Help With Autism

Autistic teenagers may not act like other people you know or even each other, because the severity and range of symptoms can vary so much from person to person.  Autistic teenagers can have issues with verbal and emotional expression and may be more comfortable communicating with hand gestures or seem unemotional.  Some may prefer solitude and seem like they may not want to make friends, not reacting to social cues like the body language of others or refraining from group activities.  Some autistic teens appear passive and withdrawn, where others seem to be more aggressive and have tantrums when they are frustrated because expressing emotions in more acceptable ways is difficult. 

Some autistic teenagers are very sensitive to sensory stimuli and may draw back when hugged or startle when they hear a sudden noise.  Many are more comfortable with a regular daily routine because change makes them anxious.  In more severe cases, an autistic teen will fixate on objects or ideas or display repetitive motions like rocking.  Autistic research shows that the above traits are all part of the disorder, but research also classifies autism as a spectrum disorder because of the different spectrum of ways it can affect each person who has it.
 

Rett syndrome symptoms include cognitive impairment and difficulty with socialization, which generally improves by the time the child enters school.  The rate of head growth is slower in those who have Rett’s and may include microcephaly (a very small head) as well as small hands and feet with repetitive hand movements such as wringing.  Girls with Rett syndrome are prone to stomach problems and up to 80% also have seizures.  About half of females are not ambulatory.  Scoliosis, failure to grow, constipation, and lack of verbal skills are also very common manifestations of Rett’s syndrome, which occurs much more commonly in girls.

Rett syndrome is one of the disorders commonly identified as being under the umbrella of autism, along with Asperger’s syndrome, sensory integration disorder, and several others. 
Autism treatments are always changing as autism awareness becomes more prevalent.

Autism information begins with the first published academic paper identifying autistic children.  The paper was published in 1943 by Leo Kanner and was titled “Autistic Disturbance of Affective Contact”.  Before Kanner’s observations were recorded, such children were being classified as emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded.  Kanner’s work pointed out that these children often demonstrated potential that did not allow them to fit comfortably into either prior diagnosis.  His response was to invent a new diagnostic category called Early Infantile Autism, sometimes called Kanner’s Syndrome.  Hans Asperger essentially made the same discoveries at the same time independently of Kanner in his academic paper “Autistic Psychopathy in Childhood”.  The difference in the subjects being studied by these two pioneers was that Asperger’s subjects had speech, so Asperger’s Syndrome is often still used today to classify autistic people who have speech.

The word “autism” already had a meaning before Kanner coined it as a diagnosis:  “escape from reality”.  It is speculated that Kanner appropriated this word because he believed that the classified children were either actually trying to escape from reality or gave that impression.  Other terms have applied to what we now call autism:  childhood schizophrenia, infantile autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Kanner’s Syndrome, and other autism spectrum disorders have also been identified, such as Sensory Integration Disorder.

PENNSYLVANIA – Parents of autistic children would be able to pay for autism therapy and related services with private health insurance starting next year, under legislation that strikes a compromise between the insurance industry and advocates for the disabled.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed the measure, which also would give the state Insurance Department power to approve the proposed merger of Pennsylvania’s two largest insurance companies. The Senate’s Republican leader said Wednesday he expects that chamber to send the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell, who said he would sign it, before the Legislature’s two-month summer break.

Market America announced that it is in the development and testing stages of a new line of nutraceutical products that will support the health of children with autism and related neurodevelopmental challenges. Specialized laboratory testing often demonstrates sub-optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in people with autism, which can be addressed with nutritional supplements. Despite these findings, Market America found in its research that parents and health professionals alike are frustrated with the limited nutritional products available in the marketplace.

Market America is working in conjunction with these doctors to develop a regimen of nutraceutical products that will promote a high quality of life for those living with autism.

“It is simply mind-blowing and disheartening when you read the statistics about children afflicted with autism,” said Marty Weissman, executive vice president of Market America.

“One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism and 67 new children are diagnosed per day. As a company founded on science based products, it is time that we use our expertise to support the health of these children.”

The conference was held to identify areas that are lacking in autism therapy and how Market America could develop products that meet the special needs of these children.

OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s been quite the year in Oklahoma, particularly after a dodgy legislative session that resulted with the Speaker of the House giving insurance companies the opportunity to deny children who suffer from autism.  Now a group that helps people with disabilities and special needs will offer therapeutic programs to help treat the symptoms of autism in young children.

Easter Seals of Oklahoma is planning to open the Easter Seals Autism Therapeutic School in Oklahoma City after Labor Day.

