Autism and Intelligence

                

 

While the average IQ rate of the population seems to be about 100, patients with autism mostly have a decreased one due to the learning disability or creating the disabilities; some of the autistics though have shown a normal or even high IQ rate. From this reason many sufferers from the Asperger syndrome are able to lead a normal life.

The autistic disorder is usually diagnosed during childhood, especially around the age of 3-4 when parents notice an abnormal behavior in their children. Some children however can remain undiagnosed until the age of 12 and the medical treatment is mostly hard to begin at this age. Many autistic children are only diagnosed after going to school as they show their poor social skills or a challenging behavior. Especially patients with the milder form called Asperger syndrome can remain undiagnosed until later opportunities occur.

No exact method of autism diagnose is known. Still, doctors must firstly eliminate other conditions by performing hearing and blood tests. Autism is diagnosed by the close observation of the behavior, social skills and ability to communicate. Parents and specialists must work together to identify a possible autistic disorder. If suspicion of autism persists, the child will be seen by a group of specialists such as a pediatrician, a child psycho loge and psychiatrist, a speech therapist and an educational expert. Every autistic child must have his personal caretaker which will closely observe the patient?s assessment and progresses.

An appropriate treatment for autism includes education, special behavior and speech training and even medications in some cases. Children with autistic disorders require special care in an appropriate school environment or in regular schools with additional help if the symptoms are moderate. The progresses of the patients very much depend on a well organized structure of the classes and classrooms. Schools must also use methods to help the patients find new ways of expressing themselves.

An adequate behavior therapy can only be provided by a clinical psychologist and will help the family to better understand the child?s needs. Some neurovegetative abnormal actions can be controlled by medications. Autistic children have frequent outbursts of aggressiveness, obsessions, hyper agitation and hyperactivity of their behavior. Used for a longer period of time, these drugs can show dangerous side-effects like provoking obsessions and repetitive actions.

Other therapeutic approaches are known, but they are however not approved by medical organizations as their benefits are not been proven. Music therapies can help calming down the patients while symbols and pictures might improve the communication skills. Another unscientifically proved method of treating autism symptoms is the use of the Secretin hormone.

The autistic child requires permanent care and the parent will need another qualified persons to help with the child?s observation. Caretakers of patients with such disorders are also entitled to an allowance for disabilities.

For greater resources on Autism or especially about signs of autism please click this link http://www.autism-info-center.com/signs-of-autism.htm

Diagnosing Autism - What Steps To Take

                

 

Most children with autism are diagnosed at or before age three. There are times when it is obvious that there might be a problem, and other times things can go unnoticed. Children with classic autism have signs and symptoms that are rather obvious. However, those with higher functioning forms like Asperger?s may not show signs that are not so easy to pick up on. No matter why type of function these children have, there are some things that are used in diagnosing autism that will be noticed in all children. Parents with concerns should see a doctor for proper diagnosis.

Parents are the first step in diagnosis, but doctors may notice problems before a parent. There are many signs they can see as early as age one. A child with autism will be slow to speak or communicate, if they do so at all. They may be over stimulated or under stimulated by noises and actions. They may play alone, and they may also use repetitive motions. Some children might also be super sensitive to touch, and may cry out when held. Others may have tantrums that seem to come from things that other children handle well. Sometimes the smallest change in daily routine can trigger a tantrum. They might also ignore others, and cannot seem to maintain eye contact with anyone they don?t know. Many have problems with delayed motor skills, and might appear to be very clumsy.

There are some things that must be eliminated first. A hearing test might be one of the first things tested, as a lack of hearing can explain some behaviors and signs. A child might be non-verbal because they can?t hear, and this would also explain why they don?t react to noises and other stimuli. Genetic testing might also be done to see if there is a different explanation for many of the signs of developmental delay. A child might also be tested for seizure disorders.

After this type of testing is done, and everything else is eliminated, autism is diagnosed by behaviors. There is no medical test that can pinpoint it, and it is more of a process of elimination than anything. A doctor will study and ask for details about behaviors related to the child and determine what type of autism that child might have, and how high or low functioning they might be. The categories that will be looked at are communication, socializations, and overall behaviors.

A parent who is concerned should see their doctor about diagnosing autism as soon as they can. Most children are diagnosed by age four, but some can be diagnosed sooner. An early diagnosis means that the child can begin treatments at a younger age, and this can greatly improve the quality of life. This is especially true for the higher functioning children with Asperger?s. Though there is no cure for autism, there are some programs these children and parents can use to help with communication and socialization problems. Though it is a difficult diagnosis to accept, early treatment is best.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter for more information about diagnosing autism. In the newsletter you'll find out more about the signs and symptoms of autism.

