autism spectrum disorder

1 Comment Posted on July 1, 2014 Autism

Autism – what is biomedical treatment for autism? A guest FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) from Dr Sonya Doherty!

Dr. Sonya Doherty

We are delighted to reproduce the latest in our series of guest blog posts from Dr Sonya Doherty.

Today she offers and introduction to biomedical treatments for autism. As this is a new therapy for me I’m very interested in getting feedback on biomedical treatment for autism from our readers. Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below.

Doherty writes:-

“1. What is biomedical treatment?

Biomedical treatment is an individualized medical treatment program to prevent and treat developmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, OCD, Tourette Syndrome and Speech Language Delay (Apraxia, Dyspraxia).

2. What type childhood disorders can benefit from biomedical treatment?

Biomedical treatment focuses on identifying weaknesses in a child’s body that are obstacles to development. So, any child can benefit from this program because it is the most comprehensive medical treatment plan to optimize brain development. The children who experience the most dramatic changes in language, social, cognitive and behavioural development are the children who are diagnosed with autism. They are the children who need biomedical treatment the most.

3. What is the earliest age you see?

The youngest biomedical patients are those who have siblings diagnosed with autism. Our sibling program focuses on prevention of developmental delays. Children who have a sibling on the autism spectrum are 20% more likely to be diagnosed themselves. They experience higher levels of speech delay, sensory issues, attention and focus problems and behavioural issues. Siblings are more likely to have eczema, allergies, asthma, constipation and sleep issues.

We begin more intensive biomedical treatment at the first sign of significant developmental concerns such as eye contact or visual tracking problems in infants or sensory meltdowns and self-stimulating behaviour in toddlers.

4. Can you begin treatment without a diagnosis?

It is SO UNBELIEVABLY IMPORTANT to act right away. Early intervention increases the likelihood of recovering significant and peer level language, social and cognitive function. Unfortunately, the staggering length of the waitlist means that our little ones begin treatment long before they get a diagnosis and years before they will ever receive any funded treatment. The good news is that the younger kids begin biomedical treatment, the better the outcome.

5. What type of results can parents expect to see? and how quickly?

We expect to see positive changes in 4-12 weeks. Better eye contact, decreased sensory issues, increased attempts to communicate verbally and/or non-verbally. Biomedical treatment is about repair and recovery. This process takes time and to see the best results, the treatment plans should be adjusted and changed every few months as a child moves through different stages. In the beginning, it is essential to stop further damage to the brain. The second step is to repair and then after 1-3 years our patients are on maintenance programs to continue to support their development.

6. Is the cost covered by private insurance coverage?

Many people have private insurance and biomedical treatment visits are covered by naturopathic benefits. It is important to help parents plan a monthly budget for biomedical treatments like methyl B12 injections. There are also important laboratory assessments that are done in the beginning of treatment and re-assessed throughout the process. The average yearly cost is $2000-3000. For the majority of our patients, 1-3 years of biomedical treatment creates development gains that are life changing. Biomedical works by opening doors now, doors that may remain closed because of untreated medical issues.

7. How does a family get started?

Some families like to read books or look at current medical research in this area. For those parents, we encourage them to get our biomedical handbook to get more information or to look online at www.treatautism.ca.

Other parents are ready to get started and can begin the process by contacting our clinic.
Sonya Doherty
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, FMAPS (candidate)
“

Leave a comment Posted on May 1, 2014May 1, 2014 Autism, Patient Talk

Autism – Renaming Autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder or Autism Spectrum Condition? A What is your opinion?

Autism Spectrum Condition

A couple of days ago I received a very pleasant email on our FaceBook autism discussion page called AutismTalk.

The lady writing explain that she had been told that Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD had been renamed Autism Spectrum Condition or ASC. And that (Autism Spectrum Condition ) is how we should refer to it in the future.

I quick stomp around Google showed me that yes a few organisations prefered using Autism Spectrum Condition to Autism Spectrum Disorder. For example Simon Baron- Cohen and Autism Initiatives prefer Autism Spectrum Condition as they feel is it less stigmatising.

So what do you think. It does strike me that name changing isn’t really game changing but that is a personal view. I thought that it would be interesting to run a poll and the subject. The poll us below and it would be great if you could take part.

Feel free to use the comments section below to share what you think the condition should be renamed.

Many thanks in advance

5 Comments Posted on February 19, 2014April 25, 2017 Autism, Patient Talk

Autism – at what age were you or your loved one diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum? Please take our poll!

Autism Awareness

When I first started to write about autism on this blog a year or so ago my first post looked at the our son’s diagnosis with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) about seven weeks before his third birthday. You can read the blog here – https://patienttalk.org/how-easy-was-it-to-get-your-child-diagnosed-with-autism/ – it would be really great if you could have a look and maybe share your autism diagnosis story. This will really help others going through an autism diagnostic process!

