The Health Nut Blog

The Autism Research Institute is a worldwide network hub of professionals and parents who have concerns about autistic spectrum disorders. Also known as the ARI, the Institute was founded in 1967 to conduct research into improving the methods of how this disorder was diagnosed, treated and hopefully prevented. For those seeking information and help, the ARI became a link to the world of autistic disorder. Within the ARI data banks, there lies over 40,000 case histories about autistic children from around the world and from over 60 different countries.

The Autism Research Institute was founded by an international authority on autistic disorders; Doctor Bernard Rimland. He wrote a book called Infantile Autism, for which he became a prize winning author, based on his experiences with his autistic son. Doctor Rimland felt the need to let other individuals know about autistic disorders and how they affect children and their families, and he wanted to give hope to the parents of afflicted children. Doctor Rimland also was the chief technical advisor on the movie Rain Man, which was about an autistic individual.

The Institute publishes a quarterly newsletter that covers the different advances in the world of autistic disorders. These advances include those of a biomedical nature and those that refer to education. This Institute is a non-profit organization which relies on chartable contributions from those who understand and are concerned with the needs of individuals who have autism spectrum disorders. The ARI believes that its purpose is to help parents of autistic children who are overwhelmed by fear and grief and to motivate them to find help to cope with the situation.

The goal of the Autism Research Institute is to help those who are dealing with an individual with an autistic disorder and to allow them access to methods of helping their loved one. Dr. Rimland, whose own child was autistic, saw the need for families to be given quality information that could help both them and their afflicted child. While not everything is known about this disorder, research is working to improve upon what is known and to help improve the lifestyles of those who have these disorders. The ultimate goal is to find a cure, but for now increased awareness will help autistic individuals to grow to their full potential.

# posted by NeilG @ 9:24 PM