The full-day program will feature therapeutic services and interaction with children without autism who attend an onsite day care. 

Hopefully, this program will increase autism awareness in the state, as well as around the United States.

MARYLAND – Ginny Russo and her son Tony, 3, will be marching in the nation’s capital today to bring awareness and attention to autism.

Autism spectrum disorders affect about one in 150 children in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s a growing epidemic,” Russo said.

Russo, 33, of Mount Airy became informed about autism even before her son Tony was diagnosed when he was 2½ years old.

The rally Russo will be marching in today is to push Congress to promote cleaning up and re-evaluating the schedule of vaccinations given to children. The event, titled “Green our Vaccines,” claims that children are receiving too many vaccinations too soon.

The cause of autism is unknown, but organizations such as Talk About Curing Autism and Moms Against Mercury, which are sponsoring the rally, support the theory that there is a link between vaccinations and autism.

Russo said she doesn’t know what caused Tony’s disorder, but she has taken her son to receive alternative medical treatment and has placed him on a gluten-free diet. Russo said she has seen results in Tony, and that’s good enough for her.

Russo said autism is the common term for autism spectrum disorders that include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome and other specific diagnoses.

ASDs are defined by the CDC as developmental disabilities that cause substantial impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests.

People use eye contact in a variety of ways every minute of every day but how often do you find yourself staring into space with concentrating on an issue or problem? Psychologists now know that people who are carrying out a complex task tend to look away from anyone else who is nearby. They refer to it as ‘gaze aversion’.

Now they are finding out how to use changes in a child’s gaze aversion to understand their educational progress. A group led by Dr. Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon at the University of Stirling has looked at gaze aversion in both children and adults.

They found that children aged 4-6 are more likely to avert their gaze when they are carrying out a task that they find difficult, or new to them. They also avert their gaze less if they are being tested by someone they know.

When observing 5-8 year-olds, the researchers found that gaze aversion is related to the complexity of the task being undertaken, rather than to other stimuli. The results were consistent for a variety of settings and for a range of tasks, such as balancing a beam with asymmetrical loads.

Researchers say that, from the point of view of the teacher, gaze aversion is a positive sign. A child who is doing it is likely to be developing their understanding and is what Dr Doherty-Sneddon terms an “improver”. By contrast, children who are not improving their performance, or who are regressing, use gaze aversion less often.

Gaze aversion is an important key in autism awareness and detection in children.

As I’ve discussed on this blog before, treatment for autism could include a change in diet, removing traces of dairy and wheat.  A good resource for recipes, aside from the internet, are vegan cookbooks.  Vegan cookbooks often offer a plethora of great recipes of gluten free foods, most of which are easy to make, and, making these foods are often cheaper than purchasing their dairy and wheat-filled counterparts.

 Autism research from the US suggests that compared to other developmental disabilities, low birthweight and premature birth was linked to a higher risk of autism, especially for girls.

The study had two goals. The first was to find out how frequently autism prevailed compared to that of other developmental disabilities in low birthweight and preterm babies, and the second was to establish the specific risks involved.

For the first goal, the researchers counted all children born in Atlanta between 1981 and 1993 who survived until the age of three. These were located from vital records.

From this group they then identified those that were still living in Atlanta at age between 3 and 10, and who had developmental disabilities: autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, or vision impairment. They used another set of records for this, the Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program.

For the second goal, the researchers looked at records from the first goal and created a “nested case-control sample”, with those children identified as having autism being the “cases”, and those who were not identified as having a developmental disability (or in receipt of special education) as the “controls”. (It is a nested sample because these groups are subgroups of the overall cohort). Over 550 case-control pairs were created.

The results showed that:
• Compared to other developmental disabilities, the prevalence of autism in preterm or low birthweight children was significantly lower.
• Birthweight below 5.5 lbs and birth at less than 33 weeks gestation was linked to a twofold increase in autism risk.
• This increased risk of autism was higher in girls and when autism was accompanied by other developmental disabilities.
• For example, there was a significant fourfold risk of autism in low birthweight girls who also had mental retardation, whereas there was no significant increased risk in low birthweight boys for autism alone.

The authors concluded that:

“Gender and autism subgroup differences in birth weight and gestational age, resulting in lower gender ratios with declining birth weight or gestational age across all autism subgroups, might be markers for etiologic heterogeneity in autism.”

“There may be sex differences in genetic factors leading to autism.”

Low birthweight and pre-term birth are already known to be among the biggest risk factors for developmental disabilities.