Latest news with #autism
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mom gets SCAMMED out of $5k thanks to simple flight booking mistake
A mom has claimed that she was scammed out of $5,250 after trying to contact American Airlines customer service. The woman, named Haylee, detailed her shocking experience in a recent video shared to TikTok, explaining how she was tricked into forking over thousands after accidentally calling the wrong number. 'It's terrible, just listen,' she informed viewers in the beginning of the clip, adding that she 'really needed to talk about it' because she 'couldn't believe' it had happened to her. Haylee explained that she and her family had booked a cruise and were flying with American Airlines. The mom admitted that she 'was not used to flying American Airlines' and had never flown with her children before. She explained that her daughter and niece were on the autism spectrum, so she wanted to call the airline to see if any accommodations could be made. 'So I Google the American Airlines phone number,' she detailed. Haylee went on to explained that she 'clicked on the first number she saw' and didn't notice that the website was 'rerouted.' 'I'm not giving any thought to this and I cannot believe this happened,' she continued in shock. She called the number and spoke to a man who asked for her flight confirmation numbers. 'There's 11 of us going... I give the guy both of the confirmation numbers, and he's spouting off all our information and I'm thinking, "Oh yeah, this is real because he's got all our information." 'He's even saying the last four digits of the cards that were charged.' She also detailed that both her credit card and her father-in-law's were used for the transactions. He then put her on hold and when he returned, he told her he had scored an amazing deal for them that looking back, she now realized was way too good to be true. '[He said], "I can give you" - this is so stupid - "I can give you $150 off per ticket. I'm going to give you priority boarding, we're going to have you sit at the front of the plane,"' she shared. '"But in order to do this, I have to refund both of the cards which could take seven to 20 business days" - that should have been my first red flag. Unfortunately, I am an idiot, and it didn't register to me that that would be sketchy.' The man promised that he'd refund the cards, then recharge one of them for $5,250 - which was $1,600 off the entire trip. Haylee gave him her credit card, but he came back to tell her he needed another card because it 'wasn't letting him use her card.' 'Why did I fall for that? What's wrong with me?' she moaned. She then supplied him with her husband's credit card information, and the scammer went ahead and charged her more than $5,000. 'He sends me an email which he said was a receipt for everything, showing what was refunded,' she detailed. Upon looking at the email, she noticed that it said the refund could take 30 to 45 business days. This is when Haylee realized the man she had been talking to wasn't from American Airlines, but a company called FlightTrip. She soon got off the phone and logged into her American Airlines app to check on her flights. She assumed they wouldn't be valid anymore, but 'the flights were still perfectly intact.' Haylee quickly called American Airlines and was able to get an official agent to help her with her issue. The agent was 'horrified' when Haylee explained her story and told her to dispute the charge. She also later realized the phone number she had initially called had been disconnected. Haylee and her husband both locked their cards and disputed the charge. Viewers were shocked about the mom's story and took to the comment section to share their thoughts. 'This is a nightmare, I hope this blows up thanks for making more people aware,' one user wrote. 'One of those too good to be true situations. I'm sorry that happened to you,' another comment read. A reported fraud department agent even chimed in: 'I work for United Airlines fraud department and the amount of calls we get about these saturations is absurd. Please just go to the airline's website.' 'You had SOOOO many chances to hang up,' someone else argued, while another viewer wrote, 'There's no way people fall for this.' 'Girl. What are you doing?!' a different person asked. 'I work in reservations for another airline! This happens a lot. Please, if it sounds sketchy, hang up,' one user advised. Others shared their own scamming experiences. 'I'm a doctor I got scammed out of $900 I get it,' a person admitted. Another shared: 'This happened to me once when I called or tried to call a cable company, clicked a link, and was rerouted to another link phone number. Luckily I hung up when it started to sound sketchy, but this is definitely a thing.' In an update video, the mom explained that American Airlines had been 'so supportive.' 'They actually looked down our tickets so we can't even access them online anymore, we have to call them,' Haylee explained.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Map reveals states polluted with toxin that may cause autism... do you live in one?
