Conor and Feathered Friends on a Special Treat Walk Adventure

Mom, Dad and Conor headed out for our Saturday morning grocery and treat walk adventure.  Today was a special one. Conor, on his initiative,  stopped at the vegetable section to pick out some peppers  - one orange, yellow, green and red.  He also spotted a basketball and Mom and Dad just coudln't say no.

Along the way we had the company of some fine feathered friends.  I wish I could have produced an audio of the different bird noises we heard chattering back and forth as we moved along the trail.

GWU Medical Center Study Suggests Autism May Be Treatable

"As the mother of a now 22-year-old son with an autism spectrum disorder, I hope our studies, as well as those of others, will lead to therapies that are designed to address specific deficiencies that are caused by autism, thus improving the lives of affected individuals.  Since autism is very diverse in the array of symptoms present in any given individual, it is first necessary to be able to identify specific deficits in each individual in order to design and then prescribe the best treatment."

Professor Valerie Hu, George Washington University, Researcher

As reported on UPI.com, Study: Autism may be amenable to treatment, Professor Hu was commenting on the recent GWU study that claims to have found a way to identify autism disorder using blood. The study also discovered that drugs that affect the methylation** state of genes, drugs currently used in fighting cancer,  might also reverse specific autism effects. 

Successful, high functioning persons with Aspergers diagnoses, like university student and Obama  appointee Ari Ne'eman, and businessman, author and speaker John Elder Robison, who do not want parents to describe autism disorders honestly, and who do not want  us to  seek to cure our  own children of their autism disorders  might be alarmed by studies such as the GWU study and by Professor Hu's comments.  This father of a 14 year old boy severely affected by his Autistic Disorder is very pleased to see such studies taking place.

Thank you Professor Hu, and GWU Medical Center,  for your efforts to find treatments to help our autistic loved ones who suffer from the effects of  their autism disorders.  

On behalf of my son, Conor, I say thank you.

**For a helpful (to this humble layperson) explanation of methylation, genes and various diseases and disorders I suggest Silencing of the Genes on the Genome News Network

Autism and Experimental Stem Cell Treatment

Attached is part of a PR Web Press Release for a clinical trial application being submitted to Greek authorities by AdiStem Tehcnology. It indicates that a  group of doctors in Greece are preparing a protocol for submission to the Greek Ministry of Health for an official clinical trial of stem cell treatment on children with autism spectrum disorders:

The stem cell technology developed by AdiStem for the past 5 years has been used and trialed by doctors around the world for the treatment of type II diabetes and its complications, osteoarthritis, and cosmetic medicine. Physicians in Greece approached the company recently with the intent to treat Yannis, the son of Dr. Solomos, a cardiologist. Yannis, a 9 year old boy, had been diagnosed with autism but not responded to standard treatments.

An experienced doctor, the father, Dr Solomos, carefully reviewed the case studies of other children with Autism who had received the AdiStem stem cell treatment in Europe and Asia, and was convinced of its safety and potential for improving the condition of his son. With the help of experienced pediatric surgeons Yannis underwent an hour long mini-liposuction procedure at Kratiko Nikaias Hospital in Athens in which 200cc of abdominal fat was harvested. The fat was dissolved, the stem cells isolated and then activated, and over 100 million cells were returned to Yannis through a standard intravenous drip. Yannis was discharged on the same day.

Just one month later, his father was astonished to hear Yannis talking to him on the phone for the first time. Dr. Solomos explained: "my boy has simply not been able to speak to me on the phone before". Asked if he’d noticed any other changes, he replied: "His school tells me his attention has improved. We experience him nearer to us and he feels us. I see a change in his ability to connect with other children. He plays with them now, which he used to avoid. He has also become more interested in letters and numbers". (This interview with Dr.Solomos was recorded on video and can be viewed at "www.adistem.com/application/autism.htm").

Present during the treatment, Dr. Koliakos, Associate Professor at Aristotle University and President of Hellenic Research Foundation Stem Cell Bank pointed out: "One month after the therapy Yannis has shown remarkable progress according to his father's observations. The child will be reevaluated by pediatric psychiatrists 3 months after the therapy to measure the extent of progress in his condition and to decide if the remainder of his stem cells, presently stored in liquid nitrogen, should be administered".

