Eileen Said:

Do you think I caused my baby to have autism?

We Answered:

I am sure that you did nothing to cause your son's autism. From everything that I have read the little alcohol that you had could no way effect your child in such a drastic matter. I think many, if not most mothers probably did something (drink, or smoke) very early in there pregnancies before they realized they were pregnant. I know I did. My daughter was concieved right before Christmas and I went out at New Years and drank quite a bit. I found out I was pregnant two weeks later. I told my doctor and she said that it wouldn't have any effect. You did nothing wrong. As soon as you realized you were pregnant you took care of yourself.

I worked with children with autism before I became a SAHM. There are wonderful therapies that can greatly help your son. Don't lose hope. Things will get better for you and your family. It may take a little time, but the therapy will help. Autistic kids can be the most wonderful and rewarding children. Take Care, I hope all the best for you and your family.

Sergio Said:

What do you think causes autism, my 21 month old just diagnosed?

We Answered:

I think you have every right to be worried about further vaccines. The thing saying he already has it so why not get the vaccines, that is a really selfish thing for someone to say to you.
If he has had a bad reaction to a vaccine then I personally would not give that vaccine again.
If you look at tha Amish, they have never vaccinated and they also do not have autism within their families.
The cells of different animals are injected into our babies and is resulting in the changing of our genetic code as humans.
From what I know is that a child can be born with a predisposition to autism. There are a number of other neurotoxins in vaccines such as formaldehyde and aluminum. So a child that has a predisposition to autism gets injected with several vaccines that contain these neurotoxins resulting in neurological damage since their neurological system is already weakened. A lot of these kids shortly after getting vaccinated may get sick which their immune system cannot fight the illness properly because it has been temporarily weakened from the vaccines, thus resulting in further neurological damage. Only about half of the vaccines out there are really mercury free, the rest contain either the minimum allowed or trace amounts. Trace amounts shouldn't affect a person, but having 3 or 4 vaccines with trace amounts, and also 3 or 4 with the other neurotoxins I listed can overload the fragile developing brain causing some brain damage. Other factors can cause autism, since a child can have the predisposition a severe cold, sickness, disease and other severe things can cause that predisposition to turn into autism. I feel that people are wrong by saying that vaccines have nothing to do with autism. When a parent raises a child that is developing perfectly and within 24 to 72 hrs. after that child has been vaccinated starts to regress in development, i feel that there is a strong connection between vaccines and autism in that situation. Vaers, the fund set up for families with children that have severe adverse reactions to vaccines does not have enough money to pay these parents thats children have suffered from autism due to vaccines. Formaldihyde and aluminum are also known carcinogens. (Cancerous)
Remember, a predisposition is not a cause.

Javier Said:

Can I hear from other parents of autistic children and your experiences, 21 month old just diagnosed.?

We Answered:

Honey, I am a mama.. not of an autistic child, so I shouldn't really be answering, but saw this has been on an hour and my heart goes out to you... I have worked in a school for children with autism and now work in public schools with children with autism and can only say from what I know, there is hope.. many children do enter public school with varying types of autism. Again, it depends on the severity of your child's form of autism.

I do not know if this was sent for you or not... my mom knows how interested I've always been with children like yours and sent me this article today..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/624574…

Wednesday, 27 June 2007

Autism symptoms reversed in lab

Symptoms of mental retardation and autism have been reversed for the first time in laboratory mice.
US scientists created mice that showed symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome - a leading cause of mental retardation and autism in humans.

They then reversed symptoms of the condition by inhibiting the action of an enzyme in the brain.
Fragile X Syndrome is linked to mutation in a gene carried on the X chromosome called FMR1.

It can cause symptoms ranging from mild learning disabilities to severe autism.

The researchers, based at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, targeted an enzyme called PAK which affects the number, size and shape of connection between brain cells.
They found that inhibiting the enzyme stopped mice with Fragile X Syndrome behaving in erratic ways.

Prior to treatment they showed signs of hyperactivity, purposeless and repetitive movements.

Abnormalities corrected

Further analysis showed that not only were structural abnormalities in connections between brain cells righted, proper electrical communication was restored between the cells.

In the brain small protrusions called dendritic spines are responsible for communication between cells.

People with Fragile X Syndrome have more dendritic spines than usual, but each is longer and thinner, and transmits weaker electric signals.

Blocking PAK activity in the lab mice corrected these abnormalities.

Researcher Dr Susumu Tonegawa stressed that the mice were not treated until a few weeks after symptoms of disease first appeared.

"This implies that future treatment may still be effective even after symptoms are already pronounced," he said.

Professor Eric Klann, of New York University's Center for Neural Science, agreed that the research was potentially significant.

He said: "This is very exciting because it suggests that PAK inhibitors could be used for therapeutic purposes to reverse already established mental impairments in fragile X children."

Eduardo Said:

Anybody with speech therapy experience help me speak clearer?

We Answered:

I'm going to take a stab at this and say you may have a rather rare fluncy disorder known as "cluttering". It is related to stuttering.
stutteringhelp.org has a page on cluttering. Just go to the site, click on "search this site", and enter "cluttering" on the second page.
Universities with a speech pathology program always have a student speech clinic, and because cluttering is so rare, they would love to have you. Services are typically provided on a sliding payment scale.

Eduardo Said:

Anyone familiar with autism, can you give me any information as my 21 month old just diagnosed?

We Answered:

From my experience thus far, I usually see the opposite, that children with autism tend to be brilliant. Several of my good friends with autistic children, their kids were reading at age three. We joke about them being "savants". My son, who is mildly autistic, is definitely age appropriate for academics, which is fine by me.

Once your son starts school (I'm assuming once he turns three, you'll send him to public preschool where he can continue to receive services) - or even if you send him to a private preschool for kids with special needs - you'll get a better idea of where he is academically. Early intervention really doesn't evaluate that too much, as before age three, they're too young. When my son turned three, the school system evaluated him (similar to how Early intervention evaluates), they evaluated his academics then. You'll of course see his knowledge better once he is able to communicate again.

All I can do is tell you, is through my son's school, and dealings with private speech therapists, and developmental pediatricians, autism support meetings and informative meetings I've gone to, I've met probably well over a hundred
people with children with autism. Not one is mentally retarded. They were all either brilliant, age appropriate, or slightly behind due to a learning disability. But you should get a better idea what you're dealing with when your son is three or so. I hope this helps, I just feel so horrible for what you are going through, having been there myself. I wish I could do more for you.