The Use of Secretin in Cases of Autism

                

 

Opinions about the effect of secretin when fighting autism are very mixed. While some say it has absolutely no effect on patients, other fervently sustain that the effects are dramatic if not curing the whole disease. Major studies have yet to be done and show any conclusive proof that this treatment either works or is a complete failure. Still, the general opinion is that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

We will follow up now on a doctor?s own little study on a number of patients with autism. Respecting protocols and rules he injected some 70 patients with secretin and observed the long term action and affects that this drug has both on the body and the disease. Families where also involved in observing the slightest of changes, being the fact that they were the people that stood near the patient most of the time.

Results didn?t take long to appear. Some 7 out of 10 parents said that improvements could be seen in their child?s behavior but not anything significant. Out of the whole study group only a near 1 out of 10 kids should dramatic signs the results being difficult to argue with. Another troubling fact in the research is the duration of effect that the secretin had in the children that had a good response to the drug. While for some the effect was short lived, for others this was a touch from God. A particular patient had such a remarkable response to the drug that in only one month was able to talk and act as normal as a child his age would do; improvements continued afterwards with the child being in normal regular education system. It seems that for other patients the secretin effect is only short lived, the administration of the drug being this way continuous if effects are to be the same as in other cases. Results in these patients were noticed even by other people that had no idea of the injection schedule the child patient had. Still minor rashes were present in the child?s behavior but only mild in action.

Seeing this results we must understand that further studies must be done if we are truly to understand the benefits of secretin on so many troubled autistic children. The actual way in witch the drug works on patients must be understood and tested against placebo effects. With the help of technology, modern medical science and good doctors results should be found.

Usage of the drug is still not recommended until the whole effects and side effects are fully known.

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

Does Your Child Have Autism?

                

 

To find out if your child is manifesting the symptoms of autism consider the following assessments:

1. Your child shies away from or repels human contact or affection:

An autistic child does not want to be hugged. They usually stiffen when held. They are not comforted by being held or cuddled.

When an autistic child is having temper tantrums or is anxious, it is better not to hug the child to provide reassurance and comfort, instead, give the child his favorite toy or transfer the child to a less stimulating environment.

2. Your child is usually stimulated from within and not by the outside world. He or she have difficulty in processing external stimuli:

The ability to receive stimuli from the environment is blocked so the child:

a. is unable to differentiate self from the environment thus the reversal of pronouns, the child talks about himself in third person.

b. has delayed development of self-help skills, such as feeding, dressing and toileting.

c. has difficulty or inability to learn expressive communication: echolalia, mutism.

d. is unable to enjoy meaningful relationship with the outside world: does not respond to people or other environmental stimuli, may be unable to make eye contact.

e. is aware only of himself and engages only in self-stimulated acts: plays alone for hours, withdraws from other children but may advance to parallel play.

f. turns to inanimate objects: attachment to a security blanket.

3. Your child develops stereotypic body movements:

These may consist of rocking, spinning, hand flapping, and other repetitive activities.

4. Your child shows obsessive desire for sameness:

An autistic child usually adheres to routines and rituals and has great aversion to changes.

5. Your child shows impulsiveness:

A child with autism may engage in temper tantrums when interrupted in his or her activity.

6. Your child shows inclination to self mutilation:

An autistic child can sometimes engage in head banging especially during tantrums.

7. Your child shows heightened withdrawal manifested by refusal to eat.

8. Your child exhibits More severe motor clumsiness associated with lower IQ.

9. Your child develops schizophrenia or seizures.

10. Autism is sometimes associated in some degree with mental retardation. Although accurate IQ measurement may be difficult to obtain due to the lack of language in these individuals, 60% of children have an IQ less than 50; 20% between 50 and 70; and 20% have an IQ greater than 70. Autism is more common in males than females by three to one.

The author, Jose Feliciano, is personally involved with autism having a family member with this disorder. To get more information about autism, visit his website at MyAutisticBoy.com.

Autism And Asperger Syndrome-Similarities And Differences

                

 

The Asperger syndrome affects children and adults patients by modifying their communication skills and making them unable to interact with the persons around them. The autistic disorder in most cases associates the lack of communication skills with learning disabilities.

The Asperger syndrome is an autistic disorder related to autism but with less symptoms or less serious modifications. The pure autism is rare, about one case in 5000 children and it occurs four times more often in male children than in girls. Autistic spectrum disorders are all conditions implying symptoms related to the manifestations of autism.