Understanding The Autism And Diet Link

                

 

When the initial diagnosis of autism is made, parents often feel very scared, and incredibly lost. It is hard to know what to do next, and even where to begin. All parents want to help their children, but because there is no exact cause or cure known at the current time, finding and exploring options are often some of the first steps parents will take. One thing parents may come across in their research is the connection between autism and diet.

Though a change in eating habits and implementing a GFCF diet might not cure autism, there are many that believe this diet can help a child with this condition.

The initials GFCF stand for gluten free and casein free. Glutens are special proteins that are found in foods like grains or wheat, oats, and barley. Gluten can also be found in soy sauces, vinegar, some starches, and in many different types of food preservatives, artificial flavors and even dyes for colorings. Casein is also a protein, and is found in milk and almost every product made from milk. Think ice cream, cheese, and yogurts. Both of these proteins can be hidden in other types of food as well.

The link between the foods containing gluten and casein and autism is still being studied. It is believed that some autistic children struggle to digest these foods, and they are instead a toxin to the body.

This toxin then has an affect on personality and behaviors that are associated with autism. For someone with intolerance to foods containing gluten and casein, eating them could also create a huge disturbance in the digestive system causing bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and sometimes vomiting.

Though many parents hope that this diet will help with all of autism symptoms, some rely on it mostly to help with the physical problems associated with ingesting these foods and proteins.

Any parent that thinks autism and diet are related should talk with their doctor before trying such a diet. Eliminating milk might be one of the first steps, but it also means eliminating a major source of calcium.

Continue reading for more information about GFCF diets and to sign up to the newsletter for additional information on managing autism with dietary changes.

When many of the foods are eliminated in order to try the GFCF diet, there can be deficiencies in some of the important vitamins and minerals a child needs. A doctor can help decide what to eliminate from the diet and what might be added to make up any nutritional shortfall. A doctor will also help monitor the over-all health of the child as the diet progresses, something that is essential for good health.

Results and conclusions about the effectiveness of avoiding GFCF foods on autistic behavior are still debated. Some parents have noticed significant changes, while other parents have found that is has had no real benefit for their child.

While enforcing a GFCF regime, some parents? report marked improvement with not only the physical problems, but with social and emotional difficulties facing their children too. The frustrating part is as all children are different it is impossible to know what will happen until you put the GFCF diet to the test.

If you chose to go down the autism and diet treatment route, as long as your child is under a doctor?s care, and the foods being avoided are replaced with nutritional equivalents, there should be no harm in trying it.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter about autism and diet and discover more on the signs and symptoms of autism.

A Spiritual View Of Autism

                

 

The value of a spiritual view of autism is that it enables the pain of limitation and helplessness suffered by those who experience significant impairment and those who care for them to be held within a sense of purposefulness and meaning. This can support individuals and families with a sense of truth and love, even during times of greatest challenge.

To begin with, there are many layers of understanding that relate to the phenomenon of autism, and each has to be viewed in its own right.

Within one layer are the demonstrable expressions of impaired neurological functioning that are the basis for such things as seizures, aphasias, difficulty performing routine motor tasks, nervous gestures or tics, and other anomalies of nervous system functioning.

Within another layer are the problems of thought and speech that have to do with difficulties in communication, strange thought patterns related to non-ordinary perception, difficulty forming coherent thoughts or forming thoughts whose sequence is intelligible only to the person expressing them; also patterns of thought and speech that are perseverative that have to do with brain synapse functioning and the ways in which neural energy gets released. All of these aspects of autism are also within the layer defined by physical functioning.

Within a third layer are the social and emotional aspects of autism which are often considerable and which vary in degree from person to person.

Yet, there is still another layer within which lie the reasons that autistic functioning is more prevalent today and also more widely understood. It is this:

For a long time now, humanity's brain function has emphasized the left side of the brain, once the right-brain functions went into recession thousands and thousands of years ago. This left-brain functioning has overemphasized certain aspects of the brain's capacities and eliminated or significantly reduced other capacities associated with right-brain functioning. The need of the time we are in, however, is to bring into balance right and left-brain functioning, and for this purpose, heightened neural and brain activity is needed to connect the two hemispheres. This increased activity requires an adaptation by the human organism in order to tolerate the increased charge to the neural pathways, and sometimes, when this adaptation is incomplete or limited, it is possible for the system to become overcharged or overstimulated, with subsequent problems in releasing the excess energy that is taking place on a cortical level.

