Autism, EMF, and a question for those with experience

[Karen sn]

I believe there are a gazillion reasons why kids have autism.

I think it's a combination of factors.

A little of this, a little of that, some heavy metals here, some genetic susceptibility there...

 

This article is interesting and the video of the Doc speaking was very thought provoking.

 

I have a question for those with experience - when did you notice symtopms? What do you feel is the connection?

 

I had a very stressful time during pregnancy.

My horse was killed at 7 months and I am amazed my contractions didn't lead to an early delivery. I just hope my grief didn't affect him in ways I don't know yet. He is happy and sweet, and very strong, but will not EVER be still. Not even when nursing. And he hums when he nurses - quite loudly I might add. If he went to daycare they'd say put this baby on Ritalin!

He is 8 months old and NEVER stops. He fights sleep like you wouldn't believe.

 

We do not vaccinate - so no heavy metal exposure there.

But heavy metals elsewhere I am sure. We have a gazillion wi-fi neighbors and we pick up their signals. My diet is ok but definitely nothing to write home about. He mostly nurses - gets 2 maybe 3 bottles of organic formula (Baby's Best) a day. I take DHA and otther fatty acids.

 

What do you think about your kids and these articles?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/30/Why-Where-You-Sleep-Matters-If-You-Want-a-Healthy-Baby.aspx

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/30/Poor-Nutrition-in-the-Womb-Triggers-Permanent-Genetic-Changes.aspx

[swellmomma]

To answer your first question about when I noticed symptoms, with ds I noticed at 3 months old that he was not a normal baby. By 6 months they started autism screenings, at 3 years he had an MRI, by 5 years he was admitted into a mental health unit of a hospital. He was screened for autism again at age 8. In the end it is not autism but a myraid of otehr disorders.

 

To the otehr point about EMF, I do think there could be a connection. If someone is exposed to strng EMF fields for long enough they can get skin irritations, headaches, hallucinations, etc so I can certainly see it playing a part in these disorders in the fetal brain development. I do think there is many factors that lead to these disorders but EMF fields certainly fit in there imo.

[Karen sn]

To answer your first question about when I noticed symptoms, with ds I noticed at 3 months old that he was not a normal baby.

 

How was he different?

[Carrie12345]

We saw nothing unusual in our aspie until he was about 2.5 or so. To us, it just looked like extreme disobedience in an extremely smart child.

 

By the time he hit 3.5/4, we knew his brain worked differently. When we heard the term Aspergers, all the pieces started to come together.

 

I do believe it's a combination of genetics and environment. And I believe there are too many variables to ever know for sure how that happens.

 

My gut feeling is that classic autism is heavier on the genetics end while other ASDs are heavier on the environmental end. But who knows?

 

I'm not anti-vaccine (we selectively vaccinate now), but I always feel a need to mention that my ds was late on many of his toddler shots. We caught him up right around... you guessed it, 2.5.

[Mom22ns]

We saw nothing until about 2. Then my son started losing language. At 2.5 he started having tantrums, not normal 2 yo tantrums, these were different and any parent of an autistic child knows what I mean. Before 2 my son was easy going, laid back and super intelligent. He hit all his milestones early and was talking in phrases at 18 mos before the language loss at 2.

 

I don't know what infant autism looks like, but I do know that some kids are born with it rather than regressing.

[abbeyej]

...And he hums when he nurses - quite loudly I might add.

 

Karen, I can't really respond to the rest, but I laughed when I saw this! Both of my kids hummed/sang (as best they could, with full mouths) while nursing when they were small. My mom says my brother and I did as well. Some babies may nurse quietly and you hardly notice they're there -- but not my kids! They were loud -- joyful sounding, but *loud*... :)

[MamaSheep]

