Help With Autism

There’s no scientific method to diagnose autism except through monitoring its symptoms such as social withdrawal, impaired emotional response, and lack of communication skills.  There’s no laboratory test available to diagnose autism, thus scientists have been searching for biomarkers that would allow them to diagnose autism more easily.  In the Autism news of late, scientists have been looking for abnormal proteins or fluids in the body, including monitoring the saliva of autistic patients.  One protein, called phosphorylation, has been identified as having a much lower presence in autistic children versus healthy children. 

If Scientists could develop a test for autism, they could identify autistic children or children at risk for autism at birth, rather than waiting until the age of 2 or 3 to identify the symptoms of autism.  There is no cure for autism, but treatment is available, and the earlier autism is identified, the easier it is to begin the process of treatment.

The process by which heavy metal ions are extracted from minerals and rocks through natural processes is often called chelation.  In earth science, chelating agents, like peptides and sugars, work to remove heavy metals, and cause the movement of these metals in the soil.  In addition, accumulation of metals in plants and smaller organisms can be attributed to chelating agents.  The same idea of chelation that was pioneered by natural processes has also been used to detoxify metals from the human body. 

Utilizing different chelating agents, through chelation the human body can be rid of toxic metals such as lead and mercury.  Chelation treatment has also been used to treat autism, as one of the supposed causes of autism is mercury poisoning.

Science has yet to find a way to effectively prevent autism, but there are many preventative steps that can be taken both during and after pregnancy, based on the results of past studies. It has also been shown that treating and diagnosing an autistic child as early as possible may better help the child socialize and learn communication skills. So while the causes of autism are still relatively unknown, here are some rules of thumb to follow:

• Insist on early autism screening if any behavioral problems (such as not using language as a form of expression) are noted before two years old. Typically-developing children should be babbling and using hand gestures by 12 months, using single words by 16 months, and beginning to string words together by the second birthday.
• Ask for genetic testing if the child has a lack of social or verbal development before age two.
• Schedule metabolic testing to prevent the onset of autism; heavy metal poisoning has been linked to autism, so a child’s bloodstream should be checked for metal toxicity.
• Look into the possibility of vaccinations containing trace amounts of mercury causing autism; but remember that the evidence for these claims is inconclusive. Consider these studies with caution.
• Avoid eating foods that may have an unsafe level of mercury, such as seafood, when pregnant.

A new study by UC Davis researchers about important autism news may have discovered why autistic children have trouble imitating others; they spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.

The study employed eye-tracking headgear and software that measures the point at which a child is looking when learning a task, according to medicalnewstoday.com. The study showed that autistic children focused on the action that was being demonstrated (and rarely looked at the face), while typically-developing children looked at the face often to check for information about what to do, or how to respond. The finding is considered significant because autistic children have trouble learning from others, and this may be a key as to why.

Heavy metal detoxification has become a fairly popular method among the health-conscious in recent years. The detoxification helps remove mercury and other disease-causing metals from the body.
 
But for those with autism, a heavy metal detox is more of a necessity than a fad. Mercury, which can cause neurological disorders, sensory impairment, disturbed sensations and a lack of coordination, is believed to be a cause of autism. Autistic children can take medications such as PCA-Rx for mercury poisoning. The removal of the toxic heavy metals from their systems can alleviate some symptoms and help autistic children improve their social skills.

Jenny McCarthy is an actress, comedian, model, mom, and New York Times-bestselling author named the official spokesperson of Talk About Curing Autism (TACA).  She participates in fundraisers and has a video blog to raise awareness for autism spectrum disorders.  She is also the co-founder of teach2talk, a company that produces developmentally appropriate educational resources for children.  The Teach2talk product lines target core speech and language, play behavior, and social skills by using video modeling.

