ASD research

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Food for thought:

I went to an Autism Awareness forum last night, where local experts discussed ASD issues, mostly addressed to parents of ASD kids: early intervention, behavior modification therapy, alternative medicine treatments, integrated treatment plans, etc.

I was happy to hear that much of the current research (some even federally funded) now takes into account the physical symptoms common to those of us on the Spectrum, particularly food sensitivities. There's just too strong a correlation with ASDs to ignore these issues; I think the Nobel-prize-winning question will be whether these co-morbid symptoms cause ASD or are caused by ASD. Or both are caused by the genetic or environmental factors alreay suspect.

As the director of our local autism support center put it, "I no longer see autism as a disorder of the brain, but a disorder that affects the brain."

Very interesting point. I think it could be assumed why autistics have food allergies is because they are also shown to be what's called bad off-loaders. Meaning their livers don't detox things very well and perhaps they don't off-load heavy metals as well as a normal person does. That would then show why vaccines get blamed. It would be because their livers aren't removing the thermarsol like a normal person's can when in small quantities. When one's liver is not healthy then the person tends to display more food allergies. Don't believe me? Go get a full liver panel and see that your liver enzymes are not normal.

Funny thing is adult autistics refuse to discuss this with me and claim they have no food allergies which you can see visibly that they display allergic reactions. My pet peeve is people who constantly clear their throats of phlegm and no amount of discussion will convince them either dairy, wheat or corn is causing that.

I suppose you realize that few people here would agree with you. We don't feel like our brains are diseased. I don't have any food allergies and neither do my children. I've been involved with autism for 16 years, when my oldest child was dx'ed. Every mother I met was talking about "recovery" through behavior modification.

One woman I met initially had a fairly low functioning child named Patrick. She hired a special education teacher to give her child Lovaas therapy for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and then other "aides" took over on the weekends. This went on for years and he only performed when someone offered a reward. She sent him off to autistic boarding school. He didn't recover. Today, he's a sweet natured 20-year old who lives in a group home and speaks only a few words. All the torture for naught, just because his Mom wanted him to "recover." What would Patrick be like if he had been loved and accepted and taught to the best of his abilities?

I'm very sorry you feel that autism is a disease that acts on the brain, sorry for your children more than anything. How do you think the child will feel growing up knowing he has a disease working on his brain? That he is treated so differently from other children because he has this awful thing working on his brain? I know that neurotypicals lack imagination, but try to imagine how you would feel.

The best cure is acceptance.

I'm not saying autism can be cured. I'm saying people might feel better if they did seek treatment for food allergies or just testing and learning to avoid what makes them feel like crap. If they felt better they might act better. It is not normal to hack on phelgm all day. It is an allergy.

They are plenty of NT's with food allergies and plenty of Autistics who do not. I do not have any food allergies.

If I had food allergies, I would be aware of them and manage it.

most of us have food intolerances, mostly to gluten

There's growing evidence to support that at least a portion of ASDs may have comorbid immune issues and autoimmune disorders which, at least, may be comorbid to the ASD-- at most, it may have something to do with the development of the ASD.

Here are some of the issues found to date:

* lymphocyte abnormalities
* immunoglobulin deficiencies
* cytokine abnormalities
* myelin basic protein and human basic protein antibodies
* hyperserotonemia
* food allergies
* sinus allergies
* gastrointestinal issues

I for one, however, have come to develop the hypothesis that variations within the human immune system may in fact be key to each individual's development, ASD or not. Especially considering the Major Histocompatibility Complex, a particular gene which encodes for more than 50% of our immune development, is one of the largest genes in the human genome, thereby it is also one of the most variable from person to person.

The immune system and the Central Nervous System are in constant communication and interaction with each other.

On a side note, food allergies in ASD samples have been verified by more than behavioral symptology, albeit the studies to date have tended to use small sample sizes. Particular antibodies can be tested for in the blood and on the skin. Antibodies such as antigliadin which is the antibody to gluten.

It is little surprise that there are more common food allergies in the human population, moreso in certain subsets, because many of these food allergies are to grains and animal byproducts such as cows milk which have only been added into the human diet since the time our species started farming.

It is why we less often will develop an allergy to meats or vegetables because they have been part of our diet, and therefore our genetics, for a much longer time through evolutionary history.