News Releases
Understanding autism in children
By Lorton Walot
Feb 24, 2008, 8:55

One of the advantages of a support group is that it offers persons an opportunity to hear and to share a variety of experiences – straight from the heart, and often unedited. To share that your child only became potty-trained at age nine, having had to wear pampers from birth until then, takes courage from the victim and brings hope to those affected  by the same condition. Or to speak in low tones that your child who is so dear to you had to spend a few nights in a cell at the psychiatric hospital can be an heart-rending experience. Yet these experiences are well-known to those in the disabled community and particularly to those affected by the autism disorder. Typically, “autism is a disability that affects, often severely, a person’s ability to communicate and socially interact with others.”

Researches conduct studies and publish reports of their findings from time to time. On the other hand, parents observe their children’s behaviour daily on a close-up basis and draw their own conclusions.

There are two areas of concern that occupy the thoughts of parents of children with autism and to which doctors could listen more attentively to the parents.

a) The impact of certain vaccines on young children, and
b) The value of vitamins and minerals in the child’s diet.

A recent 12-year study conducted in California found that Autism cases in that country continued to climb even after a mercury-rich vaccine had been removed from routine childhood shots.

What parents need to remember, is that certain vaccines are often administered around the same time that the child with autism may be diagnosed, that is, around two years old and therefore it is likely that the wrong conclusion may be drawn.

Mercury, however, is not the only element under suspicion but lead also is. Some children with autism might chew on paper products, book binding or even bag wire twisters. This disorder comes under the category of  “PICA” which is defined as “an appetite for non-nutritive substances” (for example, coal, soil, chalk, paper etc.) or “an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods. Chewing on certain materials, although a self-stimulating activity, can cause some children to ingest dangerous amounts of lead.

When parents have to face the fact that at present the cause of autism is unknown and that there is no cure in sight from the doctors, then it is natural for them to seek and pursue, in desperation, controversial therapies including removing wheat, dairy products, yeast and sugar from the child’s diet.

 There is a feeling in some areas that deficiencies of vitamin B6 and magnesium might be related to autism but it appears that no controlled studies have been done in this regard.

Always remember to check with your doctor before pursuing untried alternatives. (For information on the Autism Association of Barbados, please contact Lawton Walcott, President at 429-8242 or Cliff Nolan, P.R.O., at 427-3556)