General Articles about Autism

[goddessoflubbock]

Baby food generally comes a bit later :/

Oops - I meant formula. I put that down to lack of experience in that area in not appreciating the difference.

And I assumed you *meant* food because my father had a slew of baby food jars, he nailed the lids to a 2x4 which he made into a soet of shelf, then filled the little jars with all sorts of tiny screws, washers and such, and screwed the jars up into the lids I was quite impressed by it.

[Aspen]

My dad had one of those baby food jar screw sorters like your dad's, too.

[Charlie]

System 'failing autistic adults' (BBC Website)

Hmm, tell me something I don't already know..... I suppose at least a few others may realise it now as well.

Thousands of people with autism in England are failing to get the diagnosis and specialist help they need, the National Audit Office says. Most local authorities do not know how many adults with autism live in the area and provide no specific services. Yet better support in areas such as housing and employment could save the taxpayer millions of pounds in the long run, a report concluded. The government is due to publish its first autism strategy later this year.

People with autism struggle to communicate socially and have trouble understanding facial expressions and tone of voice and recognising emotions. Around half of those with autism also have a learning disability, but for those who do not - those with high functioning autism, such as Asperger Syndrome - accessing support for housing, further education and employment can be particularly hard, the NAO said. Three-quarters of local authorities have no commissioning plan in place for specialist autism services and 65% struggle to find appropriate housing.

The report also found that children with autism are often abandoned by specialist services when they turn 18, due to a lack of adult services or a proper transition plan.

Diagnosis

An average GP is thought to see two adults with undiagnosed high-functioning autism every six months. But the vast majority say they need better training to identify and manage patients better. There is also a lack of expertise at job centres, with only 200 of 500 disability advisors trained to help people with autism, the report said.

If local authorities identified just 4% of people with high-functioning autism, and offered them specialist support with living independently or getting a job, the cost would be cancelled out by savings in other areas, the NAO calculated. Diagnosis and support for 8% of that population would actually save £67m a year, it added.

Mark Davies, NAO director of health value for money studies, said there would be people in their 40s and 50s who had never been diagnosed with the condition. "We would like people to look at our report and the modelling we have done because we think there is a good case for having more specialist support."

Care services minister Phil Hope said the first ever autism strategy would be published at the end of 2009 and a study was being done to work out exactly how many adults have autism in England. "Our commitment to do this will have the force of law - in the first ever Autism Bill going through parliament."

Geoffrey Maddrell, chairman of Research Autism, agreed there was an "appalling" lack of joined up and accessible provision for adults with autism. "With the correct employment support and mentoring, many of these adults can sustain long-term education and career paths in various sectors. But at present this is not happening in many places."

Mark Lever, chief executive at the National Autistic Society, said the government could not ignore the "huge cost savings and benefits", identified by the NAO. "Neither the government, people with autism nor the taxpayer are getting value for money from existing autism services and support, leaving those affected by the condition feeling isolated, ignored and often at breaking point."

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert in autism at the University of Cambridge, said even when people were diagnosed they were often left "isolated, unemployed, lonely, and at risk of developing potentially preventable secondary depression". "The hope is that this report will lead to a step change in how we meet the needs of this invisible group in our society."

[Sophist]

Even though there's considerable room for improvement when it comes to services in the UK for adult auties, I'm glad at least they're starting to pay attention to autism beyond childhood. The US is lagging behind even in interest in pursuing increased service and support for adults.

It's all about the kids here.

[renaeden]

Same in Australia. That is, where autism is recognised. Many people have no idea of what the word "autism" means.

[goddessoflubbock]

Ran across this interesting article in a Canadian publication via one of my "Twitter"bugs...
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/06/04/channelling-autism/

It's about a Danish firm started by a man whose son was diagnosed with "childhood autism", which as we all know has a nasty habit of turning into the much less noticed "adulthood autism". Kudos to dad tho, he realized his son would grow up and need a place to prosper, so he started this company, whose name in english means The Specialists.

All the employees have asd's, and they have big name clients like Oracle and Microsoft. They are also hoping to expand internationally.

