Discovered by Leo Kanner in 1940, Autism had an occurrence of 1 in 10,000 as recently as 30 years ago. Today the estimate is between 1 in a 150 children. The rise in Autism is considered epidemic and there is much controversy over the cause. In all likelihood there is more than one possible explanation, and the culprits include, but are not limited to: environmental toxicity, vaccinations, early brain damage, immune disorders, intestinal disorders (including allergies), biochemical abnormalities, and changing parenting methods.
Lack of childhood play replaced by “dumbing down” media such as T.V. and computers where passive “baby sitting” replaces social interaction are also possible contributors to autism. Any or all of these potential causes may also be influenced by genetic factors. The age of onset is usually as early as 10 months but can be as late as 30 months and will always manifest by 3 years of age. Most autistics seem to develop normally until 1 year and then may stall or regress in many developmental markers, including language.
Autism is a developmental learning disorder characterized by social isolation and communication aberrancies. They may understand verbal communication extremely well but their language expression is very poor. They can be good at details but poor at conceptualization of the whole. These children can be shy or aggressive and can exhibit perseveration (repetitive) behavior that can become self mutilation in some cases. They may lack awareness of others and the effects their behavior has on others resulting in the inability to share.
They can be very ritualistic and become totally preoccupied with props, toys, and gadgets. The most glaring characteristic is avoidance of eye contact as well as physical contact. In fact, most autistics can’t read faces and don’t recognize the difference between a threatening grimace and a welcoming smile. Eighty percent of autistic children are male, whereas most female autistics are classified by the term Rhett’s Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder of chromosome X.
MRI’s of the brains of autistics have demonstrated smaller than normal areas of the brain in the: cerebellum (vermis), frontal lobe, brainstem, hippocampus, and amygdala. There is scientific evidence that these differences are probably responsible for autistic behaviors; yet brain function is, by nature, asymmetrical. For instance the left and right hemispheres perform different functions due to their relative sizes. It would be safe to assume that the asymmetries of autistic brains are different than the normal human asymmetries, and that there lies the problem. The question is how do these abnormalities result in the behavior exhibited by autistic children and why do they experience the world in a different way.
Head shaking, hand wringing, hand flopping, rocking, twitching, and any number of other unusual repetitive behaviors are thought to be self stimulating or calming and are referred to as STIMMING. Autistics speech can be melodious or high-pitched and some may imitate everything they hear (echolalia).
From birth, abnormalities (which can be almost unrecognizable) in how they move and behave, are observable only by the trained eye. Between ages 1-2 the head may seem exceptionally large because the brain is growing too fast. However, by adulthood the autistic brain is smaller than normal due to lack of growth after age 2. The result is too many connections (synapses) in some brain areas and too few in others. This is accompanied by a lifetime of chronic inflammation in the areas of too much growth such as in the white matter in the frontal lobe. The brain is in effect rewired and functions that are processed by one area of a normal brain are processed in different areas in autistics. Areas of the brain involving executive and planning function have been found to be ‘under-excited’ in Autistic individuals.
ASPERGER’S SYNDROME
Hans Asperger, a psychiatrist, observed odd behaviors in children in Vienna, Austria in the 1940’s. He studied gifted children who exhibited social deficits and concluded that these kids had a right hemisphere learning disorder (underactive right brain) which manifest in a non verbal learning disorder. He observed children with poor socialization skills yet often brilliant verbal and sequential math skills.
There is no objective test for autistic spectrum disorders and the diagnosis is based upon observations which are subjective.
THEORIES OF THE CAUSES OF AUTISM
According to the Journal of Neuroscience, the main theories of Autism are:
Primary
Theory of Mind
Executive Dysfunction
Lack of Central Coherence
Underconnectivity
Desynchronization
We believe that all these theories can be explained by a lack of development of one hemisphere of the brain called hemisphericity. Hemisphericity causes a lack of synchronization or temporal coherence between the two hemispheres, and other areas of the central nervous system, leading to a lack of “cross talk” between these areas. The disconnection is due to one hemisphere firing and functioning at a higher oscillation rate than the other. This prevents the two hemispheres from sharing information. This forces the individual to choose virtual images of the dominant hemisphere at the expense of the under-active one resulting in the reliance on information from only one hemisphere.
