Help With Autism

Autism is a brain development disorder that most effects skills of social interaction and communication. Because of this, it’s important for autistic children to interact and communicate with their peers as much as possible. Autism research has indicated that autistic children who build strong relationships with their peers are often more successful overcoming their disorder. It’s important for autistic children to be able to interact with other children their age, in addition to brothers, sisters, and parents. For children with severe autism, social interaction and even basic communication can be quite a challenge, as other children will be unable to understand. However, it’s still important to do all that is possible to expose autistic children to the same social situations that we all experience. For children with mild autism, continuous social interaction and communication can eliminate many of the symptoms of autism all together.

Parents with autistic children must do all that is possible to avoid sheltering their child, and ensure that the child experiences social situations on a regular basis. This makes activities like attending school quite important.

Despite significant research from numerous academic and corporate organizations, the causes of autism remain unknown.  The topic of what causes autism is quite controversial, with numerous different theories, there are few that have concrete evidence to support their claim.  There is a general agreement that autism is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, with limited evidence to support both claims.  For example, autism is much more prevalent in families that have a history of autism, and in addition, children who have autistic siblings are much likelier to develop autism.  In terms of environmental factors, vaccines and a preservative called thimerosal have been linked to autism, though information on this is limited.

When autism was first recognized as a condition, it was believed that poor parenting caused autism, however, this is not the case.  There is little parents can do to prevent autism, but it is possible to treat it when recognized in the early stages of life.  The most likely conclusion is that several factors cause autism, and it’s important to support researchers focused on treatments as well as discovering the causes of autism. 

Autism is quite a complex disorder with several contributing factors, and there are many theories as to how it is caused.  Autism is genetic, with evidence indicating that children who have autistic siblings are at much greater risk for autism than those who have no history of autism in their family.  In addition, environmental factors such as exposure to toxic substances and over-vaccination of infants have been linked as a potential cause.  Autism is a biological brain disorder, and it’s likely that multiple factors contribute to the likeliness of a child having autism.  While the exact cause has yet to be determined, the risks of autism are clear.  Parents would be advised to monitor their children’s exposure to toxins, and also avoid unnecessary vaccinations. 

It’s not possible to eliminate all risk for autism, but addressing those known concerns like environmental factors can help to ensure the safety of young children.  It’s also a good idea for all parents to check out autism research online before having a child.  This will help parents prepare and address risks, should any exist. 

Autism is a serious condition which affects millions of adults and children worldwide.  Unlike other mental illnesses, autism is not quite so easy to diagnose, and it comes in different degrees of severity.  The two most important parts to addressing autism are recognition and treatment.  To recognize autism in a younger child, look for impaired communication, or repetitive behavior.  If you suspect a child could be autistic, you should consult a doctor immediately.  Treatment for autism varies; there are medicinal treatments, as well as therapy. 

Autism research shows that if autism is recognized a young age, a child is much more likely to become a functional member of society through treatment, though this is not always possible depending on the severity of the mental illness. 

There’s a good reason doctors tell women not to eat large amounts of fish when they are pregnant. Pollution in our lakes, streams and oceans has led to fish becoming saturated with toxic levels of mercury. Mercury is especially damaging to fetuses, babies and children. Mercury is seeped into our water supply by emissions from power plants and other industrial activity. Americans are then exposed to mercury when they eat fish.Women who are exposed to high levels of mercury while they are pregnant should know that their health as well as their baby’s is threatened. Mercury can do serious damage to many parts of the body, including the nervous system, the kidneys, vision, and hearing. Babies who are exposed to mercury while in the womb can experience severe damage to the nervous system and die. They may also develop brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities. Birth defects mercury poisoning aren’t worth the brief pleasure of eating fish.

We know there’s a host of things you can’t eat or drink or do when you’re pregnant – and for good reason. One of the most important things to avoid, though, is anything that could contain mercury. Which often times means raw fish or shellfish. Women who are exposed to mercury in pregnancy have given birth to children with serious birth defects due to mercury poisoning.

