Autism - what do you think?

[Blondie]

But on the other hand (and this is puzzling to me), pregnant women are taking far better care of themsleves now than they did 20 or 30 years ago. Back then pregnant women drank and smoked without thinking twice about it. My Mother drank heavily when she was pregnant with me and despite her claims of 'and see, you turned out fine', I do think I was affected to some degree. Worse, DHs mother was constantly on meds - which ones, I have no idea. All I know is she told me that throughout her pregnancy she took 'uppers' during the day for energy and 'downers' at night to sleep. She didn't know any better. So it seems that if anything, neurological disorders such as autism should be decreasing due to better prenatal care. Of course, I realize there are obviously other factors involved but it does seem odd to me.

Good point, however I knew several girls in H.S. who had normal healthy babies (and went on to be healthy adults--despite a rough upbringing by a teen parent) who smoked, drank AND did drugs during their pregnancy.

Like I said, the answer is out there somewhere. Is it something we cook with now that we didn't have 40 years ago like Teflon, certain metals, is it because we nuke lots of our foods via the microwave? Is it exposure to insecticides, cleaning agents?

I wish I had the answer.

 

[Forevryoung]

Regarding early intervention- I'm actually part of a research project with kids with Downs Syndrome (ok, not autism but keep going). We have started kids as young as 6 months (YES, MONTHS) using high tech (aka computer based) communication devices. These kids are doing amazing, we have a three year old with Downs who is now learning to READ. The head researchers were starting them between 11 and 12 months originally and were seeing huge gains in language (vocabulary and communication in general). Another one of our kiddos (Downs also) who started the project at 11 months is now 20 months old, according to informal testing, she has more words in her vocabulary than her TYPICALLY DEVELOPING cousin who is two months older than she is! We are astounded to say the least

Ok, so what does this have to do with autism? Get these and all kids who may need services tested ASAP. True early intervention does wonders- really. Why wait????????? If they catch up (or are truly typically developing) awesome, if not, you're ahead of the game.

(for more info on augmentative communication in general, PM me)

 

[seven dwarfs]

I posted eariler on this thread but my son was od on meds at two months. When we started therapy he was 4 months old. It is such a long story but the short of it is the therapist thought he had CP up until he turned 9 months. All of a sudden he came out of his slump. I know and she knows it was all the therapy that we went through. I would rather have put him through it and him be fine then to not have and waited and have a much worse situation then what we have today.

 

[jodifla]

I posted eariler on this thread but my son was od on meds at two months. When we started therapy he was 4 months old. It is such a long story but the short of it is the therapist thought he had CP up until he turned 9 months. All of a sudden he came out of his slump. I know and she knows it was all the therapy that we went through. I would rather have put him through it and him be fine then to not have and waited and have a much worse situation then what we have today.

Of course, you are right, but back to the topic of this thread:

Why is the autism rate so high now? Because schools are now in charge of declaring kids autistic, so the kids can receive school services. That's in large part what's inflating the rate. I've seen it firsthand myself, and know of many other families this is happening to.

You can also go to a doctor separately to get a medical diagnosis, but since most free services are provided by the schools, many parents are getting their diagnosis there, by people who may not be qualified to give a diagnosis.

 

[auntpolly]

Like I said, the answer is out there somewhere. Is it something we cook with now that we didn't have 40 years ago like Teflon, certain metals, is it because we nuke lots of our foods via the microwave? Is it exposure to insecticides, cleaning agents?

I wish I had the answer.

Or is it a combination of lots of things?

When people say, "It isn't _______", no matter what the ________ is, I have to remain skeptical.

I have a cat who got cancer from the booster in her rabies shot. Lots of cats get that shot, and do not get cancer. But her vet and her cancer vet both said that's how she got it. So why her and not another cat? No answer - other things no one knows came into play.

There's too much that we don't understand to make blanket statements about this or autism. I think it's irresponsible to rule anything out.