Autism: Eye Contact- Why I never ask Autistic children to look in my eyes

Eye contact and autism

Eye contact and autism

Autism: Eye Contact- Why I never ask Autistic children to look in my eyes

This video from Nancy Amar is, I think , really important.

Please watch!

Autism and Eye Contact – An overview from an autistic person!

Autism And Eye Contact

Autism And Eye Contact

This video, by Tom Schofield, explains why people with autism don’t like making eye contact, and don’t do it very often.

Tom is himself on the autism spectrum and it is great that we are starting to hear autistic voices!

He does give a lot of useful advice for neurotypicals.

Autism and Parenting Part Four – What first gave you the idea that your child might be on the autism spectrum?


Characteristics of Autism

Characteristics of Autism

A few days ago I asked this very question on our Facebook page AutismTalk. Three days later that have been over 500 responses with literally hundreds of interleaved comments. So clearly it is one of the most valuable of the conversation we have run.

Due to the , rather, transitory nature of social media we though it would be useful to keep some of the comments and use them as the basis of a discussion blog. It would be great if you could use the comment boxes at the bottom of this post to share your answer to the question “What first gave you the idea that your child might be on the autism spectrum?”.

I have covered our son’s diagnosis on this blog before. You can read John’s story here. It is worth mentioning that John was recessive and the first sign of classic autism really only became apparent when he was two. In his case this was loosing much of his ability to speak which had been pretty typical of a developing child up to that point.

Looking at our responders there seems to be a very wide range of symptoms and signs of autism.

Jade, for example shared “I had 3 children under three. My Autistic son was the middle child.
I could see the girls thriving, playing, talking, looking at me and my son did none of that.
He didn’t say his first word till he was 4 and a half, he wouldn’t and still doesn’t make eye contact, he didn’t comprehend what I was saying or asking of him. He threw some mega tantrums ( he was frustrated and trapped in his own world) He hated loud noises and bright nights. He didn’t and doesn’t like to be touched or hugged. Couldn’t stand not to have socks on, he hated the feel of the carpet, grass or sand on his feet. It was very scary for me, I was a single mum when he was diagnosed, no one in my family knew anything about Autism and their was very little support in my area. My son is almost 17 and doing amazingly”

While Tammy was brief and to the point. “No eye contact and lining up toys” In fact another of John’s early symptoms was loss of eye contact!

For Derek “Not pointing or following others point. Lack of shared enjoyment. Very little babbling. Food aversion, and dislike of food utensils in mouth. Sound & light sensitivity. Meltdowns in shopping centres! All this before 12 months. We did DIR Floortime with him and everything changed.

Now at 6 he is unrecognisable in some ways. He’s bright, bubbly, friendly (dare I say popular), polite, helpful and lovely. Still autistic, and still has many challenges, but also has amazing strengths. Don’t give up on your kids!”

“Speech was repetitive starting at around age 2, lined up his toys, and covered his ears when we sang happy birthday to him at age 2.” said Jaclyn.

Dawn mentioned our old friend “Hand flapping, toe walking, and lack of speech and eye contact at 12 mos old”.

Even some symptoms did not have an immediate impact for Dawn “No speech and only babbling at 3.5, but even then I still had my head in the sand about a diagnosis of ASD”.

Shawn was helped by her mother “My mom, she was a manager in a public school cafeteria. She saw a older child who display similar characteristics to my son who only 2 at the time. Before she uttered it 11 yrs ago I had never even heard of the word! May she rest in peace. u mom & thx for everything.”

” I knew absolutely nothing about autism but my daughter always seemed different. She had no interest in learning, words came and went, some people asked me if she was deaf, she loved to spend hours throwing things over things, and she just always seemed to live in her own little world. I’m very grateful that I have always been included in her little world even though most are not.” mentioned Dixie.

Calre some was spotted by “A health professional from our schools team when I tried to get my boy some counselling help for his ‘outbursts’ or ‘meltdowns’. She recognised it, talked it through with me about making an assessment referral and all the pieces fell into place. My handsome young man was diagnosed as high functioning autistic just before his 11th birthday. Strangely, it’s made life easier :))). Maybe that’s because we all understand a little bit more each day x”

