Two Pound Ridge, NY parents have been arrested for keeping their 17- and 19-year-old sons, both of who suffer from autism, in "extremely unsanitary conditions." But parents Jean and James Yates say cops overreacted to an apparent "holding pen" they had built for their 17-year-old so he "doesn't roam around at night and hurt himself." James Yates told LoHud, "This is a soccer net so he wouldn't climb over it. He's not strapped in, and is happy as can be." more ›

Some of us are destined to toil in offices on a sublime late-summer morning, while others are called to take the day off and paddle around the island of Manhattan on oversized surfboards. Today over 150 people will participate in SEAPaddle NYC, an annual fundraiser to fight autism. Participants start on the Hudson River at Pier 40, paddle up past the George Washington Bridge, around Spuyten Duyvill creek, then all the way down the East River to the South Street Seaport. (It sounds fun, but we hope these guys are all caught up on their hepatitis vaccines.) more ›

A counselor at a residential treatment home in Bucks County, PA has been charged with felony neglect and involuntary manslaughter after leaving an autistic patient in a stuffy van for five hours, where he eventually died of hyperthermia. Stacey Strauss was already suspended from her job, but in court papers she denied being in charge of Nevins on the day of his death. more ›

A 20-year-old autistic man died of hyperthermia on Saturday after being left in a van for over five hours, where the temperature may have reached up to 130 degrees. Bryan Nevins was on a trip to the theme park Sesame Place with other residents from Woods Services, a residential treatment home in Middletown, Pa. Upon returning at 12:30 p.m., the driver dropped off the clients and parked the van with Nevins still inside. Nobody noticed Nevins was missing until a nurse looked for him to administer medication around 4 p.m., and he was found in the van. His aunt, Jeanne Greco, said, "How this could have happened, how do you leave...How do you forget someone like that? I don't understand it." more ›

The Manhattan millionaire mom accused of killing her 8-year-old autistic son is coming under scrutiny by prosecutors who claim that she may have faked the suicide part of a murder-suicide attempt gone awry. Gigi Jordan was found rambling unintelligibly in a swanky Peninsula hotel room with her son — dead of an overdose amidst an array of pills this past February. In a letter to the Manhattan Supreme Court, Assistant District Attorney Kerry O'Connell writes that "The defendant, with her background, had the ability and the expertise to succeed in overdosing herself." Jordan's attorney Gerald Shargel asserts that the DA's letter was "filled with half-truths and distortions," but prosecutors believe that former drug company executive may be trying to feign mental illness to get away with murder. more ›

Prosecutors say the pharmaceutical executive accused of killing her eight-year-old son in a botched murder-suicide in a Midtown hotel had been diagnosed with Munchausen by proxy syndrome—a form of child abuse in which parents induce real medical symptoms in their kids or make their kids appear to be sick. Before being accused of feeding her autistic son a deadly concoction of prescription medicines, Gigi Jordan allegedly brought Jude Michael Mirra from doctor to doctor, constituting a kind of "medical abuse" according to Assistant District Attorney Kerry O'Connell. "She was seeking unnecessary treatment of her child." more ›

Rapists, kiddie porno and plotting thieves all figure into socialite Gigi Jordan’s suicide note, but as far as officials are concerned, they’re all fabricated. The letter—found on her laptop after she allegedly fed her autistic son a fatal dose of prescription pills and attempted to kill herself—was revealed in court yesterday. Much of her paranoia focused on her ex-husband: "I feel his final revenge will be to kill [m]e and use [our son] in the sex trade," she wrote. According the defense the wild 20-page letter is evidence Jordan should be allowed out on bond to undergo psychiatric treatment at St. Vincent's. more ›

Students at a Staten Island school for autistic children are still upset about a weekend burglary that left them missing computers, video game consoles, a sock monkey, and a beloved pet hamster. The perp took the classroom pet—named Star—and the stuffed animal—named Skippy—as well as about $5,000 of electronics. Someone has already donated a new hamster to the Eden II School for Children with Autism, and police are investigating the break-in. Executive director Joanne Gerenser told the Daily News the perp is "really pathetic," noting: "When you're stealing games and toys, you're stealing from the kids." One of the students at the school reportedly told Gerenser: "I miss the sock puppet." more ›

The socialite who allegedly killed her autistic son in a botched murder suicide begged a judge to allow her to attend his funeral. An attorney representing Gigi Jordan argued that his client—who investigators say drugged 8-year-old Jude Michael Mirra in a posh Midtown hotel last month—would feel "immeasurable pain" if she wasn't allowed to attend the service. more ›

A Coney Island grandmother is facing criminal charges after an 11-year-old autistic boy who was left home alone perished in a fire yesterday. Investigators believe Melinda McLain was at the store when Tavon Turpin began playing with matches or a lighter in a closet of their 15th-floor apartment and set the fire that took his life. more ›

The mother accused of killing her 8-year-old son in a botched murder-suicide attempt in a Midtown hotel pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges today. Speaking in what was described as "a mousy voice," socialite and pharmaceutical executive Gigi Jordan made the plea via video from her bed in Elmhurst Hospital, where she has been held since she was discovered "babbling incoherently" beside the body of her child earlier this month. more ›

The Manhattan socialite accused of killing her son in a failed murder-suicide attempt had became increasingly detached as she tried to find a way to treat her 8-year-old boy's autism, friends said. "When she had Jude, she found herself a character in an Aristotelian tragedy, in that the baby was severely autistic," said Dr. Marcus Conant, a longtime friend of Gigi Jordan. "She felt she had to to fix his problem ... She went to clinics all over the country looking for a treatment, grasping at straws." more ›

Amazing. 34-year-old British artist, Stephen Wiltshire, who was diagnosed with autism at an early age, is currently taking residence at Pratt to do what he does best: draw. But not just draw; the artist is creating a detailed panorama of New York's skyline from memory, after only briefly visiting the city and taking it all in from a helicopter. He has done this around the world, 8 times in total, and says this is his finale. more ›

The surf was definitely not up on the city's waterways today, but that didn't stop a crowd of surfers from hanging ten in a paddle parade around Manhattan. The surreal sight of men and women standing on boards as they paddled up the East River was brought to you by Sea Paddle NYC, the second annual fundraiser for autism charities and the Surfers' Environmental Alliance. Razor Wire reports the 28 mile odyssey started at South Street Seaport at 9 a.m. this morning and finished in Battery Park City this afternoon. More photos here. more ›

A week after conservative radio host Michael Savage made controversial remarks suggesting a child with autism was really "a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out," advertisers and some radio stations are distancing themselves from his show. According to Newsday, "Radio Shack, Aflac and Sears say that their advertisements should not have appeared during Savage's show and will not for the foreseeable future," while Anheuser-Busch explained "it has never advertised on Savage's program." And Mississippi network of radio stations SuperTalk dropped the program, with its president explaining, "We're a conservative network. I just didn't see why a person with so much hatred had a place in our network." more ›

Last week conservative radio host Michael Savage blathered on air about every child with autism being “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out,” and today is still standing by his remarks, which were plentiful and included calling the disease “a fraud and a racket.” The NY Times noted that Savage's audience "ranks in size behind only those of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity," and you can bet all of those listeners--and then everyone else who hears about this--have opinions. more ›

New York University's Child Study Center is pulling the plug on a controversial ad campaign publicizing childhood mental health problems that was considered stigmatizing. The campaign was meant to raise awareness of conditions like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, autism, depression, and bulimia. more ›