California and Oregon are America's hotspots for dangerous air toxins that may lead to autism, a study suggests. Researchers at Washington University of St Louis collected 25 years' worth of data on submicron (PM1) air pollution, particles less than one millionth of a meter wide and one-sixth the size of human blood cells. While scientists have long tracked the health effects of its cousin fine particulate matter (PM2.5), emitted in the air via fossil fuels, PM1 has largely flown under the scientific radar. Though little-known, PM1 has been shown to increase the risk of heart attacks, lung cancer and dementia. Health agencies are reportedly conducting a series of studies to find out if environmental pollution can lead to autism, which has surged in the US over the last two decades. In the new study, a map reveals concentrations of PM1 were highest in the Los Angeles, Phoenix and Portland areas, along with parts of Idaho, New Mexico and Texas. Less densely populated states without crowded cities, such as Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming had the smallest concentrations. The researchers did not provide exact numbers, but the data suggests larger cities in the western US along the west coast and south are the most at risk of harmful pollutants like PM1. They also said the new report could be one of the first to look specifically at PM1. Jay Turner, study co-author, said: 'When EPA first promulgated a fine PM air quality standard in 1997, there was considerable discussion about regulating PM 1 or PM 2.5. 'For numerous reasons, including but not limited to the lack of health impact studies for PM1 compared to studies for PM2.5, the latter was chosen. 'This study provides a comprehensive, nationwide dataset to examine PM1 impacts on health.' California, which had higher concentrations of PM1, also has one of the highest rates of autism in the country, according to the CDC's latest data. An April report from the agency found one in 19 children in California have been diagnosed with autism, 48 percent higher than one in 31 nationwide. However, the report only looked at children ages four through eight, so it's unclear how many older children and teens were diagnosed. Nationwide, autism rates have surged from about one in 150 in the early 2000s. Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced earlier this year a series of studies that will look into 'environmental toxins' he believes could be causes, including pesticides and food additives, and promised 'there will be an answer for the American people' by September. Particulate matter has been shown in recent studies to raise the risk of autism by triggering inflammation in nerve tissue and possibly passing from mom to placenta to fetus in utero. In the new study, published Monday in The Lancet Planetary Health, researchers calculated PM1 levels based on measuring seven components found in PM2.5: sulphate, ammonium, nitrate, organic matter, black carbon, dust and sea salt. These pollutants can come from natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, wildfires and dust storms, as well as human-generated sources like construction sites, burning fossil fuels and vehicle emissions. Chi Li, first study author and research assistant professor, said: 'Putting the seven species together, we can calculate the total PM1 concentration over the country.' PM1 levels were calculated based on biweekly estimates from 1998 through 2022. In addition to areas like California and Oregon, parts of the Midwest and eastern US like Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania also appeared to have higher concentrations of PM1, according to the map. The researchers said natural disasters like wildfires may have contributed to elevated levels. A 2020 study found the area burned by wildfires in California has doubled in the last 20 years compared to the two decades before that. More urban areas like Los Angeles and Portland also produce more PM1 due to higher traffic, construction and a greater concentration of densely packed buildings. Randall Martin, a professor of energy environmental and chemical engineering at WashU, said: 'These data offer new information to advance understanding of how to improve air quality and health.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Kimberley Nixon feels 'lighter' after ADHD and autism diagnosis
A Welsh actress says a "huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders" after being diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Kimberley Nixon, star of Channel 4's Fresh Meat, developed perinatal obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), after giving birth to her son during the 2020 said her worries about her baby's well-being escalated into intense anxiety, with symptoms lasting around two and a half years. As she began to recover, other lifelong patterns started to make sense, prompting her to seek a diagnosis. Following a series of in-depth assessments and standard diagnostic tests, she was formally diagnosed with autism and ADHD on an interview with BBC Radio Wales, Nixon told presenter Behnaz Akhgar: "We all know what the NHS is like when it comes to waiting lists, so it's taken a while. "The assessments are incredibly thorough - they dig into every little nook and cranny of your life and your past."The actress, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, known for her roles in Wild Child and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, said she now feels "lighter" and is "kinder" to herself, which she described as "really lovely."Reflecting on the diagnosis, she said: "It's that square peg in a round hole feeling. "I've realised it's not that my brain is wrong - it's just different. "I don't process or interpret things the same way others do. "That always felt like a problem. "But now, it just feels like a difference." Nixon also spoke about her experience of being diagnosed with perinatal OCD, which is when you experience OCD during pregnancy or in the first year after giving is a mental health condition characterised by intrusive thoughts and compulsive years of IVF, she gave birth to her son during the 2020 pandemic, which she described as the "big catalyst" for her struggles."I went through a really tough time postpartum," she said. "Eventually, I was diagnosed with perinatal OCD - which I didn't even know was a thing. "Once you start looking into it, you realise it's actually quite common."Nixon said the condition did not present in the typical ways people associate with OCD. "I'm not a neat freak, I don't tick the usual boxes - but with perinatal OCD, I absolutely did," she said. "It involved really distressing intrusive thoughts, repetitive thinking, and punishing compulsions - just to relieve the anxiety."Last year, she told BBC Radio Wales' Books That Made Me with Lucy Owen: "I was just convinced that I wasn't doing things right. "I wasn't feeding him right. What temperature is he supposed to be?"Every time he cried I was just sort of shaking - I just got really hyper vigilant and terrified."Since learning more about the condition, Nixon has made it a priority to speak openly about it, saying it's "not as widely recognised as postnatal depression". In Thursday's interview, Nixon also spoke about her latest role in the ITV series Shardlake. She plays the character Joan in the four-part drama, which is based on CJ Sansom's historical mystery first season adapts the book Dissolution. The story follows lawyer Matthew Shardlake as he investigates a murder at a remote monastery during the reign of Henry a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, said the series was filmed in Budapest and it felt like "a little Hungarian Welsh college reunion", as fellow cast members Arthur Hughes and Anthony Boyle also trained at the same institution.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