Dr.Kolaikos continued: "We're convinced about the safety of intravenous adipose stem cell therapy – if supported by accredited facilities – and our team has now applied for a large formal clinical trial on autism using AdiStem's stem cell protocol here in Greece".

Terry Grossman, M.D., stem cell researcher from Golden, Colorado said, "I was present to observe 9 year old Yannis undergo the stem cell procedure at the Kratiko Nikaias Hospital in Athens. Further studies are needed, but it is possible that stem cell therapy will soon be available as a powerful new tool to help children with autistic spectrum disorders."

There is much controversy surrounding most aspects of autism spectrum disorders including issues concerning treatment and research involving children.  In this case the PR Web press release states that a trial was run with a child whose father, an experienced medical doctor, consented to his participation  after reviewing case studies involving other children with autism who had received the treatment.  The father, a medical doctor, also provide his observations which indicated substantial improvement in his son's condition.  The procedure was performed by experienced pediatric surgeons and   is vouched for by a Greek professor and researcher as being safe when administered at a proper facility. In addition to the father's observations the child will be seen at follow ups by pediatric psychiatrists for further measurement of his progress and for a determination of whether to continue with the treatment.

The procedure itself was observed by an American stem cell researcher/doctor who says further study is needed but that  but it is possible that stem cell therapy will soon be available as a powerful new tool to help children with autistic spectrum disorders.  The research team involved has applied for a large formal clinical trial on autism using AdiStem's stem cell protocol.

It will be interesting to see what comes of the Adistem application and formal clinical trial results.   This father of a severely autistic 14 year old boy has insisted that my son receive only evidence based interventions and I will not depart from that principle.  But I do not close my mind to new interventions either if they are subsequently supported by a strong evidence base.  If  responsible studies  conducted safely, produce credible results and provide reliable evidence of new interventions that could help my son then I would want, in consultation with trusted professional advisers, to consider new interventions for his benefit.   

It remains to be seen whether the AdiStem trials will provide such evidence but in the meantime this father of a severely autistic son will keep an open mind on the subject. 

"But Officer I'm a Good Boy" - Severe Autism Reality Hits Home in Oklahoma as the APA Prepares to Substitute Aspergers for Autistic Disorder in the DSM-5

While many major news outlets, Holllywood and the American Psychiatric Association  (in the DSM-5)  are doing their best to convince the world that autism disorders are really just a different way of thinking, that autistic persons are all socially awkward but brilliant success stories waiting to be profiled,  reality hits home for those who are severely affected by autism disorders and the parents who care for them as it did last week in Oklahoma for Stephen B. Puckett, a 28 year old severely autistic man, and his family.

Credit is due to NewsOK (The Oklahoman online) and Age of Autism for reporting the story of Stephen B. Puckett whose autism disorder induced violent behavior at an Oklahoma hospital (OU  Medical Center)  resulted in him being arrested and  taken in handcuffs to an Oklahoma City Jail where his lawyer states that he spent three days in a straight jacket on suicide watch. NewsOK reports that Age of Autism readers responded to that site's coverage with messages of support for the family. A video of Mr. Puckett's mother talking about the situation and changes needed can be found at the NewsOK web site.

The hospital had refused to admit Mr. Puckett after he suffered seizures as a result of his autism. When Mr. Puckett kicked and scratched hospital police officers he was hauled away in handcuffs by police and spent three days in jail in a straightjacket on suicide watch.  As he was being taken away the Oklahoman reports that  Mr. Puckett was heard to say to one of the arresting officers "but officer I'm a good boy". 

Ultimately charges were not laid against Mr. Puckett.  Oklahoma County first assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland refused a police request to file charges recognizing that there were mental health issues involved and not wanting to have Mr. Puckett placed in the general prison population. Stephen Puckett's mother has called for legislative policy changes so that hospitals can not refuse to admit people suffering from autism induced seizures. 

