By Rob Archangel, 180DegreeHealth.com staff writer
The topic of autism came up recently on the ?Facebook page, and I thought back to an article I’d read several years ago, The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They?Think They Know. The radical idea at the time was that autism is not a dysfunction or disorder, but instead an expression of human diversity. And this doesn’t mean just the “savants” like Dustin Hoffman counting cards in Rain Man, but perhaps all autistic individuals. What if their condition and experience of the world was just difficult for us to understand, but not necessarily tragic? This article makes a good case for that. ?One of the feature players is a woman named Amanda Baggs, a young non-speaking autistic who can nonetheless communicate through typing (120 words per minute), and through type-to-speak software. She maintains a Youtube account and her most popular video is entitled “In My Language.”
In it, we see her engaging in the sorts of behaviors we associate with low-functioning autistics, seemingly random and a repetitive tasks like rubbing her hand across a keyboard, gesturing toward the window, and humming to herself. Upon first view, these are incomprehensible and maybe a bit disconcerting. But, a few minutes into the video, we see some of the same motions again, this time overlaid with her speech software describing a very different but nonetheless rich experience of the world. She makes the compelling point that she is regularly shortchanged because she is only considered communicative when she types words the rest of us can understand. We “neurotypicals” on the other hand, are not expected to be able to speak her language, and are not seen as less intelligent as a result of that deficit.
This idea has existed on the margins for some time now: ?we may need to re-think our ways of categorizing autistics, and in fact, understanding their minds may be helpful and instructive for those outside of the autistic spectrum. I spent a little time talking with a friend with Asperger’s Syndrome, and want to share some of the ideas that came up.
He is unique among the Autism Spectrum Disordered (ASD) individuals he knows in that it manifests for
him as a high-level, hyper logicality. His ability to grasp concepts and ideas, to manipulate them, to run them alongside one another and find areas of congruence and contrast, is not typically the strong suit of autistic folks. ?More common is an ability to utilize 3-D models or pattern recognition, or demonstrate perfect pitch or possess superior memory skills. The increased frequency of ?powerful capacities in these sorts of arenas is one of the arguments that autistic minds just function differently, not necessarily less well. ?The Truth About Autism article linked above recounts the story of “E.C.” a mechanical draftsman who could rotate objects in his mind and make detailed technical drawings without needing revision, tasks which are essentially impossible to those with standard issue brains. What then are our standards for ascertaining intelligence? Are most people dumb because they don’t possess these capacities?
In the course of our conversation, my friend describes using his logical mind to relate to people in ways that many autistic people cannot. Difficulty with empathy is common among autistics, but he’s found a way to essentially reverse engineer it. By paying careful attention to words, intonation, body language and subtle contextual indicators, he’s compiled a database of associated emotions that he can then understand and ?has learned how to appropriately respond to. ?What struck me is not that this is somehow “inauthentic,” but instead is a highly conscious and intentional act that is mostly unconscious for the average person. What is relegated to behind the scenes processing for the typical brain takes front stage for my buddy. And so in this way, understanding someone like him might help the average person understand their subconscious assumptions and patterns.
Another fascinating part of the Baggs video for me was when she describes being “in constant conversation” with her environment. ?My friend mentions that some autistics experience this to such a heightened degree that they veer close to animism, where even the supposedly “inanimate” objects around them can be communicated with in powerful ways. As a former student of anthropology, I know that animism, an experience of aliveness in the world, is said to be the initial spiritual orientation of all human cultures. And as more recent physics demonstrates, everything interacts dynamically with its surroundings, whether that’s just the air and light circulating around it, or the more active engagement we associate with plants and animals. Physicist Nick Herbert has even argued for a “quantum animism.”
Herbert’s quantum animism differs from traditional animism in that it avoids assuming a dualistic model of mind and matter. Traditional dualism assumes that some kind of spirit inhabitats a body and makes it move, a ghost in the machine. Herbert’s quantum animism presents the idea that every natural system has an inner life, a conscious center, from which it directs and observes its action
I don’t want to take any sort of hard-line position about this, but it’s curious and leads me to wonder whether these individuals with uncommon ways of experiencing the world might be ahead of the curve in accessing insight that others among us haven’t caught on to yet.
