related to applied behavior analysis and positive behavior support in the home, classroom, workplace, and community. Ted lectured extensively, giving workshops in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He served on the editorial boards of 17 journals and was also internationally recognized for his research on new treatments in autism and related disorders. His work with self-injurious and other problem behaviors was instrumental in the development of functional behavior assessment, which then led to the development of Positive Behavior Support, an approach for dealing with serious behavior challenges now mandated by the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Ted was Past President of the Association for Positive Behavior Support. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Ted was also recognized as Teacher of the Year in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook for two consecutive years, from 2003 – 2004 and 2005 – 2006.

Moreover, Ted was a widely recognized author of the best-selling book, Communication-Based Intervention for Problem Behavior. He received numerous awards, including the Applied Research Award in Behavior Analysis (American Psychological Association, 2001) and the Distinguished Research Award for Career Achievement (ARC, 1999).

I honestly cannot find the words to express the sadness I feel over the loss of such an amazing human being. Ted and I worked on several papers together and talked often. We were even scheduled to talk this week to discuss new research projects. He was full of integrity, full of energy and full of life. He was a dear friend who always made me laugh. He was truly incredible; a brilliant man with a kind heart. We chatted about life often and I always felt his support. At a professional level, he made enormous contributions to the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and was one of few behavior analysts who understood and accepted the medical aspects of autism. His death is a great loss to our community. He will be deeply missed and I pray for his family to find peace.

Read more about Dr. Carr...