What is also needed is recognition by  the American Psychiatric Association that intellectual disability and cognitive impairment, seizures and other issues are often part of autism disorders.  It is wrong headed and dangerous for the APA to remove any mention of intellectual disability from the description of autistic disorder in the DSM5.  The APA currently plans to separate Intellectual Disability from Autistic Disorder and replace it with  the high functioning form of autism now known as Aspergers.  This will not help society or hospitals in Oklahoma understand that as many as 75-80% of persons diagnosed with what is today known as Autistic Disorder are also intellectually disabled or cognitively impaired or that many suffer from seizures and meltdowns such as those that occurred in the OU Medical Center.   

Autism reality is being replaced in the DSM-5 by psychiatric profession convenience (clinical utility) to the detriment of those most severely affected by autism disorders whether they live in Oklahoma in the US or Fredericton, New Brunswick here in Canada. The APA whitewashing of autism realities is well underway and will continue with the APA substitution of  Aspergers for Autistic Disorder in the DSM-5.

On World Autism Awareness Day Canadian Government Damned Itself With Faint Praise

Damn With Faint Praise

Compliment so feebly that it amounts to no compliment at all, or even implies condemnation. 

For example, The reviewer damned the singer with faint praise, admiring her dress but not mentioning her voice. This idea was already expressed in Roman times by Favorinus (c. a.d. 110) but the actual expression comes from Alexander Pope's Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot (1733): "Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer."

 Answers.com

The Government of Canada, with its World Autism Awareness Day message from the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health,  damned itself with faint praise for its feeble efforts to help children and adults with autism disorders in Canada:

April 2, 2010

As Minister of Health, I am pleased that Canada is joining other countries in recognizing April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Autism Society of Canada and all autism organizations across the country for their tireless work in creating awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and providing support to those affected by this condition.

ASD affects people from all walks of life, as well as their families, friends and caregivers. Roughly one out of every 150 Canadian children is affected by ASD . While there has been progress in research, care and education, we need to learn more about the causes of ASD and the most effective treatments and interventions.

The Government of Canada recognizes that autism is an important health and social issue which presents challenges for many Canadian families. We are committed to supporting research and raising awareness. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has provided approximately $35.3 million for research related to autism since 2000. 

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to every autism organization in Canada for their continued dedication to improving the lives of Canadians living with ASD.

Leona Aglukkaq

Minister of Health

Government of Canada 

You will notice that the Government of Canada's World Autism Awareness Day message makes no reference to any  monies spent  to assist the provincial governments in providing effective evidence based preschool interventions, autism specific training of teachers and education assistants  or autism appropriate residential and treatment facilities for youths and adults.


The sum total spent by the Government of Canada to address Canada's autism crisis, "an important health and social issue which presents challenges for many Canadian families"to quote the Honourable Minister of Health, is $35.3 million dollars for research ....... over a 10 year period from 2000 to 2010.

Alexander Pope, were he with us today, might say that the Government of Canada has damned itself with faint praise,  that it has, without sneering,  taught us all to sneer  ..... at its less than feeble efforts to address Canada's important health and social issue, our national autism crisis.  

Big Waves at the Bay of Fredericton this Morning

Fredericton looked like a city on the Atlantic ocean this morning with the wind and the rising St. John River waters producing some pretty good waves and flooding up over the walking trails on both sides of the river.

Autism Rising, Environmental Causes of Autism Disorders, and the Top Autism Interview of the 2000-2009 Decade

The autism interview of the decade, from the perspective of this father of a severely autistic 14 year old boy seeking real answers and future directions concerning my sons Autistic Disorder,  is the David Kirby interview with Dr. Tom Insel in December 2009. There are many contentious debates in discussions of autism disorders including the debate over whether the startling increases in rates of autism diagnoses over the past decade from 1 in 1000 to 1 in 500 to 1 in 110 reflects a real increase in autism or whether they are attributable entirely to the diagnostic  manual changes in the early 1990's combined with increased awareness and the alleged existence of autism services motivating parents to seek autism diagnoses.  Tied directly to this issue is the question of whether autism is caused entirely by genetic factors or whether environmental factors are also involved.

