Compounding (Biomedical) Factors
Asperger's Syndrome is an official diagnosis in the DSM IV -- ie it is an official diagnosis for a mental disorder. My position is that "Asperger's Syndrome" is a catch-all phrase for some traits and that autistic behaviors exist on a continuum with no clear-cut dividing line. But the label "Asperger's Syndrome" indicates that there is a clear-cut dividing line and that this is a mental illness. I disagree with that completely -- which is part of why I did not use the term for a long time, have not had my kids formally diagnosed, and am ambivalent about using the term on my website.
I was recently given this link: Dana's View. One of the things that Dana (the author of the website) talks about is doing chelation therapy with her kids. Chelation is treatment for heavy metal poisoning, which is a physical cause for mental impairment and treatable as a physical illness. With removing the heavy metals from their systems, her two sons have dramatically improved and seem a lot less "autistic". My oldest son has a mild form of Cystic Fibrosis and was not diagnosed until he was 14. They put 20 pounds on him and he no longer suffers low-grade fevers 2 to 3 days per week. With getting healthier, his aspie traits have become dramatically less prominent. Allergies and digestive issues are extremely common in people who qualify for a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum.
For further supporting evidence that a lot of "mental illness" has physical causes, see this article:
"Diseases of the Mind: Bacteria, viruses and parasites may cause mental illnesses like depression and perhaps even autism and anorexia"
Let me also note that I happen to be an environmental studies major. We have been poisoning our environment for decades with synthetic chemicals that never before existed on earth. I think it is no coincidence that as our world becomes more poisoned, we have seen a dramatic rise in cases of autistic spectrum.
Issues like "not hugging" are typically due to sensory issues. Now, they don't really know what causes sensory issues and I know that when I am ill, I act like a person with sensory issues and my oldest son's sensory issues get worse when he is ill (we both have a mild form of CF -- he was diagnosed because I was diagnosed and they tested both my kids). But when I talk to people with serious sensory issues and who have Aspie traits or live with people who do, the feedback I get suggests that a good deal of their "antisocial" behavior is really about avoiding physical discomfort that becomes torturous when there is enough of it. A great deal of what I do for my oldest son is about coping with his sensory issues. I compare it to someone with pale skin avoiding the sun and if you do not let them avoid the sun because "normal people" don't, they will be chronically sunburned and that will make them very crabby and very antisocial and, no, they don't want a hug, by god! If you accommodate for their sensory issues, they act a lot more "normal".
Additional Resources:
- Prosopagnosia
- This is the "Interactive section of this site about Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness)", with tests and activities.
I especially recommend this page: Face-Blindness ( Prosopagnosia ) and stones, which gives an excellent idea of what it is like to be face-blind by using the recognition of stones as a metaphor. This page was an Aha! moment for me.
-
Choisser
- An Autobiographical View of Face Blindness
-
Autism-Mercury
- This is a Yahoo group which addresses biomedical interventions for autism. The basic premise of most of the discussions here is that autism is caused by "mercury poisoning" and the mercury is usually introduced into the body via vaccines (from a preservative used in some vaccines) and "silver" dental fillings ("amalgams"). However, in addition to discussing the practical details of how to chelate (remove) mercury from your child, they also discuss chelation of other heavy metals, treatment of the gut issues and allergies so common in ASD kids, and man other related topics. I have found this group to be a wealth of information and I try to keep a toe in it, in spite of how busy I sometimes I am. Also: The archives are public, which means you do not have to join the list to read the messages.
To Top
|
|
Asperger's Syndrome: A Working Hypothesis
- Giftedness
- Personality Type
- Sensory Issues
- Compounding (Biomedical) Factors
- Eccentric Geniuses
- The Big Disconnect
- Socially Deaf
- Time Blind
- Rapid Brain Growth and Vitamin Deficiencies
- Different Minds
|
|
|
