Autism.our experiences

[fluffy]

It's a very topical and emotive subject....but i just wanted to tell you about a friend.
Danny has a PHD, is a spokesman for the National Autistic Society, has been to 10 Downing St to meet the PM and is a highly regarded and award winning photographer. Danny also has Aspergers Syndrome....he's the same man who makes very loud chicken noises in pubs and likes to stand on bar stools going Cock a Doodle Doo!!.........but we accept his quirks and marvel at his talents.......
His photography has won him a whole plethora of awards, the BBC love him and National Geographic revere him and i don't know anyone else who can name every plant on Earth by it's full Latin name....
He's an example of a Savant but his early years were marred by prejudism and ignorance. It took until his late 30's before he finally had his questions answered..
There's absolutely no doubt that early intervention is the key......and we need more research too.

Porcelain mushrooms by Dr Danny Beath.

Do any of you have first hand experience of autism and it's effects??

fluffy

[woweeee]

i have a few people i know who has Autism. accually 4.

[Filomena]

My cousin's little girl has been diagnosed with autism.

My cousin is getting very involved with her diet, and doing a lot of interactive therapy with her. She seems to be improving, but her speech is not there yet. She's 5 years old.

We talk about this a lot and both agree that the term "autism" seems to be a blanket statement that applies to a variety of symptoms with a few common elements. The medical community uses this as a diagnosis primarily to pacify people, and make it easier to "offer" treatments that run across the gambit, often in a "hit and miss" way.

There needs to be a lot more research into the "why" before you can successfully treat something like this. I think so many children are misdiagnosed because they just don't have alternate explanations.

And so many children can share some of the autistic "symptoms" and not be autistic at all. For example, my nephew (now 11) used to flap his arms and walk on his tippy toes all the time. He hasn't had any comprehension problems and is a bright, (although a little immature) kid. If my sister-in-law had brought him to a doctor when he was a little boy to talk about his disinterest in socializing, I bet he would have been diagnosed as mildly autistic. But she never did, and he's doing fine.

All I'm saying is that we need to be careful with the information that is being thrown at us before we jump on the bandwagon and start discussing labels and cures.

It certainly is a painful process for everyone involved, but scientific research is key if we really want to do something about it.

[JACK]

i don't know if u all saw rain man ... i think dustin hoffman was autistic or something but what really got my attention when i saw the making of the movie was studying cases like that....when an autistic person feels scared or worried...he reaches his hand to touch the person next to him and that was very good improvement in many cases

[Canadian Jayne]

symptoms, she would bang her head against the wall whenever she was
upset when she was little, I still remember her banging her head as she bounced against the backrest as the thump, thump, thump sounded through the house. I always wondered if it hurt when she hit the wall.
Anyway, eventually she stopped, we treated her the same as anyone else.
I wonder sometimes if, pollution could have an effect on children who are prone to Autism.

[fluffy]

we sure live in a polluted world......It would be really interesting to see if air and water purity corellate to the distribution of Autism worldwide.....hmmm

fluffy

[Canadian Jayne]

I would like to see a survey on that too.
Personally, I think there may be a connection, hopefully someone will take a poll.

[fluffy]

and the mercury debate.........If it really is mercury the UK should have the highest Autism rate worldwide......our mouths are packed with the stuff in our fillings..... .......and how does that affect the unborn child if the mother's mouth is full of amalgam??.......
it's a fascinating subject.......

fluffy

[Lena]

My oldest brother (he's a nurse, so he knows things about those stuff) thinks my youngest brother might have autism. He talked with my parents about it, but they are in denial and they don't want to go take a test to see if he has it or not.

[Alyonushka]

To Filomena:
Autism is a slop-pail for all pediatricians when it's troubled to make the precised diagnosis. Your nephew would no doubt be diagnozed with autism although I personnaly think he only had hypertonus of gastrocnemius muscles.

To Jack:
That's true, after the release of the Rain Man the autism topic has been wastly spread around in press and media.

My friend has a 3 year old son who could be also diagnosed with mild autism. By that age he didn't talk, he communicated with other kids with difficulties and didn't want other people to hug him or touch - just mom and dad. Kinda edgy, smart and talented, but a lil bit despotic - a real New Age kid)))

As for me, when I was little I could have been considered a mild autist as well. I didn't like people to touch me (still hate), when my mom was trying to hug me and kiss I always pushed her away. The least pressure and reproof made me cry and offend. I was always turned into my thoughts and inner imaginary world (it still remains). People considered me talented, i did music, sang, played the piano, danced, wrote cool stories using all my imagination, won prizes at contests, BUT.. unfortunately it all ended when I grew up. No one is suprised of an adult who dances, sings and writes. Now, there's only deep depression and no understanding in what to do in the future...

I always remember one little Russian girl who in her 8 years wrote marvelous poetry about things a kid could not know at such age - death, love, pain. Everybody was excited of her. She was something extra. But when she grew up, she suicided because no one was interested in her poetry because she wasn't a kid anymore.

Sad story actually.

Here I always remember the Magnolia movie, there was a thread about talented kid with encyclopedia knowledges who grew up and turned an ordinary depressed man with homosexual orientaion.

I guess it's better to be normal than something extra.

P.s. they deleted my topic and poll about Evan ((( they always delete me, what the.. I will go suicide then....

[fluffy]

he only had hypertonus of gastrocnemius muscles.

.........yeah that's a really good point.......sounds suspiciously like it......

P.s. they deleted my topic and poll about Evan ((( they always delete me, what the.. I will go suicide then

lol..........i think suicides a bit extreme.....lol.......but it's not appropriate to have a topic dedicated to Evan here i'm afraid........we can discuss autism in general but it's not fair to disect the wee lad..........

fluffy

[Alyonushka]

he only had hypertonus of gastrocnemius muscles.

.........yeah that's a really good point.......sounds suspiciously like it......

Why not, if he, as it was mentionned, walked on his tippy toes all the time. It could be treated symptomatically.

..and as for the suicide - )) it was a joke )) I was not sure myself I could post about Evan here, that's too personal and concerns a child.

[Canadian Jayne]

This is a Jim Carrey site, but that does not stop us from praying for all those who need help, Evan, the people in Burma and all over the world.
He is a child and has right to remain so. Respect is absolutely necessary.
As a mom I would ask the same respect for my own son.

[Alyonushka]

He is a child and has right to remain so. Respect is absolutely necessary. As a mom I would ask the same respect for my own son.

I agree with you, but i don't quite understand why Jenny herself talks about Evan, as Fluffy said, desects the wee lad, at different forums, interviews and shows.
Moms are different.

[Canadian Jayne]

when we women have a problem we like to see all angles and sides, we like to learn by someone elses experience and mistakes, I believe men tend to make their own mistakes and sometimes don't even learn from them, anyway back to why perhaps she shares what she knows to help someone else who's child may have the same signs and symptoms, if you catch autism early as she said, it's a whole lot easier than finding out later.
Mom's have a universal unwritten code to assist other moms no matter who, what or where they come from. I don't know if dad's do the same.
But no one can truly understand the heartwrenching feeling of being a mom until you are one, and it stays with you until your last breathe.