One of the things that has always interested me is at what age people get diagnosed with different types of autism such as Aspergers, PDD-NOS or in our case of our son classic autism. In fact one of my wife’s cousins started her son’s autistic diagnosis when she saw the first symptom at around 10 months. Constipation interestly enough!

So I though a poll would be handy to give us all an opportunity to pool our knowledge. So please feel free to vote below. If you want to share anything more please use the comments box below to add your thoughts.

Thanks very much in advance!

RinkjevanderWeij	I was diagnosed at age 12 with ADHD and at age 24 with higher functioning autism. I’ve had problems fitting in to the world my whole life but my diagnosis has made it easier for me. You could say my life began anew with the diagnosis, because people understand better why I do things the way I do or why I react in a different way.
irlam7	Watching casualty tonight and they tell parents that there son might be on the autistic spectrum and they break down. From my experience of having a child on this spectrum, I must say through all the ups and downs of my experience with my boy it’s been a pleasure. I have a daughter who is on the doesn’t do what she’s told and knows better than anyone spectrum and wouldn’t swap any of them for the world. I would like to say I am a proud father of a boy with aspergers.
diamz	i live in Laredo tx and was wondering where can i take my son to be diagnosed or re evaluated , my son is 9 yrs old and was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 4 but we have been having lots of problems with him at home and need help , not sure where to look can anyone pls help us out .. Thanks Diana..
terri fleming	my son was diagnoised at age 11. After years of being told we had just babied him too much, he was the baby in a family of 4,hes lazy. all things I was told. Just read to him over and over like that was all he needed. I learned to respect my mom voice. I knew my child was smart, and I also knew “something ” was different about this little boy. We’ve come along way, home schooling now, hoping to return to a different school next fall. I have learned so much from watching this little guy learn how to live in this noisy, fast paced world. he is so forgiving and loving even when other children are just down right mean to him. If as a parent you sense something about your child and your not getting the answers or help from their school or DR. keep looking! Your child needs you to fight for them, they don’t have a voice unless you speak for them.
mikalena	My son was diagnosed with autism at 3 then he had a MRI which diagnosed him with multiple Brain lessions he has difficulty with his balance he falls easily when running cant climb without falling and is being fitted for a wheelchair Please is anyone out experiencing this I’m so lost and scares of the next steps

8 Comments Posted on January 9, 2014June 23, 2017 Autism, Patient Talk

Talking about Autism! Telling your friends and family about autism. Updated

Autism Awareness Month 2015

Getting a diagnosis of Autistic either for you or a loved one can be a traumatic experience. Check out our previous blog on the subject (https://patienttalk.org/?p=284) which in fact was one of the first posts we ran on the blog.

In this blog we are interested in kick starting a discussion on how to discuss autism with family, friends and even the wider community. While we are not aware that autism is perceived in a negative fashion (see https://patienttalk.org/?p=1668) we are interested in the best ways of getting a positive reaction to an autism diagnosis. The aim is to make the comments box below a great resource for anyone who has themselves just been diagnosed with autism or has a family member or friend who has just received a diagnosis.

As I mentioned before I found my son’s initial diagnosis very hard and, at the time, did not want to discuss it with anyone in any depth. I now feel that this was a mistake as along the way we did lose contact with people due, in part, to us not explaining the changes in our lives caused by our son’s autism. (To be honest most people assume that a five year old who can’t use a potty must be on the receiving end of bad parenting.)

One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people assume that people on the spectrum are savants rather like the Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man. Not easy to disabuse people of this one I’m sorry to say.

But the real headache, for me, is the meltdowns. As the years go on they become fewer and fewer, for us at least, but when they do appear they are still an emotional tsunami. For the onlooker it seems these are just “tantrums” over nothing rather than an upturned world which our son cannot control or rectify. But the whole experience is made much worse by the looks of contempt and disgust on the faces of passers-by when it happens in public.

So how do you talk to people about it and try to get them to understand?

I know some people walk away from massive social lives finding it easier to just focus on their loved ones. Others turn to autism advocacy often with great success.

So over to you. How do you communicate autism awareness and the specific issues which affect your life to those around you and in the wider neurotypical community? It would be great if you could use the comments boxes below to share your thoughts on these matters.

You might wish to consider the following questions when framing your answers:-

a) What are the major issues with regard to autism which you feel you need to explain to others?

b) How has the autism diagnosis affected your relations with friends and family?

c) How do you explain autism to others?

d) Are they any resources you think may be of use to others in helping them raising autism awareness? This might include your own autism awareness resource.

e) How do you explain meltdowns to those around you?