None of this is written to minimize the challenges that those with autism and their loved ones experience. Autism can often make functioning in the world very difficult. As the countervailing voices in the article point out, simply accepting and celebrating neurodiversity, and changing the criteria by which we determine intelligence is no guarantee that such individuals will experience a higher quality of life, and might even obscure us from helping them most effectively. The variations among those diagnosed with ASDs is wide, and strategies and understandings that apply to one may not apply to all. ?And this doesn’t even begin to touch on the possible links to vaccines or environmental factors in the etiology of the condition, or the impact of diet and lifestyle on managing it. I’m deliberately side-stepping that. The post is aimed at instigating thought, broadening the conversation about autism, seeing it as perhaps more than a tragic state some of us are unlucky enough to be born into, and thinking beyond a pathology model. Such an approach might be useful in understanding, helping and relating to people dealing with it, and might be instructive for all of us in learning more about how our minds work.
What do?you think? Do you have experience with autism? Is it crazy to think about the possible upsides of autism? Does the conversation obscure our attempts to help?
I could not disagree more. We have a disorder that is increasing exponentially, obviously has environmental factors, and completely changes the human experience for the sufferer, as well as having ramifications for society as a whole. And you think this is a good thing? Do you have any idea of the implications of having so many people who don’t connect with other humans in the same way? And for parents who have to care for children their entire adult lives? This is an argument for people to stop looking for the root causes of autism (environment, diet, vaccines, gut flora, etc. etc)
You have a very typical liberal mindset – nothing can be sacred or considered abnormal, no matter what the ramifications for society might be.
This is not “human diversity.” It is brain damage, and something people can recover from if they catch it early and do the right things. The last thing we want to do is “normalize” autism so that people accept is as normal and ok and just let their children live that way. Much better for us to actually discover the root causes and cures so we can FIX the problem, not just live with it!
I agree with you, autism CAN be healed, kids can go from flapping their arms and not being able to communicate directly to being calm and answering questions straight forward, I’ve seen it. It takes a lot of dedication on the part of the parents, but for some it is really worth it to delve into nutrition so these kids can cope with life better.
Amy,
I hear you, and it’s not my intention to give up on trying to help these people, or to hand wave away the real and substantial difficulties this presents. But I’m not the one generating these arguments. It is autistic people themselves like Samantha Baggs who argue for ideas like the value of neurodiversity. You can disagree with them, and it sounds like you may have good reason to do that, but this isn’t just my harebrained liberal idea.
I don’t really have a horse in this race, and I’m not trying to prove autism is great. I’m just highlighting that there are people who challenge the default assumption that this something to be avoided at all costs.
Yeah, not trying to be super critical and angry, it’s just that this sort of thing gets me heated up. When you start “normalizing” things that aren’t normal, the problem perpetuates. It’s like how needing braces is now considered “normal.” It’s not and it’s the sign of malnutrition. But because it’s “normal” we give kids braces and don’ worry about it, instead of addressing the problems of poor diet and soil deficiency, etc. Never mind that a lot of people today have really deformed looking faces and bodies, not to mention ill health, and it would be much nicer for them if they had received properly mineralized bodies. Same for ADHD, depression, I could go on and on and on.
With autism – it is really not good for either society or the individual to be autistic. I’m sure it’s PC to think of it as “neuro-diversity” but in my opinion that is just trying to make a really big problem look pretty so we don’t have to deal with it.
I hear that- the two meanings of ‘normal’ as both ‘common’ and ‘healthy/optimal’ get conflated often, and it can obscure the issue.
My aim is not to be clouded by an overly sensitive, underly critical assessment of something like autism, and like I said, there’s a huge range of what’s labeled autism, some of which might be benign or even beneficial, and some of which might be very detrimental both to the individual and society. I think becoming very clear about what we’re talking about and dealing with is helpful and can create more space for common ground.