This feature is often associated with a particular genetic picture or predisposition and so it is. However, it is also associated with the wider spiritual phenomenon that is occurring today which involves humanity's movement into the next level of its spiritual expression - one in which right and left-brain functioning will be more in balance and in which new capacities will emerge that will enable a wider range of mental and perceptual activities than are present today.

Many of those who are presently diagnosed as 'autistic', today, are the forerunners of this transition into a new level of brain functioning. They do not appear as such because of the limitation that autism brings to their lives on so many levels. But they have chosen to experience this limitation in order that further on in their development, they may express as more evolved and balanced beings and ones for whom more will be possible. The reason for this choice is hidden within the inner motivational pattern of each soul according to its own Divine essence and its need to manifest the truth of who it is. It is not something that can be seen from an outer perspective, or understood within any other frame of reference other than the drive of a soul to seek its own self-realization.

There are, of course, other reasons that are karmic that a soul chooses to experience limitation in this as well as in other areas of life, but the karmic purpose of limitation can also be employed in service to the larger spiritual purpose of evolving brain function and capacity.

To see those who are diagnosed as 'autistic' as forerunners of a new generation of capable souls who will emerge from these very limitations is a perception that requires a deep understanding of the sequence of lifetimes and how they contribute to and enhance one another. Without such a perspective, this context for viewing autism makes no sense. Within such a perspective, however, it may be seen that what has limitation on one side, may have advantage on the other, and that souls may have chosen to experience both the limitation and the advantage because of their desire to quicken their own spiritual development.

The problem of autism is indeed a problem for individuals, for families, and for society as a whole, with much hardship involved on a personal and familial level where the emotional and physical challenges are very great. However, as with any other physically manifesting problem, it can be considered to be an avenue of growth as well as of difficulty.

One way of looking at the problem in its present context is to find ways of supporting the positive qualities of functioning and of life that are present within autistic individuals, and to know that these are always there, no matter what outer behaviors may suggest. Such support can go a long way toward affirming the value of a lifetime in which great limitation is present. It can also acknowledge the soul within that has chosen the limitation and can accord to that soul equal dignity and equal opportunity to live to the limits of their capacity, rather than seeing the diagnosis as a detriment to life. Such a view is optimistic and supportive, and allows families and society as a whole to view the sacred life within the limitation, rather than viewing the person as the limitation, thus enabling that person to live a fuller and more fulfilled life.

For other writings by Julie Redstone see Pathways of Light ? http://lightomega.org/PathwaysofLight.html. For additional views of the soul's choice in relation to limitation, see "A Spiritual View of Depression" and other articles in the Light Omega Reader, http://lightomega.org/Articles/Ezine.html.

What To Do After An Autism Diagnosis For Your Child

                

 

If you?re child has received an autism diagnosis, you may feel like all of the hopes and dreams you had for your child?s future have ended. These feelings of guilt, grief and fear are normal for parents when they first discover their child is autistic. However, you need to know that you?re not alone and there is help out there for both you and your child.

To help you cope with the autism diagnosis, the following are 10 guidelines for you to take into consideration:

1.Don?t Panic ? Feeling overwhelmed is natural at first, but this drowning feeling will pass. You need to remember autism - although a challenging condition - is not a life threatening illness. Autism isn?t the end of the world; take the time to calm down and rationally think things through.

2.Your child is still the same ? An autism diagnosis doesn?t mean your child is any different than he/she was prior to your knowledge of his/her condition. A diagnosis has only provided you with the chance to better understand your child, so you can provide him/her with the support that will allow him/her to have the best life. The love you have for your child and all the good you see in him or her will remain their forever. No diagnosis can change that.

3.Educate yourself ? Find out everything there is to know about autism. You can find information in books and articles in your local library, bookstore and online. The internet is a fantastic resource for autism.

4.Ask questions ? don?t forget to address any questions or concerns you may have with your doctor.

5.Find out what your child needs ? Depending on the type of autism diagnosis your child receives he/she may have many or few special needs. Carefully analyze your child?s behaviors and discuss them with your doctor to determine the best course of action for treating the issue. For instance, does your child have sensory problems? Speech delays? Social deficits? Etc.

6.Find out what is available ? Just because you discover what your child needs, doesn?t mean you?ll have immediate access to the therapies required, or even know how to work them into your lifestyle if they are available. . You also need to find out if your medial insurance will cover any of the therapies your child will need. Once you have everything sorted out, you can begin to set up a program that can meet your needs.

