The Big “ A ” : All About Autism

1. The Big “A”:All About Autism By Cecelia Taylor-Hunt COMP 401 Directed Professional Writing Spring 2012 SUNY Potsdam

2. What Is Autism? • Autism is part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) • High Functioning vs. Low functioning in Autism • Three Kinds of ASDs: Aspergers, Autism, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – None Other Specified (PDD-NOS) http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/03/lego-build-autism-awareness/

3. What is Autism? • Autism is a developmental disability that affects 1 in 88 American children alone, according to a recent report from the Center for Disease Control (Daniel J. DeNoon, 2012). • Since the 1990s, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have kept track of ongoing cases involving children with autism. August 1994. Bronx, NY

4. What Is Autism? • In the early to late 20th century, autism was categorized as a form of mental retardation (or mentally challenged) due to the autistic child having difficulties interacting with his/her peers - from thinking and speech patterns to emotion and moods. • Autism occurs during the first 3 to 4 years of a child’s life (Kaneshiro, 2010). A child can be born normally, but when Autism takes place at around the age of 12 months, unusual events take place (CDC, 2012). http://technorati.com/women/article/should-you-screen-for-autism/

5. Activities of an Autistic Person • Arm-flapping or random body movements to get attention • Ritualistic/ongoing behaviors • Self-injuries, including head banging on hard surfaces (like tables and walls) • Schizophrenic thoughts • Difficulties of interacting/socializing with other people • Speech delays from an early age

6. Is there a solution to this disorder? • For those who want answers in how to get rid of autism right away, here are a few things to watch out for: • The discredited vaccine-autism link theory • Shock treatments • Chelation: an Alternative Medicine

7. Vaccine-Autism Link theory • According to The Lancet’s 1998 article written Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the study makes a bold claim that there is a link due to the effects of the brain activity from the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. • Almost a decade later, The Lancet and the British Medical Journal called out on Wakefield for fabrication of the studies. • This ongoing situation has led to some movements in the United States and Europe about having children not being vaccinated. However, this leads to a risky business: deaths of children that are caused by curable diseases

8. The Shock Treatment • It’s nothing new out of the ordinary with this legendary treatment that is still being used in psychiatric wards. • It is also used with children with severe cases of autism or for the mentally challenged. • The shock treatment is mostly known as electro-convulsive therapy. The electricity from machines used in ECT is transmitted to the nerves and vital organs to ‘calm down’ the severely autistic child. • Some people claim that ECT’s are helping their severely autistic children, others are questioning this practice performed by some programs that highly depend on shock therapy

9. Chelation as alternative medicine to ‘cure’ Autism • Chelation, since the end of the 19th century, is used to bind the chemical bonds of the poisonous metals - such as iron and plutonium - and let them peel off and disintegrate from the blood stream. • It’s a very common treatment to people with lead poisoning (I.e. - lead paint poisoning from buildings) • There is no link between autism and poisonous heavy metals at this time. Prolonged exposure to poisonous materials can give dangerous effects to the body including brain damage, but not autism.

10. Chelation as alternative medicine to ‘cure’ Autism • Some parents with autistic children are frustrated up to a point where they ended up finding the “easy way out”. • Parents spend money to cure autism using chelation. Believing in emotional testimonies of children being cured of autism without support of any evidence leads to questioning.

11. Side effects of chelation in autistic children • Kidney failure or death. Some dizziness can occur from its effects after being injected with EDTA more than once. • In chelation, the chemical EDTA is injected by a needle to bind and make the bonds of poisonous metals fall apart. • If there is no poisonous metals in autistic individuals, then why use chelation in the first place?

12. How to help your autistic loved one immediately • If you or know someone with autism, then all hope is not lost. • Fining legitimate counselors and other volunteers to train your autistic loved one with speech therapy, play therapy, and tutoring in school subjects. • Be patient with your loved one. Just remember that autistm is not a epidemic, but just differentiated learning. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-autism-reporters.html

13. Thinking as an Autistic person Visual Mathematics and Science Music Verbal

14. Visual thinkers Fine Arts/Visual Arts Creative Writing Architecture Industrial Engineering http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/

15. Mathematicsand Science Physics Astronomy Biology Chemistry Geology Geometry Algebra Trigonometry Computer Programming

16. Music Music Theory Playing musical instruments with or without reading musical notes or music tabs. Vocals with or without training

17. Verbal thinking Absorbing information about a favorite school subject (History, Geography, etc.) Interests in learning foreign languages Academic Writing

18. Works Cited • Kaneshiro, N. (2010, April 26). U.S. national library of medicine. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/ • Gross, L. (2009). A broken trust: Lessons from the vaccine – autism wars. PLos Biology (Public Library of Science), 7(5), 1-7. DOI: JSTOR • Lee, M. (2008, February 19). Chelation therapy for heavy metal poisoning and cardiovascular disease. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/chelation-therapy-heavy-metal-poisoning-cardiovascular-914469.html • Cohen, E., & Falco, M. (2011, January 5). Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.html

19. Works Cited • Brownstein, J. (2010, March 9). Father sues doctors over 'fraudulent' autism therapy. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/TheLaw/doctors-sued-autism-chelation-therapy/story?id=10045951 • Grandin, T. (2011). The Way I see it: A personal look at autism and asperger's. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons, Inc. • NINDS. (2011, November 4). National institute of neurological disorders and stroke. Retrieved from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/pdd/pdd.htm • Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R., & Volkmar, F. (2003). The enactive mind, or from actions to cognition: Lessons from autism. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 358(1430), 345-360. DOI: JSTOR

20. Works Cited • Center of Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, March 29). Centers for disease control and prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html • Let’s Chat Autism (blog): http://www.letschatautism.com/ • Stout, K. S. (2012, 03 15). Wisconsin education association council. Retrieved from http://www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource_Pages_On_Issues_one/Special_Education/special_education_inclusion.aspx • AWARE. (2010). Airdale & wharfedale autism resource. Retrieved from http://awareuk.homestead.com/autism.html