Scientists Identify Potential Biomarker to Help Diagnose Autism

Hmm, is this the same test we did years ago through the “quack” lab?  I have to go look that up…

http://www.washington.edu/news/articles/scientists-identify-potential-biomarker-to-help-diagnose-autism

Autism Group Calls for More Studies on Restrictive Diets

Our Pediatric GI is quoted in this article (Dr. Timothy Buie).  I can’t help but cringe about how archaic the thoughts of treating autism are right now…

Reminds me of how my brother and I used to type 20-page-long programs into the really old computers, line by excruciating line, just to get a blip to float across the screen for a minute or two.  It’s one of those things where you go, “WHAT were we thinking?!”

Someday, hopefully soon, we are going to say that about autism.

Click on the link below…

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismNews/autism-group-calls-studies-restrictive-diets-children/story?id=9476752

Someday, Pee Pee May Spare a Mama from Fighting with EI Over Service Eligibility!

http://www.wfmz.com/health/23779303/detail.html

LOVE this Short Docu on ASD and Education!!!

Three boys with various forms of ASD are profiled in the short docu below.  My fave is Joe, the middle son:  “I’m like a cat.  I never stop moving!”  These kids are amazing, and their Mom is fabulous!

It just goes to show how individual each child’s needs are in a classroom – also, how difficult of a job it is to teach each child appropriately.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the right support in the classroom, and sadly, most times teachers don’t have what they need 😦

TEMPLE GRANDIN ON THE RISING CASES OF AUTISM

Cases of autism are rising. Why do you think that is?

Some of it is probably due to the way autism is diagnosed. I saw people on the HBO lot that probably have Asperger’s but never got a diagnosis as a child. There has been an increase in regressive autism, children who develop normally, have speech, and then lose it. I think there’s something going on with some type of environmental contaminant. Some insult is getting to the child whose genes are susceptible to autism. I think we are going to be hearing more about epigenetics and autism. With epigenetics you look at how the genome responds to the environment. How things like toxins and diet and other things turn on the switches that regulate how certain genes are expressed.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO, HMM…

I sent this to Scientist Carl tonight.  I always imagine what I would do if there were a pill that literally reversed the effects of autism.  What effects would they reverse?  Would Ro still be Ro afterward?  Should a parent wait until the child is older and try to explain to him/her first?

I know that Ro is considered “high-functioning”  Whatever that is.  I’m not big on labels for my kids.  Anyway, I know there would be all sorts of opinions, because everyone has a different circumstance, and you can only know how one feels when you have the exact same situation.  I just know that I would have a hard time deciding this/not deciding this for Ro.

Is it something he should choose for himself?  Or should I, as a mother, choose it for his best interest – like you make sure that your child gets the right nutrition, health care or education?

Will he grow up and hate me for making him take that pill that changed the way he sees, thinks or feels?  Or will he grow up and say, “Oh, thank Mother of Pearl you gave me that drug!  Now, I don’t have to panic for two hours because the oven timer is counting down!”

This issue still boggles my brain.

How can I know what will make him the most happy?  I guess every parent questions that on a daily basis for some reason or another, no?

Anyway, here’s the link for a study out of George Washington University that suggests that a potential drug could someday reverse the effects of ASD.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/186262.php

Epigenetics and Autism

Okay, I was up in the middle of the night again during my usual insomniac period (1:00am – 5:00am)… I am getting old…anyway, there was a fascinating show on PBS – the NOVA series, entitled “THE GHOST IN YOUR GENES”. 

Pretty f*n cool stuff on epigenetics, with part of the program profiling autism (cancer, diabetes, too) and its relation to this up and coming field in research.  Also, every mother that follows biomedicine will say “What the hell has MAMA been saying all along, fools??!!”.

If you haven’t already read my post about the methylation cycle in regard to autism, you SHOULD! 

https://mamiautism.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/autism-and-the-methylation-cycle/

Then read/watch this…

NOVA | Ghost in Your Genes | PBS

And read this too…

Cogito – Cogito Interview: Andrew Feinberg, Epigenetics Pioneer

SCIENTIST CARL says:

This will be an up and coming field that will gets lots of attention for the next decade.  Finally people are beginning to appreciate that our lives (quality of lives) are directly related to the interaction of our genome and environment where we live (geographically and family wise).  Really cool stuff.

Now, will someone hurry the butt chuck up and do a huge study on this for my/our baby’s sake/s!