McCarthy collaborated with a speech language pathologist to create the products for children with a wide range of chronological and developmental ages.  She and her fellow Teach2talk co-founder, speech pathologist Sarah Clifford Scheflen, partnered to create the revolutionary curriculum, which utilized the results of scientific research, peer reviews, and testing in clinical settings to help create the autism therapy learning tools.

As parents know, one of the biggest challenges with an autistic child is getting them to sleep. PCM-Rx, an autism treatment bearing similarities to PCA-Rx, is being recommended as a good means to help your child do just that, and can also be used to simply help them calm down.PCM-Rx is a powerful detoxifier and helps the body get rid of toxins such as pesticides and heavy metals. It’s administered in a 30-ml oral spray bottle.

According to http://www.helpyourautisticchild.com, PCM-Rx contains the same detoxification qualities as PCA-Rx and is basically identical to it, but includes the additions of lemon balm, melatonin, SAMe (this is how it was spelled on the site) and withonia somnifera. The site describes the effects of the treatment as “calming,” and it’s been well-received among its readers.

13-year-old Carly Fleischman has severe autism and has spent her life unable to verbalize.  After years of extensive autism therapy, Carly had a breakthrough two years ago, beginning to spell out words on a computer keyboard.  Her speech pathologist and parents are amazed and excited by how articulate and intelligent Carly is.  She began to open up to them, describing what it is like to have autism, and there are things she wants people to understand about her disorder.  “It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can’t talk or I act differently than them. I think people get scared with things that look or seem different than them.” 

Therapists say the lesson to be learned from Carly’s story is for families to persevere and continue to be creative in their attempts to help children with autism find their voice.  Carly’s father points out that if her parents had listened to what many people told them years ago, they wouldn’t have the child they have today.  Carly’s speech pathologist asked Carly to speak to her colleagues about autism, asking what she would like to tell them.  Carly’s response?  “I would tell them never to give up on the children that they work with.”  Carly had more to say to people who don’t comprehend autism: “Autism is hard because you want to act one way, but you can’t always do that. It’s sad that sometimes people don’t know that sometimes I can’t stop myself and they get mad at me. If I could tell people one thing about autism it would be that I don’t want to be this way. But I am, so don’t be mad. Be understanding.”

Adapted from ABC World News Report story by John McKenzie, February 19, 2008

The VH1 Classic music television channel has developed a campaign called Rock Autism, intending to educate parents and build awareness about the disorder.  Musicians such as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Ronnie James Dio of Dio, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil of Motley Crue, Roger Daltrey of the Who, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin appear in a public service announcement that runs frequently on the channel and on its parent channel, VH1.  The intention of the campaign is to help educate parents, providing them a forum while building autism awareness on the campaign website and their Facebook page.  Another primary focus of VH1 Classic Rock Autism is raising funds for autism research, advocacy, and support organizations.  VH1 Classic Rock Autism has consciously targeted the age-30-and-over demographic most strongly because this population is at the primary age to start families, and with autism rates still rising, education is the best defense for potential parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders.

VH1 Classic Rock Autism’s webpage lists many other resource groups and links to autism information and news about the disease and the campaign’s efforts as well as spotlighting the efforts of other cable channels to educate the public about this disorder.  MTV’s popular documentary program “True Life” has an episode entitled “I Have Autism”, and children’s channel Nickelodeon has broadcast a special Nick News report called “Private Worlds:  Kids and Autism”.   Clips for both of these shows can be accessed from the MTV and Nickelodeon websites and are also linked through the VH1 Classic Rock webpage.

The link between vaccination and autism continues to become a hot issue as doctors vehemently deny it, while both parents and others in the medical community claim that the link is valid.

In a letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, physician, Dr. David Ayoub, claims that pediatricians rely on information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is funded by the companies that manufacture vaccines.

“With the recent concession by government health officials that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund, the facade of lies is beginning to crumble. I urge parents and pediatricians to do their own research with a thorough review of available literature and stop trusting reassuring claims from the very agencies that are responsible for this horrible debacle,” wrote Dr. Ayoub.