David Kirby's recent interview with Dr. Tom Insel, head of the IACC, and not known to be a celebrity actress, an anti-vaxxer or an hysterical, rage filled parent of a child with an autism disorder,  sheds much light on these issues. I encourage everyone, including reporters and journalists with Mainstream Media outlets and anti autism cure Neurodiversity ideologues like Obama disability nominee Ari Ne'eman, to read the transcript of the Kirby interview with Dr. Insel in its entirety.  Some important points made by Dr. Insel in that interview:

"So how much of the doubling or - in this case tenfold increase over a decade - how much of it is related to change in diagnosis, how much to ascertainment? It looks like about 24 percent of the California increase can be attributed to something like a change in diagnosis criteria. They are beginning to use multiple diagnoses. So that children before, who were listed simply as mentally retarded rather than autism - but they had both - are now logged in with both. But that really caps out at around 24 percent. There’s probably another piece of this, which globally could be attributed to ascertainment. But that caps out at around 16 percent, or something like that. And when you put all of that together, you are still well below explaining 50 percent of the increase.

So what does that mean? It means that, as far as I can tell, the burden of proof is upon anybody who feels that there is NOT a real increase here in the number of kids affected." 

...

This tells you that, you really have to take this very seriously. From everything they are looking at, this is not something that can be explained away by methodology, by diagnosis. Some piece of it can, but the whole thing can’t.

...

 Yes. I don’t think anybody is arguing that it is 100-percent genetic. I mean, I think that there are just a lot of questions that this raises. And I don’t think in those terms, exactly, that it’s either genetic or it’s environmental. From my perspective, it’s almost always going to be both. And the only question is: How do you nail down this interaction, how do you go after it?

...

There is no question that there has got to be an environmental component here. The problem for us has been trying to find the right way to get our hands around it, and to identify what that is most likely related to." 

The acknowledgements by Dr. Insel, head of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, (1) that autism is really increasing and (2) that there is an environmental component to that increase are huge developments in our attempts to understand autism disorders and what is causing them. The assumption for over a decade has been that autism is 100% genetic and that none of the autism increase is real.  Funding of autism research has reflected those twin assumptions.  Now is the time to face autism reality, to start researching and understanding the interaction of genetic and environmental factors that cause and contribute to autism disorders. With the knowledge gained from understanding what causes autism disorders we will be much better able to identify treatments and cures to help those afflicted by these serious disorders.

David Kirby's December 2009 interview with IACC Director Tom Insel easily ranks as the top autism interview of the 2000-2009 decade ... in the opinion of this humble father of a son severely affected by Autistic Disorder. 

Autism Cure and Recovery and Obama's Divisive Disability Nominee

One of the great surprises of the Obama administration, for this Canadian father of a 14  year old boy with severe Autistic Disorder, and long time autism advocate, is the nomination of a divisive, confrontational but very high functioning young university student with Aspergers to a prominent US disability council.  Mr. Obama won respect around the world, including here in Canada, for his ability to reach across traditional political battle lines to move forward with a consensus.   Yet, with the nomination of Ari Ne'eman President Obama has nominated a young man of limited experience with, or knowledge of, autism disorders and absolutely no experience with severe Autistic Disorders who opposes curing autism, and mocks and ridicules the concept of recovery from autism disorders  despite the work done over many years by people like Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh of CARD to do exactly that.

Mr. Ne'eman also attacks the Autism Speaks organization which has raised autism awareness substantially by its many high profile media events and by its involvement in the establishment of World Autism Awareness Day recognized by the United Nations. Mr. Ne'eman himself has found an organization led by people just like him ... very high functioning autistic persons or persons with Aspergers.   He has displayed in his public comments no understanding of the serious life long challenges facing severely autistic children and adults. 