It sounds like your concern is that an uncritical celebration of neurodiversity will lead us away from reaching our potential and will set our sights too low for what’s possible in terms of health, vigor, and vitality. I agree. That said, I also stand by the idea that an oversimplified pathology model undermines understanding, and ignores some of the big questions autism brings up about the nature of knowing and relating to the world. I think neurodiversity does exist and does illuminate important ideas, even if it is itself sometimes conflated with a ‘don’t try to help’ mentality.
I could be persuaded that neurodiversity exists, but I am adamant that autism is not part of it. It is a modern disease condition that results from something that damages the neurological system. It is not a normal human state. Sense of humor, better math vs. verbal skills, logical vs. artistic would better examples of actual neurodiversity to study.
Humans are by nature social animals, extremely connected, and autism deprives the individual and their families from a very necessary emotional experience. I have yet to see anyone I know with an autistic family member (even aspergers which is considered more “benign”) to describe it as a beneficial condition.
I am with Amy on this. Watching that video there is definitely something wrong with that kid and methinks it is misfirings in the brain. He might believe neurodiversity but I think with diseases like this that are on the rise, we shouldn’t be trying to normalize them.
Agree totally.
I don’t have time to read tonight, but maybe this question could be somewhat relevant? Did Tesla have a high body temperature? =P
I’m so glad you posted on this, Rob. Thank you. :)
Hmm. I can see where the real Amy is coming from. I remember once reading the sales page to an ebook glorifying ADD, which listed Vincent Van Gough as an example of the greatness ADD affords a person. XD It rather pissed me off. I’m not saying Vincent wasn’t awesome, just that his mental illnesses (much more than ADD) ultimately killed him. Let’s embrace our uniqueness, neglecting to take the negative aspects of our illnesses seriously, so we can have horrible depressive episodes and shoot ourselves at 40! :D
I think one of the reasons people with Asperger’s and Austism, and other similar disorders and mental illnesses can be highly developed in some areas, is because we are compensating for our neurodevelopmental inefficiencies. If our bodies, for whatever reason, cannot manage to make headway in area X, then they put more focus and energy on area Z.
Fortunately, those areas we are not able to develop on our own, can often be developed with specific exercises. Um for example, as a kid I had a bunch of learning problems, and asperger’s symptoms. I couldn’t stand certain lighting in stores, and would avoid them. I’d leave concerts as soon as the band started because the noise was physically unbearable. Clothing tags… GAH. So my mother took me to a Neurodevelopmentalist, who gave me exercises to target the areas of my brain which had not been properly developed as a child. I did them, and the extreme discomfort of living in my body, abated. I’m not hypersensitive to everything anymore, and I sometimes forget how stressful and difficult sensory overload used to make life. :P
A guy I know who has Cerebral Palsy had great success with developing his brain beyond what his body would have been capable without intervention. When he was born, the doctors told his mother that he would never be able to speak or walk. Due to his mother’s dedication, and training in the Neurodevelopmental Approach, he now does both of those things. He’s also really bright, and fun, and independent.
I have a friend with severe Asperger’s, and other undiagnosed developmental issues, who is using similar approaches. He’s been able to live, with some assistance, in his own apartment for a few years now.
Neuroplasticity is so fascinating and awesome. I would encourage people to read The Brain that Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. It’s a good introduction to this stuff. I could probably explain all of this in greater detail, and share more resources, if anyone is interested.
Anyway, I think people with Asperger’s and Autism are awesome. There is much value in their unique perspective on life (one of my best friends has High-Functioning Asperger’s or whatever, and he’s just great), but at the same time, there are effective methods of improving the functioning of their brains so their quality of life, communication, stress level, etc, can be improved. :) And it’s so exciting.
Thanks for sharing, puddleduck.
Frank Forencich writes sometimes about neuroplasticity, and I think it’s awesome. I think we are incredibly and powerfully adaptive, and there’s much beyond what we assume that we’re actually capable of. And an important part of that capability is believing in it, and being willing to push past limitations.
