Help With Autism

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.

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.

Child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan developed a treatment for autism known as Floortime. Both a method and a philosophy, Floortime gets its name because the parents get down on the floor with the child in order to encourage communication with him at his level. The Floortime method does not focus on speech, motor, or cognitive skills, but emphasizes emotional development because they are all interrelated.  Greenspan believes that an autistic child can build a larger circle of interaction accompanied by an adult who engages the child at his most current developmental level, participates in the child’s activities and following his lead, building on the individual strengths of the child.  Once Floortime becomes a mutally shared process between parent and child, the parent is instructed how to move the child toward the milestones, known as “opening and closing circles of communication”. 

The ultimate goal of Floortime is to help the child achieve the six basic milestones necessary to master emotional and intellectual maturity for her level.  Greenspan defines the six milestones as: self-regulation and interest in the world; intimacy and love for the world of human interpersonal relations; two-way communication; complex communication; emotional ideas; and emotional thinking.  The autistic child has a challenging time achieving these rites of developmental passage without treatment, due to difficulty processing and responding to sensory information, and sometimes poor physical control.
 

Clathration is a less invasive form of chelation therapy in which the clathrating subject—such as PCA-RX, a living bacterial and microbial organism—is ingested in oral form.  The clathrate then finds the toxins in the body, enclosing them in a three-dimensional cage-like complex known as a lattice structure or matrix of cells, attaching three separate types of irreversible bonds to the toxins. 

This has a neutralizing effect on the toxins, keeping them from any further tissue contact as they are flushed out of the body.    PCA-RX is particularly effective for the removal of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and aluminum, plaque, inoculation and pesticide residues from the cells of the blood, lymphatic fluid, and cerebral spinal fluid, the three primary bodily pathways.

There is a swimming pool treatment on the market called BioGuard. Maxam-RX’s nutritional supplement BioGuard is very different—it is meant to support the body’s immune system and balance its chemistry to resist invasion.  It is in the Candida cleanse family of products.

The ingredients of BioGuard consist of cell types found in our normal physiology and the body reacts to them as such—the “smart molecules” that can actually reproduce, repair and purify themselves.  BioGuard also promotes better water absorption, the body’s ability to absorb nutrients more effectively, and natural elimination of toxins.
 

 Some consider autism to be a disorder of the antibiotic era, because as antibiotic usage becomes more widespread, so do rates of autism.   Antibiotics kill bacteria, but ultimately replace them with certain yeasts that are found in the intestinal, mouth, and female genital tract.   These yeasts then turn into toxic compounds within the nervous system.  In a healthy person, the liver would eliminate them before they were able to affect and slow the brain.  Certain chemicals in the diet are also known to affect brain development, and particularly when combined with the inner yeasts promoted by use of antibiotics.  The developmental delays seen in autistic children, particularly in the speech centers of the brain, may be linked to the above process. 

Many believe that eliminating casein and gluten from the diet will slow the development of inner yeasts and be an effective treatment for autism.  Some also believe that a sugar-free diet is helpful because sugar may inhibit the immune system and its ability to fight yeast development.

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.
 

Mercury is a heavy metal poison occurring in three different groups.  These groups vary in effects due to differences in their absorption and metabolism, among other factors.   Mercury poisoning is an illness caused by exposure to mercury or its harmful compounds.

All mercury-based toxic compounds damage the central nervous system and other organs and organ systems.  Standard mercury poisoning symptoms include sensory impairment, disturbed sensation, and decreased motor skills.  The type and degree of the symptoms exhibited by mercury poisoning depend on the individual toxin, the size and method of the dose, and the duration of the exposure.