Mass. mom admits withholding cancer meds from son (Lawrence, Mass.)
A Massachusetts woman charged with attempted murder for withholding cancer treatment from her autistic son testified Friday that she did not give him at least five months of chemotherapy medications because the side effects made him so sick she was afraid the treatments would kill him. Read more.

Autism Awareness Month: Benicia Students (Benicia Patch)
April is National Autism Awareness Month. It is estimated there are more than 500,000 children with autism in the United States. According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in every 110 or .9 percent of children have autism. For parents, that is a scary statistic. Read more.

Denmark scientist accused of stealing autism research money (Reuters)
A scientist in Denmark has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for allegedly stealing $1 million in grant money that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had earmarked for autism research. Read more.

Couple allegedly imprisoned autistic boys (Vancouver, Wa.)
A Vancouver couple have been arrested for allegedly holding their two young autistic boys captive in a darkened, caged room. Read more.

Autistic Kids Learn To Survive, And Thrive, in College (NPR)
In many ways, Mark Heim is a typical senior at Colorado State University. He has the kind of smart humor you’d expect from someone who excels in computer science, engineering and math; his T-shirt reads, “Department of Redundancy Department.” Read more.

On April 1 and April 2 buildings all over the world are lighting up in bright blue to help kick off Autism Awareness Month and celebrate World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. Check back throughout the day–we’ll have pictures and coverage of the events from around the world. Visit lightitupblue.org for more photos and information, and events in your area.  See a list of the more than 1000 buildings participating in Light It Up Blue and find out about nationalfundraising and awareness initiatives from Autism Speaks’ partners. Half of the United States has now passed autism insurance reform! Click here to learn more about West Virginia, where the 25th state insurance reform law was signed into law on April 1.

Read a Presidential Proclamation about World Autism Awareness Day.

Autism Speaks opened World Autism Awareness Day, April 2,  on the CBS Saturday Early Show. Bob and Suzanne Wright were guests of anchors Russ Mitchell and Rebecca Jarvis on their Early Coffee segment. They shared that over 1000 buildings in the U.S. and around the world turned blue last night and will again tonight to celebrate WAAD.  When asked “what do you want people to know about autism,” Suzanne Wright said “1 in 110 … the numbers are staggering,” Bob answered the question of “What is the biggest challenge you would like to overcome with autism?” by saying “If we can get real good research and translate it into drugs and therapies we can have enormous impact – what helps a child helps an adult.”  See the clip here.