Thank-You

Hello all,
I realize this is rather an odd sort of post, but due to how busy I'm getting with school, and other commitments, I am going to have to end this blog. At least for now. I want to thank you all so much for reading over the past year and hopefully I will continue this again some point soon.
Farewell and love you all :)
Sean

Once Upon a Mattress

Hey Everyone!

So what a week it has been. First off, school's been going well, I'm kind of on and off at understanding my math class, one day I'll understand the material completely, but then the next day I'm like "huh?". I can only hope that I will be able to understand it and pass this course...

Writing is going quite well, as is Creative Writing, and I definitely enjoy it, though I suppose from previous posts you can probably tell that I am not a horrible writer :). So I suppose that's probably one of my more favorite courses.

My two Psychology courses are also quite fascinating. My Prejudice course is simply enjoyable; we actually spent two hours in debate about different quotes that just made the class so much fun. While Psychology of Creativity is just interesting because it's all about the psychology of what goes into creative minds.

Now as for my social life, well let me just say possibly one of the best things I could ever ask for at school has happened. This week I auditioned for Once Upon a Mattress, a musical rendition of The Princess and the Pea, and sang "What I Did for Love" for my musical part, and then had to do a dance part and several readings of different scenes. I just got the call yesterday that they had decided to give me the part of Prince Dauntless, one of the leads in the play. I was ecstatic. I mean after 1 year where there was no play in Grade 8, five years where I never got cast in any plays no matter how much I tried in high school, and then three years of being cast in minor parts with maybe 3 lines or so, to being one of the leads in the play I'm just so thrilled.

Anywho, that's all tonight everyone!

Sean

New Study! Autism in Some Boys Linked to Missing DNA

Hey Everyone!

Interesting news story of a recent study done in Toronto on Autism.

Here's the story:

TORONTO - Researchers are a step closer to understanding why autism spectrum disorder affects four times as many boys as girls.

A study led by a team of Toronto scientists has discovered that males who carry specific genetic alterations on their X-chromosome have an elevated risk for developing autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.

“The male gender bias in autism has intrigued us for years and now we have an indicator that starts to explain why this may be,” said co-principal investigator Stephen Scherer, director of the Centre for Applied Genomics at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.

The researchers, whose work is published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, found that about one per cent of boys with ASD had mutations related to the PTCHD1 gene on the X-chromosome.

"Hearing that it's in one per cent doesn't get a lot of people excited," conceded Scherer. "But it gets geneticists really excited because there's a lot of genes involved (in ASD)."

Boys inherit one X-chromosome from their mother and one Y-chromosome from their father, explained Scherer. "If a boy's X-chromosome is missing the PTCHD1 gene or other nearby DNA sequences, they will be at high risk of developing ASD or intellectual disability.

"Girls are different in that, even if they are missing one PTCHD1 gene, by nature they always carry a second X-chromosome, shielding them from ASD. While these women are protected, autism could appear in future generations of boys in their families."

Autism spectrum disorder affects an estimated one in every 165 children. The neurological disorder ranges in severity, but often includes problems communicating and interacting with others, unusual patterns of behaviour and intellectual disability.

An estimated 190,000 Canadians have ASD, which is on the rise worldwide, says Autism Society Canada.

The isolation of genetic alterations on the X-chromosome within a percentage of individuals with autism follows a number of recent genetic discoveries by Scherer and others that are moving science slowly but surely towards a better understanding of the causes of this baffling disorder.

To conduct this study, researchers analyzed the gene sequences of 2,000 individuals with ASD, along with others with an intellectual disability, and compared the results to DNA sequencing from thousands of healthy control subjects.

While the PTCHD1 mutation occurred in one per cent of males with ASD, it was not present in the DNA of thousands of healthy male controls — and sisters of males carrying the same mutation seemed unaffected by autism symptoms.

"The deletions and other mutations seem to be related only to disease in the boys," said co-principal researcher John Vincent. "They have sisters who have the same mutation but are healthy."

Vincent, head of the molecular neuropsychiatry and development lab at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, isn't surprised to find another gene on the X-chromosome involved in autism.

"It's another one in the list and I think it will be one of the most common ones, so parents will be able to have their children tested," he said. "Particularly if they have a son affected, it will be important for them to know if it's caused by a mutation at or around PTCHD1."

"And if it is, they'll know that future (male) children would be at risk."

"There are lots of women in the population," added Scherer, "who are carrying this (genetic variation) that are predisposed to having boys with autism."