Totally agreed that there may be good ways to enhance the quality of life for people with ASD, and we ought to explore them and make use whenever the situation calls for it.
my husband and youngest daughter are on the Aspergers spectrum. You would not really know it, you might think they are just a little on the weird side. As the wife and mother of an Aspie I can honestly say that I have shed my share of tears. My husband is a stone face Aspie( does not show emotion) and my daughter is meltdown Aspie(can only handle one emotion at a time or looses it). They have similar characteristics, but express very diff. Both can only be given one instruction at a time in things that they are not experts in. They do not seem to adapt like NT people do, we have to adapt to them. Until their diagnoses (8yrs into marriage) I considered divorce, because even counclers referred to my husband as emotionally dead. I tried everything to have him connect, but now I know that they are overwhelmed easily and go into shut-down mode almost immediately. They are one emotion at a time people, just like all their sensory issues, everything gets overwhelming quickly. But they are incredibly loyal and can be very thought provoking. In my house Aspie’s are either an expert at something (because it comes natural to them), or they do not do it at all. They are not “tryers” of new things. They either remember difficult sequence or routines they have in their heads, or they can not remember the simplest of tasks. This can be very hard, my daughter is very talkative, but has a hard time remembering names and common words, therefore reading is an extreme challenge. In speach both will talk as if you have just watched the movie that was in their head, so they will only give you the ending or odd bits. So leave people looking at them like wtf just happened. Many challenges, the couple of things that do help are gluten and lactose free and supplementing with liquid Iodine (Lugol’s). the Iodine has given me some sanity, my daughter has decreased her crying by about 70%. Without Iodine the crying returns with in days.
Thanks for mentioning Lugols solution.
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s N=1 we go…
Was quite interested in your reply- I have a son with Asperger’s (moderate) and he has recently begun a neurodevelopment program. He is progressing very well with it. In investigating the discipline, I found it quite exciting. It is unfortunate that it is not more mainstream in that there are things that I could have done (had I known) while he was a infant/toddler to help him- such as encouraging him to be on his stomach- creeping and crawling. Such little things that can make such a huge difference.
Spot on, The Real Amy. Autism is devastating to parents and children. I find this article to be insensitive to the very real suffering parents go thru when their vaccine-damaged baby stops functioning normally and “becomes” autistic…when the child becomes severely damaged. It’s agonizing. Dealing with such a child is extraordinarily challenging. And autism can be reversed by healing the gut…and it can be avoided altogether, too. So it couldn’t possibly be the next “natural” phase of our “evolution.” I applaud autistics who learn how to function as adults…there are ranges on the autism spectrum. But it is better to be healed. And let us never forget that this is a malfunction that happens to the brain as a result of toxic assaults to the brain and the gut; and that autism affects modern children in droves…levels unseen before our age of routine mass vaccines.
I listened to a series of podcasts from a neurosurgeon, who stumbled into treating autism full time (non-surgically). His take is that the dysfunction is not actually in the brain proper, but in the feed nerves that send all of the sensory information into the brain. When inflammation causes ‘shorts’ in the incoming sensory information (usually sight/sound), the brain begins to compensate by preferring touch input.
He is able to record inflammation levels of children with everything from ADD to full blown, severe autism. For the children with severe, regressive autism, they were affected earlier in life, before the nerve sheaths were fully formed, so the inflammation lies much closer to the nerves.
It makes so much sense to consider that the brain is still fully functional, but their experiences and ability to interact with the world are molded by the input that their brain is able to receive. He recovers kids with “autism symptoms”, and a couple of friends of mine have seen amazing progress with their kids.
Having a son who is just mildly on the spectrum, I can say this: while he does have some pretty fantastic cognitive skills (from the way his brain has compensated/developed), I know that there are aspects of his world that are extremely frustrating to him.
Oh that is so interesting. :D Do you still have the link to the podcast? Or the name of the Neurosurgeon? I’d love to check out his information.
That’s very interesting. Autism seems like a nerve damage type disorder. I’m still a bit with Dr. McBride in that imbalanced internal environment creates inflammatory conditions and this damages lymph nodes and nerve cells. Is she completely right with her GAPS theory? I don’t know.