My Aspie was unusually active prenatally (he had 'meltdowns' when he got the hiccups; the nurses said they'd never seen anything like it, but didn't seem to find it alarming, just cute and unusual), and I suspected something was up with him from birth. But I think I had more experience with babies than many new mothers and picked up on some things many new moms would not have known were out of the ordinary. The ways in which it manifested most strongly have changed over the years, but I think it was more or less different ways of reacting to his experience of the world. When he was an infant he slept very little compared to other babies of the same age, and screamed (not cried, SCREAMED like he was having his fingers pulled off) if I set him down, and slammed his head on the floor hard enough to bruise until I picked him back up again. He also overreacted to bright light and certain sounds. The pediatrician thought I was an overly concerned first-time mother and just told me that all babies react to bright light, and many children are afraid of the vacuum, but I had seen that in other babies, and this was different. As he got older, he learned to talk very early on (I think it was a compensation for not being able to read faces or body language), and threw big tantrums. Lots of people told me he was just really smart and needed to be disciplined more. But discipline only helps with actual behavioral issues, not neurological ones, so additional discipline actually made things much worse, not better. Older still, and his Aspie-ness turned more into anxiety type behaviors, OCD, and continued melt-downs. Finally, when he was five, we were able to get a diagnosis and figure out what was really going on in there, and why, which really helped. These days it mostly manifests as social awkwardness, long attention span, and occasional panic attacks. He doesn't bang his head anymore, or scream, or eat his shirts, or talk about being dead (thank goodness!). So the behaviors have changed, but the underlying roots of it have always been there, even from the reaction to hiccups prenatally.

 

I also have two cousins with Aspies, and many eccentric genius types in the extended family. In our case, I think there's a strong genetic connection.

[BamaTanya]

I was under extreme stress at work during my pregnancy and prayed continually for him. I was amazed by how easy-going he was. Until those doggone ear infections. By the time we'd gone through 3 rounds of antibiotics and his waking almost every hour because he was so congested, he had forgotten how to sleep.

 

Still . . . he met every milestone on time and seemed sweet, though shy (like my husband).

 

 

At 5 he still had some difficulties with articulation and started stuttering. We got under a homeschool covering so he could receive ps speech services.

 

Around that time he took up drawing. For hours. Intensely. Driven, even.

 

The intensity grew. He developed anxieties and "zooming" spells. Hand flapping. Fears of outside and any kind of change. Stopped eating anything soft (turned in Mr. Crunchy).

 

We started evaluations at 8 or so when the gap between his development and other dc his age seemed to progress.

 

The physical therapy evaluation showed his gross motor development several years younger than his actual age. As near as we could tell, he seemed to "stop" growing up when he was 4 or 5.

 

Ds3 was a different story. At 1.5-2 I knew he was different. He was WIDE OPEN. Tried to spin around on his head while he was nursing. Climbed the cabinets before he could walk. Took off his clothes outside when it was COLD. Turned on the oven over and over. Turned on the bathtub faucet when I was trying to homeschool the bigger kids. Tasted everything in the bathroom. We had to deadbolt the door and take out the key to prevent him from running down the street. He was afraid of nothing. Even with continual teaching/warnings/punishments. He wore me out. :tongue_smilie:

 

Around the time we were having the older evaluated, I would think, "Hmm, not sure," about ds1. And then the lightbulb moment: This describes ds3!

 

Of course, the dr wanted to "wait and see" until he was school aged. Ack.

 

It took a LOT of tries to find a dr who had a CLUE about developmental disorders.

 

I think there's a genetic component, but I also think there was some environmental trigger for my dc. They seemed so perfect as infants. The dr was pleased as pie at every one of their baby checkups.

 

I wonder if there was something I could have prevented . . .

 

We have altered the order/spacing of immunizations for our youngest, but sometimes we see signs that are still concerning to us . . .

[Misty]

Definitely genetics here... There are Aspies all over my extended family, including myself and my siblings.

 

But for classic autism, I do believe there is *usually* a genetic predisposition along with some environmental triggers.

