topic Re: Autism in Wellness

Autism

Imadickens — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 21:48:45 GMT

I have mentioned working with Autistic children for my last ten years of teaching. I got the placement because I was tenured and the program in which I work was closed. I was always interested in Autism having seen several documentaries on it. As it turned out, my daughter married the younger brother of an adult male who is profoundly autistic. I took Master level courses in teaching kids on spectrum and worked with Autism Speaks. I continue to wonder what causes so many kids to become autistic? I have spoken to many parents of children on the spectrum, at different stages. I am NOT trying to start a controversy, I am seriously interested in hearing from those who have intimate knowledge of Autism, either as a close family member, medical professional, educator, or other. Much has been argued about immunology being involved. I have no real thoughts on the cause although I believe we bombard infants with too many shots at once. I know that has been ruled out as the cause so I was hoping you might have ideas. Those of you who have given birth to, or have a close relative who has, might have certain feelings. I'm hoping for discussion only, no arguments please. The MDs in my immediate family always gave credence to "mother's feelings" when it comes to children's health issues. I am also interested in what age child showed signs and what intervention was started and when. What results did you see? Thank you so much for responding, if you choose to. I will respect all ideas.

Re: Autism

cherry — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:04:22 GMT

My cousins son is autistic. He has done very well for himself . He went to special schools. He has a job in a grocery store and drives a car. He inter acts with people. He is an only child.So he didn't have siblings to learn from.

His mother was a diabetic

I don't know if that could have contributed to his condition.

There a a young man in our neighborhood I am a bit concerned about. He is never in school it seems. He is outdoors playing all the time. He is quite athletic and is almost always alone

We used to worry when we drove past his house because he would shoot out in front of you on a skate board, skates, or a bike. I've never seen him with a parent and he never seems to be dressed warm when the weather is cold. He was out in 31 degree weather in just jeans and a Tshirt.

I feel sorry for him. He is a strapping lad, and doesn't look like he is neglected. He is nicely dressed, always clean looking, and is the right weight for his height One of my friends saw him riding his bike on Christmas Day ,without a coat. I don't know if he sneaks out ,and his parents don't know he has left, or they think it's OK, to go out like that

Re: Autism

lbwshop — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:11:11 GMT

My 36-year-old daughter has Asberger's. She didn't receive the myriad of immunizations that are recommended now, but those that were required years ago. There were no problems in her childhood. She could always play alone very well, but she was an only child. Her problems seemed to begin late in high school. While I do NOT believe that any specific immunization causes autism, I do think that children are give too many, too close together. Why should infants who are never going to be in day care have to have Hepatitis B shots? There is no harm in individualism. By the way, I am a retired Obstetric RN, so have some knowledge of the subject. When I was a child,an original baby-boomer--1946--there were many kids on the "odd" end of the spectrum, but we just worked around their quirks. I don't know anyone who ended up as anything but a relatively normal adult--some still fidget, some still don't have great social skills, but all work within the human race. Not sure if overdiagnosis is a problem now.

Re: Autism

Imadickens — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:16:31 GMT

@cherry Thank you for posting! I wonder how many other mothers of autistic kids are diabetic! As for the neighbor boy, how kind of you to be concerned! You are right, tho, I had students who were so head-strong that the parents had little effect on him as he grew up. If he wanted to ride his bike NOW it meant dressed as he was at that minute as he had no ability to wait for anything and was unable to connect his actions with any consequences (like frost bite).There are some behavior modification programs that have shown promise, but I have only seen them begun on pre-school aged children. How nice your cousin has done so well! Actually, I think we all are a bit autistic in some way. Before I had to retire due to my injury, (I fell at work and severely broke my foot) I attended a conference and we learned about the new method of diagnosing Autism. I think the rise in cases is due to number of previously missed cases. In other words, I'm not sure more children are becoming Autistic just more are being diagnosed, which is why the new guidelines for diagnosis.

Re: Autism

Imadickens — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:24:18 GMT

@lbwshop You make a great point! Yes, I was a boomer and I remember the "odd" kids of whom you spoke. Yes, they all grew to be productive adults. I have wondered if the diagnosis alone caused a child to underachieve! Like the " rise to the lowest bar set for you" idea. In our school days, if one weren't MR they were in regular classes and expected to pass (at least with a D). Those w/ behavior issues saw the principal who dealt w/ him. Interesting thought. Thank you!

