Autism Help?

Last night I met someone at a writers' group who told me his autistic son has improved amazingly since he has been on a special diet. Apparently people with autism digest foods, especially dairy and gluten, differently that other people do. Here's a link that man gave me to a website with information about many studies about that:

http://www.autismbiomed.com

Unlocked

A friend recently loaned me a book, Unlocked, by Karen Kingsbury, about a kid with autism because she knew I cared about the condition, having raised an autistic foster son. I greatly enjoyed reading it.

In my opinion, the book is most appropriate for Young Adults since the main characters are teenagers. Since it's a Christian one there's nothing offensive in it. But anyone dealing with autism will probably want to read it.

Unfortunately only a few few autistic kids are at the same place on the Autism Spectrum as Holden, the character who is helped greatly by music. But the primary focus is on the main character, Ella, who is one of the popular kids but decides to stand up for Holden in spite of what other kids think. I wish all teenagers would read it since they tend to make many bad choices because of valuing popularity.

The book is well written - I couldn't put it down - and I think it will make a difference in the world by helping "normal" people understand those who are different from themselves.

Reader's Digest

I don't subscribe to the Reader's Digest anymore because they've got less than half the content they used to carry, but this week I picked up the June/July copy at the grocery store. It contains an article about parenting a child with special needs that might be of interest to anyone doing that.

The author's daughter has Autism so she talks a lot about that spectrum, but the article includes plenty of information about caring for people with other special needs and it's written in a friendly style.

Anyone caring for or about someone with special needs might want to read the article, My Daughter, Myself, by Sallie Tisdale.

Autism Research

Scientists are finally considering the possibility that chemicals in foods, such as artificial coloring and flavoring, and chemicals in the air from fragrances and "odor eliminators" are actually harmful and that hereditary factors determine who will be damaged by those chemicals.

For example,The Mind Institute in CA is doing research on causes of autism such as environmental chemicals and hereditary factors. Some of the studies are on their website, http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/

Cause of Autism?

My husband, who was in charge of building maintenance in a medical facility, used to say when a system broke down and the experts couldn't figure out what was wrong it always turned out to be because two completely unrelated things happened to develop problems at the same time.

We know there's an autism epidemic and many people say that's because of immunizations and mercury. But scientific studies have failed to prove that and most kids with similar exposure haven't developed autism.

What if the kids who did become autistic also had another factor? Could it be digestive problems? Some sort of hereditary condition? A germ?

Here's something I think might be a culprit; fragrances.

Over the last 30 years more and more fragrances have been added to laundry, cleaning and personal care products, cosmetics, and even foods. Because of constant exposure, most people have become unaware of the smells and "odor eliminators" also add to the chemicals in the air. But some people get more exposure to them than others, and the chemicals used vary from product to product.

What if autistic kids were exposed to more than usual of certain fragrances in infancy, prenatally, or near the time when they were inoculated against certain diseases? Could that explain at least some of the increase in autism?

ADHD, Autism and Organophosphates

According to recent news stories, a connection has been found between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Organophosphates. The same chemicals have been implicated in studies with autistic kids. Those chemicals are used in some insecticides and often found in fruits and vegetables, especially celery, strawberries, and blueberries.

Years ago we had two hyperactive foster kids, one of whom was also autistic, and the Feingold Diet helped a lot to improve their behavior. At the time some people thought the connection was purely psychosomatic, but there were times when the boys reacted to things none of us knew they'd gotten. For example, once a cereal manufacturer changed an ingredient but continued using the old packages they had in stock so the change wasn't on the label.

I'm wondering if there could be some sort of connection between the salicylates that cause reactions in kids with ADHD and the organophosphates in the new study. Obviously they aren't the same chemical, but could one influence how people react to the other? Or could they both be found in some of the same foods? The new discoveries may open the door to new research that will result in helpful treatments.

In the meantime, I hope anyone with children who have those conditions will be careful to feed them only organic produce. And doing that with all young children might prevent the development of those conditions.

Brain Connections

When I was a substitute teacher I noticed kids in special education classes often had siblings in gifted classes, and we know some geniuses also had learning disabilities. Einstein is a well known example. Obviously there's some sort of relationship between how their brains work.

I've wondered for years about how other neurological problems might be linked. Are personality disorders similar to learning disabilities? Might OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) be caused by a variation of whatever causes autism? What about Antisocial Personality Disorder and all the others?

According to Temple Grandin, autistic people tend to think in colors instead of words. I think in both and have no symptoms of autism so I'm not sure what Grandin says is necessarily true. But if it is, what does that mean for people with achromatopsia? Are rods and cones in the eyes connected or related to parts of the brain that operate differently in autistic people?

How is narcolepsy related to epilepsy in terms of neurological connections. And, do either or both of those conditions relate to learning disabilities, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or mental illness?

Our brains are incredibly complex and I doubt that anyone has studied the possible relationships between all these things, but I'd sure like to understand more about how they work.

Neurofeedback

Recently I've blogged about contraptions that help people with various disabilities and results of severe emotional stress. Here's something I've recently learned about that's relevant to both topics.

Neurofeedback, also known as EEG (electroencephalogram) feedback is a way to help people control the bioelectric functioning of their brains. No, it's nothing like electroshock therapy. No electricity goes into the brain. Instead the electric brain waves are picked up by sensors and displayed on a computer so the person experiencing the test can learn to control them.

Acording to the information I've seen about this process, it may be used to treat many conditions including PTSD, autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, depression, migraines, and addictions. Some of these are still being tested, but the results seem hopeful.

I'll see if I can find out more about it and share what I learn here in the future.

MYOB

One of our foster kids had ADHD and autism, resulting in frequent temper tantrums. One day when he had one in a park I pulled him onto my lap and held him in a "bear hug" until he became able to control himself. (The "bear hug" means crossing the other person's arms in front of them and holding them by the wrists from behind so they can't harm anyone. When seated it includes crossing your legs over theirs to prevent them from kicking you.)

As we sat there with him screaming a woman came along and informed me, "If you would spank your child when he misbehaves he wouldn't act like that."

A few minutes later another woman approached and informed me, "If you would stop abusing your child he wouldn't act like that."

Obviously neither of them knew what she was talking about.

If someone visited a person's home for the first time they wouldn't dream of telling them the living room looked ugly and suggesting a "better" way to decorate it, and very few people would be rude enough to tell an acquaintance their clothes or hair style looked terrible and suggest "improvements." But lots of folks seem to think it's okay, and maybe even virtuous, to give unrequested advice to others who are dealing with disabilities. I can't count the number of times I've been advised to consult an acupuncturist, try an herbal remedy, or confess my sins and trust God so I'd be healed.

That sort of thing happens less frequently to people with visible disabilities, but it does sometimes happen even to them.

I hope everyone reading this blog knows there are times when it's best to Mind Your Own Business.