genes

The New England Journal of Medicine published a study yesterday showing that small changes in the DNA in the long arm of chromosome 16 are associated with autism. I met a teenager with autism last summer, when I attended family night at the Seattle Park and Rec summer camp program for kids with special needs. It's a fantastic program. The kids spend a week or more at summer camp and the parents get some much needed time off. I sat down on a log and my daughter (one of the counselors) introduced to me a boy in her cabin and told me that he's interested in trains. Since I rode a train for…