Yvonne Freaney was cleared of murder after she admitted to the manslaughter of her 11-year-old son Glen in May 2010. 

The mother, of Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, was instead given a three-year supervision order at Cardiff Crown Court. Justice Wyn Williams agreed with psychiatrists that the 50-year-old's culpability was very low and she had acted out of sheer desperation. 

He agreed with the defence that sending Freaney to jail was not in her best interests, and she had effectively been in custody since her arrest more than a year ago. 

After strangling her autistic son at a hotel near Cardiff Airport last May, Freaney, whose three other children are also disabled - had tried to commit suicide. 

Police found Glen's body lying on a bed, dressed and tidy, with stuffed soft toys resting in his arms, in a room at the Sky Plaza Hotel in Rhoose. 

Freaney was taken to hospital by ambulance with cuts to her wrists, arms and legs.

When Ray and Diane Thomas walked to the tricycle races at Buena High School during Project Graduation, “both eyes lit up and she said, ‘Come on Ray, lets go for a spin,’ ” said Tim Quinn, the Sierra Vista Rotary Club’s new president. 

Quinn was touched by what he saw that night and when he learned more about Ray’s story, he decided to approach the club’s board about giving an extra scholarship this year by using funds they had set aside for a trip to an international conference. 

On Monday, that scholarship was presented to Ray, giving him $1,000 to take art classes at Cochise College.

“Our emphasis in the upcoming year is the importance of family and, Diane, I cannot think of a stronger family than what you and Ray have formed,” Quinn said. 

The symptoms of Asperger syndrome look slightly different in girls than in boys, according to a study published earlier this month in Research in Developmental Disabilities1. This study and a spate of other recent ones suggest that with available diagnostic tests, higher-functioning girls with autism are being diagnosed either later than boys, or are altogether missed. 

In the new study, Swedish researchers showed that 18 new questions on a revised Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire lead to very different response profiles for school-age boys versus girls who have Asperger syndrome.

The office of Commissioner Felblum of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has scheduled a meeting with representatives from the disability and business communities to discuss the use of personality tests as pre-employment screening tools. The Autism Women's Network will be in attendance, represented by Lindsey Nebeker, AWN's Washington DC Liaison. Lindsey would like to hear from anyone in the disability community about their personal experiences with these tests, especially in regards to any concerns you may have.

Todd Drezner recently directed his first documentary film "Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic," (available on DVD, queue on Netflix) and he is also the father of Sam, an autistic child. The title of the film refers to the circuit of lampposts that Drezner’s son likes to visit in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Drezner received his MFA in Film from Columbia University and is the editor of several award-winning documentary films and commercials.

Today is the kick-off to what looks like a really busy month for the autism community.  With that said, please let us know what you or your organization has planned for April, and we will add it to our announcements for our AWN Radio broadcasts throughout the month. Email us at:  info@autismwomensnetwork.org.

We at Autism Women's Network have a busy month ahead, and we are excited to see April arrive in full bloom.  First, AWN Radio will increase the number of broadcasts in order to highlight various events, community news, and authors throughout April.