'My son is being denied a specialist school place', Coalville mum says
The mother of a boy with autism and ADHD has said her family has been "failed and ignored" after he was denied a specialist school seven-year-old son Austin has been unable to attend a full day at school in about two had secured an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which states that mainstream schools would be unable to meet his needs, while living in Wiltshire and hoped to secure a specialist school place for after losing her job, Lauren decided to relocate to Coalville in Leicestershire to be closer to family in December 2024 and was told the EHCP would move with them. She said she spent months "begging for an update" as Austin became increasingly anxious and eventually received an email from Leicestershire County Council informing her he had been given a place at a mainstream said she later learnt the authority had taken the EHCP to a panel, which it told the BBC was made up of qualified professionals, without informing her. An EHCP is for children and young people up to the age of 25 who need more support than is available through the usual special educational needs 28, said the plan she had previously signed had been "edited without her consent or knowledge".She has appealed against the decision, claiming the school would not be able to meet his needs, and is preparing for tribunal the meantime, she is keeping Austin at home and trying to educate him but admits he is "so far behind"."He's not officially home-schooled, but I'm doing everything I can," she added."I thought him having the EHCP would fix the problems. It didn't."Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) regulations state that a new local authority receiving a transferred EHCP - in this case Leicestershire County Council - can bring forward the arrangements for the review of the can also conduct a new education, health and care needs assessment, regardless of when the previous assessment took place at the previous says she feels "hugely and continuously" failed by the system and the situation has taken its toll on her family."It's difficult. It's a lot," she said."He's not my only child, so I think anyone with more than one kid, you're pulled in multiple directions all the time."He is bored. He misses having friends. His social aspect is difficult."Lauren said Austin could become "very, very agitated" and described him as "a coiled spring a lot of the time"."He fidgets a lot. He twitches a lot. He speaks very, very quickly," she said, adding that Austin was aware he was not at the same level education-wise as other children his age."He is very frightened of the reality of going back because he knows he's not at their level." EHCP delays The Department for Education said 21,960 children in the East Midlands were reported as missing education at any point during the 2023-24 academic year due to not being registered at a school or receiving suitable Martin, chief executive officer of charity Menphys, said many children with SEND were out of education because their needs were not being added: "These are some of the most vulnerable children in our society, and they're being denied access to something as basic as school."The EHCP process which is meant to take 20 weeks legally, can take over a year."Many parents are forced to go to tribunal to get the rights of their children met."What happens whilst these all of these waits are happening, is the child deteriorates. The child's mental health deteriorates."Schools don't have enough funding to be inclusive and what ends up happening the child is either removed from education or, due to the severity of the unmet needs, cannot go."Looking ahead, Lauren said she wanted her son to have a fair added: "I want him to have a school that will advocate for him, support him, and give him the opportunities he deserves."A county council spokesperson said: "If the panel believes a child's needs can be met in a mainstream setting, they will be offered a place at a suitable school."Parents can also request an urgent annual review if they have concerns about the placement."The government said in the spending review it would be setting out long-awaited plans to reform the SEND system in England this autumn in a government white Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "We have already taken the first steps to identify and meet children's needs earlier in mainstream schools, including through more early intervention across speech and language, ADHD and autism to prevent needs from escalating and £740m to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools."
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
A second child with autism drowned in a Cincinnati pond in under a year. Now parents want answers
Parents are looking for answers after a second child with autism drowned in a Cincinnati pond in less than a year. Six-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef drowned in a pond at his family's West Chester apartment complex in November. Months later, seven-year-old Mar'Dasia Forte drowned in a pond at her family's West Chester apartment complex on June 13. The moms of both autistic children and the local advocacy group EmPath For Autism want their local lawmakers to do something about the drownings. Governor Mike DeWine told The Enquirer the state government 'should look' at requiring fences around retention ponds. But Mar'Dasia's mom, Mika Forte, told the publication, 'I need more than looking.' 'We can't keep losing children like this,' she said. The Enquirer reported, citing the National Autism Association, that a record number of at least 77 children with autism drowned last year. So far, at least 32 have drowned this year, according to the organization. Mar'Dasia was a 'very happy, active, rambunctious little lady,' her mom said. She had wandered away from home in the past, so Forte installed special locks on the door and got her daughter a bed she couldn't climb out of, but the little girl still managed to get out of the apartment. "This should've stopped after the first [death],' Forte said, adding, "We have to do better." Jonisa Cook, Joshua's mother, told The Enquirer she 'cried and cried' after hearing about Mar'Dasia's drowning. Cook said Joshua was 'lovable and his smile was everything,' in a previous interview with The Enquirer. Joshua had also wandered away from his home and drowned. He was found one day after he was reported missing, with hundreds of community members volunteering to search for him. After Mar'Dasia's death, Cook said she's feeling more determined than ever to advocate for fences around retention ponds as well as an alert system for missing children with autism.