The exact cause of autism cases is still unknown to scientists but researchers have detected a possible link between the condition and a genetic factor without any actual pattern of inheritance. Autistic modifications are blamed on brain damages and abnormal development before birth, during childbirth or after birth.

The first signs of an autistic disorder appear soon after birth in severe cases but usually between the age of 3-4 when parents observe abnormal modifications in the child?s behavior. There are three main symptom groups involved in autism and patients with the Asperger syndrome have only some of these signs, unlike the children with actual autism who suffer from disorders from all of the three symptoms groups.

The main difficulty of children with autistic disorders is to interact with the persons around the. They hardly ever make and sustain an eye-contact, resist cuddling, reject any form of affection and never look for it, cannot stand being kissed, have difficulties in making friends and are mostly unable to play with children their age. Autistic patients are not able to understand emotions coming from other persons and have problems with obeying simple rules; this leads them to the incapacity of frequenting a regular school.

Patients show an obsessive interests for repetitive actions and might look at an object fro an increased period of time. They have no imagination and are not interested in imaginative play. The games are almost the same every day and usually match with playing methods used by younger children. The ability to communicate with others is disturbed, cannot keep a conversation and cannot use words in meaningful sentences.

Regular actions like walking, sitting up or down will be later acknowledged and assimilated than normally. All patients with autistic disorders tend to be clumsy and struggle the games lessons at school. Older patients develop obsessive interests for exact timetables and resist changes in their environment. They rapidly become agitated and angered if their routine is modified. Autistic children are extremely sensitive noise and light and might show severe responses.

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

Uniqueness With Autism

                

 

All children are unique, and this is especially true in the case of autistic children. Due to the knowledge being gained on the increasing range and complexity within the autistic spectrum it is being widely recognised that each child has their own particular character traits. As with any child, they deserve every opportunity and assistance to help them in dealing with their autism and to develop into mature and useful members of society.

Unfortunately, the general conception is that anyone who is ?different? has to be of a lower level of intelligence. This could not be further from the truth with autism, as it is now being acknowledged that autism itself frequently brings with it a higher than average level of intelligence. There are an increasing number of cases where children have displayed a high degree of talent in the arts and musical fields. These areas are also highly effective in helping the child to develop their own gifts in other areas. The use of music for example, can be helpful when creating a calming environment for the child concerned. Creative activities can also be utilised to develop dexterity and motor skills whilst keeping the child?s mind active. Providing a number of varied activities can be especially effective in improving the concentration on any given task.

The frustrations and tantrums that are so characteristic of the autistic child are often due to the inability of being able to fully express themselves to others. Coupled with a lack of understanding of their situation, this has led to children being labelled as badly behaved or out of control. Finding ways to help them communicate their needs and frustrations leads to an improvement in behaviour. Each child is born with their own special characteristics that are unique to them. Instead of trying to have each one develop and conform to a pre-conceived ideal, they should have the opportunity to grow and to express the particular gifts they have been given. This does of course, need to be guided to fit within certain parameters in order for our society to work and also develop. In the case of autistic children this is of particular importance to enable the child to realise their full potential. Although autism does bring a very real set of different challenges, with the appropriate help and guidance from others, autistic children can be helped in developing their strengths towards making a positive contribution to the family and society as a whole.

Rather than ?writing off? an autistic child we need to seek ways to recognise and develop the individual talents within their character and to do all that we can in order for them to realise their aims in life. Given time and understanding the autistic child can grow into a loving and truly unique person.

For more articles http://www.caringforautism.com

Autism, Probiotics, And An Ideal World

                

 

In an ideal world my son would be voicing his opinions, making decisions, going out with his friends, learning to drive, furthering his education, managing his finances and hopefully turning into a well adjusted, sociable young adult. However, this is not an ideal world.

My son has autism.

He is almost eighteen years old and I wonder, like all mothers, what the future holds for him.

We're certainly not going to have long debates about anything because my son rarely speaks. When he does it's just the odd word or phrase and you have to be a good detective to appreciate his "clues". He does try hard though and also mimes, gestures and occasionally writes or shows you what he wants.

His language has deteriorated since he started to have seizures. We're not sure if it's the medication affecting his speech or the seizures themselves but either way his language is not as clear as it used to be. It means his audience has to try harder to understand.

Of course, as his mother I often know what he wants without him doing anything more than just glance in a particular direction or look at me. Other mothers will know what I mean. It's sort of a sixth sense, a special bond.

Jodi is settled in a wonderful school where he has been for almost fifteen years. The staff all know him and he knows them. It's comfortable but he can't stay there for ever.

