New Autism Cure - breakthrough treatments and cures for autism

In the past few weeks, there have been a couple of reports about Vitamin D in “Scientific American” magazine which both have bearings on autism.

Vitamin D Deficiency Affects the US

The first report was about how Vitamin D deficiency is soaring in the US, according to a study published in the “Archives of Internal Medicine”. The study claimed that a whopping three quarters of US teens and adults have a deficiency of vitamin D - that’s quite an incredible figure and makes you wonder why.

The study’s author, Adit Ginde, from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, puts this vitamin D deficiency down to skin cancer prevention measures such as wearing long sleeves and using sunscreen ( sun protection of just factor 15 can cut the skin’s ability to manufacture vitamin D by 99%) and points out that there are actually very few dietary sources of vitamin D. Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” because the skin produces vitamin D when it is exposed to the sun. By protecting ourselves from sun exposure, to reduce our risk of melanoma, we are cutting our levels of vitamin D.

Is There a Link between Lack of Sun and Autism?

But what has all this got to do with autism? Doesn’t a vitamin D deficiency lead to bone problems, such as rickets, osteoporosis and arthritis, not autism?

Well, yes, but experts are now wondering if a growth in vitamin D deficiencies has got something to do with the growth in autism. This theory is the result of two preliminary studies in Minnesota and Sweden, and the findings of these studies are discussed in the second article in “Scientific American” magazine.

Both Sweden and Minnesota have large Somali immigrant communities who seem to be overrepresented in the total number of children with autism in each area. In Minnesota, Somali families began arriving in 1993 and the number of children with autism in their community has jumped from 0 out of 1,773 in 1993, to 43 out of 2,029 in 2007. In Sweden, records of Somali children born in Stockholm between 1988 and 1998 have been studied and researchers concluded that Somali children in Stockholm were 3-4 times more likely to suffer with autism than non-Somali children in the city.

The Somali communities in both cities just can’t understand it. In Stockholm, the Somali people call autism “The Swedish Disease” because they had never seen it in Somalia, and Huda Fara, a Somali molecular biologist working in Minnesota, says “We never saw such a disease in Somalia. We do not even have a word for it.”

So why is autism hitting the Somali community so badly?

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I think that it’s great that this month is Autism Awareness month and that there is so much going on to raise awareness of autism, perhaps this will shatter the many myths and stereotypes that surround Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Sometimes, it feels like autism is only in the news when an autistic person has committed a criminal act or an act of violence, or when Jenny McCarthy is on Oprah or Larry King talking about her latest book or vaccines, or it is announced that we’re in the middle of an autism epidemic.

No wonder people have such warped views on autism and don’t understand what it is. I even read a blog the other day written by a blogger who’d met a woman who was scared to get pregnant in case she had an autistic child! Sad!

Let’s have a look at some of the myths and views that surround the world of autism:-

1. Autism is a mental illness similar to schizophrenia - No, autism has nothing to do with schizophrenia. Autism is a neurobiological and developmental disorder which commonly affects a person’s ability to communicate, socialize and empathize.
2. You can tell an autistic person by looking at them - No, autism is an “invisible” condition.
3. Autism is caused by the MMR vaccine - That’s such a sweeping statement! Although many people feel that there is a link between vaccines and autism, there are actually many potential causes or triggers of autism.
4. Autism is caused by a lack of bonding between mother and child - This theory is known as “The Refrigerator Mother Theory” and was put forward by Dr Bruno Bettelheim in the 1950s and 60s. Autism is now seen as a biological condition, rather than a psychiatric one, and is nothing to do with bad parenting or lack of affection.
5. All autistic people are savants - The film “Rainman” has got much to answer for! Not all autistic children and adults are savants like Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film, this is actually very rare.
6. Autistic people are violent - This myth is fueled by news reports of autistic people becoming violent. What about the majority of violent acts that are committed by people without autism? Autistic children and teenagers can lash out in frustration but their autism does not mean that they are going to grow up to be violent and aggressive.

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Taking a child to the cinema is something that most parents take for granted. OK, so you might have fidgeting, excited chatting or even crying (if the film is a bit scary or sad), but generally taking kids to the movies is a breeze. But it’s not so easy if you’re the parent of a sensory sensitive child.

The Problem

The whole movie experience can be completely overwhelming for a sensory sensitive child - just think of the things that they have to face:-

• The theater suddenly becoming dark
• Sudden loud noises which are amplified by surround sound systems
• Fast moving images on a huge screen
• Lots of people in a confined space

All this can be just too much for the child and can result in tears, tantrums and fear. However, all is not lost and it is now possible for children who are sensory sensitive to enjoy the same movies that their peers are enjoying and talking about.

How?

The Solution

AMC Entertainment has collaborated with the Autism Society of America (ASA) to give children with special needs, and their families, the chance to see top movies through their “Sensory Friendly Films Program”.

The “Sensory Friendly Films Program” means that once a month, participating theaters all over the USA will do special showings of a top film in a “safe and accepting environment”. Features of these special showings include:-

• Film soundtrack turned down
• Theater lights brought up
• No previews or trailers before the movie
• Parents and carers can bring their own snack food - so children can enjoy GFCF snacks
• AMC’s usual silence policy will not be enforced - Children and adults will be free to talk, dance, sing, get up out of their seats and stretch their legs etc. without worrying about being a distraction to others.

This month’s movie is “Hannah Montana: The Movie” and it will be showing at participating theaters on April 18th at 10am local time. Click here to find your local participating theater and to get more details. Enjoy the movie!

Although Horse Therapy, or Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL), is not a DAN! protocol biomedical treatment, it’s something that I feel can be of real benefit to autistic children.

Just this week, I saw a post on an autism forum from one parent whose son was really benefiting from this type of therapy, so I asked her more about it and what it involved. She explained to me about how everything was done in small steps:-

1. Child introduced to the trainer and taken around the stables to see the horses and other animals, like chickens.
2. Child offered the chance to touch the animals or touch the straw bedding if touching the animals was too much for him. The child even got to look at the horse poo and to sniff it! The parent remarked how good this was for desensitizing the child.
3. Sitting on the horse - The final step was the parent lifting her son onto the horse. The trainer sat behind the child and the horse was surrounded by the child’s mother and three helpers, so the child felt completely secure.

In just 5 months, this sensory sensitive child is now able to ride the horse alone, with the help of a special harness and the trainer and a helper walking alongside. Wow!

The parent felt that this therapy was extremely beneficial to her son because the horse had a calming effect on him and he would often come out of himself during these sessions. She is combining the EFL therapy with biomedical treatment.

The Theory Behind EFL

Franklin Levinson, who has taken EFL and the work of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association over to the UK, says:-

“It’s been clinically proven that just being in the vicinity of horses changes our brainwave patterns…They have a calming effect…giving them [the rider] a really positive experience.”

and the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association say that EFL:-

“encourages personal explorations of feelings and behaviors to help promote human growth and development.”

The idea behind EFL is that the child builds a partnership with the horse. A horse is always on the lookout for a leader and, by being calm and peaceful, a child can become the horse’s leader and so manage and command the horse. This type of therapy has been shown to be beneficial for children with autism, bipolar disorders and ADD, helping to calm them and making them more communicative. Being able to control a horse, and seeing it obey commands, also gives the child’s self-esteem a real boost.

It sounds to me that this type of therapy could be a great addition to a program of biomedical treatments. You can find out more at http://www.narha.org/ and read an article on it at http://www.wayofthehorse.org/Articles/horse-therapy.html.