Posted on 08/24/2005 3:09:44 PM PDT by Born Conservative
A 5-year-old Monroeville boy died this week during a medical treatment that's being touted by some as a cure for autism.
The autistic boy died while receiving chelation -- an intravenous injection of a synthetic amino acid known as EDTA, for ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the practice only to treat heavy metal (such as lead) poisoning. The treatment is becoming increasingly popular, though still controversial, for autism.
Police are investigating the boy's death, which occurred Tuesday morning in the office of Dr. Roy Kerry in Portersville.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Thanks~
Since all of these conditions are "spectrum disorders", affliction has a VERY wide range. There are people like your cousin ( and some who are worse off still) and then there are people like my daughter, who has a much milder form and is now simply very "geeky", and has actually managed to make some friends and learn how to behave appropriately MOST of the time.
TheSpottedOwl wrote:
As a parent, his behavior I hate to say, does make you look bad.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470332/posts
Follow up thread.
"Authorities said Kerry's office reported that the child was receiving an IV treatment for lead poisoning when he went into cardiac arrest.
The boy was being treated with EDTA, or ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use only after blood tests confirm acute heavy-metal poisoning."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470332/posts
I noted that IQ's in these children are for the most part normal. In my son's case, he refused to do the work. He's been in special ed for most of his school years.
Is it possible that your son was being distracted by the other kids?
My daughter has an arangement wher she is in classes for lab-work, lecture or group activities, but for written work or tests or quizzes, she goes to her couselor's office where she can work quietly without aggitation. Her grades shot up when this was figured out
Many kids with autism simply get overwhelmed by distractions.
Geeky : ) I'm glad she's making friends, and learning how to behave appropriately. One of the major things that is so frustrating with my son, is that his behavior was so inappropriate at times. Without any kind of diagnosis, it boils down to authority figures judging your parenting skills. I wish I had known that autism varies in degrees, back when he was little.
I don't know if he'll ever grow out of it. His father indulges him, and allows him to smoke, and drink alcohol. This was going on when I had physical custody of him. Very sad.
He did well in small classes, not in traditional ones. He was easily distracted, but also defiant, and I believe he's passive aggressive as well.
He was one violent child, that's for sure. As a toddler, he'd go into a rage and run head first into the front door like a little bull. He figured out how to remove the safety covers off the electric outlets, and stick forks in them, blowing the breakers. He was 3, I believe. No matter what I did to childproof that house, he found a way around it.
He had no problem with attacking his older sisters, who are 5 and 7 years older than him. The teachers had to keep him off the playground because of all the fights.
Here's an illustration of some of the good stuff: when he was 12, he wrecked his remote contolled jeep. The battery pack looked like a miniature bundle of dynamite. Since this was almost Halloween, my older daughter and I thought he should go as the Unibomber for trick or treat. Hooded sweatshirt, dark glasses, and the battery pack.
The problem is that he strapped the battery pack to his leg, then told everyone at school that he had a bomb. The police were called, and he almost was arrested for a terrorist threat. The vice principal and I had a cordial relationship, so all he got was yet another suspension, and trash pick up after school.
There's more, but you get the idea. He wore me out. I still have no idea what's wrong with that boy...
You've had a much worse time than I have.
My daughter exhausts me, because she is so intense, but we've never had cops involved.
Sounds as if your ex is aggrivating the situation.
Hope your son makes it through okay
"He was easily distracted, but also defiant, and I believe he's passive aggressive as well."
He sounds like my kid brother, who also exhibited behavioral problems from babyhood on. He has constantly been impulsive and defiant, and my parents were at their wits' end with him.
I thought he may have ADD (which I have), but now I do see certain autistic tendencies. For example, as a baby, he used to rock his crib constantly. Now an adult, he is on his way to becoming a full-fledged bum. He can't seem to hold a job or activity for long. I have urged him to get help, but he won't.
That's the problem with treating these people. It's a two-way street. Parking them in front of a therapist doesn't help, unless they are open to treatment. I urged my brother to at least try medication.
It's difficult to test for IQ in children who cannot talk, read, or communicate normally -- yet those of us who know autistics find that there is definitely intelligence there -- we just can't reach it. Is it normal? I have no idea. Is it creative? Often.
My son in law recently installed a whole media room in their basement with all the technology to view movies, etc. He and my daughter try to keep the instructions for DVDs etc. away from the autistic child because he will drive everyone crazy by constantly restarting the movie, or game. It's called stimming. In fact, my daughter doesn't even know how to operate the equipment.
My other daughter was visiting last week so my son in law set up a movie for everyone to watch. In just a couple of minutes of watching the movie, Andy noticed for the first time that there is a DVD player down there (a feature that they had kept hidden from him previously). Of course he focused on it and soon could operate it. None of the other children, or their mother, can operate it. Andy has his own DVD player to mess with upstairs. They really didn't want him to know about the new one! The upstairs DVD was purchased a couple of years ago because he had made such a mess out of the VHS player and tapes. Movies are his passion -- that is parts of movies. He rewinds incessently.
Yes it is awful. They KILLED the poor kid.
Ha. Autism has nothing to do with "lack of discipline". Anyone who thinks it does doesn't have enough grey matter.
I knew one autistic girl who was amazingly gifted at art. She could trace over any image and then reproduce that image from memory. She would just sit and draw for hours. It was fascinating. She loved singing and drawing for people. And sculpting. ^_^
4mycountry wrote:
Ha. Autism has nothing to do with "lack of discipline". Anyone who thinks it does doesn't have enough grey matter.
Sounds like my kid.
I met my friend at Camp Summit, where I worked this year. It's a year-round (mostly summer) camp for people of all ages with disabilities (developmentally delayed, physically challenged, etc).
She loved the Arts & Crafts activity at Camp. She would just sculpt and draw until the playdough dried and the markers went out. ^_^ ...And she loved to sing Disney songs!
Her name's Caitlin.
That looks like a very nice Camp.
thank you for sharing the link!
:-)
"It's all " a lack of discipline", or "mother's neglect" for some people."
Anyone that would think that is an absolute moron. Autism is very real! My heart goes out to every family that deals with this in their lifetime.
My nephew is autistic. I think the poster is mixing up autism with what schools like to call ADD. Anybody who has ever had a child or been involved with a child with true autism knows how real it is. My nephew is 18 now. He was mainstreamed, meaning he went to a regular school but had special teachers (I won't get into how I feel about that here). He's such a sweet boy. But he's big, as alot of autistic boys tend to be and it's difficult for my sister-in-law.
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