While there are many many more I would like to end with Christine’s moving post “This might sound kind of weird – but I knew from the first day that my daughter was different. My daughter always seemed so far away and “wise” compared to other babies. She scared away the little old ladies looking into the pram or into her crib at home, trying to catch her attention by just looking through them very seriously. She didn’t crawl but on her first birthday she started shuffeling around on her bottom and didn’t try to stand up before she was 19 months old but then all of sudden she stood up and walked without falling even once. She always talked to her cats and dogs more than she did to other people. As a child she didn’t talk to strangers at all, even if these strangers were her teachers. My daughter is 19 today, she has Asperger’s and her “therapy” are our family animals (cats, dogs, chickens, horses) and she works at a horse farm, training young horses and even drives visitors around with a horse-drawn carriage with two horses. In that surrounding she can even talk to the people on her carriage and engage in conversation with strangers. 12 years of school resp. college were very hard and stressful, although she never lacked intelligence – until a little more than a year ago she decided, that she didn’t want to go to University but only work with horses. So she quit school and took on an apprenticeship on that horse farm… Our children on the spectrum are challenged, we are challenged to guide them into their lives – and they teach us and other people around them so much “.

So over to you. What was the first thing that made you think that your child was on the spectrum. It would be great if you could add your comments to the comments box below.

Thanks very much in advance.

 

BrittanyHayden My son is almost 18 months, with an appointment later this month to be tested for Autism… he was low birthweight (5 15) at birth, and had IUGR. He was “normal” for about the first year of his life except he made his milestones later than normal. By his first birthday, he could say two words. In between then and now, he lost those two words, gained three more and is halfway losing one more. One of the words he learned around 16-18 months was “donald duck” which he got from tv, not me. His head is too large for his weight and height. He won’t eat alot of foods. When we were at his appointment in July, before they referred him to EI, he was spinning on the floor on his butt over and over flapping his hands. He can’t walk at all, can only stand for a few seconds. He can’t climb anything like furniture. He doesn’t respond to his name about 50% of the time sometimes more, and has a blank look on his face. He stares at walls, or things. He will play with the same thing or play the same song over and over again. He will open and close doors. If a door is open, he HAS to close it. He has alot of sleep problems. He will not sleep without a pacifier. He will not get through the day without a pacifier. He gets over stimulated. He bangs his head against the wall. He bites people. He will let someone pick him up and smile at them to get them to pick him up, but when they do, he will not make eye contact. He will only say the few words he knows if you ask him to… so basically he is just copying those 2-3 words. He eats pretty good, but only wants to eat maybe once or twice a day, otherwise he will throw the food and not eat it. He is terrified of a vacuum, dogs barking… he hates hearing babies cry esp newborns. He throws his toys… I mean he throws them more than playing with them. I don’t think he has the motor skills to line things up so he throws stuff. It doesn’t matter if he hits you or not, he doesn’t care. He plays with keys, remotes, phones, the buckles on his highchair, swing, etc. He shakes his head a lot. He doesn’t understand “no”. He will NOT say anymore words then the words he has. We’ve tried. He is aggressive, he will slap you in the face, he will bite, pinch, scratch you.
He has GI problems. He will get over stimulated when playing and will start stimming (flapping his hands and arms over and over). I got the M-CHART-R, the 18 month questionnaire and the other questionnaire in yesterday and filled them out, and on the M-CHART he scored AT RISK FOR AUTISM. On the 18 month questionnaire, he scored in the black area for everything except fine motor. So, basically he needs help with communication (scored 5 out of 60) gross motor (scored 5 out of 60) personal-social (scored 25 out of 60) and problem solving, he scored 20 out of 60. He has a lot of the problems they ask about on the other questionnaire. He doesn’t play with any children but his sister… he will get excited to see them but won’t play with them or talk to them except babble. He doesn’t understand most simple commands. When I point at something, he won’t look at it.if anyone can help, please email me at brittany_hayden@ymail.com or I am on Facebook. Thanks.
Shawnamj We are waiting for our appointment with the developmental pediatrician for my son’s evaluation. In the meantime el is coming out and working with him starting in two weeks. Gage turned two in August and there have been several signs early on. I had Gage later in life (at 36) and was never really around other children to know any different. He was my first diaper change and everything baby related. He never responded to his name. I questioned it but I was told maybe hes distracted or he will eventually come around.He hit all his milestones on time. He said mama, Dada, bye,up and would wave goodbye. He wouldn’t look when I pointed at things but I never really thought anything about it. Hes always had good eye contact and loves being around people especially kids. Around 18 months when his brother was born he stopped talking and using silverware. He will only eat certain foods and gags when I try to introduce something new. He teeth grinds all day long and can jump for hours screeching and babbling. He gives hugs and affection on his terms and time but that makes it all the more sweeter. I see improvements, he starting to come around with his 7 month old brother by kissing him on the head or bringing him toys. Im just ready to start the journey of learning how to help him the best I can.
ButterflyMomma With my oldest son, now 10, the signs weren’t as obvious.  He did the arm flapping, was slow to talk (around 2 years old), and doesn’t make great eye contact (but not so little as to really get your attention).  He did circles when talking excitedly and struggles to understand why some kids tease or bully him.  He was diagnosed in 2nd grade, when his amazing teacher recommended it.  I was in denial from the start, so was my husband and my Mom.  Over the last three years though, I’ve begun to accept and support his diagnosis.  He receives therapy through the school and has blossomed because of it.  Now, we are having our twins examined because at almost two years old, both are nonverbal, doing circles, heavily sensory, and stare off into space with little to no eye contact.  At least this time around, I feel prepared.
ClaudiaGabrielaMiller Many tantrums. Walked at 8 1/2 months. Food sensitivity. Could not hold him in arms like regular babies as far as.I can remember he wiggled into upright position not laying down. Threw up frequently because he would often over eat. Freakishly strong as.a.toddler. Piled or lined up toys for long periods of time. If.tbey fell or.moved.would have a meltdown and then go back to task. Walks a little hunched. Flaps.hands. he is 11 1/2 and still.wets bed. So of.course now we.can.go on and on about different behavior
KimberlynCanga Going to my son’a 18 month check receiving the MCHAT to fill out and realizing I was checking off mostly No’s… I said to my fiancé , I think we need to ask the doctor if we should worry..? I asked the doctor and he reassured me Mason looks fine I shouldn’t worry….2 came and he wasn’t really saying much, making noises instead of pointing when he wanted something.. It became so routine we knew what he wanted so we didn’t really push him to “use his words” I continued to observe him and noticed little quirks like staring for long seconds or even up to a minute, getting dressed. Finger tapping on hiis chest, not making direct eye contact then 3 came an d he still was at 2-3 word sentences so I moved/called around and got him Iin to get assessed by a specialist I had to wait almost 6 months to see the specialist finally at age 4 he was diagnosed with ASD… My Mason is wonderful, smart, unique,lovable, also very popular and getting his speech therapy 2 times a week..
JessicaWebster1 My 2nd son hit 2 and a half and was still completely non-verbal. He ran around in circles a lot. Had huge “tantrums” all the time. We didn’t think much of it, especially as we knew nothing about autism. I watched that movie “Adam” one night and despite the significant differences due to age, the similarities in minor nuances blew me away. So I asked my mother-in-law what she thought (I am very close to her and value her opinion) and she agreed with my husband and I that we should take him to see someone. He was always the odd one. Never played with other kids. No eye contact. A little OCD and some other stuff that I just can’t really explain, but clearly made him different to my other children. In the weeks between making the pediatrician appointment, and actually going he “crashed” really bad and the signs were extremely noticeable by then.