The scientists believe the PTCHD1 gene plays a role in a neurobiological pathway that delivers information to cells during brain development, and this specific mutation could disrupt crucial processes and contribute to the onset of autism, said Vincent.

Having a test for the altered DNA would mean children could be diagnosed at a younger age, allowing behavioural therapies to be started sooner, he said. "So the earlier you can catch it, the more effective the therapies can be."

Calling the discovery "incredibly important," Suzanne Lanthier of Autism Speaks said the research provides solid evidence about what's behind ASD prevalence rates being skewed towards males.

"This is the first time we're seeing some hard science findings to start to explain why boys are more affected than girls," said Lanthier, executive director of the research fundraising organization and mother of an 11-year-old boy with ASD.

Asked if such genetic links to autism put an end to the contentious notion that childhood vaccines — in particular, the measles-mumps-rubella inoculation — may trigger autism, Lanthier responded that ASD is manifested in many ways "and it doesn't lay to rest potential environmental causes."

"And what the research is pointing to more and more is that there are some genetic underpinnings and in some cases environmental triggers that set off what we know genetically."

"It certainly doesn't mean that we should stop doing research on environmental causes. By no means."

Interesting? I think so. Whether or not it's the reason behind me having autism? Who knows. But none the less, I think it's an interesting story for anyone who knows an autistic boy or man, and even moreso if that boy or man is your son, nephew, uncle, etc.

I hope you guys like the story and I'll talk to you soon!

Sean

Oh and PS, my first Semester of fourth year is going quite well minus Math which I don't really understand why I need it as I really don't see any of my possible future careers will need me to know math...unless it's just the logical aspect of math that it teaches you that I'm suppose to be learning. :P

Welcome Back

So I realize that I haven't posted in two months, and frankly I do need to apologize for such a thing. It's just been such a whirlwind of a summer that I haven't had time to think, much less time to write. I suppose this is probably a bad thing what with having two writing courses starting next week, so being unable to write this summer has perhaps inhibited my writing skills, but here's hoping it hasn't.

So this summer has possibly been one of the funnest and most enjoyable summers I've ever had. Going to Florida with my best friend was an adventure, especially since our friends down there got her and I into all four Disney Parks for free. So we got to experience everything, including Animal Kingdom which I had never been to before, and had such an amazing time it was just wonderful. I think the scariest ride I went on while there was Mission: Space at Epcot. The reason being that Lauren and I decided to go on the Advanced track and as it's about going into space, we actually got to experience G-Forces, and when you feel like you have a five hundred pound person on your chest and you can barely lift your arms at all, not exactly enjoyable :P, but it was quite an experience and it let me know I'm never going to want to become an astronaut.

I also finally got a chance to head to the new Harry Potter theme park at Universal, and what trip it was. The castle itself is unbelievably beautiful, butterbeer is so very sweet, and the stores are just wonderful. I'll include a photo if I can.

The rest of my summer was uneventful but still enjoyable due to being able to just relax and enjoy my summer.

That's all folks! Talk to you all soon!
Sean

Love Yourself, Then Someone Else

Hey everyone. So to start off this is not a post meant to offend anyone. Please do not take it directed at you because it isn't. This is just me ranting about how I feel.

Basically I am first off, finally happy being single. The best thing I am able to tell myself is the fact that by being single, it will let ME pursue whatever I want out of life, in my case, to be an actor in the industry (movie/tv industry, not theatre not that anything's wrong with it as even it gives me experience with acting) but basically like I was saying...the best part about being single is the fact that it means I get to be my own person and no one is there necessarily grounding me to one place. Well aside from my mother, but she's just looking out for me like any mother would their child.

The thing I'm annoyed about however is my friend base where I live...not the city I go to school in 30 minutes away, but in my actual city/hometown. Everywhere I look people are getting engaged, or married. Not a day goes by that I don't get ANOTHER event invite on Facebook to the stag N do or BBQ or w/e for another one of my friends who is engaged. This just pisses me off because seriously most of these people are my age, or younger than me, or no older than 25. And while love is great and all, I'm happy for them in some ways, but to me I just can't help but think "YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED WHEN YOU'RE ONLY 22, ARE YOU CRAZY?" Like I said, while I believe love is great and all, there's a time for it, and that time is AFTER you've developed a stable job or profession for yourself, after you've done what I like to call "settled" your life. Where you're truly at the point where it doesn't matter if you get a partner or not, because you're at that point where you're ready to enter the next step of your life.