The company is a place where socializing isn't expected, daily chit chat I imagine is pretty non-existent, but the employees have work they enjoy in surroundings that don't stress them out.

[goddessoflubbock]

I belong to a group on Facebook called Supporting Autism Awareness. They had an article on their page the other day titled "Autism to Alzheimers" which proports to explore the connection between the two, and the recent explosion in diagnosis of both.

(I would suggest that the increase in dx of alzheimer's, which typically strikes after age 65, has a lot to do with the first baby boomers hitting that age, but hey, I'm no scientist).

The article suggests that a lack of myelin in the brain at both the early ages and then again in old age leaves the brain vulnerable to attack from heavy metals and other toxins. This could be absolutely true or total junk science - I have no idea.

They also postulate on the reports of children with autism who seem to improve during a fever, and the improvement can hang on for nearly a week. The theory is that the heavy metals in the brain heat up and then complete connections and synapses that were otherwise not complete, causing the behaviors.

This sounded like total hooey to me, but again, what do I know. My question I posed to them was were any studies done to replicate the temperature inside a "dummy" brain with metal to see if a typical childhood fever would cause it to change form, and would it remain warmer than the surrounding tissue for nearly a week as they guessed? Because my thought is that long term overheating in the brain causes beain damage.

There is a laser-imbedded cap used with some success in alzheimer's patients regaining cognitive function. They are wishing to try this out on the autistic brain, thinking the laser heat will warm the metals, etc....

I also commented that I felt they were making the brain of an autistic sound like it was damaged or broken, the first step on the slippery slope to cure-bie-ville, which isn't necessarily a place everyone wishes to go.

I don't expect a reply from them. However, is there anything to this myelin theory? Or the melting heavy metals?

[Sophist]

A fever, unless it's incredibly high, should not raise the temperature of the brain. The brain in particular is very sensitive to temperature changes-- all those neurons doing all that continual work creates a lot of heat-- so there's a considerable cooling mechanism in place to prevent that.

The whole "metals melting and creating connections" sounds like hooey. From some of the work I'm starting to do with JNSQ (and a particular computer model I've designed to illustrate autism very simply) it's based on the idea that the underlying neuroanatomy to autism is a greater short-range interconnectivity and a decreased long-range connectivity (both of which have a ratioed relationship to one another, i.e., when there's an increase in short-range connectivity, the long-range fibers decrease and vice versa). If metals created bridges, it wouldn't be selective in just filling in the "gaps" for the long-range white matter tracts-- aside from the issue that it'd be some pretty strange acting metal if it magically knew how to behave like dendritic and axonal arms. "Oh look kids, the mercury magically knew to take the shape of an axon and to connect this neuron to this other one. That's why little Jimmy's not autistic for the next few days!" Tbh, metal physically connecting two power sources? You'd have seizures and an increase in autism traits, because once a neuron has fired, if it's physically connected to another one (and in normal synaptic relationships, the neurons don't actually touch each other; that only happens in ephaptic connections) there's no inhibition in the world that'll keep that next neuron from firing. The conduction will treat the connected neurons as though they are one, if the conduction is strong enough to travel the entire length of the two neurons that is.

If there is something to the improvement in symptoms during fever (which I'm not inclined to doubt, although this obviously doesn't happen for every autistic person) it's that the immunological reaction somehow alters the usual relationship between excitation (excitatory pyramidal cells) and inhibition (GABA interneurons). My best guess would be that it somehow effects short-range inhibition, increasing it even more. In which case, it doesn't actually reverse autism, but would decrease some of the repetitive firing of neurons, making them less sensitive to stimulation. I.e., it decreases short-range reactivity but doesn't do anything for increasing long-range connectivity.

[Charlie]

If you are including mercury in heavy metals then that is already a liquid at room temp, and lead melts at 600K (so a temperature increase from 310K to 312K is not going to make one iota of difference to it).

