Will "Autistic" become the next pejorative?

by Melissa Teodorovic

The trailer for the movie 21 Jump Street was recently released, and even though some moments appeared to be funny, the laughs ended for many, when Ice Cube's character attempted to insult another by asking him if he was "autistic". The "joke" has upset many parents of children with autism, as well as many adults on the spectrum. Some have expressed that they fear it will potentially make way for others (especially young people) to think that it's acceptable to call someone "autistic" in order to insult their intelligence.

Have the awareness efforts of advocates made autism and autistic such household words, that they will have to fight not only for services, equality, and acceptance, but also for the prevention of carelessly demeaning what it means to be autistic? Or will they simply have to accept it, and move on?

According to the CDC 1 in 110 children have an autism spectrum disorder. What the makers of "21 Jump Street" (the movie) have ignored, is that for every 1 child/ person diagnosed there are at least 2-5 people fighting for that person's acceptance in society. Currently, many of these people are spreading the word to boycott 21 Jump Street http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232829/ for using the word "autistic" as an insult.

Going gluten free? What products to avoid

Photo by: Megan Finley

A gluten-free diet is a diet that excludes foods containing gluten. Gluten is a specific type of protein found in wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, malts and triticale. It is used as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent, often as "dextrin". Going gluten free means avoiding these grains. A gluten free die is essential for most people with gluten allergies or celiac disease this condition can cause intestitan damage when gluten is eaten.

This is a list of ingredients/foods that do have Gluten, PLEASE AVOID these:

You need to read labels, some ingredients are obvious but remember some products have stealth gluten. Some labels says "100% gluten free"

• Wheat in all forms including: spelt, kamut, triticale (a combination of wheat and rye), durum, einkorn, farina, cake flour, matzo (or matzah), bran, couscous, malt (which is made from barley), rye, barley, seitan, hydrolized vegetable protein, semolina, wheat.

Do I need to say good bye to bread?

Yes also to Pizza, croissants, cakes, burger buns, scones, etc but don't despair, there are alternatives

And in the next days we will post some links with gluten free products.


Have a great day!!


GM Autism Blog Team

Gluten Free Tips

source

Substituting Gluten-Free Flour for Wheat Flour in Baked Goods

Gluten gives important properties to regular dough, so if you simply eliminate it without compensating for it in some way, you'll have disappointing results. Here are tips for successful baking with gluten-free flours.

How to make gluten free flours?

Ingredients:

2 cups rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir.


Use mixture in all your gluten free baking recipes. Store this mixture in a air-tight container. And stir well before use it.