Nor has he shown any respect whatsoever for the role of parents in raising severely autistic children to live the most fulfilling lives possible and the wishes of many of them that research aimed at finding autism treatments and cures continue.  Mr. Ne'eman, the young university student, views the "autism spectrum" as an entity of which he is the natural leader. In Mr.Ne'eman's mind he is better suited as a person with an extremely mild form of autism spectrum disorder to decide what is important for severely autistic children than the parents and families who care for and love them.  For President Obama to embrace this divisive ego  as a disability council nominee is bizarre and unsettling. 

My opinion carries zero weight in US political matters.  Perhaps as a Canadian my opinion actually carries a negative factor. But as the father of a severely autistic son who was diagnosed with his Autistic Disorder before Mr. Ne'eman received his very mild Aspergers diagnosis, and who has been involved in autism advocacy for a dozen years, I know that this appointment will cause great harm to the future prospects of the severely autistic in the US and elsewhere in the world beginning right here in Canada where US influence is not an abstraction but a fact of daily life.  For many years US autism research, including the research conducted by Dr. Ivar Lovaas, and the work done at places like CARD and the May Institute, have been huge positive influences in helping Canadian children with autism disorders including my son.  It now looks as though US autism thinking is taking a turn for the worse and that will be felt here in Canada... to the detriment of children with severe Autistic Disorder ... children like my son Conor.

Environmental Factors Contributing To Autism By Irva Hertz-Picciotto

Autism researcher Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto has published an excellent commentary on the Environmental Factors Contributing to Autism at scientificblogging. This is a must read for anyone with a serious interest in autism disorders and ALL of the possible contributing factors to autism.

This comment is, fittingly, posted on the scientificblogging Autism Awareness page.

It is a valuable contribution to real autism awareness.

River Rising Tall Guy Walking

Mom, Dad and Tall Guy (Conor) were up for our early morning trail walk to the Superstore.  We  live near the St. John River which has been rising.  You can see the waters up near the trail and bridges in the pictures.  But the trail is still dry and clear and we headed out.  Conor looked forward to one of his usual treats -  "Baby" Birthday Cakes at the Superstore.  

When we arrived the cakes were just fresh out of the oven and had no icing on them so we went for a walk over to the nearby Circle Place where Conor waited patiently.  When we returned the icing was still being done but one was all ready for Conor.  The lady at the counter did it up for him right away. (It isn't Conor's birthday he just likes the small "Baby" Birthday cakes).  We don't give lectures to the people at the Superstore, or anyhwere else in Fredericton, about autism acceptance.  Conor has always been well treated by the good people of Fredericton. And we appreciate it. 

The New Autism Spectrum Disorder (NASD) in the DSM-5: Autism Minus Intellectual Disability

The CDC web site introduces Autism Spectrum Disorders with some basic autism facts, including facts about Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability, which are being ignored by the American Psychiatric Association in its proposed revisions to the Pervasive Developmental Disorders (which will now formally be called Autism Spectrum Disorder) section of the DSM-5.  One simple, but very important,  fact which the APA will hide is the fact that  many people with Autistic Disorder, the classic "autism",  also have an Intellectual Disability.

It is these people with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability who have the most severe symptoms.  They will not typically author internet blogs, preside over corporate boards, conduct research, hold media interviews or mingle with Washington DC politicians and bureaucrats.  Those diagnosed today with Aspergers and mild PDD-NOS will be the faces of the New Autism Spectrum Disorder in the DSM 5 a transition which is already well underway with the Hollywood, the Mainstream Media and, in President Obama's administration, appointment of a hard line anti autism cure person with  high functioning Aspergers to a high profile disability council position. The classic instances  of Autistic Disorder with Intellectual Disability will be fully excluded from the New Autism Spectrum Disorder.

"ASDs are “spectrum disorders.”  That means ASDs affect each person in different ways, and can range from very mild to severe.  People with ASDs share some similar symptoms, such as problems with social interaction.  But there are differences in when the symptoms start, how severe they are, and the exact nature of the symptoms.

• Autistic Disorder (also called “classic” autism)
  This is what most people think of when hearing the word “autism.”  People with autistic disorder usually have significant language delays, social and communication challenges, and unusual behaviors and interests. Many people with autistic disorder also have intellectual disability.