Please note that these are only a few of the questions the subject raises. Please do add anything you think may be of interest.

Many thanks in advance.

LynetteConstable	JolandaKruithof Looks like it has some great information. Can you translate it to English? I can’t read Dutch. I’m sorry. But I need help explaining my son’s behaviour to his grandfather – who just thinks he is a “miserable sod”
DarvinMcCloud	Do we have any data concerning autism and hydrobaric treatment? Shouldn’t we give it a good test, if not why?
JolandaKruithof	I am a dutch mom of a 9 year old Aspie. He’s got diagnosed december ’13. Because I want my friends, family and everyone else to know what it does to us and the impact it has on our lives, I decided to go blog about it. You can find my blog at: http://aylablogt.blogspot.nl/. Hope you enjoy!
misser31	My 8 year old daughter Dakotah was diagnosed with autism @ 18 months, she has been in early intervention since then. On some things she has improved on and others she needs more help, she is a strong independent little girl who is teaching us that being different is not as common as we think anymore and they are 10x smarter then us. This year has had struggles and triumphs, she now knows how to spell her whole name and is reading a lot more. We love her more than anything and am so glad she is in our family. Love you Dakotah bear!
JulieCamacho	Although my son is not recently diagnosed he has started to have meltdowns at his Pathfinder events (club for kids 10-15 yrs of age). He had one almost 3 weeks ago and had a hard time 2 weeks ago at a large event. Then hospitalized last week from school due to a large meltdown. These events have been hard on his friends in the club and Saturday he missed the club meeting. The kids had lots of questions for the directors who decided to ask me to speak to them about what was going on with my son. I told them to look up Autism online that there are different areas people are affected in. Juans biggest area of difficulty is his social skills. I told them to also look up famous people with Autism so that they can see how people can be successful with this diagnosis. One child asked if this was a disability, my response was that this gave Juan different Abilities. They liked that comment and then we went over the positive things Juan has to offer and some of the things like teasing that he struggles with and how they can help him if they notice little signs of fustration for him. They were all intent on listening and very involved with question. I am hoping that this will help understand him a little better and make a difference in him keeping more friends.
knutegems	I would suggest you keep things simple. Any parent of an autistic child is under enough stress. Simply state that due to your child’s autism you are dealing with certain behavior issues. Most of these behaviors will change or lesson with age. There are many sources of information for people who are interested. I always felt it more important to educate the children my son was going to be with and help them to understand. They only know what they are told. If they are informed correctly they will have great understanding and be very accepting.
Amanda Rich	A) The melt downs…I want one of those bubbles floating above her head to say “I am not a spoiled brat, I am over sensitive and something just pushed me over the edge of my thresholds….please don’t roll your eyes at my Momma” (B) and (C)…our friend base has changed, if they are willing to hear us out and learn they are still our friends…some decided that their kids would “learn bad habits” (ugh) from her. Mostly I miss being able to relax, I am never not aware of her voice, her body language (that warns us that she is about DONE). I try to read everything I can, always looking for support. My biggest struggle….she looks like any typical child, she isn’t typical- she is 9 and will throw herself on the ground, ears covered, tears flowing and screaming. It is so hard when nothing looks “off” outwardly….I so thankful she is as high on the spectrum as she is, but it makes a barrier to the uneducated….I see the looks, I see the eye rolls, she is obvlious to the social cues, the social intuition is not there, she has speech deficits, and her heart is as big if not bigger than the universe. She is my Angel and I just hope that education for the public continues, if the judgemental could just walk in my shoes for a day! Thanks
JoannaPapadopoulou	I am a mother of a 3 yr and 8 month old big diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 1/2. I will try to address each one of your questions in order to assist your cause. a) I usually need to explain that my son refuses to eat any type of food besides sweets, unless it is served blended in a bottle. Also I need to explained that he has not mastered using the potty just yet and also that he will not reply verbally or look at you often when you are talking to him. b) we usually avoid gatherings when they take place at restaurants or coffee shops. We prefer house gatherings and some play grounds. Also for a long time we did not feel like inviting ppl over our house like we used to. Now we are better with that. c) I try to give basic characteristics that mostly involve my son. I usually describe it as a different way of seeing things, difficulty in communication, lack of sicialzation skills, difficulty dealing with changes and so on. d) I riled mostly on th Internet and on books about autism, Various treatment approaches like ABA, also I find others parents advice and experiences helpful and more practical. e) I usually explain to ppl what triggered the meltdown, for ex that he wanted the chocolate and I didn’t give it to him, or that he is tired and he overreacts to situations. Thank for reading this. I will be happy to discuss the issue more with you.