The Autistic Me

Over at About.com, Lisa has posted the story of a parent. This parent credits hard work for the success of her child with autism. I don't disagree that parental involvement helps every child, but I also don't believe that parents can help every child with autism become an independent adult. Let's be bluntly, even brutally, honest with ourselves. I have met parents who did as much as my own parents, from physical therapies to demanding the schools do better to meet my needs. These parents have spared no amount of time or effort to help their children, often sacrificing dual incomes to have one parent at home full-time. And yet, for all their efforts, there is negligible improvement, beyond what might be expected as an autistic child ages. Yes, improvement, but not enough to live independently or to have the types of social connections the parents envisioned. You can spend all the time and energy humanly possible on the "recovery" of your autistic child and no...

A study reported today concludes that birth trauma resulting in neonatal intensive care increases the likelihood a child will develop autistic traits.The article appears on several websites. Here is the link to USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-09-autism-babies_N.htm The assertion that autism can be predicted in some cases within the first month of life indicates that at least some cases are not caused by post-birth exposure to toxins. No one has been immunized at a month, and I seriously doubt most month-old children have been chewing toxic toys. (We should ask what common experiences the parents, especially mothers, have.) Signs of autism may show up in babies as young as 1 month old, a new study shows. But the tip-offs are not the usual red flags, such as a lack of eye contact or smiling, the researchers noted. Instead, they found babies who needed neonatal intensive care and were later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have abnormal...