If your child is developmentally delayed, you need to understand more about motor planning. A guest post about Autism and ADHD from Dr. Sonya Doherty

Dr. Sonya Doherty

Dr. Sonya Doherty

Welcome to our latest guest post from Dr. Sonya Doherty. You can read the original post on her blog here. Dr. Sonya Doherty is a licensed and board certified Naturopathic Doctor who is an active member of the CAND. Sonya Doherty completed her undergraduate training at the University of Western Ontario in a Bachelor of Science Honors Kinesiology program.

She writes “How’s that for a blog title?????

Children diagnosed with autism and ADHD have tremendous difficulty with motor planning.  New areas of research are showing that motor planning problems can be prevented, treated and reversed.  So, what does that mean for your child?  Better communication, less sensory issues (which means more social interaction), openness to new foods, improved eye contact, restored focus and attention, better coordination, enhanced fine motor and gross motor skills….

Are you with me?  Are you ready to immerse yourself in a little cellular physiology so I can introduce you to a wonderful researcher who has helped in the recovery of thousands of children by improving their motor planning?

Okay, let’s get started.  You may be asking, what the heck is motor planning and how does it impact my child?

Motor planning is the steps the brain puts in place to allow the body to move.  Many neuroscientists believe the reason we have a brain is to produce adaptable and complex movement.  Every way we affect the world relies on contraction of muscles.  Speaking, walking, focusing, eye contact and even having a bowel movement!  Another important piece of information about movement is that contraction of muscles requires a plan.  That plan is formulated by the brain relying on both experience and sensory input.  In the case of autism, sensory processing is impaired and the overwhelming sensory stimuli reduce the brain’s effectiveness when creating a motor plan.  I believe this is what drives many repetitive behaviours.  Repetition is very important to motor planning.  Without the ability to rely on sensory input, children with autism “bank” their experiences.  They attempt to memorize enough information as possible to compensate for the sensory overload, with the goal of stabilizing motor planning.


