Personal theories on Autism.

Some people have read my previous blogs on the anatomy and composition of the Autistic brain and have messaged me via facebook with questions on whether I think their ASD children should have some sort of scan to see if any abnormalities are present. Others have messaged me asking what my thoughts are concerning the MMR vaccine. My response is as follows:

If your child has Autism a scan won't make much of a difference to his or her lifestyle. It depends if you personally need to verify this and if you can find a doctor willing to organise it all for you. The studies I've read have all been in relation to autopsies on adults with Autism. I don't really know how obvious it would be in a child. The late Kim Peek, the Autistic savant that inspired the Rain Man movie, had a complete scan and discovered he had no corpus callosum at all. Once he knew, it didn't really change his life. But I guess it was nice to know, if not for him, then perhaps for his long devoted father who took care of him up until the day he passed away.

Personally I don't believe vaccines are causing Autism. If there is any link then maybe an already Autistic brain could possibly be tipped just that little bit over the edge if the right conditions exist to cause a bit of extra blockage in the corpus callosum. This is just a personal theory of mine based on my own readings of various studies. I don't believe there are any studies to support my logic. I just found lots of pieces of the puzzle, contemplated them and came up with my own conclusions. My previous blogs go into more detail, you can find links for them to the left of this one.

There are genuine cases of baby's seemingly developing normally and then changing into Autistic children overnight at approximately the age of 2. It is a recognised form of Autism. There are also genuine cases of baby's showing signs of Autism from birth, this is also a recognised form of Autism. The main problem with theories on Autism is that it is such a wide and varied spectrum. No two Autistic people are alike just as no two non-Autistic people are alike. They are just as individual as the NT kids down the street, right down to how differently their brains develop and learn. I believe some people on the Spectrum are capable of managing their Autistic tendencies better as they get older than others. The brain just needs that little bit of extra time and nurturing so it can figure out which of the excess brain cells work best together before they get 'hardwired' into place to form a memory or skill. Other people on the Spectrum are not so lucky. I think it all depends on which parts of the brain contain the lack of brain cells and which parts contain the excess. There are theories that the reason some Autistic people are more gifted in certain areas than others, such as being a wiz at maths or painting or what-have-you, is because the excessive in grey matter sections of the brain that 'take over' for the sections that are lacking are actually in the areas where the maths or the painting or the what-have-you's would normally reside. It's different for each person.

I have 3 boys on the Spectrum, ranging from very high functioning for my eldest boy to classic hand flapping, tiptoeing, sentence echoing, lining up of objects etc, for my youngest. My older brother I believe is an undiagnosed Aspie and as I've studied and learnt about the Spectrum, I've come to the understanding that I too have quite possibly grown up with Asperger's myself. In my family's case the Autism seems to be genetic. I was never given any vaccines whatsoever and our son's all exhibited signs of Autism from birth. They just never seemed to take notice of us like other parents babies did.

I have many, many friends on facebook who are parents of children on the Spectrum as well as many, many friends who are adults on the Spectrum. They are all free to ask me any question on any topic related to Autism and I have many, many people who are happy to discuss these issues. Part of the reason why I ended up with my theories that you've seen in my blogs is due to the bouncing around of thoughts in my Facebook Autism group with some very intelligently minded people.

I'm not an expert. I'm just a parent of 3 Autistic boys who has done his own personal research of the available information about the Spectrum. With my multitude of online friends, who mostly in some way have Autism in their lives, I continue to learn about this different ability. My children are all gifted in their own little ways. Sometimes I see them as an upgrade of myself. The only disability they have is via the uneducated people in the world who just don't fully understand what Autism is. It's not a disease, it's just a different way of life with different priorities. I believe our eldest boy will grow and learn and develop enough to be able to make his way in the world on his own. As for our youngest.... time will tell. He makes the most amazing progress when we least expect it. Some of the things he is doing now, we never dreamt he would be capable of doing only a few short years ago. All this without the need for snake-oil remedies and cures which so often get the credit for what seems to be natural progression. We might have 3 Autistic children, but we also wouldn't swap them for the world. It just makes the rare cuddles and kisses all the more special.