I think you are hitting a nail on the head. Yes, there are certainly some significant difficulties that often come with autism in any of it’s spectrums. However, for me, both my father and my older sister have mild forms of autism and each of them, while they have terrible social skills at times simply because they are afraid of what people think, when you hear them talk about things that they understand and have thought out it is incredible to listen too.
The autistic frequently come with certain gifts that most of us can only dream about. They possess skills beyond what many of us could ever hope to achieve. Being willing to understand this would probably help the entire focus on the disease and also, how to care for it.
I disagree. My 5 year old son is very borderline on the spectrum, and I have seen some amazing improvements from him. He had the typical crapload of antibiotics, as well as being born to a mom (me ; ) ) who has low adrenal/thyroid issues. He had lots of issues as a baby. Anyways, cleaning up his diet (also avoiding some allergens) and giving him digestive enzymes has been huge! Also, getting him off gluten alone last year got him potty trained! He has some pretty interesting ways of thinking about things, and I’m sure there are some genetic reasons for the way he is, but I have NO doubt that his primary issues are thryoid/adrenal issues, gut dysbiosis, and toxin overload. He has obvious mineral deficiencies (which hugely affects brain function!) His progress, along with so many other recovery stories that I have heard over the last year, make me believe that MANY children with autism can make significant progress, some even recover, from this terrible disease. There is SO much that can be done!! : )
And I hope no one takes offense when I say “terrible disease”. There are some remarkable things that autistic kiddos say/do/think ect, but the regressive autism that I am referring to can be incredibly sad, scary, isolating, and exhausting.
Thanks Karl,
No offense taken on my end. I have so much heart for people dealing with autism on the ground in their day to day lives, and I support them in experimenting with ways to help manage and enhance the quality of life for those they care about.
Sorry to be a conspiracy theorist, but I believe it has something to do with vaccines. See Russell Blaylock. (There used to be a really good presentation of his but it was taken off Youtube.) Unfortunately, most people have this wrong– it’s not the metals or ingredients in the vaccines that is the danger. He believes the danger from vaccines comes from administering them at so early an age, and often 3-6 of them at once. The immune system reacts as if the infant has suddenly been infected with 3-6 diseases at once, and actually causes permanent harm to the brain. The same thing will happen if a pregnant mother is injected with a vaccine. This supposedly has been shown in animal testing.
Here’s a link that will probably convince no one: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28675161/Russell_Blaylock_M.D./Articles/Entries/2008/3/12_Vaccines%2C_Neurodevelopment_and_Autism_Spectrum_Disorders.html
And he was saying that protection from vaccines only works for a limited time, whereas actually getting the harmless disease– measles, chickenpox –protects one for life. Lots of things are fishy about the whole thing. I can’t be bothered to argue for it though. I believe it because of all the other conspiracies in the world which are more apparent.
i hadn’t heard that idea, that it’s the number of vaccines and the early age of administration that is more problematic than the ingredients. That’s interesting.
Love me a good conspiracy theory, though- there’s plenty of fishy stuff abounding to keep someone indefinitely occupied.
I actually did a speech years ago on the mercury in vaccines. Something I found interesting when I did my research was that many of the European countries administer vaccines much later in life. I think England didn’t start until like 18 mos. But I agree with Jared that it’s definitely not something to overlook.
AGREED, my kid had lots of anti-biotics and once the vaccines started she changed. I wish I would have done more research.
Hi folks, I’m newish around here and don’t have much experience with autism, but I wanted to make the point that there is a very important middle way between saying ‘autism is just part of neurodiversity, lets accept it’ and ‘autism is terrible and all people with autism can only live hopeless lives of suffering’. I believe we need to be able to look at ways of preventing and treating autism, but still seek to understand and appreciate people with autism.