Re: Autism

Mz iMac — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:33:15 GMT

A relative has Asperger syndrome. Diagnosed at the age of 2.

IQ off the charts for math, the sciences & technology all because of an all-absorbing interest in those subjects. By the age of 3 this relative somehow taught themselve's to read as well as master all levels of adult video games.

Socially this person is normal in the way of eye contact. Has loads of friends & an active social life.

From toddler - pre teen while watching tv, this person would space out until you say "earth to xxxxx." This spacing out preceded flailing of the arms. With repetitiously home & school "focus" training, this stopped around the age of 11 or 12.

Graduated from hs at the age of 16 & currently is a 3rd yr student at MIT where his all absorbing interests in the previously mentioned subjects comes in pretty handy.

Parents told the family that children w/Asperger's are called little professors in the medical field. Can you confirm that?

Re: Autism

chrystaltree — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:41:01 GMT

You are free to believe whatever you want to believe but the theory that there is link between autism and immunizations was debunked years ago. Very few, if any, professionals ever believed it. If you really were a specialist in this area, you'd know why so many kids are being diagnosed with it now.

Re: Autism

Mrsq2022 — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 23:16:21 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
You are free to believe whatever you want to believe but the theory that there is link between autism and immunizations was debunked years ago. Very few, if any, professionals ever believed it. If you really were a specialist in this area, you'd know why so many kids are being diagnosed with it now.

I too was wondering about this. The term "profoundly autistic" is one I've never heard used by a practitioner. Low-functioning or classical autism versus high functioning are how I now hear these farthest ends of the spectrum described. High functioning used to be aspergers.

Autism has always been here. In my personal experience, I feel that because so many other disorders can be detected in vitro and often terminated before birth, classical autism is the disorder we "see" more than Down's syndrome and others, so it gets discussed a lot.

We know that more children are being diagnosed as "high functioning" or what we called aspergers syndrome before. Those children weren't diagnosed in the past. I can assure you, they were out there but they might have been "nerds" or quirky, or social outcasts depending on whether they found others they could relate to. My deceased single uncle was probably on the spectrum but no one was diagnosed in the 1940s and 50s. He sure fit the criteria.

Is there actually an increase in classical or low-functioning autism or is is just an increase across the spectrum? An increase in the rate of low-functioning autism would be concerning, but I've never heard this was the case.

Re: Autism

Mona_L — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 23:44:39 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
You are free to believe whatever you want to believe but the theory that there is link between autism and immunizations was debunked years ago. Very few, if any, professionals ever believed it. If you really were a specialist in this area, you'd know why so many kids are being diagnosed with it now.

@chrystaltree
Can always count on your quick wit for taking a thread to its lowest level. An expert in autism understands the education needed for instruction (e.g. mands, positive reinforcement, etc.) How could the OP know 100% what causes this dreaded syndrome, no one does.

Re: Autism

K9buddy — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 23:46:02 GMT

@cherry wrote:
My cousins son is autistic. He has done very well for himself . He went to special schools. He has a job in a grocery store and drives a car. He inter acts with people. He is an only child.So he didn't have siblings to learn from.

His mother was a diabetic

I don't know if that could have contributed to his condition.

There a a young man in our neighborhood I am a bit concerned about. He is never in school it seems. He is outdoors playing all the time. He is quite athletic and is almost always alone

We used to worry when we drove past his house because he would shoot out in front of you on a skate board, skates, or a bike. I've never seen him with a parent and he never seems to be dressed warm when the weather is cold. He was out in 31 degree weather in just jeans and a Tshirt.

I feel sorry for him. He is a strapping lad, and doesn't look like he is neglected. He is nicely dressed, always clean looking, and is the right weight for his height One of my friends saw him riding his bike on Christmas Day ,without a coat. I don't know if he sneaks out ,and his parents don't know he has left, or they think it's OK, to go out like that

Why wouldn't you call CPS and report this? On some level it is parental neglect if they don't know where their child is or if he's doing something he shouldn't be doing.