That said, if a metal is ingested it can react with other substances and thus make compounds where metal ions are present. These can then interact with other substances and so there is a further reaction between the metal ion and the new anion(s) it comes across. Theoretically if these metal ions are in the blood stream they will get to all parts of the body, and if there are suitable anions are in the brain tissue/nerve endings then these cations will then react, with the possibility of affecting the impulses being transmitted. So whilst I am not really believing it, it is theroetically possible (and a change in temp can then also affect the degree of how it affects the functionality of the neurons). But then it is theoretically possible that someone will post a carrot through my letter box tonight or that the north and south poles will switch within the next minute.

Just remember the first rule of research - if you do not postulate any ideas then you will not get any funding to research them with (and the wackier/more outlandish idea the better).....

[goddessoflubbock]

I was telling DS about all this when another thought occurred to me.

This "laser cap" they use on alzheimers patients - there surely can't be a heat element to it because it would have to be hot enough to go through skin and bone without damaging them, and then provide just a smidgen of warmth to the brain.

This guy is batty.

Where do I get the numbers of the guys giving away money? I could lay awake all night coming up with ideas...

I never got to test the "fever theory", DS was extraordinarily healthy as a youngster and never had a fever, never took tylenol or any other meds. I think if his behavior had suddenly changed I might have rushed him to the hospital, fearing a brain tumor or something! He is who he is

[adhocisadirtyword]

My daughter's behavior changes when she's not feeling well. Though I think it is more due to not feeling well than having a fever. It slows her down and she becomes very sweet and caring. Problem is when she wants to cuddle and I don't wanna get sick.

[Sophist]

If you are including mercury in heavy metals then that is already a liquid at room temp, and lead melts at 600K (so a temperature increase from 310K to 312K is not going to make one iota of difference to it).

That said, if a metal is ingested it can react with other substances and thus make compounds where metal ions are present. These can then interact with other substances and so there is a further reaction between the metal ion and the new anion(s) it comes across. Theoretically if these metal ions are in the blood stream they will get to all parts of the body, and if there are suitable anions are in the brain tissue/nerve endings then these cations will then react, with the possibility of affecting the impulses being transmitted. So whilst I am not really believing it, it is theroetically possible (and a change in temp can then also affect the degree of how it affects the functionality of the neurons). But then it is theoretically possible that someone will post a carrot through my letter box tonight or that the north and south poles will switch within the next minute.

Just remember the first rule of research - if you do not postulate any ideas then you will not get any funding to research them with (and the wackier/more outlandish idea the better).....

Any cation which would form a compound with any available anions (e.g., Chloride) would negatively affect neural conduction, whose delicate levels are vital to the proper polarization and depolarization of neurons.

Plus, the entire argument to their hypothesis is a factor of heat. I'm no chemist, but a slight change in heat from, say, 98.6 to 102, will that actually make a difference in the behavior of these metals? I shouldn't think so. And if it doesn't, then the metals should be behaving the same regardless of the fever, in which case they are either helping, making little difference, or harming.

[Charlie]

Plus, the entire argument to their hypothesis is a factor of heat. I'm no chemist, but a slight change in heat from, say, 98.6 to 102, will that actually make a difference in the behavior of these metals? I shouldn't think so. And if it doesn't, then the metals should be behaving the same regardless of the fever, in which case they are either helping, making little difference, or harming.

As I said, but the higher the temp, the energy the metal ion has, and this means it can make it more susceptible to react (that is change which anion it is associated with), as this even small energy increase can make all the difference when it comes to instigating a reaction. Basically the cation wants to get to a stable a point as possible, and by putting a little energy in it can overcome the interaction it has with the existing anion and thus is then able to interact with the new one to form a more stable compound (and release energy in the process)

[Sophist]

Yeah, but how much is 3 degrees F gonna change? Not to mention the temperature of the brain should not change with a fever, provided it's not incredibly high.

[Charlie]

Yeah, but how much is 3 degrees F gonna change? Not to mention the temperature of the brain should not change with a fever, provided it's not incredibly high.

Don't ask me - I agree with you and I am just playing Devil's Advocate stating that it could theoretically be possible