Understanding Autism And Irrational Fears - 5 Ideas You Can Try Today

                

 

Part of supporting an autistic means understanding autism and helping autistics cope with their fears. An autistic may fear many things including sudden loud sounds, physical contact, the dark, strange smells, etc. In fact, many autistics fear things they have no control over. However, not every autistic person has the same fears. Therefore, you need to learn what upsets your child and find ways to help them cope.

The following are 5 common fears suffered by autistics, and how you can effectively handle the situation to create a more positive experience for your child.

1. Fear of the dentist ? Many autistic children are afraid of the dentist. This shouldn?t be too surprising, considering the dentist can be hard to take for the average person.

Understanding autism and fear of the dentist is a matter of introducing your child to the right dentist. You need to find a dentist who is experienced with children with disabilities, particularly autism. If you have trouble finding a dentist with such experience, your best option is to choose one who has compassion and a willingness to learn.

Overcoming the dentist fear is about slowly introducing your child to the environment. The first few visits should only consist of getting your child to sit in the chair and the dentist looking in his/her mouth. Furthermore, distractions such as TV can help make the process easier to take. This process can take several months.

2. Fear of the dark ? Many autistic children fear the dark because they can?t control it and fear the unknown.

To help your child overcome this fear, try a game of peek-a-boo with the blanket, allowing your child to move from dark to light at their control. Other methods that may work in understanding autism fears of the dark include providing your child with a flashlight, lamp or nightlight.

3. Fear of loud sudden noises ? Loud sudden noises such as a fire alarm or thunder, often startles and upsets autistics. Sensitivity to sound may be desensitized through sound recording. Provide your child with a recording of the sound that upsets him/her and allow them to start the sound and slowly increase its volume. Having control over the playback of sound can help the child become familiar with the noise, allowing them to recognize it when it occurs.

4. Fear of looking at people ? Many autistics don?t look directly at others. Many researchers believe this is because autistics cannot accurately interpret expressions and emotions. Thus, autistics generally find it disturbing to look at people?s faces.

New studies on understanding autism have found that autistics respond well to cartoons that feature trains and cars that have people?s faces superimposed on them. These particular cartoons known as ?The Transporters? have been particularly successful at helping autistics learn about emotions.

5. Fear of socializing ? One of the biggest autistic fears is socializing. This means that it is often difficult for them to make friends. The following are ways you can help encourage them to socialize with those their own age:

- Encourage your child to get phone numbers of some of his/her schoolmates and bring them home so you can make calls.

- Schedule a playtime or invite another family of a fellow schoolmate over to your home for brief interaction (2 hour limit)

- Don?t rely on the friendship of only one child. Invite more than one child over.

- Ask your child what he/she wants to do when the friend comes over. Create a list of activities so things remain entertaining. Just remember, you need to teach your child to be flexible and accept suggestions from others. This can take time.

The more knowledge people have in understanding autism, the easier it will be for your child to make and keep friends.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter & discover how understanding autism & autism symptoms can give your child a big advantage.

Enzymes, Autism and PDDs

                

 

The references for this series of articles is the authors personal knowledge and experience, the book Enzymes for Autism and other Nurological Conditions. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.

In this article well take a long look at Autism, at what is known and at some things about which we can only surmise. Well start with the question: How do enzyme supplements help in autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs)?

Many of these people may have general digestion problems, leaky gut syndrome, inflammation in the gut, yeast overgrowth, or other conditions that result in insufficiently digested food and poor absorption all of which enzymes may help improve. Some, not all, children with autism exhibit behavioral problems that lessen with the removal of certain foods. There is some evidence that insufficiently broken down proteins may bind to receptors in the gut and brain causing problematic symptoms and behaviors.

Other foods may result in equally problematic, although different, symptoms. Enzymes help break down foods more sufficiently so they will not be in a form that is problematic or causes an immune system reaction. At the same time, they may help heal the fundamental gastrointestinal issues.

Here is where Bio88+ (Plus), can play a vital role in that it is pleasant tasting, easy to take, goes to work instantly upon ingestion, and enhances both digestion and absorption of nutrients in the food we take.