Re: Autism

cherry — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:02:08 GMT

I don't know the name or address of the family, or the child's name. I can't just call about a vague person I have seen. I have no idea of his age or anything else about him. I also have no proof they are doing anything wrong. He doesn't look abused. He is well dressed, and clean ,and well fed

Re: Autism

K9buddy — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:06:05 GMT

I thought you said you drove past his house. Also you don't need any proof. All you need is a suggestion that the kid is putting himself in danger and is not properly dressed for the weather on multiple occasions. Leave it up to CPS to find out if there's proof. More people should get involved when something appears out of the ordinary. You can do it anonymously.

Re: Autism

cherry — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:07:54 GMT

I assume he lives on that street. I wouldn't even know which house is his, or even for sure that is his street

Re: Autism

ptagirl — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:20:07 GMT

@lbwshop wrote:
My 36-year-old daughter has Asberger's. She didn't receive the myriad of immunizations that are recommended now, but those that were required years ago. There were no problems in her childhood. She could always play alone very well, but she was an only child. Her problems seemed to begin late in high school. While I do NOT believe that any specific immunization causes autism, I do think that children are give too many, too close together. Why should infants who are never going to be in day care have to have Hepatitis B shots? There is no harm in individualism. By the way, I am a retired Obstetric RN, so have some knowledge of the subject. When I was a child,an original baby-boomer--1946--there were many kids on the "odd" end of the spectrum, but we just worked around their quirks. I don't know anyone who ended up as anything but a relatively normal adult--some still fidget, some still don't have great social skills, but all work within the human race. Not sure if overdiagnosis is a problem now.

I believe Autism is overdiagnosed. I also believe Attention Deficit Disorder is too. I don't agree with labeling children with these afflictions if they're not showing/performing at the same "milestones" as other kids or have behavioral problems and then pumping them full of meds they don't need.. Children need to know they can do anything other people can do without being labeled "disabled" and need to be encouraged to do so. JMHO

Re: Autism

blackhole99 — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:22:37 GMT

@cherry wrote:
My cousins son is autistic. He has done very well for himself . He went to special schools. He has a job in a grocery store and drives a car. He inter acts with people. He is an only child.So he didn't have siblings to learn from.

His mother was a diabetic

I don't know if that could have contributed to his condition.

There a a young man in our neighborhood I am a bit concerned about. He is never in school it seems. He is outdoors playing all the time. He is quite athletic and is almost always alone

We used to worry when we drove past his house because he would shoot out in front of you on a skate board, skates, or a bike. I've never seen him with a parent and he never seems to be dressed warm when the weather is cold. He was out in 31 degree weather in just jeans and a Tshirt.

I feel sorry for him. He is a strapping lad, and doesn't look like he is neglected. He is nicely dressed, always clean looking, and is the right weight for his height One of my friends saw him riding his bike on Christmas Day ,without a coat. I don't know if he sneaks out ,and his parents don't know he has left, or they think it's OK, to go out like that

When my husband taught at our local highschool he mentioned more than once that the kids did not dress appropriately for the weather. Many kids did not wear coats to school in the winter, the school even had programs where kids could pick out all kinds of winter gear at the school and they still came to school without coats.

Re: Autism

ptagirl — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:28:24 GMT

My daughter is not autistic and never wore a coat, boots, or a hat to high school. She would go wearing shorts in the winter (against my wishes) . If she did wear a coat, she would take it off at school and not wear it home. That was the "cool" thing to do... it was just rebellion and she talks about how stupid she was back then. Not everything needs an explanation when involving kids...

Re: Autism

Wsmom — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 18:52:40 GMT

@ptagirl wrote:
@lbwshop wrote:
My 36-year-old daughter has Asberger's. She didn't receive the myriad of immunizations that are recommended now, but those that were required years ago. There were no problems in her childhood. She could always play alone very well, but she was an only child. Her problems seemed to begin late in high school. While I do NOT believe that any specific immunization causes autism, I do think that children are give too many, too close together. Why should infants who are never going to be in day care have to have Hepatitis B shots? There is no harm in individualism. By the way, I am a retired Obstetric RN, so have some knowledge of the subject. When I was a child,an original baby-boomer--1946--there were many kids on the "odd" end of the spectrum, but we just worked around their quirks. I don't know anyone who ended up as anything but a relatively normal adult--some still fidget, some still don't have great social skills, but all work within the human race. Not sure if overdiagnosis is a problem now.
I believe Autism is overdiagnosed. I also believe Attention Deficit Disorder is too. I don't agree with labeling children with these afflictions if they're not showing/performing at the same "milestones" as other kids or have behavioral problems and then pumping them full of meds they don't need.. Children need to know they can do anything other people can do without being labeled "disabled" and need to be encouraged to do so. JMHO