7.Stick to basic therapies ? When you research therapies, you will discover that there are numerous treatments. Instead of becoming overwhelmed, focus on the basic therapies that are readily available, appropriate to your child, and funded. The basics usually include speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. There may also be therapies offered within schools.

8.Introduce treatment slowly ? Remember, most therapies are a slow process that take weeks or even months until you begin to see a difference in your child. Therefore, try not to introduce too many therapies after the autism diagnosis. When you take it slow you are able to observe how your child responds to each, and determine what is successful and what isn?t.

9.Relax ? The wellbeing of your child is important, but so is yours and the rest of your family. It?s imperative that you find ways to relieve your stress, take breaks, and enjoy your own life. You will be able to better care for your autistic child when you are well rested.

10.You?re not alone ? There are many autism support groups you can join both locally and online after receiving an autism diagnosis. Talking to other parents with autistic children, and hearing and sharing your experiences can be very helpful and therapeutic to you and your child.

By Rachel Evans. To find out more about autism diagnosis and for information on autism characteristics please visit the links.

Trade-Off - Vaccine Maker Profits = Autism

                

 

In 1997, Congress passed the FDA Modernization Act, which required the FDA to review all drugs that contained mercury and determine their adverse effects on humans. For many years, Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was added to childhood vaccines in multi-dose bottles, basically to increase profits for vaccine makers.

Its important to know that Thimerosal is not a necessary component for vaccines. If they are packaged in single dose vials, the preservative is not needed. There is mounting evidence, that shows our government knew about the dangers of adding Thimerosal to vaccines. Research by WFAA-TV revealed that the FDA began asking questions about the dangers as far back as 1972. By 1992, the preservative had been removed from dog vaccines and contact lens solutions because of its risks. And yet the government refused to order its removal from childhood vaccines for 10 more years.

In 2000, the FDA determined that infants were receiving much more mercury than was considered safe under EPA guidelines. A twelve-to-fourteen month old child, receiving the mandated vaccines under the Immunization Schedule, often received four to six shots during one doctor visit. Consequently over time, the child would be injected with as much as 40 times the amount of mercury considered safe.

Twenty years ago, autism only affected one in 10,000 children. However, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, by January 2004, the incidence of autism rose to one in every 166 children. The Autism Autoimmunity Project reports that the disorder strikes 1 in 150 (or 1 in 68 families) today.

During the 1990s, some 40 million children were vaccinated and the number of Thimerosal containing vaccines given to children nearly tripled, and the financial rewards to drug companies as a result of the drastic increase were enormous. However, as the number of vaccines increased, autism rates inexplicably increased tenfold, according to the Spring issue of Mother Jones in 2004.

State by state statistics produced by the Department of Education, for the number of children aged 6-21 who have autism, compared the increase in cases over the 12-year period between 1992-93 and 2003-04, and the results were horrendous. In my home state of Ohio, in 1992-93 there were 22 cases of autism, in 2003-04 there were 5146 cases, or a 23,291% increase. In Illinois, there were only 5 cases 12 years ago, while there were 6005 in 2003-04. Mississippi had no cases of autism 12 years ago, but had 622 in 2003-04. Wisconsin had 18 cases in 1992-93 and 3259 cases in 2003-04.

Eli Lilly introduced Thimerosal in the 1930s with very little safety testing. According to a congressional report, a 1935 Eli Lilly internal document noted that Thimerosal was considered unsatisfactory as a serum for use on dogs. The product has been on Californias Proposition 65 list of known reproductive and developmental toxins for over a decade.

Its difficult to believe that anyone would by now even try to say there is no correlation between autism and the bombardment of mercury into the brains of children through their vaccinations in the 1990s.

Profits Over Safety

Autism is a source of devastation for the entire families. For some reason, it is 4 times more common in males than females, according to the Cure Autism Now Foundation. It involves a wide range of mild to severe symptoms, but each case seems to have 3 common symptoms: communication problems, impaired social relationships, and unusual patterns of behavior.

Autistic children develop unusual behaviors, such as twitching their fingers repeatedly, rocking, spinning, or rolling their eyes. A child may be progressing normally, but then begin to regress, losing speech, social skills and physical abilities.

Over the 1990s, parents and doctors began to notice that the onset of autism often followed the injection of vaccines with Thimerosal. At the turn of the century, Congress got involved in the debate. A House Government Reform Committee discovered a lack of research into the link between the increase in autism and childhood vaccines.

At that time, Republican committee chairman, Dan Burton of Indiana, noted that there were numerous conflicts of interest between federal research teams, policy-makers, regulators, health care agencies, and the vaccine makers who seemingly had the ability to influence decisions made by the FDA and CDC, regarding vaccines.

