Cathy Trinh Wrote:Hi Rob and everyone else in this forum,
Last night was the first time in a few months that I have been able to log in. I am thrilled with the willingness to share personal experiences living with an autistic child that you, Rob, have given us. I hope that you won't mind some questions that I have about autism. Do you think that there is a connection between vaccinations and autism? Do you think that the term autism is too broad to adequately describe the various needs of the autistic population? What I wonder is if it might be helpful to break up this disorder into several more precise categories so that we can pinpoint with more accuracy how to help this population. I wonder if your granddaughter is more like Temple Graudin then the general autistic population? Could you discribe with some more detail what you have found that works in the classroom and what doesn't? Thanks, Cathy
Hi Cathy et al.,
I am proud to talk about my grandchildren. They are very dear to us. My granddaughter (V) age eight has an autistic disorder. I say that because she is most certainly someone very special and she has a disorder called autism. I said that specifically in that manner since she represents more than saying my granddaugher is autistic.
It is subtle, but it gets things in perspective very quickly. Not quite sure where to start but I will refer to your questions which is good starting point for me to try and address.
I do believe that there is a connection between some children's immune system and other intestinal anatomy of certain children who are sensitive or tremendously allergic to the thimerosal (form of mercury) found in many vaccines. I believe you were refering most likely to the MMR vaccine. There has been a high correlation between the vaccine and severe/mild Autism/PDD-nos. However there is no proven
causal effect that the MMR vacinne causes these severe disorders.
I do feel however and the whole family feels that there was not a causal or even a significant correlation between the MMR vaccine and our granddaughter. But yes, like a bee sting or peanut butter can cause death in certain individuals so can children be highly sensitive to the vaccinations.
I am glad to see the removal of thimerosal from some vaccines...and would like to see more.
I do want to make it very clear that the drug industry has been very good to our world and saved millions of children with their hard work. Vaccines have saved many many lives. I spent a year heading the International School of Lusaka in Zambia, Africa and saw first hand the work of the vaccines administered to help save the lives of our school children. [I was on a years sabbatical with the office of overseas schools].
The autistic disorder and PDD-nos can be so severe to the child and to the family that you want to find out what happened and how we can help fix it or in this case how do we make it much better or ameliorate these terrible things going on with my granddaughter and with so very many children.
Autism in my opinion is caused by many different things none of which I know for sure. There are many many different forms of autism as I had in my schools. Their actions and demeanors were the same in some manner and in other ways they were not the same. Many children with autism do not look at you when they speak or if they speak. I have a friend who is an adult now that does not speak, but was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. She is very bright and can do most anything else but speak. The range is wide and deep but I believe the researchers know that. Many physicians were blind sided due to the severity of the disorder(s). Many worked themselves into exhaustion trying to find the answer others were shocked, but it has not yet been found. We are suspicious of certain genetic dispositions and mercury and other chemicals and minerals etc.
My granddaughter is not like anyone else but more like the general population of those children who have an autistic disorder. She does look at us when we talk with her. She has had a great deal of early intervention beginning around age 2.5 and 3.0 and will continue the rest of her life. [...not necesssarily the exact type of interventions]. She like,so very many others suffer from
sensory integration dysfunctions and has many private (paid) sessions in her multiple interventions sessions. The sensory intervention therapy is very good for her and is helping quite a bit. She is
brushed many time per day and this is very good for her. Her mother is the main provider because she is constantly with her. I will be a little brief now and chat later but her food problems are severe and very upsetting to the entire family at meal time. She lost so much weight at one point, the hopital was going to have to feed her through a tube. It is a creating sibling problems and upset stomachs when we all eat together which is how it done now.
She attends a regular classroom with an aide and will most likely stay back a few years until the education system adapts a little better. This has been hard on teachers at school and those at public and private schools who lack intensive training on managing children with these disorders. Even then, teachers are trying very hard but lack a great deal of support from administration in some cases.
Need to move on now. Be happy to chat again with you. Temple Grandin is amazing, but there are many others who are amazing and caught within this disorder. I am looking carefully at the
thalamus since it is a main relay station for the afferent sensory neurons. Also interneurons that might be damaged...but I will tell you this. Most of the time is spent helping ameliorate the challenges she has now with outside private therapy. The researchers are working very hard on solving this puzzle and are far more knowledgeable than I. I can be of best help being a grandparent and helping provide all kinds of support so that professionals can work with her. She is our granddaughter and needs the love and relationship of grandparents.
What works in the classroom? The right teacher is everything. The teacher will set the tone of acceptance and (V) will not feel alienated. She has the same needs disposition as an (NT) child...neurologically typical, plus she has needs that are caused by the autistic disorder. She works well now with other children unless she has a melt down. The teacher is having (V) write short letters to Grammy and replies and mails them back. It seems that she does better with experiential learning which keeps her active and totally involved. She even plays soccer with the boys and girls and everyone is so very patient with her. She learns best with concrete operations. Symbolic can wait for ever as far as I am concerned. She is speaking better every day and loves to tease and play with you. She is learning how to react to getting attention by raising her hand and being part of the group. She is learning to read a little and grammy helps her with this when possible. I will begin teaching her to swim shortly.
Message too long: Limited to 1000 words or less. (continued on following page) Best....Rob