DD doesn't have autism but has been in special ed her entire life. The autism umbrella is huge. When she was small I asked her pediatrician if he'd had any new kids with her syndrome and he said no, autism is the new diagnosis; everybody is being diagnosed with that. I can't tell you how many of her classmates over the years who were undiagnosed were finally just given the autism diagnosis just to have a diagnosis of some sort. She has autistic friends who are far higher functioning than she is who are rubber stamped to receive SSI and various therapies where I have had to fight tooth and nail for everything. So not that these other kids don't have something going on, they definitely do, it is just a huge benefit to the familes to receive that diagnosis and makes life much easier to receive therapy and other benefits. This is JMO of what I have observed in my area, with the large groups of people she has been involved with over the last 25 years.

Re: Autism

Imadickens — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 21:54:19 GMT

@Mz iMac That is not a phrase I have heard before however I understand its meaning and agree. Many children on the spectrum are obsessed with certain subjects, thus they study intently. Many also have very high IQs.

As for Other posts, please reread my original post. I never claimed to be an expert, only to have done much study on the issue and worked closely with children on the spectrum for over ten years. I'm surprised you are not familiar with term, "profoundly autistic". My sil brother is 40 years old. His family calls him profoundly autistic. I have heard that term used by other professionals as well.

As for immunizations. I also agreed that I did not think they were responsible. I'm sorry if my op was unclear. Also, in our state parents avoid the diagnosis as it is not covered by insurance. As for support services in school, the more severe cases get services fastest. Students on the "lower end of the spectrum" needed parents or teachers willing to fight for services. I believe that is due to the high cost and low availability of these services. In the past five years guidelines for diagnosis have tightened greatly. Feeling was the more lax guidelines may have been one reason for increase in number of effected children.

My original post was a plea for those who might have insight into anything they believe may a cause for Autism. I am also interested in learning personal accounts of intervention and how and when diagnosis was made. Thanks!

Re: Autism

Imadickens — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 22:24:05 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
You are free to believe whatever you want to believe but the theory that there is link between autism and immunizations was debunked years ago. Very few, if any, professionals ever believed it. If you really were a specialist in this area, you'd know why so many kids are being diagnosed with it now.

You are right! Immunizations do not appear to be ( I learned never to say never about anything) an influence in cause of Autism,which is what I thought I said in my original post. What I said, and will stand by, is that I believe we give infants too many immunizations at one time. I think they receive fuller benefit from immunization and have fewer adverse reactions (fever, crying, redness) when they are not bombarded with so much all at once.

Please, I have never and will never claim to be an expert. What I said was that I have studied Autism on the graduate level, attended numerous conferences on the subject, and worked closely teaching middle school Autistic children as well as working closely with Autism Speaks several years ago. I continue to be amazed more isn't known about its cause and why more boys are effected than girls. I was hoping maybe those who are very close to Autistic children might have their own beliefs about this. My hope was for free discussion of beliefs on the subject, not publishable data. I am also interested in the age and reason the diagnosis was sought. For example, one mother said her son was developing normally. When her second son was born 3years later, she began to notice the older boy becoming withdrawn and eventually became non verbal and unable to exhibit many of the benchmarks he had reached on time. In the beginning doctors blew her off as neurotic. Eventually, her son had to be institutionalized. Final diagnosis : Profound Autism. I am sorry if any of my original post was unclear.

Re: Autism

cherry — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 22:40:02 GMT

I recall hearing something that might interest you. There was a lady at our church that married later and was an older mother. She had 2 children . The eldest was a boy and he had autism. It was medically diagnosed

His sister began showing the same symptoms as her brother. The Drs said she was definitely not autistic. They said her behavior was learned from her brother. I have never heard of this before have you?