The CDC released new numbers on autism this week. Not surprising, they now acknowledge what so many of us as parents of ASD children already knew. The numbers are staggering; not just 1 in 88, but also 1 in 54 boys. The government has tried to downplay the severity of this epidemic and actually are refusing to call it an epidemic. What? We have heard the excuses that it couldn't be vaccines, environmental toxins or anything like that. It must just be better diagnosing according to the government. Right....we went from 1 in 10,000 in the 1960s to 1 in 88/1 in 54 boys - because our doctors are better?
My daughter was born healthy. She was developing at normal rates until she received a certain set of vaccines. After that, everything changed. She lost language, eye contact and her appetite completely changed. We(my husband and I) believe that there is a genetic component and an environmental one. Just as not all people can have penicillin, not all children should have the toxins and the load of vaccines that are currently part of the schedule. How can one size fits all be good for any person, let alone a child? After much research, we believe that an overload of toxins coupled with an auto-immune disease is what triggered our daughter's autism.
That being said, our daughter didn't fit the normal autistic definition. She was a happy, smiling baby even after we noticed changes. Here are some signs that we noticed, that we have found is common in some children with autism. I share them not to scare anyone, but to offer that the face of autism is changing.
Possible early symptoms of autism:
Covering ears when noise levels are too loud
Lack of eye contact - especially with strangers
Stomach/bowel issues (leaky gut syndrome)
Speech delays/problems
Tactile (extremely sensitive to textures/fabrics both good and bad)
Very limited in what foods they like
Repeating what you say to them instead of answering the question
No fear of dangerous situations
Walking on their tip toes
I hope that this helps you. If you have a child that you suspect is on the spectrum, don't wait to get help. Children can recover and get better. After spending 5 days a week in therapies at Children's Hosp. in MN, going to see our DAN! doctor and completely changing her diet she is now defined as Aspergers vs. regressive autism.
Healing can happen...autism isn't a death sentence although it feels like it the first time you hear the words connected to your child.
Faith, Hope & Healing-
Melissa
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4 comments:
Awesomely said an ty for this!! As a mom with a son who was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of 2 & 1/2 years old, with intense therapy, an diet changes (he is officially off the diet now becuz it is no longer needed but im a full advocate of G/F C/F diets) now at the age of 5 & 1/2 years old he is not testing at mild autism!! There is hope!! ty again
My daughter is now 18. At age 16 she was officially diagnosed with Aspergers. For all intents and purposes, she appears to be a beautiful, talented young lady. But she struggles mightily with social skills and is on the emotional level of a 16 yr old. I believe she was probably born this way, but regardless of how/why she has Aspbergers, I wish there was more acceptance of it and less stigma attached. Most of her small, private school doesn't even know that she has Aspbergers because we are afraid her life would be even harder if she had this "name" attached to her already difficult struggle to fit in. Her principal agrees with us and he is a huge supporter of her efforts. She is about to graduate and head off to college. Scary times for both her and us!
Thank you for this. So many people think of autism as nothing more then 'severe shyness' and hissy fits. They don't realize there is and entire range of different kinds of it, and that many children can seem normal at most times. Also, thank you for pointing out the healing! I was a 'severe' autistic as an infant, and at 7 months, my mother was told to institutionalize me. She refused. At about age 3, the doctor told her "She had wires crossed and somehow they uncrossed" What we didn't know for years is that those wires were still not normal, I know as an adult know I have Aspergers Syndrome. Explaining this to my family and friends helped smooth out some ruff edges. But due to the grace of God and my mothers persistence, I lead a normal life, with 2 children of my own. And people who don't know me really well, would never know I have it.
I'm a mom of an autistic girl as well. We had a bit of a different experience from you- the signs have been there from birth. I don't like one size fits all approach either. We did go ahead and vaccinate our children- on a delayed schedule- but only after research. For us, it was the right choice- for others it isn't.
I think that if all parents were a bit more conscious about not feeding their kids crap all the time- like the daily McDonalds, fruit snacks, chips and other pre-packaged nastiness out there- we would see an improvement in the numbers.
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