In the case of Autism, the underactive hemisphere is usually the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere is responsible for global processing (big picture) whereas the left hemisphere is responsible for local processing (fine details). The literature is filled with examples of the following behaviors that result from loss of right brain functions: avoidance of eye contact, lack of social skills or the ability to interact with others, preference for solitary activity, perseveration or repetitive play, insistence on sameness, echolalia (repeating everything someone else says), inappropriate laughing, thrill seeking with no fear of consequences, insensitivity to pain, difficulty expression of feelings or needs, avoidance of touch from others, and lack of general communication skills. Research has shown that lack of development in one hemisphere leads to enhanced abilities in the other such as Savants syndrome.
The hemisphericity theory explains the brain imbalance that contributes to Autism and accounts for the overall slowing of cognitive processes. A pre-cerebellar brain structure called the Inferior Olive (IO) is akin to a brain pacemaker which distributes rhythmic signals to widespread areas of the brain. The IO normally generates a 5-13 Hz rhythm and has been demonstrated to determine cognitive processing speed (which is disrupted in Autistic spectrum children). Two other syndromes have been notably connected to IO deficits: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Dyslexia. Global reduction in motor and cognitive processing speed might impair the language acquisition process. The flow of social and
communication cues pass too fast for the Autistic child to process. Many autistics have sensory processing problems resulting in auditory and visual “overload” and the result is selective hearing or seeing, even though no auditory or visual deficits exist on formal testing. Others have sensitivity to touch and texture due to abnormalities in the neurological mechanisms that allow the shift of attention from one sensory stimulus to another.
POSTURAL STABILITY IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN
Integration of visual, somatosensory, and vestibular input is necessary to achieve balance and coordination. These brain functions are compromised in the autistic individual. The most prevalent of all the associated (co-morbid) conditions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders is Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) or clumsiness. DCD affects most Autistics and mainly involves muscles controlling gait and trunk stability as well as those involved with gross motor coordination. These dysfunctions are thought to be due to Autistics having a smaller cerebellum (vermis area) than normal children.
MATERNAL HISTORY FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN
PRENATAL
Mothers commonly, but not always, have a history of prenatal Fibromyalgia, Chronic Regional Pain Syndromes (CRPS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Depression, Allergies, Anxiety and Immune Disorders. They may also have a history of difficulty getting pregnant (possible use of fertility drugs), Miscarriages, Gestational Diabetes, Thyroid Dysfunction (possible exposure to pesticides or chemicals)
BIRTH
Autistic children may have a breech presentation, oxygen deprivation, bruising or swelling about the head neck and shoulders, or be a forceps delivery at birth.
Post Natal -
Year 1
Asthma, allergies, yeast infections (thrush), and eczema can plague these children for their entire lives. Chronic ear infections can lead to round after round of antibiotics and to tubes in the ears. Many Autistics have had
immunization reactions. They are the colicky babies who have a host of intestinal problems which incluce : pyloric stenosis, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, and vomiting (projectile).
Years 2-3
These kids prefer sameness of diet and will crave sweets, wheat, carbohydrates (French Fries) and dairy (with an emphasis on cheese) many times to the exclusion of everything else. Digestive problems almost always lead to clinical symptoms. These are kids with chronic immune symptoms that include allergies, skin rashes, white skin bumps, nose drip, red eyes, and red ears. Developmental delays result in sensory motor in-coordination and primitive reflex retention presenting as lazy eye (strabismus), speech lisp, lateness to walk, toes in, knock knees, and skip crawling or crab crawling. Typically these kids will be “klutzes” with floppy limb movements and hypotonia (decreased muscle tone). They usually will avoid sports that require hand /eye coordination.
TREATMENT OPTIONS:
Behavior Modification (Eye Movement Desensitization Rehabilitation)
Medical (pharmaceutical) treatment – this approach consists of non specific approaches focusing on chemical imbalances (this approach has been discredited and defies logic).
Get started with common sense and shoo the child outdoors to create his or her own play activities which will stimulate creativity and sensory motor matches that increase co-ordination and critical thinking. Running builds new brain cells.