In utero mercury exposure can lead to Minamata disease, which has symptoms such as ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, a narrowed field of vision, and damage to the hearing and speech. In extreme cases, the disease can cause insanity, paralysis, coma and death after just a few weeks of the onset of symptoms.

Art and music have been effective components of autism therapy for many years.  Both assist people with autistic spectrum disorders with expression of their feelings, allowing them to communicate fluently despite possible verbal challenges in nonthreatening media.  Art therapy is fun, creative, and encourages development of fine motor skills.  For example, working with clay helps strengthen the muscles that are used in handwriting.

Like art, music is a nonthreatening, nonverbal medium that is effective in the development of speech.  The range of speech capabilities among autistic children is large, ranging from no speech at all to some speech, often monotonic and characterized by a lack of expression.  A great deal of autism research has concluded that autistic children are unusually sensitive to music.  Some have perfect pitch and can play musical instruments exceptionally well, but music in a therapeutic setting is also adaptable to nonmusical goals.  Since autistic children sometimes sing rather than speaking, speech can be improved through vocal music activities.  Songs with simple words, phrases, and even nonsense syllables can assist the autistic child’s language skills.  Word phrases and songs presented with visual and tactile clues can expedite this process, while other children respond meaningfully when both questions and answers are framed as songs.  Singing can also reduce the monotonic cadence that characterizes the speech of some autistic children.  Since singing phrases a way to put words together and remember them, it can be a vital building block to communication for children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Thimerosal, also known as thiomersal, was first added to vaccines as a bactericide in the 1930s.  As of the mid-1980s, thimerosal was used as a preservative in almost all whole-cell DPT vaccines, which children routinely received four times from two months to eighteen months of age.  During the late 1980s, Hib vaccines containing thimerosal are recommended for children at eighteen months of age as well.  In the early 1990s, the Hepatitis B vaccine contained thimerosal; it was routinely administered three times before six months of age and again in a four-dose increment within an eighteen-month period beginning at the age of two years.  By the late 1990s, three of the standard shots to be administered to all children between six and eighteen months of age contained thimerosal.  In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics requested thimerosal removal from all pediatric vaccines. By 2001, the preservative was no longer used in scheduled childhood vaccines in the United States. 

In the years since 2001, many studies and statements have been made by the CDC, FDA, Institute of Medicine, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and others, both supporting and rejecting the plausibility the link between thimerosal and autism.  Further studies have been conducted to explore a connection between chelating agent DMSA, and questions have also been asked regarding ethyl mercury being linked to autism.  The ethyl mercury theory is unsubstantiated at this time, and a 2008 study indicates that further risk assessment will be needed before a definite conclusion can be made.  In 2008, autism rates are rising among children in the United States, and there is still much work to be done.

Harvard researchers have recently reported that autistic children have a wide range of genetic abnormalities, making it next to impossible to create a straightforward genetic test to identify the disorder.   The University of Missouri has responded by studying 3D imaging to illustrate correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will ultimately enable the creation of a standard for earlier detection of the disorder.  Rather than using existing MRI (magnetic resonance image) technology, the University of Missouri team has developed 3-D tools to draw comparisons between the brain structures of autistic and non-autistic children.  Some of these autism research preliminary findings have drawn apparent parallels between complex autism in children with more physical challenges, known brain abnormalities and smaller head sizes, a category that encompasses approximately 20% of affected children.  The other 80% of affected children are classified as having essential autism, with facial structure and increased cranium similarities having been noted by researchers.  Brain abnormalities have been suspected in the latter group, but research has not confirmed these speculations at this time.

Current diagnoses of autism are based exclusively on behavioral traits, though doctors will use a tape measurement to check for facial and brain dissimilarities as well.  University of Missouri researchers are developing a quantitative method that will measure these differences in a more precise fashion.  Their goal is to have the capability to perform a fast and non-invasive scan of a child’s face and brain, prescreening for abnormalities and expediting the crucial early treatment of autistic spectrum disorder in children and preparation of their families.  The researchers also hope to reveal other genetic clues that can direct future research.