In some ways, there are parallels with other conditions and disabilities – for example, we need to look at ways of preventing and treating obesity, without discriminating against all obese people, assuming their lives are all sickly/glutonous/lazy/inactive. Obviously, we want to prevent blindness, but can recognise that visually impaired people often have heightening of other senses, and are valuable members of our society. Autism spectrum is more complex and diverse that these two examples, but the key point still stands.
Thanks Turtle- I think that’s where I’m trying to stake a claim. I deliberately took a more provocative stance in the article to consider that perspective, but there is a wide middle ground that you’re pointing toward that makes sense to me.
That’s nice to say, but it works out differently in reality. The moment we start considering autism normal neuro-diversity, the motivation for fixing it drops. Not saying we all should go around hating on autistic people or anything, but let’s recognize it for what it is, which is a condition which very negatively affects the life of the sufferer and is not okay at all. It is far better for them if parents are motivated to look for a cure rather than thinking it’s okay and just their own child’s brain. I for one have parents who would totally have gone by what the doctor said and not looked for alternative solutions. If the doctor considered it “neuro-diversity” they would have accepted it. I’m sure a lot of parents are that way.
Blindness is very different in that it’s not some new condition exploding in the population caused by some sort of environmental cause. It is somewhat like obesity, and you know I don’t think we should pretend the obesity epidemic is okay either. It’s a sign that something in our environment/diet/lifestyle is very wrong and needs to be fixed. I think pretty much every obese person would rather be a normal weight, and it would be much better for them if we try to get to the root cause of obesity and fix it rather than just going with a “big is beautiful” mindset – because even if the self-esteem part is fixed, they are still suffering from not being able to move as fast, getting out of breath, higher risk of diabetes, etc.
I know my views are not PC but sometimes being PC gets in the way of actually helping things.
We may just disagree about what the consequences of thinking in terms of ‘neurodiversity’ implies. I’m not as convinced as you that it will lead to an avalanche of people doing nothing to find a workable solution.
More than anything, us NT are left feeling helpless, my Aspie’s think they are perfect for the most part. No self-esteem issues at all, I am the one left wanting and perplexed.
My limited experience around (“high-functioning”) people with autism (high school shops teacher) is that they are different, and through the crap they have had to put up with throughout their public school experience (bullying from peers, dismissing by teachers) leaves them different and not happy with their difference, or with people around them.
Whatever the cause of autism, it exists, and seems to be increasing in frequency, the people that live with it are people, and need to be shown the love and respect every other person deserves. On an interpersonal level, Rob’s article has huge value, on a dealing with whatever issues come with autism, Amy’s comments might have value (I don’t agree with the ‘this is a terrible problem’ bit, but she says she gets agitated on the topic, so I’ll take the message and ditch the tone.
As far as frequency of autism (or heart disease or any other “modern epidemic”) is concerned, it is only the third generating starting to breed now since antibiotics and antituberculins took death from infection out of the natural selection equation. This means all manner of things that were less common are going to become more common. we are also only seven generations into the age of coal and oil chemistry, which gives us all sorts of chemical compounds that no one knows how our bodies will respond to in the long term.
Fun times!
Thanks Ian. I would add to the last point, piggybacking on Chief’s ideas earlier: there are many, many variables that have changed in the last century or so. In addition to the chemical effluent of industrial civilization, we also are immersed in a unique but invisible electromagnetic environment that is radically new for us. I’m sure other contrasts abound.
My point isn’t to stop looking or putting out hypotheses for testing, and experimenting with ways to cope and respond better. It’s only to encourage us to keep digging and to not ignore contradictions when we come up with solutions that fit well, but imperfectly. Those anomalous areas are where we’re going to learn the most if we’re willing to pay them heed.
And I guess that’s the philosophical basis for this post- autism is not a cut and dry issue across the board, and we might have things to learn by looking beyond the dominant discourse and model.
AMY’s argument, from my high functioning autistic perspective, make’s me feel like I should be purged and that there is nothing good about me as I ultimately result from some form of genetic defect. I understand nothing can done to fix me so the fact that there’s nothing at all remarkable about me, coupled with the fact that I’m essentially less than human, is news that always makes my day. Cheers AMY.