 

But to answer your question about early signs... As infants, the biggest signs were restlessness, excessive crying, and also refusing solid food due to sensory issues. Two (out of 4) of them didn't eat until they were two years old. Those were my middle girls. For my son, he began rocking around 6 months old and rocked obsessively until he was about 18 mos. He also almost never cried as a baby. He would just sit there and rock instead. He began lining things up just before he turned two (he lined EVERYTHING up), and he also began with other repetitive motor mannerisms (flicking his ear and touching his cheek over and over again) just before he turned two. He was late pointing to things and he was very late with waving bye-bye. I did selective vaccinations with him so he could have been one of those who went downhill after his 2-year check (who knows?).. But he has actually improved and he seems less autistic now at age 2 1/2. But he is the reason I started doing research on autism, after he showed all of those signs, and that is what led to my girls being diagnosed.. I realized all those quirks and signs they had over the years was actually called something (Asperger's!).

 

My 6yo daughter has the most moderate case of Asperger's (of all my girls). She was an extremely fussy baby.. never happy, never content, could never sit still, climbed on everything, wouldn't eat anything, etc. But the REAL signs didn't show up until closer to age four or five. That's when things like more sensory issues, more hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors, hyperfocus and obsessive behaviors, rigid routines, little eye contact with excessive talking, etc. began. She is diagnosed with Asperger's, ADHD, and OCD now.

[sandellie4]

The things I noticed are pretty much covered by the previous posters, but I have a few websites if you're interested in following up or learning more.

 

The first couple are for Autism Speaks, which offers numerous videos showing some of the early behavioral signs of autism, as well as videos of a couple of television features about autism.

 

Videos of early signs: http://www.autismspeaks.org/video/glossary.php

 

Television segments: http://www.autismspeaks.org/video/index.php

 

The second one is for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. We have one in Baltimore that is intensively involved in research for early diagnosis of autism. They also have clinical programs designed to provide early intervention. I saw a presentation about some of the work they are doing there. It was unbelievable how much they could do with children as young as 12mo. It took my breath away!

 

http://www.kennedykrieger.org/kki_cp.jsp?pid=1394

 

Sandy

[BMW]

My son was born autistic... thumped his foot in rythm over and over by 8 weeks... started banging head into crib... screamed horribly with any contact with water... rocked a lot... rocked and rocked...

He got his words in, though they didn't always apply to the situation...

He DID have an emotional connection with me and some siblings.

But he spent lots and lots of time drifted off in his own little world. My Dr. refused to diagnose him with an autistic spectrum label - for even 6 years! He was old school and didn't believe that a child could be autistic and have an emotional connection with anyone. At 7 we had a new pediatrician who gave me all the information and guidance that I really needed!

 

He has gone through more difficult times with some oddities that are a little... slightly psychotic... but always handled fine by me...

 

He also has sensory integration disorder and is extremely sensitive to stress in the home and gets irrational fears. As a boy turning 10, he now struggles with lies and knowing what reality is as far as some of his imaginary stories that he creates...

 

BUT, he is bright, learns his school lessons well... and is a joy.

 

I asked moms on-line (maybe even here!) what 3 things they did/would do for their autistic/aspergers child. Almost unanimous it was GFCF diet and melatonin at bedtime. (don't remember the 3rd most given suggestion)

 

We struggle with complete compliance with the GFCF diet, but it has helped.

 

I just read a wonderful book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies. VERY good book. by Kenneth Bock and Cameron Stauth. A lot of that information is summarized in another book I just got The Kid Friendly ADHD Autism Cookbook.

[ClassicMom]

We saw nothing until about 2. Then my son started losing language. At 2.5 he started having tantrums, not normal 2 yo tantrums, these were different and any parent of an autistic child knows what I mean. Before 2 my son was easy going, laid back and super intelligent. He hit all his milestones early and was talking in phrases at 18 mos before the language loss at 2.

 

I don't know what infant autism looks like, but I do know that some kids are born with it rather than regressing.

 

Same here. The only thing we saw at infancy was terrible colic until about six months.

[Stacie]

My son's regression started at about 18 months. He lost most of his words, his eye contact became almost nil, he arm flapped and toe walked, banged his head until he chipped his teeth.

 

We got a formal diagnosis at about 20 months. I did a yeast elimination diet, followed by GFCF, and several nutritional supplements.