A four-month investigation by United Press International, determined that many members of the CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee had obvious conflicts of interest with vaccine makers through relationships that included: sharing a vaccine patent; owning stock in a vaccine company; payments for research; getting money to monitor manufacturer vaccine tests; and funding academic departments. UPI also found that the CDC had 28 licensing agreements with drug companies, and one university, for vaccines or vaccine-related products, and had eight on-going projects to collaborate on new vaccines.

Burton's committee specifically zeroed in on the increasing numbers of vaccines children had been given over the past 15 years and the correlating rise in autism all over the country. During a hearing on June 20, 2002, Burton repeatedly asked FDA and CDC officials what they knew and when they knew it. And when their memories appeared lost, Burton produced agency memos to refresh them.

One 1999 internal FDA memo stated that the FDA had an "interim plan ... already in place for many years" to get rid of Thimerosal. Wording in the same memo revealed the FDA's fear that it will be accused of being "asleep at the switch for decades, by allowing a dangerous compound to remain in childhood vaccines."

In 2001, the CDC commissioned the Institute of Medicine to examine the Thimerosal-autism connection. The IOMs first analysis found the hypothesis biologically plausible and called for further research. But a reanalysis by the IOM in 2004 rejected any link.

According to nomercury.orgs Lujene Clark, IOM committee meeting transcripts were leaked to outside parties and suggest that CDC officials pressured committee members to issue a finding rejecting any link.

The CDC contracted and paid for this series of reports from the IOM, says Clark. They made it very clear that they wanted the IOM to give the nod, to say that We see no problems. Thats very, very frightening, according to Illinois Times on Feb 24, 2005.

Burton has even gone so far as to hint at bringing criminal charges if it turns out that government agencies were complicit with the drug companies in a cover-up. "Look, I don't think it makes any difference whether it's a private company or a government agency," Burton said. "If they know they're harming somebody and they continue to let it happen, then they should be held accountable."

There's no doubt that the drug companies knew of the dangers. The LA Times recently released a 1991 internal memo from the pharmaceutical company, Merck, that proves the company knew back then that the overuse of mercury in vaccines posed a dangerous health threat to children. The memo noted that 6-month-old children who received their shots on schedule would get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish.

In a 2003 committee report titled Mercury in Medicine, Burton concluded: It should be crystal-clear by now that mercury is a toxic substance that does not belong in pediatric vaccines, based on expert testimony and research from leading universities.

Bush Could Issue An Executive Order

Prior to the election, the advocacy group, Unlocking Autism, asked President Bush to state his position on Thimerosal. On Feb 25, 2005, the group issued an open letter to Bush reminding him that he expressed full support for the removal of mercury from childhood vaccines in a written response from the Republican National Committee dated September 22, 2004. The group requested that Bush issue an Executive Order completely banning the use mercury for pregnant women and children under the age of 18.

The group maintains that Bush has a duty to communicate his position on the removal of mercury from vaccines to other Republicans in Congress now that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has introduced Senate Bill 3, which would immunize drug companies from all liability for vaccine-related autism caused by mercury poisoning.

"The fact that President Bush stated before the election that mercury should be removed childhood vaccines means he believes thimerosal could, in fact, cause harm. If the President ... supports the removal of mercury from childhood vaccines, then surely he cannot support legislation that protects drug companies from accountability for the injuries caused by mercury," said Shelley Reynolds, President of Unlocking Autism.

SafeMinds is a leading autism advocacy organization fighting to ban mercury from all medicines and to promote treatment research for those who have already been injured.

On Feb 28, 2005, SafeMinds announced its opposition to the bill HR 650, "The Vaccine Accessibility for Children and Seniors Act of 2005." The group maintains that the title of the bill is deceptive in that it imposes barriers to legal remedies for the vaccine-injured.

According to Lyn Redwood, President of Safe Minds, "Each time legislation is introduced to protect the vaccine industry from product liability it is hidden behind a nice title or buried inside legislative minutia," she said "In 2002 legislators attempted a comparable end run on our civil rights by inserting similar language in the Homeland Security Bill, literally in the dark of night. Only when the American people spoke up in outrage was the move repealed.

"When faulty tires on SUVs were rampant, legislators didn't recommend that the tire or automotive manufacturers be protected from litigation," Redwood said, "it is beyond comprehension that when there are increased questions about vaccine injury that legislators would introduce legislation to take away American's rights."

Evelyn Pringle
e.pringle@sbcglobal.net
Miamisburg OH

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an investigative journalist focused on exposing government corruption)