He doesn't really have friends although he does have various groups of people whom he sees regularly. He's happy to spend time with them and the feeling is reciprocated.

One such group is Lantern Dance where he goes for weekly dance sessions. Jodi is made to feel very welcome amongst the integrated group consisting of mums, dads, fit young teenagers, supple adults, professional dancers and other special needs people. Music and dance seem to fit with his autism somehow as his whole life appears to be set to rhythm.

He also attends two special needs youth groups where he has the opportunity to do "normal" things like karaoke, pool, badminton, dancing, cinema trips, bowling, restaurants, trampolining, swimming, etc.

It's wonderful for him but he's still considered a child. At least he is until he's nineteen and then it all changes. Overnight he will be transferred into the hands of "adult" services and it's scary.

It's difficult enough to get the appropriate help as a child but it's much worse for adults. We've been lucky with Jodi so far but there are many parents who feel the needs of their child have not been properly met. With autism on the rise and a lack of resources things are unlikely to improve. Professionals, teachers, social workers all agree.

Unfortunately, autism isn't something people just grow out of. There are, of course, many interventions you can try to improve the quality of life for your child and we've tried many. Today I was told he's a "lovely young man" and a "credit" to me so obviously some, if not all of them worked.

Certainly we saw changes almost immediately with some things, others took much longer and you get to the stage where you are not sure if it's doing any good at all but you daren't stop it "just incase".

Our most recent and significant improvement for Jodi has been his diet. After years of eating a very self restricted, nutritionally useless, diet we introduced him to an amazing Probiotic formula called In-Liven and now he eats just about anything including fruit and vegetables. Best of all we don't have to concern ourselves with the gluten problem which has plagued him for years. This is common for people with autism and is the inability to break down the proteins found in wheat.

Jodi's diet used to consist entirely of acid forming foods which provided a wonderful breeding ground for pathogenic (bad) bacteria as they cannot live in a medium of less than pH 4.2.

The probiotic we use contains the full thirteen lactobacilli family found in nature and which have found to be beneficial against pathogenic bacteria, parasites and Candida ? again another big problem for people with autism.

Lactobacilli are rapid and effective colonisers and such prolific lactic acid producers they are soon able to lower the pH of the intestine making it inhospitable to pathogenic bacteria.

The body should have a bacteria ratio of 85% good bacteria to 15% bad bacteria. For most people it is the other way round. Only when the good bacteria have been re-established will intolerances go away and good health be restored.

Certainly Jodi is incredibly healthy now and hasn't suffered from the spots and acne associated with most teenagers. He's changed in many other ways too. Many people have made positive comments. They can't put their finger on exactly what it is just that he's different somehow. If you believe, as I do, that the gut is the second brain, then I'm sure the probiotic superfood he uses has much to do with it.

Complete with 26 certified organic living wholefoods and 18 amino acids, it has been pre-digested for three weeks prior to bottling so gives up its nutrients as soon as it enters the body. That's one of the biggest problems getting nutrients from food - time.

Although food takes about 72 hours to pass from your mouth to your anus it is only actually in your gut for about 12 hours so a lot of work needs to take place in a short amount of time.

Bacteria cover every available square inch of your intestinal tract and break down the food. I always envisaged them as having teeth and acting like a sort of mini Pac Man as in the very old video games. However, that's not the case.

Instead they produce enzymes and these are responsible for every metabolic process in your body ? all the building and all the repair. They are the molecules that digest food and deliver nutrients. Unfortunately the body cannot produce them and they have to be replenished.

You can find enzymes in raw food like fruit and vegetables but they get killed off at 116 degrees. Since my son never ate raw food and wouldn't touch fruit and vegetables he didn't get any natural enzymes. It's no wonder he struggled.

Now, however, he gets the enzymes from the probiotics and the nutrients from the wholefood culture they are grown in, as well as all the other vitamins, anti-oxidants and immune stimulators. It shows.

Next week we go to look at a possible semi residential placement for him. I don't want him to go but he has a need and a right to grow up and to make his own way in the world without having me with him all the time. I feel happier now his seizures are under control with medication and his diet has improved so much. My biggest fear whenever we went anywhere was that he would go hungry because he couldn't get the type of food he would eat. Invariably I took food with me and always our suitcases were much lighter on the return journey.

As for him going to a residential home I tell myself it will be like my "normal" son going off to university. He needs to have fun, to learn new skills and mix with people his own age. More importantly he needs to become more independent. After all I won't be around for ever. I know it doesn't always work out that way but in the normal scheme of things I should die long before he does. Then what? The earlier he learns to live without me the better.