Don’t try to create an Eienstein (a late developer himself) but do read with them daily. Encouraging their natural play activities will have the greatest effect. Give them foods that they need and not what they want. Like an alcoholic craves alcohol, an autistic child often craves wheat, dairy, and sugar which stimulate opiate receptors. Gluten removal may take up to 8 months to drop levels of opiate peptides which are highly addictive and have morphine –like withdrawal effects on the child. Casein (milk protein) leaves the system in 3-4 days and results can be quickly
seen.
VACCINE/MERCURY CONNECTION
Vehemently denied by the medical establishment, vaccination may possibly play a large role in the clinical appearance and the severity of autism. This possible triggering factor has led to the removal of Thymersol/Mercury vaccines in the U.S. (make sure the batch that your child’s shot comes from the mercury-free newer vials). Mercury is a known poison in any quantity. Regardless of the mechanism, toxins and heavy metals are a threat to a young developing nervous system which absorbs toxins faster but eliminates them slower. In addition, the blood brain barrier is not fully developed in children and cannot block toxins from entering the brain as well as in an adult. Heavy metals are in water, food, soil, containers, toys, etc. so there is no escaping them. Some children handle exposure to toxins better than others do. Minimize exposure to heavy metals in all your children because research indicates that autistic children are not able to detoxify environmental heavy metals.
CHIROPRACTIC NEUROLOGY TREATMENT FOR AUTISM
The priority in our office is to remove (1) the blockage (hemisphericity or asymmetry in the brain) and (2) the toxins in the brain. The brain needs 3 things: Fuel, Oxygen, and Activation.
Priorities: The following is a list of commonly used modalities and measures in our treatment:
Specific chiropractic adjustments/ manual therapy to the individual deficient part of the brain found upon neurological exam.
Sensory stimulation using the modalities of light, hearing, smell, cognition and voluntary motor activities.
Auditory Integrative Training including the use of the interactive metronome and music therapy
Sensory Integration including the use of proprioception and texture exercises
Aerobic exercise with specific stimulation involving anti-gravity, postural and spinal muscles.
Nutrition including the use of herbs and supplements which may include B12 with Folic Acid, essential fatty acids (Omega 3’s), Probiotics, Digestive enzymes, L-Glutamine, Secretin, and Colostrum, to name a few. We will avoid the use of anti-oxidants including vitamin E due to negative effects.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) an effective form of cognitive therapy
Heavy metals - Chelation of elevated metals, which are protein bound and hiding in tissues, can help restore proper enzyme function. This can be accomplished by ingesting a chelating agent which will draw the metals out of the organs where they are hiding.
Amino acids are the chemical building blocks for neurotransmitters, both excitatory and inhibitory, that determine behavior and moods. Evidence indicates that gastro-intestinal function and diet are key determinants in neurotransmitter balance. Commonly, autistic children have constipation, bulky stools, diarrhea, and flatulence.
Detoxification – Autistic children have more problems detoxifying due to an impaired metabolic function called sulfation which is the 2nd phase of a two part detoxification process. This possibly makes them more sensitive to heavy metals and chemicals.
SUMMARY
Brain function, from early development to long term processing, is dependent on input from the sensory system. Specific, non-constant sensory perceptual processes such as vision and hearing are dependent on non-specific, constant input from gravity. This then synchronizes brain actions and maintains arousal to create consciousness. This baseline arousal which is dependent on the constant activation of gravitational stressors on joint and muscle spindle receptor activity in the spine and to a lesser extent in the extremities. These muscle and joint receptors modulate gravitational input and create a feedback loop that is responsible for most if not all brain function. Sensory input activates brain to perform motor (soma) activity. This sensory/motor system forms a loop that is called the somato-sensory system. If sensory input is lost, then the brain cannot process information. If the motor output is lost then postural and non-postural muscle activity can fail leading to less sensory input and decreased brain function. This is the beginning of a vicious cycle.
Our goal is to restore the integrity of this feedback loop through the non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical modalities listed above.
IMPORTANT: Intensive early intervention in a multi-disciplinary approach results in nearly 50% of Autistic children achieving age appropriate performance levels
Supportive Therapy
For more information about supportive therapy for Autism and Asperger's in Denver, Lakewood, Arvada or Golden, contact us to schedule an appointment.