That’s not what I said at all. I don’t think you have a genetic defect. I think you have neurological damage from an environmental source (so do people with many other conditions, such as Parkinsons). That doesn’t mean you should be “purged” by any means, or that you’re less than human, and I don’t know where you got that from. But that doesn’t mean we should normalize the condition. And plenty can be done to fix the condition, there is a lot of evidence of that.
Come on, how can you speak like this?
Where did she say such things, not even between the lines?
She is saying that it shouldn’t be normalized. I agree with her 100%.
It shouldn’t be normalized even if there seem to be positive side to it, because as soon as you start thinking that you are special because of your autism, you will stop searching for ways to heal your brain so to be like what you really want to be like. Naturally, if you think you are great, you are not going to strive to improve yourself.
Certainly, the lady from the above video is not looking to re-build her brain so to communicate like the rest of the society, nor are those who follow her. And what if a lot of people become like that?
Please don’t think for one millisecond that people consider you as something less. For those who actually do, well, you can be sure they are a bunch of unhappy people, although you don’t actually see it. I cannot imagine what you go through. Amy is just trying to tell you to look for ways to rebuild yourself, and not just accept it and consider yourself some sort of a genius, unless you really want to stay as you are.
Wish you all the best.
A little bit off topic but i think the women in the video is actually named Amanada Baggs and apparently there’s been some controversy over whether she in fact suffers from autism or some other issues…
Thanks curious- I corrected her name.
The controversy is fascinating, especially since she is a big voice in both that article and in other press about autism, though not the only voice.
As a mother of a 4 year old on the spectrum, I saw my son disappear. He pointed. Waved. Named body parts. I have it all on video.
After spending the past 3 years of my life immersed in all things “curing” autism, I have a few take-aways.
#1: Most of these kids, today, are medically sick. This isn’t Kanner’s autism.
But the western medical system does little to address the chronic diarrhea and other GI/brain issues that arise. When I brought up my son’s gut issues that developed after his 2 year shots and a double ear infection, I was told, “Most kids with autism have diarrhea.”
WHAT???
I’ve spent countless hours and dollars, and many doctors later, have come to one conclusion:
#2: No one knows Jack.
My DAN! doctors, my U of C pediatrician, naturopath, chiropractor, developmental specialist…are all grasping at straws…
My son does have a high viral load. His oxidative stress sucks. But pumping him full of 10s of supplements just made his issues worse.
#3: Believe it or not, to any mamas and dads reading, CEASE homeopathy has been a great help. It took me years to warm up to it. After doing it on myself to resolve some underlying health issues, I tried it on my son.
Jackpot.
I think there are many types of autism. Truly. Had my son never waved or smiled or played, I’d be in a different boat. I don’t think of our path as recovery, just making his life easier…
Given the meteoric rise of 1 in 88 kids, someone has to wake this country up. It’s not going away. It’s growing.
One thing autism has taught me: so little is known about the nature of the human brain, health, development, and food.
So little.
But in the end, trusting our guts, even if they are destroyed by years of processed food and anti-biotics, is key.
Best of luck to you, Nicolette. I can only imagine how hard it must be as a parent to see your son regress like that. I have had success with homeopathy, too (for non-autistic issues), and think it’s an amazing thing. I hope you get your little man back to being himself again.
Likewise all the best, Nicolette. Thanks for sharing. I have a bit of experience with homeopathy and I think it can be very powerful. Glad you’ve found some promising options.
Hmmm, this woman does appear to be a bit of a fraud, which throws a wrench into what I was thinking. She appears to have developed metabolic damage over time and is lauding herself as an exemplar of humanity…to speak for those who cannot. Getting past this, I would say that autistic individuals should be appreciated on her own terms, perhaps this means as a another spectrum of humanity. I suspect that the symptoms distract us from identifying and addressing the cause. In which case, understanding may allow us to no longer run from our problems.
Having said that, any child whose body or mind is deformed from dysfunctional digestion/ nutrition experiences a tragedy, which is not to say that they are tragedies. We must accept and seek to understand the victims, while furiously preventing needless suffering in whatever form it takes shape.