Problems with motor planning are not the lack of desire or ability to move, they are caused by inconsistent instructions from the brain.  Imagine that you want to blow a bubble.  If the parts of your brain that control motor planning are intact, your mouth will receive a succinct plan to coordinate the muscles of your mouth to get in the right position and then contract synergistically to create the movement needed to blow a bubble.  If your child’s motor planning systems are not strong or have been damaged, blowing a bubble or sucking from a straw can be extremely difficult.  Because the instructions from the brain are inconsistent, some skills can be strong and others more difficult.  You may also find that one day your child can perform a motor movement and the next day it is very difficult for them.  As in saying words or making eye contact.

As many of you know, two and a half years ago our youngest son regressed after his first surgery to repair a severe birth defect.  A birth defect that is linked to mounting toxicity in our environment and, like autism, ADHD, speech delay and other developmental issues, is on the rise.  There were many researchers and medical practitioners who have helped us in our pursuit to recover as many skills as possible for our son.  Dr. Claudia Morris, who will be presenting at Autism Canada’s upcoming conference, developed a motor planning therapy that helped her own son using omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in addition to therapeutic doses of vitamin E.  These nutritional treatments address toxic damage to the cells, including cell membranes and the energy producing mitochondria.  Despite over two years of biomedical treatment, we are still not 100% sure what caused the regression for our son.  What I am sure of is that the combination of anesthetics, antibiotics, Tylenol and morphine he was given changed the way his cells were functioning.

Cells are like any living organism, they are designed to communicate with each other.  Disruption in this communication impacts the signals that go back and forth.  A significant toxic insult will cause the cells to all start “screaming” at each other. Chronic toxic exposure over time will have the same result.  Alert signals will escalate and in the end, in an effort to protect themselves, the cells stop communicating in some ways so they aren’t overwhelmed by the alert signals coming in from their neighbours.  As an isolated entity, the cell is much less effective.  Things slow down.  The brain has trouble communicating clear instructions to the muscles, disrupting motor planning.  Motor planning becomes very difficult without smooth cellular communication.  A recent study used a century old drug to improve cell signalling in an animal model of autism.  The results was nothing short of incredible.  The drug reversed all autism symptoms for a few weeks by blocking “danger” signals thought to come from damaged mitochondria.

Dr. Morris has shown, that motor planning can be improved by repairing cells, and restoring cellular communication.  You see, one of the thousands of children Dr. Claudia Morris has helped is my own.  Her research and brave foray into nutritional therapies for motor planning is the treatment approach that helped reconnect our son’s mouth to his brain, allowing him to chew, swallow and speak.  Two and half years ago, Magnus would gag at most foods, choke on many others, couldn’t suck on a straw or blow.  He certainly couldn’t coordinate his articulation muscles to speak.  The words he had weren’t clear and he could use only one word at a time and with great effort.  Repairing his cell membranes and supporting mitochondrial function with Dr. Morris’s program has allowed cellular communication to return.  Once his cells were again communicating, we were able to see progress through introducing new foods and textures.  His speech pathologists were able to expertly advise us on the fastest way to get his muscles caught up by strengthening them and training the motor planning centers to be able to perform better.  Today, Magnus can eat anything and is beginning to speak in sentences as long as 7 words. In practice, I have seen the same results time and time again.  If a child has motor planning problems, improving the cell’s use of essential fatty acids and repairing the cell membrane consistently results in improvements that are life changing.

We know that many toxins can damage the body on a cellular level.  There are too many to list here but one that I feel is really important to mention is Tylenol.  Tylenol is toxic to cells because it depletes glutathione, which is the body’s most important antioxidant.  Antioxidants protect cells, so the depletion of glutathione by Tylenol is one way cells get damaged.  Women who take Tylenol in pregnancy are more likely to have a child diagnosed with ADHD.   Tylenol has also been linked to asthma.  Dr. William Shaw wrote a ground breaking paper that identifies Tylenol as one of the major causes of autism, ADHD and asthma.
We also know that genes can be damaged by toxins and that damaged genes are passed along to the next generation.  Epigenetic damage to some genes directly weakens cell function.  The microbiome, the ecosystem in the gut, also plays a crucial role in protect cells from toxicity.  Our gut is the most important detoxification organ.  Diarrhea and constipation increase risk of toxicity because heavy metals, pesticides, PCBs and even breakdown products of microbes are removed when we have a bowel movement.  Overgrowth of certain microbes can damage cell membranes.  Research by Dr. Derrick MacFabe has shown in an animal model, overgrowth of the species clostridia, will deplete carnitine.  Carnitine is a shuttle that fuels the energy producing mitochondria with much needed essential fatty acids.   Low carnitine levels negatively impact motor planning and disrupt cell signalling.  These are just a few examples of how toxicity directly impacts cell function.

