Autism being called a disease
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Autism being called a disease
| Thu, 06-07-2007 - 1:42pm |
I just wanted to throw this topic out there for discussion, and see what people think.
| Thu, 06-07-2007 - 1:42pm |
I just wanted to throw this topic out there for discussion, and see what people think.
Disease: A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.
I do think Autism can be a disease. There are a lot of doctors out there working with kids with autism who look for things like yeast overgrowth, strep infection, lyme infection, clostridia infection, vitamin & mineral defiencies & imbalances, ammino acid metabolism, heavy metal toxicity. When these things are treated the chldrens "autism" improves or goes away. I think that is why its being refered to as a disease.
I don't personally refer to it that way. I'm not sure why really though because I believe there are biomedical reasons are children act the way they do.
Samantha
PS I have ordered a genentic test for Kyle that will tell us if he has any mutations in the methylation pathway. We are awaiting the results.
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Edited 2/19/2008 2:42 pm ET by littleroses
All I want to say is no matter what a magazine article says or what a doctor wants to tell me... hell, I don't even care what "Joe-Blow" has to say... Autisim is not a disease. Autisim is not a virus. Autisim is not a disability. AUTISIM IS A BLESSING! And anyone that doubts that truth... I can prove them wrong. I have a little girl named Chelsea Rose. She will be 10 years old in less than two weeks and she is Autistic. When we were getting Chelsea tested a while back she asked me what all of this ment. I just told her that we needed to test, and we did, just to find out that she's smarter than she even thought she would be. On tests that "normal" ranged in the 109 scoring... she scored a 138! We flew from OR to VA and back... she remembered the gate numbers days after I even needed her to. She just won (last week) first place in the schools tallent contest for painting a picture without paint and educating everyone else in how to do so themselves. She's a 4.0 student with a beautiful smile and outlook on life. So again, Autisim is not something that should bring any child or her parent down. I go through the same things as you... I read something or hear uninformed people on TV stating their peace about something they don't know enough about. I get upset... but then I remember what Chelsea really is. AWESOME!!!
Signed,
Jenni
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Edited 2/19/2008 2:40 pm ET by littleroses
What I tend to forget is that Autisim is like a finger print. Not one case is like another. My daughter is nothing like your girls and visa versa. What I see in my daughter is different from how others see her. I have gone through enough in almost 10 years to last me a lifetime. Granted... NOTHING compared to you!
I am so sorry if I offended you in any way. Please believe that it was not my goal by writing what I did. I guess all I was trying to say was I'm tired of the titles that everyone else sees. Yes, my daughter has issues. And yes, she may never have someone who will understands her the way I do. I worry that she will never get married, never have a true friend, never have children... or be able to handle having children! But she's my little girl. And, in my eyes, there is nothing "wrong" with her. I don't believe it's a denial thing either. It's just I still see Chelsea as that perfect baby girl that I held in my arms almost 10 years ago. I hate that people don't see her for HER. Instead they see that little Autisic girl! It hurts so much.
Chelsea has been sent home from school for cutting a girls coat. She has been sent home for kicking and biting a little boy. And that's what all the other kids see... that crazy little girl. But she's not crazy, and she's not mean. She's loving and sweet and I couldn't imagine my life without her.
So, when I hear that autisim is a disease or that it's my fault for letting her watch Lion King three times in a row one afternoon when she was 2 years old, it kills me! She's not a title... she's a little girl! She may not be like everyone elses little girl out there, but that's what makes her special!
I hope I came across a bit better this time. And again, I am so sorry! A good friend once told me... "It takes a special person to be a parent. But it takes a real parent to have a special child".
Love,
Jenni
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Edited 2/19/2008 2:38 pm ET by littleroses