To me getting married under 25 is just TOO young. I mean look at the past, and I mean the far past, before the 70s, when people were getting married at 18. It was all fine and dandy for them because the boy would work and the girl would be able to stay at home with kids. But now, now it's just gotten to the point where we're returning to that stage, but unlike back then, the world has changed and so has the economy. In most cases (unless you're a doctor or high paying job), both people need to be able to have jobs to support their home. And how does one do that? To me it's quite simple, go to school, or trade school or some form of post-secondary education, get a degree, maybe do a Master's or something, and get into a Profession. THEN you can get married. But here in my city, it's like people are hopping on the marriage train just a short time after they have graduated from high school. I mean sure, maybe there are some people who are able to get their postgrad quite a short time after graduating and are making a good living for themselves, and that's great, but that's still a minority of people. The majority are still generally in school around this time, and frankly starting a family at this time is just too soon. What if you end up having a kid? Then what happens? Your post grad could be flushed down the tube, or you barely ever see the kid. In this city specifically, my worry is that the people getting married young are going to wind up where? Flipping burgers at McDonald's for the rest of their days just to scrape by. Where will I be? I'll be in Hollywood, making a name for myself and then having a family when I meet the right person. (Laugh if you want, I have all the confidence I need in myself to get here.)

Anyway, that was my rant. So to those of you who are single, especially if you're around my age, be happy you're single. You don't need someone to make you happy, and what's more, being single will allow you to be you, to make your life what you want it, and to not have to worry so much about supporting a family or anything like that. Yes, if someone presents themself to me, yeah I might wind up dating them, but don't think you'll see me going into a marriage anytime soon. Love may "make the world go round" but the fact is, the first thing you need to do is love yourself, then be able to support yourself, before you can EVER think about being able to love someone else. And also remember these wise words from RuPaul: "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love someone else?"

Love to all of you
Sean

PS. Autism-wise, nothing really big has been happening. I'm going to Florida again soon so my usual slight worry about flying is creeping up on me but otherwise nothing :) This summer really has been one of the best of my life so far :D

'Eclipse' Fails to Eclipse the Movies

Hey Everyone!

So nothing to report in the last week autism wise surprisingly. I feel the running and early nights and everything have really been helping me immensely and I feel my maturity has improved too. I'm finally developing into what I've wanted to be.

As for the title of my post, it's quite simple, I saw Eclipse, and it was horrid. So here's my review:

Going into 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse', I had high hopes that this film would blow the first two out of the water. The dreary acting, the Jacob-Bella-Edward love triangle, and the fact a rock could act with more emotion than Kristen Stewart, didn't give me much hope and sadly I was not disappointed that once again I was delivered with another sequel that deserved to stay as a book.

I'll accept that Kristen Stewart perhaps was able to get a few acting lessons in as she for once displayed some form of emotion. Unfortunately the back and forth action of Bella choosing Jacob, then Edward, then Jacob, then Edward again did unfortunately consume the majority of the movie, to the point where I saw people falling asleep in the theatre which is quite interesting to point out that this movie was so dull people actually were falling asleep because of it....

The only two good things that came from the film were that of Nikki Reed's scene in which she told the history of her character, Rosalie Hale, and how she was transformed to a vampire. This scene was well acted and Nikki was able to bring the character to life which perhaps partially saved the film. The true savior of the film however was that of the battle between the Cullen Clan and the Werewolves against the Newborn Vampires that Victoria had created. This probably was the best part simply because it was the only action sequence in the whole film and was exciting to look at.

All in all, Eclipse was a relatively dry film that I wish had never crossed my eyes. In the case of the books, they should never have been made into films. You can't make a film that has poor writing, and you definitely can't make a film that is about 95% talking about a vampire-human-werewolf love fest constantly. Sad thing is, it will probably make over a hundred million at the box office.

That's my thought anyways...what's yours?

Sean

Ch-Ch-Changes

Hey Everyone!

So sorry about not having posted in quite some time (the previous stereotype post was actually posted on the 22nd on Open Salon, so it's been nearly three days since I last made an actual blog post. Things have been changing I guess and I just find it either a bit more difficult to write or too busy to do so. Now don't worry, I'll continue writing until the "due date" I set in January, but it might just be more spaced out rather than everyday. I hope you all will continue reading however, despite the changes.

The one thing I want to tell you all because I think it is a great thing regarding my autism. But according to my parents, they've noticed that with going to bed early and running, I've apparently matured and aren't all over the place anymore. I guess just getting exercise as well as early to bed has allowed my brain to begin re-wiring itself in some ways. I could be wrong but I think it's a very good thing.

That's all for today though. Talk to you all soon!
Sean