 

He's now three and has been tested twice. He no longer falls on the spectrum and has surpassed most of his preschool classmates for social and functional skills. I'm thrilled with his turn-around and plan to stick with his diet and supplements!

[swellmomma]

How was he different?

 

At 3 months he did not react like a normal baby to sounds(you could bang pots by his head and he would not even blink let alone startle). He did not engage with us, no cooing, no eye contact etc. By 6 months he was finally making eye contact and engaging with us but was smearing and eating feces, he did this until 4.5 years old, 1-3 times a day EVERY day. At 10 months he started head banging, this went on until 18 months. The list continues from there of what he stopped doing and what he started doing, and to this day at age 10.5 years he is still not a normal child but he is getting better at having socially acceptable behaviours. He never really slept much, the nurses in the NICU(he was prem) mentioned how they are not used to seeing such active babies in there. He hit his milestones at average times over all but was different kwim.

 

I have worked with children since I was 11 in daycare, taken child development in college etc I knew/know normal infant behaviour and knew right from the start he was different.

Edited May 4, 2009 by swellmomma

[Wyndie]

I believe there are a gazillion reasons why kids have autism.

I think it's a combination of factors.

A little of this, a little of that, some heavy metals here, some genetic susceptibility there...

 

This article is interesting and the video of the Doc speaking was very thought provoking.

 

I have a question for those with experience - when did you notice symtopms? What do you feel is the connection?

 

I had a very stressful time during pregnancy.

My horse was killed at 7 months and I am amazed my contractions didn't lead to an early delivery. I just hope my grief didn't affect him in ways I don't know yet. He is happy and sweet, and very strong, but will not EVER be still. Not even when nursing. And he hums when he nurses - quite loudly I might add. If he went to daycare they'd say put this baby on Ritalin!

He is 8 months old and NEVER stops. He fights sleep like you wouldn't believe.

 

We do not vaccinate - so no heavy metal exposure there.

But heavy metals elsewhere I am sure. We have a gazillion wi-fi neighbors and we pick up their signals. My diet is ok but definitely nothing to write home about. He mostly nurses - gets 2 maybe 3 bottles of organic formula (Baby's Best) a day. I take DHA and otther fatty acids.

 

What do you think about your kids and these articles?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/30/Why-Where-You-Sleep-Matters-If-You-Want-a-Healthy-Baby.aspx

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/30/Poor-Nutrition-in-the-Womb-Triggers-Permanent-Genetic-Changes.aspx

 

My son was constipated right from the start and that was the beginning of his toxic load that became autism. He was a brilliant child although riddled with severe allergies that eventually became anaphylactic. By the time he was 5, we recognized autism but it took that long b/c he was verbal.

 

My first daughter had an obvious regression after her 9 month shots. Up to that point, allergies were her only symptom of an immune problem. Her autism became obvious at 2.

 

My youngest daughter had gut problems from birth and she started regressing into autism at 10 months of age but by then we had already started recovery of the older two, and we just added her into the process so we didn't get an official diagnosis on her at all. However, we knew what we were looking at.

 

First two children were vaxed, last was not. All got a load of toxicity from me and their daddy. He's military and gets multiple shots per year, I had a few leaking amalgams (silver fillings that are 51% mercury) while pg and nursing so they got the majority of it from me.

 

As one great doc says "Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger".

 

As to the EMF's... I believe they are a problem but not the cause. There are SO many probable causes, some more obvious than others. EMF's tax the adrenals and make it very hard for the body to produce enough energy to heal itself. About 2 years into recovery, we got an EMF protector for our house and cell phones but it was only to take the stress off the adrenals so all we were doing would be more effective. I believe autism is a toxicity problem and kids tipping points are all different; although a great many of them reach that point during vaccinations.

 

I love Dr. Bock's book. I met him last month at the DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) conference - loved him. Real doc with a heart for our kiddies. His book is very readable and explains so many things.