Yeah, it does throw a wrench into the idea that all autistics, or even some autistics have the perspective that she does. If this isn’t true, maybe the common idea that they are frustratingly trapped in their own heads has more credence.
Still, hers is not the only voice making that point. There’s a wide network of others asserting that autism is not tragic or unbearable, and that it is even an expression of human diversity worth celebrating.
I don’t know that I agree with that, and much as Amy and I above have disagreed, I do agree with her that something so obviously non-normative is at least very problematic. Discerning the intentions and motivations of the various voices and players is tough and makes it hard for me to find a pat answer.
Well, my personal experience is that I can both love and accept my son as he is and continue to do what is best for him to give him the highest quality of life possible. I don’t see it as an either/or situation. When he was three, he was nonverbal, violent and self-injurious. Diet, supplements etc. helped tremendously in terms of verbal communication and overall health.
A few years back, I realized he was perfect just the way he was and that I needed to stop thinking of the autism as “the enemy”. Autism ultimately is a lesson in unconditional love. And interestingly enough after having that realization all of the remaining behaviors that I had been so vigilantly fighting gradually faded. Is he “normal”? No. But wow has he ever come a long way. The situation certainly isn’t perfect and the entire family makes sacrifices daily, but it is what it is. I continue to keep on top of the research and the latest information from the parents “in the trenches”. But I don’t push against it with so much emotional resistance any longer. “What you resists persists.” He is 19 now and honestly is both a real joy and a pain in the ass, but that can be said for a lot of 19 year old boys.
There’s nothing insensitive about your post, but the problem we all have in my opinion is a definitional one. The term “autism” now encompasses an enormous group of individuals and I do not believe they are all the same. The other thing is that it is hard to tease apart what is pathological from what is not. consider the possibility that there is a subset of individuals who are different in some particular way. I would like to call them “Type A” except that term seems to be taken. I’ll call call them “Type Q.” Perhaps being Type Q is not a disease state, but being Type Q makes you uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards, which then produce undesirable effects in Type Q people. That is what I suspect. That’s why as my Type Q child matures and I improve his biological condition, he functions better and better and becomes a healthy, happy, quirky kid. His folks are quirky, his grandparents are quirky. We all have ADHD, ok? I think we all know that’s genetic and comes with vulnerabilities. So there’s a certain something there that’s just part of who he is (and who we are, as a family and a genetic group). But yes, environmental variables have hit him hard (on top of possibly having “concentrated” his ADHD-ness by having two ADHD parents, at least one of whom also has two ADHD parents). So which part of him is the “autism” and which part is just him? when I “recover” him, what will remain? Will he be “average”? God I hope not!
Just came across this today from searching for autism on this site. I was inspired to do so after trying to recall something I had read about healing autism.
My brother was an Aspie, although for years we suffered through misdiagnosis and every psychiatric medication under the sun never knowing why.
This past month my husband and I had a chat with a friend who’s female companion has two kids on the autism spectrum. I mentioned gluten sensitivity testing, since I seemed to recall a correlation between the two. Today I did my research and found the answer to my nagging feeling here: http://www.cheeseslave.com/autism-recovery-with-the-gaps-diet-one-mothers-story/ An amazing story of healing an autistic little boy! Just watch the video’s and it’s like night & day!
This subject truly warrants a closer look and attention for your readers, Matt. An interview with Sam’s mother would be great, or something along that line to help raise awareness, as it seems several of your readers have autism-spectrum individuals in their lives!
My brother’s story doesn’t have a happy ending, years of societal alienation, drugging, depression, and struggling every day of his life ultimately took its toll on him and he tragically succumb to his long-harbored suicidal thoughts. That was his story, but it doesn’t have to be the same for others or their families.
Please put your talents and passion to good use help spread awareness about this shockingly common (& becoming more so) affliction (I say, “affliction” because to my brother it was – there was nothing more he wanted than to be “normal”).
Thank you for all you do, Matt! Aloha. :)