• Asperger Syndrome
  People with Asperger syndrome usually have some milder symptoms of autistic disorder.  They might have social challenges and unusual behaviors and interests.  However, they typically do not have problems with language or intellectual disability.
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS; also called “atypical autism”)  People who meet some of the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome, but not all, may be diagnosed with PDD-NOS. People with PDD-NOS usually have fewer and milder symptoms than those with autistic disorder.  The symptoms might cause only social and communication challenges.
 

The CDC statement that "many people with autistic disorder also have intellectual disability" is consistent with other authorities and studies including the Canadian Psychological Association  2006 brief to the Canadian Senate which stated that  "Cognitive impairment is present in about 80% of persons diagnosed with Autism and general intellectual functioning is most often below average". The CPA reference to autism excludes Aspergers which is referenced separately. The statement is also consistent with the CDC's 2009 studies which found that "Data show a similar porportion of children with an ASD, also had signs of intellectual disability averaging 44% in 2004 and 41% in 2006".

  The APA is of the view that the Pervasive Developmental Disorders should be grouped into one Autism Spectrum Disorder, nominally distinguished on grounds of severity of symptoms.  In fact though the intellectual disability which characterizes many instances of Autistic Disorder, of "classic" autism, will be separated from the Autism Spectrum which will alsoreduce its focus to "social communication" and "fixated interests and repetitive behaviors".  Significant language delays will not be major diagnostic criteria for the New Autism Spectrum Disorder in the APA's Brave New DSM 5. There will be no reference, even by necessary implication to Intellectual Disability in the DSM-5's New Autism Spectrum Disorder.

It is easy to speculate about the reasons motivating the APA in seeking to remove the Intellectually Disabled, low functioning, classically autistic from the New Autism Spectrum Disorder (NASD).  The NASD will make it impossible to use epidemiological studies to demonstrate any vaccine autism connections since the very definition will have changed.  This will come in handy after the use of thimerosal laced vaccines in many areas during the great 2009 Swine Flu Panic.

Life will also be easier, and their consciences less ruffled, for those "clinicial psychologists" and researchers who focus almost exclusively on working with persons with High Functioning Autism and Aspergers.  On the research side those High Functioning Autism experts like Dr. Laurent Mottron who has published dozens of research papers involving subjects with High Functioning Autism, Aspergers and Savant qualities will now be able to truly claim to be autism experts without anyone mocking them for their obvious reluctance to study low functioning, intellectually disabled, severely autistic subjects.

Clinical psychologists will find their success rates working with autistic subjects soaring when their autistic subjects all carry the New Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. Those more difficult low functioning autism cases will be relegated to the dustbins of history ... and forgotten completely in residential and institutional care facilities.  Clinical utility takes on a whole new dimension in the era of the New Autism Spectrum Disorder

It will also be handy for the Ari Ne'eman's and other very high functioning persons with Aspergers who will now be able to speak with at least a little bit of credibility on behalf of persons with the New Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is a wish granted for Ari Ne'eman, Amanda Baggs, Michelle Dawson and Alex Plank. These persons with HFA and Aspergers are high profile opponents of attempts to cure people, even other people's children, of their autism disorders.  Cementing their status as spokespersons for the New Autism Spectrum Disorder will take some pressure off of the health authorities, including psychiatrists, and "autism" researchers who do not want to spend their time and resources seeking cures for autism disorders.

In the  Brave New World of the DSM-5 everyone will be happy except the severely disabled, low functioning persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability, the "classic" autistics ... and the parents and family members who are the only ... the ONLY ...  ones fighting on their behalf.  Members of the APA will be busy slapping each other on the back and congratulating themselves for solving the Autism Crisis in the way they know best ... by defining it away.   

The New Autism Spectrum Disorder has arrived.

Daniel Can't Eat Because of Autism but Obama Disability Nominee Ari Ne'eman Says Don't Cure Autism

US President Obama's disability nominee Ari Ne'eman does not believe that autism should be cured.  To Mr. Ne'eman, and his supporters,  curing autism is morally reprehensible.  Mr. Ne'eman,  a very high functioning university student with Aspergers Disorder, has every right to refuse treatment or cure for his Aspergers which he does not consider to be a disability.  But does he have the right to insist that other people's children should not be cured of autism disorders, that no research be conducted to develop treatment and cures?