While hundreds of millions worth of research dollars are investigating what is contributing to disorders such as autism, very little research is focused on treatment.  We now know incontrovertibly that environmental toxicity is picking off at risk children with increasing devastation each generation.  Repair of the cell membranes is an elegant treatment strategy.  It is so simple.  It is so beautiful.  We have 100 TRILLION cells.  We have 100 TRILLION cell membranes.  If a treatment can help to repair 100 TRILLION cell membranes; guess what?  Motor planning will improve.  Eye contact will improve.  Focus, hand writing, walking up stairs, chewing food, blowing bubbles, speaking.  They will all get better.  And I am delighted to tell you that just as it did for our son, this approach has helped hundreds of children in my practice.

Simple.  Elegant.  Effective.  I for one, can’t wait to hear Dr. Morris speak this October at the Autism Canada Foundation.  I hope you will all join me there as we continue to learn how to help our children get better and feel better.

Dr. Sonya Doherty, ND FMAPS (candiate)

To hear Dr. Claudia Morris at this year’s conference – REGISTER HERE!  Autism-Conference

Improving eye contact in children diagnosed with autism – A guest post from Dr. Sonya Doherty

Dr. Sonya Doherty

Dr. Sonya Doherty

Welcome to our latest guest post from Dr. Sonya Doherty. You can read the original post on her blog here. Dr. Sonya Doherty is a licensed and board certified Naturopathic Doctor who is an active member of the CAND. Sonya Doherty completed her undergraduate training at the University of Western Ontario in a Bachelor of Science Honors Kinesiology program.

You may be interested in the results of some recent research we ran into autism and eye contact!

She writes:-
Does your child look out of the sides of their eyes?
Does your child watch their fingers while they move them in front of their eyes or tract them along surfaces?
Does your child like to watch wheels spinning?
Does your child look away from people instead of seeking eye contact?

Eye contact is a treatable and reversible symptom of autism spectrum disorder.

Impairment in visual integration has been implicated in autism spectrum disorder.  Recently I watched an incredible TED TALK called How Brains Learn to Seeby Dr. Pawan Sinha. Dr. Sinha’s research is showing that the ability to perceive information relies on motion.  Dynamic information processing may be what the brain relies on to learn to see. Motion allows that brain to process information.  The visual information, when processed properly, is then integrated or grouped together so the brain can make sense of the data.  This information is then acted on by organizing the motor steps required to take action.  To talk and to move; including making eye contact.  The eyes are the finest of the fine motor skills.  Visual motor planning relies on processing information.  If a child wants to look at you, they need the visual processing centers in the brain working so they can integrate the information and then act on it.

So, you more than likely opened this blog because someone you love is having trouble making eye contact. If it is your child, very few people can understand the despair that you feel when your child doesn’t look at you when you come home from work or when you call their name. There are very effective and safe treatments to improve eye contact. I know this because I have seen astonishing improvements in eye contact and visual processing in the thousands of children we support with biomedical treatments.  Let’s explore some of these treatments and how they work.

According to Dr. Meg Megson, autism may be a disorder linked to disruption of G proteins that control cellular signalling.  These G proteins are important for normal retinoid receptor function which allows for healthy visual processing.  So, what damages G proteins?  There is a potential role of vaccinations in G protein defects. 

Vitamin A may reconnect the retinoid receptors critical for vision, sensory perception, language processing and attention.  I also believe that social development is heavily dependent on visual processing.  Our children learn by seeing our reactions.  Picking up social cues visually is very important to optimize social development. What if your child who has trouble making eye contact and avoids peers is having trouble processing visual data?  What if, they are a social being, forced to isolate themselves because their world is blurry.  When a child’s world becomes blurry, as in regressive autism, there will undoubtedly be behavioural issues that arise. Autism is a very complex disorder. The visual processing defects have massive implications on quality of life.  Repairing visual integration, not only helps your child feel better, it opens doors to language, social and cognitive development.  Eye contact is a treatable and reversible symptom of autism spectrum disorder.  The first step is using a specific form of vitamin A to repair G proteins and begin the healing needed to re-establish healthy visual processing.

Dr. Sonya Doherty, ND FMAPS(candidate)

Natural Care Clinic