I know it's for the best. It just doesn't feel that way. As I said, this is not an ideal world.

Main Signs and Symptoms of Autism

                

 

The autistic disorder is a spectrum of many converged symptoms affecting attention, perception and thought. The condition varies from mild to severe and the shown behavior is inappropriate for the age.

Autism is classified as a condition belonging to the disease group called pervasive Development Disorders. The three major areas affected by autism are behavior, communication and interaction. When at least six of the symptoms of these areas damage occur, a temporary diagnose of autistic disorder can be established. Further testing is necessary. Children that do not exactly match autistic criteria are usually classified as suffering from a pervasive development disorder.

All autistic patients suffer from the impossibility of interacting with others and communicating with them. Autistics are characterized by aloofness, desire to be alone, and difficulty in being around people. They cannot express their needs and wishes and use gestures and pointing instead of language. Children with such problems reject the society and this one rejects them back. They need life-long care and special attention according to their personal needs.

Autistic patients have difficulties with integrating senses. They show an abnormal response to one or more sensory movements; receive sounds like painful and light hurts them. Other senses like touch, balance, smell or taste are disturbed as well and their reaction to pain is frightening and painful. They are though very sensitive to non-routine behavior and hardly get used to changes in their environment. They show a repetitive behavior and can continue doing one thing in spite of others trying to talk to them.

Although playing is used as a form of therapy, most of the patients prove an impaired behavior towards play, gross motor skills and little eye-contact. In spite of their well developed hearing sense, they act as deaf and ignore verbal cues, react by extreme distress without any actual reason. Hypo- or hyperactivity characterizes their actions and they always resist changes in their routine.

Instead of using normal logical language, autistic children repeat particular words or phrases; this is known as echolalia. Other major signs are abnormal laughing or giggling and the evident speech and language absence or delay.

Autism makes patients resist cuddling and show strange attachments to different objects. Ways of interacting with people are abnormal and they show tendencies to spin objects. The knowledge of communicating with others seems to be disturbed and they never find the right language or manifestations in a certain context. Children cannot sustain a conversation or understand other person? point of view. They tend to use facial expression and body language instead of verbal communication ways.

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

Most Common Features of Autism

                

 

The autistic disorder is mainly characterized by the impaired social interaction as well as by the refusal of the patients to respond to their names or react to other people?s eye contact. Autistic children can hardly integrate voices and usually look for facial expressions to give them cues about the behavior. They are unable to understand or show feelings and their behavior has a negative impact on the others.

Most of them cannot express themselves by voice; the ones who do that will refer to their own person by name instead of ?me? or ?I?. They engage in repetitive actions and can even reach to self-hurting behavior. Normally, autistics do not show interest in other people?s topics and talk in own favorite topics.

Autism makes his patients vulnerable to all types of sensors. Their reduced response to pain turns into anxiety while listening to an abnormal sound. They mostly hate being touched and usually resist cuddling. Autism symptoms are developed in the first three years of life and last life-long. The most important features of autism are impaired social interaction, limited interests and actions and communication problems. The autistic disorder varies from easy forms with children able to develop basic language skills, to a severe form when patients cannot communicate at all.

The development problems beside other children their age start at about 18-36 months when they reject persons, loose language or social skills they may have already accumulated. In time they get to hardly engage in social interactions and avoid eye contact; autistic patients like to be alone, resist affection or accept hugs passively. Parents are most affected by the child?s lack of attention or joy at their sight.

These patients tend to live a wildly life as facial expressions or gestures do not mean anything. They hardly get to understand the feelings or wishes of others and usually respond only to routine questions or cues as they are unable to differentiate different people?s actions and feelings. Autistic disorder makes patients resist changes in their routine environment and even react aggressive by breaking things, attacking people or hurting themselves; their tendency of doing these things occurs mostly when they are upset, angry or when something bothers them.

Most of the autism sufferers remain silent during their lives; some of them though seem to begin talking in the first 6 months when they suddenly stop developing. Some develop delayed language skills but most of them must be taught to communicate by signs and special equipments. Those who manage to learn a few words cannot bind them into sentences and mostly use them senseless or in repetitive order. A characterizing feature of autism is echolalia making the patients repeat words or phrase they have heard even several weeks before. It usually goes by at the age of three. Autistic children confuse pronouns and change the meaning of ?me? or ?I? according to the person speaking.

Early and proper treatment and care is essential for them to learn at least basic skills and communication means.

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