Lifting the Veils of Autism, One by One by One

NY Times ^ | February 24, 2004 | ERICA GOODE

[neverdem]

PING

[cajungirl]

Very interesting,,this is the saddest condition for parents. And amaziing too what is being learned.

[aimhigh]

Some children speak fluently, others are mute.

Past (1970')studies have shown that giving a mute child some B-6 supplementation will get them talking.

[Dianna]

It looks like quite a nice summary of what has turned up in the papers in the last year or so.

Whatever is found will be far too late to help my older son, but I worry about my younger son having children, and what he might pass on.

[Rander7]

Thanks for this excellent article! I'll be forwarding it to my son and daughter-in-law. Our 4 year old grandson has autism, and our 16 year old son has a mild form of it.I can't begin to tell you how it impacts families! I'm glad people are becoming more educated about it, and I'm glad that there are continuing studies going on, to try to figure out this condition.

[workerbee]

Thought this might be of some interest to you (based on your comment on another thread re your daughter). :-)

[tiamat]

Yep!

Already read it and THANKS!

;-)

[pabianice]

Who can forget the brilliant end to the TV series, "St. Elsewhere"?

[NutCrackerBoy]

Two very rare forms of autism — one associated with the congenital disease known as tuberous sclerosis and the other with fragile X syndrome — are known to be caused by chromosomal defects. -Erica Goode, New York Times

My son has fragile X syndrome, which is absolutely genetic. He also has a diagnosis of autism which is directly due to the fragile X. The article deals mostly with regular autism, which usually does not have with it the mental retardation that my son has.

It is true that these disabilities have an incredible impact on families. Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman was a good exploration of autism. We've watched it twice with my daughter to give her some perspective on her brother's disability.

[neverdem]

I haven't watched TV dramas in decades. I find the cop, lawyer and medical plots worn out. Almost always pushing characters with PC stereotypes.

[sarasmom]

I really hope they find a cause, and hopefully a cure.
I have a friend with autistic twins, and they have all worked so very hard as a family to deal with autism.
They do better than a lot of other families with no dysfunction to blame for their problems.
I know it would not really change anything for them, but if they just knew how or why, it would bring some level of peace to them.

[PGalt]

Very good article. Thanks for posting it.

[Mygirlsmom]

Interesting article. My nephew has Asperger's autism. My brother and his wife were told that many people exhibit mild symptoms without ever being clinically diagnosed, and chances are there is a recessive tendency towards autism in both families (I have a cousin who is in her 50's who, had she been child today would probably have this diagnosis).

I also see some of my nephew's traits in one of my twins, albeit slight. I know when and if she ever has children this will be on my mind.

[badmrbunny]

The truth is they really don't know the cause of autism.Sure it's hard to raise an autistic child, but what rewards you get ! My son is a gift from God, so brilliant, so funny with the way he phrases things. His shrink is the "talk doctor", he fires me as Dad once a week, and he told me last week a girl at his high school made his heart go "pitter patter". He taught himself to read when he was three years old, and is a whiz at math like you've never seen. He bugs me incessantly at Christmas time about Santa, and gifts- he always wants to open his gifts. He will fight me tooth and nail about everything , then turn around and ask permission to go to sleep. Life with Josh is never dull...

[cajungirl]

Have any of you all tried the Epson Salts baths? For the physical overactivity and agitation,,just wondering. I think this is so much more common, the spectrum disorders that is, than we know. It seems I keep hearing of someone who has a child or relative with this.

[cajungirl]

You deserve accolades for your attitude,,I admire it alot!

[truthkeeper]

Very good article. BTTT

[Mixer]

If this is an autism Ping list would you please add me to it.....Thanks

[MamaB]

Wasn't the book, "Son Rise" about a little boy who had autism? I read it many years ago.