William H Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA  
Male

Specialties: Behavior Analysis, Learning Deficits, Severe Problem Behav, autism

The New England Center for Children
33 Turnpike Road
Southborough - MA
Jul 03, 2008 09:25AM in the Child Behavior Community
There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism. Many caregivers feel there is a correlation in the timing of the 2 year old vaccines and autism because that is the age at which the developmental impairments associated with autism become most apparent. As to mastrubation, "self-stimulatory" behavior is more common in persons with autism than typically devel...
Apr 29, 2008 10:20AM in the Pregnancy 21-34 Community
As this is a medical question, I suggest that you bring this question to an MD with expertise in development. There are some studies that have found association between asymmetrical ventricles and developmental delay but there are also studies that find that atypical cranial ultrasound results are a poor predictor of development at 12 and 18 months. At the v...
Apr 15, 2008 12:02PM in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome Expert Forum
Unfortunately, most children who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still not identified as having an ASD until they reach 6-8 years of age. However, we do know that children younger than one year of age can be diagnosed with an ASD. Maestro and colleagues have conducted several studies reviewing home videos of children's first b-day parties wherein...
Feb 27, 2008 09:55AM in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome Expert Forum
There are a number of social skills groups that meet in Illinois. I suggest that you go the the following website (copy and paste the address in your web browser, this forum does not allow direct links) and search by zip code. http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/fsdb/category.php?cid=26&sid=17&distance=state&zip=&age=&agetype=&sort=name&dir=desc I've...
Jan 11, 2008 12:51PM in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome Expert Forum
Jen, Your situation sounds very challenging with many distinct problems and it is hard for me to figure out where to begin. First and foremost, you ask about the role of a psychologist in this situation. I'll assume that you already have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), if not, I suggest that you find a developmental pediatrician/pediatr...
Jan 08, 2008 05:30PM in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome Expert Forum
I'll start with the question on the Duarte variant of galactosemia. It is a milder form of galactosemia. This condition is an inherited disorder that affects how the body processes certain sugars. This condition results in the body not being able to process the sugar galactose, which is found in many foods. Galactose also exists as part of another sugar, la...