mercury/heavy metal poisoning/chealation???

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RhondaR,

My son sneaks stuff up to his room; chocolate syrup bottles, icecream sprinkles, those icings in a tube, I find the empty containers later under the bed!

My daughter doesn't seem to have the asperger's traits that my son has, but she definitely has some ADHD type stuff going on, relatives are starting to comment. She seems to crave milk, and dairy products and won't eat hardly anything else. Again, makes me wonder...

Maybe it is not the vaccines but perhaps something with the immune system that reacts to overloads of "toxins" that is genetic.

I love my son and his quirkyness, but I hate to see how miserable he can get by feeling physically ill, by being overly sensitive to his surroundings (sensory stuff), by not understanding people and the way we communicate as a majority, by being misunderstood when he tries to communicate...

I can say the same for my son, almost the same story. Though, I won't say "he's lost his diagnosis". He has the same brain, but it's been largely rewired through a lot of love and work. He had no speech until 2 1/2 and at 6 was considered "at age level". He went from being labeled "severe" and now he's in a regular classroom too. We went with our gut instinct, which did NOT tell us to subject him to painful medical procedures that are unproven and dangerous. A lot of autistic adults that are with us today had no medical treatment, no special ed and sometimes no diagnosis. They learned coping and learning strategies, though. Some of these are celebrities (Temple Grandin) and some I personally know. Their parents and I share the same ideals about teaching autistic people.

It is sad that we can't join forces. The curebie camp is hell-bent on keeping autistic adults away from the discussion. I am not allowed my opinion on vaccines because my son is no longer severe enough for me to qualify as a concerned parent. Autism Speaks, and other such organizations that push the Anti-vaccine scare are hogging up valuable time and energy when we could be addressing Special Education and Adaptive Life Skills, tangible resources for real life issues.
I'd be more forgiving if they weren't so adamant and greedy and in complete denial about the autistic adults that have always been around.

Totally agreed. Every parent needs some hope. I think where I tend to differ is that I just don't know if I could put my child through the chelating process or go down the whole glutein and casein free diet path either. It seems pretty extreme to me, and I don't really "do" extremes. Sure, I'd love to know how exactly the Aspergers was caused, but you know - some answers you just never get, and regardless - I feel very very lucky every day that I spend with both of my kids. I'm just going to go with what I know right now and go forward from here.

Obviously, there would be a public health hazard if there were a correlation and they certainly had in interest in such a thing as an "autism epidemic." They studied over a million vaccinations. They are still studying it because parents are demanding it. So far, nothing.

Autism has a strong genetic component. Everyone agrees with that.

The Discover article gave credence to unsubstantiated and potentially dangerous treatments. Yasko's protocal has been seriously derided by others and the article makes it sound positive. Also - there is an ethics factor to consider. Treatments in the past for people with mental illness, autism and cognitive impairments have had lowered standards that most likely would not have been acceptable for "normal" people. And oftentimes the patients are left out of these discussions because they are not considered capable to contribute.

If the studies on thimerosol being a possible cause of autism were by reputable scientists, I would take the idea a bit more seriously. However, the studies being touted as proof that autism is being caused by vaccines, or environmental toxins, are either one.) never released to experts to verify, or two.) completely anecdotal and therefore meaningless in a scientific sense.

If the people who did these studies weren't making so much money on fake tests and fake, or worse, actual and dangerous treatments, and had a shred of professional ethics, I might take the their ideas concerning autism seriously.

If the few studies that showed a connection were replicated with with same results, I'd take the idea seriously.

However, there are studies identifying certain genes that contribute to autism.

What if autism is actually caused not by the chemical substances in our environment, but in the social changes in our culture? What if autism genes plus tv is the cause?

I don't think it is. I am an Aspie in my forties, and one of the things I'm learning is that Aspies develop socially more slowly. We end up figuring things out, and though we still think differently, we are able to cope and function. What if what was really needed for autistics was not to try and speed up our development to NT standards but with support to let us develop at our own AS rate.

No-one ever died of autism, but people have died from supposed cures for autism.

And here's the other kicker--I have a sneaking suspicion that there are cases out there that really aren't AS and autism but something else we haven't figured out.