Some children with autism suffer much more than teasing from fellow students, as Mr. Ne'eman apparently once did,  as a result of their disorders.  Some do not understand the dangers of daily life, or even understand language beyond a very simple level.  Some engage in serious self injury and some ... like 3 year old Daniel will not eat because of their autism disorder.  To all of these real people, real children, other people's children, with autism disorders, Obama nominee Ari Ne'eman says thou shalt not be cured for to do so is morally reprehensible.  And with his nomination, and eventual appointment, to a high profile US disability council Mr. Ne'eman's commandment will inevitably grow in influence.

Daniel's story, and it is not unique, is told at nottingham.co.uk:

"EATING is something most children take for granted – but it is something little Daniel Harrison may never do again.

The three-year-old from Carlton was diagnosed with autism two years ago after his parents noticed he was not developing as normal.

One of the side effects of his condition is a severe form of acid reflux, when acid from the stomach leaks up into the gullet.

It means Daniel went "up the wall" whenever he ate anything because of he associated eating with the pain of being sick.

He can now only take in food through a tube inserted into his stomach – and his parents say he may never eat normally again."

Movies, major media organizations and now the President of the United States, like to represent people with autism as high functioning success stories like university student Ari Ne'eman.  President Obama apparently agrees with Mr. Ne'eman's  opposition to curing autism disorders, with his view that autism is not a real disability, or he would not have nominated him to an influential disability council.  

The US President is embracing a young man who does not believe that Daniel and others who suffer from the serious, life restricting,  and often times dangerous, effects of autism disorders should be cured.  President Obama is joining Ari Ne'eman in saying to Daniel, his parents and others affected by the severe consequences of autism disorders ... thou shalt not be cured.

On World Autism Awareness Day Conor and Dad Wear the Blue

World Autism Awareness Day arrives and Conor and Dad wear the blue.

On World Autism Awareness Day Please Be Aware That Autism Is A Disorder

On  World Autism Awareness Day, April 2, remember that autism is a disorder or more accurately a group of disorders.  It is not just a different way of thinking, a way of life or a political career path for a media savvy high functioning University student with little  exposure to, or actual knowledge of the realities of  severe Autistic Disorder. 

There are indeed many very high functioning persons with Aspergers and some high functioning persons with other "autism" disorders.  There are also many persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability and others who are generally very low functioning, who will self injure, be at greater risk from the ordinary dangers of daily life, remain unemployed throughout their lives and live in the care of others in a variety of residential and institutional settings. These are facts.  

"Autism", or what is described as autism varies.  Autistic Disorder is currently shown in the DSM IV as one of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders:

299.00 Autistic Disorder

(A)
total of six (or more) items from (1), (2), and (3), with at least two from (1), and one each from (2) and (3):

1. qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
   
   
   
   

   (a)

   marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

   (b)

   failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

   (c)

   a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest)

   (d)

   lack of social or emotional reciprocity

   
   
   
   
   


2. qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:
   
   
   
   

    

   (a)

   delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gestures or mime)

   (b)

   in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others

   (c)

   stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language

   (d)

   lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

   
   
   
   
   
   


3. restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
   
   
   
   
   

   (a)

   encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

   (b)

   apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

   (c)

   stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

   (d)

   persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

   
   
   
   
   

(B)   

Delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following areas, with onset prior to age 3 years: (1) social interaction, (2) language as used in social communication, or (3) symbolic or imaginative play.

 

(C)

The disturbance is not better accounted for by Rett's Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.

As currently described Autistic Disorder is exactly what it says. It is a disorder.  Not a social movement, not a culture and not just a different way of looking at the world.

On World Autism Awareness Day please be aware that autism is a disorder, one that impairs and restricts the lives of many persons who carry the diagnosis of Autistic Disorder and to some extent those that are diagnosed with other Pervasive Developmental Disorders.