 

www.autism.com is a wonderful place to read about ways to naturally help kids with autism. Not everyone will see recovery, but most will see an improvement in quality of life.

[specialmama]

My son has severe "classic" autism. The pregnancy itself was very unusual, with my son constantly moving... I mean extreme body movements that were very forceful every. single. second. of. every. single. day. It was quite disgusting, actually. My dd was active, but this? Oy, this was almost unbearable. I felt him at 9 weeks gestation until the moment he was born. He was a 2-push baby, and within 1 minute of birth, he was sound asleep and very still. He slept. And slept. And slept. The midwives and I had a very difficult time getting him to wake up to nurse. He was an excellent feeder and grew well, but from day 1 he could sleep 9+ hours solid. He slept on his side, with his spine and whole body curved backwards, with his head pointing all the way back, very similar to the letter "C". I have some pics I could try to scan later if my scanner cooperates. He was always a very good baby. Too good. Hardly cried. Content to be alone. He would sit in his playpen and not need toys. He'd stay there just looking at nothing for hours if I let him. I figured because he was a second child he was just used to having my attention divided, and that it was normal. He was late sitting up, it seemed his head was larger than normal, and he just didn't have the strength to lift it. He crawled before he sat, and even at 12 mts he still was not sitting, but did crawl all over the place. He bagan rocking on his back, side to side, with a receiving blanket over his face. He still does this to calm down or to fall asleep.

 

Somewhere around 13 mts we suspected something, but we thought he was deaf. He was in his own little world and didn't care to interact, didn't respond to my calling him. We took him for an audiologist appt to check his hearing and it turned out fine. I remember being in the elevator at Sick Kids in Toronto, and my dh smiling, he was so happy. He was happy he wasn't deaf. I just cried because I knew if he wasn't deaf, then whatever it was was worse.

 

Within a few months we knew without a doubt it was autism. Had the childhood psychologist diagnosed him as anything but autistic, I would have sought another specialist. We just knew.

 

By the time he was 18 mts he had "night-time euphoria". (For those that aren't familiar, most people with autism have some sort of sleep problem, they may only require 3-4 hours of sleep because their brain is wired differently. So they'll either wake and scream bloody murder or laugh hysterically.) My son would laugh and laugh and laugh SO hard that he would gasp and wheeze and continue laughing... at nothing. He would jump in his crib for HOURS on end, sometimes from 1am to 6am. Constantly jumping and/or laughing.

 

His food repetoire shrunk down drastically around the 18 mth mark. Foods he once ate now caused him to gag. Thank God he kept the bananas and applesauce baby concoction, because that's the only fruit he gets to this day.

 

We did vaccinate, frankly because I was not informed enough. Had I known that it was not required and had I been more informed, I probably wouldn't have vaccinated him. I do believe he had autism in utero, however, I also believe the MMR shot exacerbated (sp) his symptoms.

 

OH one more thing: his stools were always runny and full of mucous. There were times when his little bum had no skin on it, and he just kept pooping, so I'd put warm water in a peri (squirt) bottle and lay him on a towel and squirt the poopy mucous off while he screamed. The dr. prescribed Fucidin (sp?) and his skin would grow back or heal within a day. This was a recurring problem from infancy through to age 3. At that point we visited a DAN! doctor who helped correct the mucous problem using a special probiotic called Culturelle, one that Dr. Rimland and Kirkfield Labs endorses. It has been a lifesaver for us.

 

The casein free diet did nothing for him, and we've never been able to implement the gluten free diet, as he only eats 2 meal items, both of which have gluten. I know the whole story about craving that which is toxic, but we were unable to find bread replacements he would eat. A child with autism who is exceedingly self-limiting WILL starve to death rather than eat some alternate bread source. My boy does not have excess fat stores and his eyes become sunken after one day of not eating, so going gluten free has never worked for us.

 

Chelation is something I've been toying with lately, but it takes time to make such a grand decision. It is so dangerous when not done properly, so we're treading very lightly and just thinking about it at this point.

 

Wow. What a novel. Sorry I babbled so long. Darn coffee. :D