About Autism
Autism is a disorder that severely impairs a person's ability to communicate, interact socially, and think. Autism also impairs many processes throughout the body. It affects the brain and central nervous system, and a growing body of research indicates that the immune system, the gastro-intestinal tract and other bodily systems may also be affected.
Some children seem to have autism from birth. Another group appears to develop normally up to sometime between 12 to 36 months and then lose abilities such as language and social skills.
People with autism have great difficulty learning from the natural environment as most people do. A child with autism frequently shows little interest in the world or people around them. Many children with autism never learn to talk. Autism inhibits a child's growth and development to such a degree that a large portion of people with the disorder require lifelong support.
Autism is diagnosed by the observation of commonly found symptoms, not by a blood test or other objective medical technique. And the number and severity of symptoms range greatly from person to person. Consequently, autism is consider a spectrum disorder with subgroups including Asperger’s syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Delay-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) among others.
How common is autism?Autism is an out-of-control epidemic growing at a rate of about 20% per year. Twenty-five years ago autism was an extremely rare condition--now it is the leading disabling disease of children in the United States. Twenty-five years ago autism afflicted 1 in 5,000 children, now 1 in 150 has it. Recent studies have shown autism spectrum disorders affecting as many as one in fifty boys in some regions.
What causes autism?Autism is a list of symptoms rather than a biologically identifiable disease and a number medical conditions are know to cause autism including of tuberous sclerosis, and two genetic disorders are known to cause autistic symptoms , Rett’s syndrome and Fragile X syndrome. In utero exposure to thalidomide is also known to cause autistic symptoms. However, these causes cannot explain the vast majority of cases.
Up until the 1970s the prevailing accepted theory blamed autism on bad mothering. Fortunately, this scientifically invalid theory was completely discredited through the efforts of the parents of autistic children.
A great deal of research has been done on the possibility that autism is a genetically determined disorder due to the high proportion of identical twins who both have autism, and the tendency of autism to affect multiple members of the same families. Despite the effort no gene has yet been identified as a reliable predictor of autism. And the growing incidence of autism argues against a genetic cause.
Many researchers believe that the evidence indicates that genetically-susceptible children acquire autism through early exposure to some insult from the environment such as viruses, heavy metals, or possibly even vaccines.
Is there a cure?There is no known wonder drug or treatment that can cure reliably cure autism. There are a wide variety of treatments and methods that have relieved some of the symptoms in some autism victims. Some people with autism can improve to the extent that they can attend ordinary schools, hold jobs and have relatively normal social lives.
Some of the medical interventions that have helped some people with autism include:
- Intensive early educational intervention
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Sensory integration therapy
- Speech therapy
- Chelation therapy
- Gluten/Casein-free diets
- Applied behavior analysis
- Secretin
- Special-carbohydrate diets
- Intestinal anti-inflammatory therapy
- Anti-fungal and anti-yeast therapy
- Intravenous immuno-globulin therapy
- Hyperbaric oxygen
- Glutathione
- Ketogenetic diets
- Vitamin supplementation
- Mineral supplementation
- Omega fatty acids
- Psychotropic drugs
This list should not be construed as an endorsement of any particular therapy by Autism United but as an illustrative list of therapies that some parents have reported as efficacious.
