All About Autism

[pinkamoon]

pinkamom


As far as I know, with my current dealings with KKH DCD, a child is generally discharged at 7 years old, and some are referred to IMH (there is a department there that deals with special needs children beyond 7). The discharge does not mean the child is recovered from ASD, its just their policy that they do not retain children after 7 yo.[/quote]

Hi ImMeeMee,
I am not sure too. I spoke to her (my brother’s friend) 2 years ago. At that time her brother was in P6. According to her, when her brother was at P3, the doctor told her mum that he did not require anymore follow up and was doing very well. According to her, her brother was very smart and very sociable, has no lack of friends.

Hi Nebbermind,
If you ask me, I will say I choose to believe that autism is caused by
1) weaker genes
2) mother passing compromised gut micro-flora to babies (we take too much antibiotics!!)
3) leaky gut in our children
4) environmental factors - heavy metals, use of chemicals etc
5) vacccines - containing mercury &/or aluminium

Of course, I choose to believe all these factors contributed to my son’s autism, so I work on all areas trying to heal him - GAPS diet, Sonrise Program, Neurofeedback. These are the areas that I do to help him now.

Before, whenever we had visitors including his paternal uncle and his family visiting us, all he did was to spin in circles, after that asking his cousins to stim with him (to jump on beds). His cousins joined him in the past but as they grew up, they were reluctant to play with him anymore. He did not answer questions too. Just last week, his uncle came again and when he asked him questions about his school etc, he answered him very well and was amazed at his progress.

My point is, autism can be healed. It may be a long process but it is something achievable. I may not be out of the tunnel yet but I see light. Some parents may not agree with my views but the reason for my sharing is to encourage more parents to do something for their children while they are still young. Do not underestimate the power of food - We are what we eat.

[ImMeeMee]

Nebbermind:

Can ASD be cured?


I got curious and came upon this interesting article on top of the search. Kinda make a lot of sense to me. May not be new to some of you but nevertheless...
[quote]TODAY MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE that Autism is a genetic brain disorder. I’m here to tell you that this isn’t true. The real reason we are seeing increasing rates of autism is simply this: Autism is a systemic body disorder that affects the brain. A toxic environment triggers certain genes in people susceptible to this condition. And research supports this position.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/12/can-autism-be-cured/#close[/quote]The medical fraternity works on clinical evidence, and it does not recognize that ASD has a cure, since it is not evidence-based yet.

But given that the subject is somewhat grey, and 'cure' and the like takes on different meanings for different individuals, this is subject to interpretation.

For myself, I have long stopped thinking about 'cure'. I think about 'progress'.

[Nebbermind]

Thank for sharing!


Well, I’ve always presume that autism is ‘born with’ and never quite thought of it being caused by the modern environment triggering a susceptible gene in a child.

Well, 加油！！ It’s great to see all these sharing of your journeys and getting updates of good news here every now and then!!

[sharonkhoo]

Nebbermind:

Thank for sharing!


Well, I've always presume that autism is 'born with' and never quite thought of it being caused by the modern environment triggering a susceptible gene in a child.

Well, 加油！！ It's great to see all these sharing of your journeys and getting updates of good news here every now and then!!

It's probably a bit of everything. Innate susceptibility, plus environment, plus child-rearing/teaching practices, plus food, plus expectations etc etc. I think that given the innate ASD traits, some things in our modern life do make them more marked. Eg. small families and too many screens probably reduce the opportunity to learn social skills, and kids who are not inclined that way can avoid doing so more easily than in the past. Lower tolerance of differences probably makes more kids 'diagnosable' than in the past when there was greater tolerance of 'oddities'. Higher expectations of school-type behaviour and achievements at younger ages also make it harder for kids who need more time to learn some of these things. We are now expecting kids of 3yo to behave and learn in ways that weren't expected till 6yo a generation ago. And early (mis)diagnosis probably leads to some of the 'cures' reported. Just a few thoughts.

[pinkamoon]

\"And early (mis)diagnosis probably leads to some of the 'cures' reported.\"


I think credit should be given to parents who have worked very hard to help their children. Saying that they may have been misdiagnosed in the first place is discounting the time and efforts put in by these parents. :salute:

[pinkamoon]

I think videos speak thousand words.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV40Fex-z5Y

Jade's recovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC3LeEg_8TQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbVEW5RO91g

[yap_susan]

The pre frontal cortex is under developed plus also social and language part of brain is affected. Overall it is a matter of how they use compensatory measures to process info as compares to others.

With insistance on rigidity, routine and being very ritualistic plus lack of social com and interaction that makes them ASD.

[sharonkhoo]

pinkamoon:

\"And early (mis)diagnosis probably leads to some of the 'cures' reported.\"


I think credit should be given to parents who have worked very hard to help their children. Saying that they may have been misdiagnosed in the first place is discounting the time and efforts put in by these parents. :salute:

OK, let me qualify that. Maybe not (mis)diagnosis, but (over)diagnosis might be a better word? I think it does happen that a borderline case may be diagnosed as a more serious issue than would be the case if diagnosed later. Often, 'normal' is drawn quite narrowly and kids who are outside those bounds may just need more time and nurture to get into the 'normal' range. I'm not saying that those kids can be left alone and not nurtured, and I'm not discounting the efforts that parents put in, but they may not have been considered as severely 'special needs' if given time to grow and develop. My daughter was given a lot of help from me in the years before she was diagnosed, and I expect her diagnosis could have been more severe if we had had it done earlier.

Also, there's different ways to diagnose. Except for the most severe cases, I would prefer symptomatic diagnosis in the early years - he has slow speech, she has poor motor coordination, he has poor eye contact etc rather than 'ASD', especially when the child is only 2 or 3 yo. That way, the child can receive remediation, but doesn't have to be labelled so early. Early labelling raises issues when it comes to declaring medical history for purposes of school entry, insurance, employment etc, and is likely to stay on record forever. If the child is going to be to all intents and purposes 'normal' eventually, I would prefer not to have the label at all.

[pinkamoon]

Instead of having underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, most ASD children have excess synapses and neurons that make them prone to sensory issues and seizures. My son's brain waves scan shows over aroused brainwaves. Typically, those with learning disabilities will have underaroused waves (underdevelopment)


An article that I have found below:
http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2011/Pages/ ... urons.aspx

[BB3]

Want some views on whether I am over reacting: I am looking to sign up my boy for art class to nurture his talent as was pretty impressed with the artwork he brought home from PL. After some research (aka Google) I found an art studio that specifically mentions in their posting in a forum that they are suitable for SN kids and their website also has some mention of classes for SN kids. The website and kids’ drawings look fantastic so I decided to call them to enquire further. I spoke with the boss who mentioned that they are not specifically SN trained (no issue with me as long as they have some experience) but what really surprised me was during the conversation the boss mentioned that they could allow my kid to interact with other NT kids (as I prefer to have class setting rather than 1 to 1) but they will first inform the parents and other kids and get their permission first; they quickly added that this should not be a problem as they have done it before. I was rather disturbed to hear this; here I am telling you about my kid’s condition so that you will not be surprised and so you will be better able to handle him, but do you REALLY need to go announcing to the other kids and parents? If someone observes him they may notice there is something not quite right with him but do you need to stigmatise him in the eyes of other kids and more importantly adults who may not be as "forgiving" as kids. I still quite like the program they offer but as a matter of principle I will probably choose another art studio.