Rjaye

This would not surprise me. I have that suspicion in the back of my mind about my family, but I would like to put it to rest, so I won't constantly be wondering and second guessing. We will be doing a full blown screening at an autism center in a larger town. I am in the process of filling out lots and lots of paperwork. woohoo

I think I am seeing that my concerns for my son are coming from trying to make a connection with some physical ailments that really might not be there, but do just need to be taken care of seperately. I have never taken my son to a doctor to have these things checked out. (Our family doctor moved a few years ago, he was a close family friend, and we haven't found a new family doctor yet. I guess it is time. )

Last edited by amoseli on 26 Apr 2007, 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think AS has always been a part of the genetic pool, but the changes in culture have caused it to become a "disorder." In Victorian times, an AS man would have been perceived as perfectly normal. Social interactions were formalized and more scripted and men were not expected to empathize. They were no psychologists to tell us what is normal.

Yes, culture has created a normal and therefore created a disorder out of a personality type.

Wow, I love this conversation! Thank you all for commenting. All of this is helping me to look at things from different perspectives.

This makes a lot of sense.

Conversation is good. When we can respect each other's opinions and experiences and learn from one another instead of arguing or trying to be "right". This is so good. Again, thank you all very much for commenting!

I'd believe that except for Sensory Integration Disorder. How did Aspies deal with Victorian dress and grooming?
I don't know. Temple Grandin's mother, Eustacia Cutler, describes going to mid-20th century institutions and seeing autistics locked away and "mentally ret*d" people kept in horrid conditions. They weren't trained for anything, not even dressing themselves, written off as pointless. There was one case where an administrator decided to reform a wing and started a work-training program and found that these people could dress, groom and "work" just like anyone else if they were trained right. They were treated with respect and that made all the difference in the world.
How many Helen Kellers were locked up and not given the opportunities to communicate and contribute?

I think there was an either/or situation with autistics in history. Either they were exalted members of the community because they contributed in a special way or they were "less than".

When aspies make points, we don't perceive it as disrespecting anyone's opinion and we seldom take it personally. How can one try to be "right," particularly in communication such as a forum? We are exchanging opinions and sometimes facts. An opinion is subjective by its very nature.

KimJ, I do think there was an either/or situation. You conformed or you didn't. Non conforming could mean old Uncle Harry locked in the attic or an institution. The penalties of noncompliance were severe, but the rules were clear. Even Temple Grandin wore her scratchy petticoats to church because he knew it was the "proper" thing to do.

At any rate, I'm not debating the rightness or wrongness of this behavior, but simply pointing out how AS may have looked in a different culture constrained by rules. Personally, I've always functioned much better when I have clear cut rules and know what is expected. It makes me feel in control.

While many NT parents try to understand the emotional, sensory and cognitive differences, I don't think they think about how important a sense of control is for an aspie.

The way you phrase it, it sounds paradoxical. Just like using visual aides and ASL to augment and promote speech.
But it's true!

I think I am beginning to understand this more. Control is definitey an issue for my husband and I am seeing the connection more with my son as well.

My husband and I had some conversations this weekend about some of his quirks and the way he thinks about things, he talked about some stuff that he says he has never talked about before possibly because he never knew how to talk about it. I think everyday I am more aware of the similarities between my son and my husband. I think it is helping my husband to understand himself by learning more about our son.

I suppose I was mostly talking to myself. I used to have a real problem with always wanting to be "right". I was one of those goody-two-shoe type of kids growing up. I was pretty arrogant. I truly don't want to be that way anymore and am trying to learn .

Okay, now I see where you are getting the "not respecting other people's opinion" thing. Respecting someone's opinion is a ToM thing. What you may not know is that Aspies generally respect opinions by default. But if you expect an Aspie to couch their opinion in a way that takes into account your feelings or state of mind, it is probably not going to happen.

We can make generalized rules of things that hurt people's feelings, but we cannot do this on-the-fly for every single conversation. Most of us don't think in emotions, but in facts or opinion.

Wow,lots of stuff going on in this thread.

My son is also a carboholic. He would be happy eating bread, rolls and bagels for all meals. He used to eat bagels with cream cheese, but now opts for just the bagel.

I do not think vaccines "cause" ASD, but they may contribute to the problem. I am not sure if I believe that it is the mercury or thermosal or the fact that they recieve so many vaccinations at one time. Vaccinations cause your body to build up antibodies against disease. Can you imagine what being exposed to 3 or 4 different diseases at a time must do to a child's body? I am a healthcare provider and I do not understand why a baby has to have Hep C. I need it because I am in constant contact with blood and bodily fluids. How many babies are changing bandages, cleaning wounds. Couldn't some of the vaccines wait until a little later in life?

Chelation is a scary process to me. I do believe in alternative medicine to some extent, but I think you really have to be careful. Why not look into something more proven like accupuncture that has been around for 5000 years? That also helps draw out the bodies toxins.