Heres another perplexing problem and possible answer. Peptizyde is considered the breakthrough. What makes Peptizyde so special?

Peptizyde contains a unique blend of proteases and peptidases targeting the identified problematic peptides, which made it the first product to allow some sensitive individuals to eat casein and gluten regularly. A recent research study confirms that the synergistic effect of these particular proteases are particularly effective in breaking casein and other protein bonds. This was the first blend to allow many people to successfully use instead of a casein_free, gluten_free diet. It came out in April 2001. Because of its strong success, other companies will no doubt duplicate or pattern this formulation in other similar products.

So your child is already on a restrictive diet. Does he or she still need enzymes?

There are a number of restrictive diets found to be helpful with various subgroups of autism spectrum and neurological conditions Feingold, yeast, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, casein_free/gluten_free, high protein, and others. Since enzymes facilitate food breakdown, absorption, and utilization they may be very helpful with any of these. Sources of the potentially harmful peptides and how they function are not completely understood, nor are the exact mechanisms of other problematic foods. Sources of peptide production from within the body, such as normal breakdown of red blood cells, yeast, and bacteria (good and bad) may be contributing to the peptide load. This may explain why some do not see much improvement with certain restrictive diets.

So, heres a slow curve with a fast break to it: can I use the enzymes in place of a restrictive diet?

Most people find they can reintroduce most foods by giving the appropriate enzymes for the food type. However, not all people can successfully reintroduce all foods. You may still need to restrict a few items on a case-by-case basis. Particularly problematic foods are nuts, seeds, and foods conveying a true allergy. Enzymes can supplement any type of diet, and people show improvement in most circumstances. Some people find when they use certain enzymes they no longer need to follow a restrictive diet. There are a variety of restrictive diet types giving success to various sub-groups of individuals: Feingold Diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, Casein-free/ Gluten-free (and often soy-free) Diet, Keto Diet (high protein), Yeast Control Diets, and Rotation Diets.

Since enzymes facilitate food breakdown, absorption, and utilization they may be very helpful with any of these. The exact mechanisms of many problematic foods are not completely understood. Sources of peptide production from within the body, such as normal breakdown of red blood cells, yeast, and bacteria (good and bad) may be contributing to any peptide load. Or carbohydrate and sugar sources may be unknown. Or there is gut injury not accounted for. This may explain why some people do not see much improvement with certain restrictive diets, but do with enzymes. Adding enzymes to facilitate the digestion of what you do eat may make a diet more effective, such as adding proteases to a high protein diet.

Enzymes work very well to supplement a diet and thus make the diet more effective than it would be otherwise. Many diets are based on certain foods not being well_digested to begin with so enzymes are a natural solution. Enzymes work very well on actual food and natural food chemicals. The breakdown of artificially produced chemicals or added chemicals is somewhat limited at this time. These non_food ingredients usually do not provide nutrition anyway, may aggravate a sensitive system, and may hamper health in the long run. Enzymes are not able to convert non_nutritious compounds into healthful nutrients. Providing nutritious raw materials is necesary. Enzymes may enhance the absorption and ultization of any supplements or medications taken as well, making them more effective.

Iin the case of Bio88+ (Plus), all the above is true. Feel free to contact the author by email for additional information.

Our next article, Part XII, deal with the casein-free, gluten-free diet.

Disclaimer: These articles in no way should be taken as medical advice on any product or condition, nor do they constitute in any way medical advice endorsing any specific product, specific result, nor any possible cure for any condition or problem. They are meant as a source of information upon which you may base your decision as to whether or not you should begin using a greens product as a dietary supplement. If in doubt, or if you have questions, you should consult your physician and, if possible, consult a second physician for a possible different opinion. The author (nor the book referenced and its authors) bear any responsibility for your decisions nor for the outcome of your actions based upon those decisions.

Loring Windblad has studied nutrition and exercise for more than 40 years, is a published author and freelance writer. His latest business endeavor is at
http://www.organicgreens.us or
http://www.organicgreens.ca - still under construction