Autism Brain Scan Tests or Just High Functioning Autism Brain Scan Tests?

MSNBC has an article by Amanda Chan on the recent "autism" brain scans Brain scan 'best thing so far' for detecting autism. The article  cautions that the fMRI tests used in a recent study have to be run many times and achieve similar results before the test can be put to clinical  use. The article also does point out that the "autism" subjects in the test were all persons with high functioning autism.  Notwithstanding the cautions expressed the article still  refers to the test results in terms of detecting autism with substantial accuracy  not just high functioning autism.  Given the large numbers of persons with Autistic Disorder who have intellectual disabilities  references to high functioning autistic persons as being representative of autism generally are inaccurate and potentially misleading.

In Study: More Hope for a Brain Scan for Autism Meredith Melnick of TIME also reports on the recent brain scan studies and the same pattern emerges. The use of high functioning autistic subjects only is noted and cautions expressed about the need for more tests.  But once again the article indicates that the study results were able to detect "autism" in a large,  93%, of cases. There is even a reference in the article to "the autistic brain" when describing the results of a recent London MRI study which found that "the test was able to identify the autistic brain with about 90% accuracy."

Influential media sources like MSNBC and TIME are creating a popular view of "autism" as being represented by "high functioning autism".  They are doing so based on a string of research studies which use high functioning autistic subjects and exclude those with low functioning autism. The cautions expressed in such articles are likely to be forgotten as more and more studies of high functioning autistic subjects publish their reports and the excitement builds that a reliable brain scan test has arrived.

Autism disorders are neurological disorders.  Whether and to what extent various genetic and environmental considerations come in to play are matters of great contention. But to my knowledge no one except a few ignorant, cynical comics dispute that autism disorders are neurologically based.  Brain scans do in fact appear to be promising as tests that could distinguish "autism" neurology from others and thereby provide a reliable biologically based diagnostic tool. But only if study participants from all points on the autism spectrum are considered.

Unless low functioning and intellectually disabled subjects are included in the studies used to develop autism brain scan tests such tests could only in honesty be used to detect high functioning autism and could not rule out low functioning autism in any given case.

We should not lose sight of these fundamental truths when developing "autism" brain scan tests.

Pesticides Suspected in Bee Brain Damage and Species Decline? Don' t They Know It's Gotta Be Genetic?

                                          pdphoto.org                          honey bee by autan

A UK Guardian article  Bee decline could be down to chemical cocktail interfering with brains

reports fears that pesticides are causing damage to the brains of bees causing cognitive and communication disorders which have seen sharp declines in the overall number of bee species which are vitally important to the pollination of the world's crops:

"According to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, three of the 25 British species of bumblebees are already extinct and half of the remainder have shown serious declines, often up to 70%, since around the 1970s. In addition, around 75% of all butterfly species in the UK have been shown to be in decline. The new £10m Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI), the largest programme to date of its kind, will look at the multiple reasons thought to be behind this devastation in insect population.

Chris Connolly of Dundee University's Centre for Neuroscience has been awarded £1.5m to lead the work on whether pesticides are having an affect on the brains of bees. Pesticides could be blocking the electrical and chemical signals between neurons, he said, and only subtle changes may be required to produce serious brain disorders. These problems might stop bees identifying the best sources of nectar, or it might affect their ability to navigate to nearby food source and back home again.


Brain disorders in bees might also interfere with their ability to communicate with nest-mates using the "waggle dance", where bees come back to their hive and spread information about the food sources they have found."

Those poor misguided Brits. Haven't they learned that when it comes to neurological disorders there are no environmental factors involved?

Haven't they heard of the flawed statistical surveys of human beings which demonstrate beyond any question, or demonstrate somewhat anyways, that neurological disorders like autism are 100% genetic?.

Haven't they heard that when it comes to neurological disorders like .. oh .. say .. autism ... "it's gotta be genetic"?

Autism and Lead Poisoning Update

I commented on possible connections between autism and lead poisoning on October 13, 2007 in Autism and Lead Poisoning. I had referenced articles which discussed a lead/autism connection in some cases. I also included the following excerpt from the Ontario Environment Ministry page Lead and Drinking Water - Questions and Answers which discusses the impact of lead poisoning on learning capacity and intellectual development:

How does lead in water affect health? Young children are more sensitive to the effects of lead because they are still developing and able to absorb ingested lead more easily than adults. Long-term exposure to lead above the standards may increase the risk of subtle impairment of learning capacity and intellectual development. Pregnant women need to limit their lead intake as much as possible to protect the fetus.

Also highlighted in that comment was the article Autism and Autistic Symptoms Associated with Childhood Lead Poisoning, Journal of Applied Research, authors Theodore I. Lidsky, PhD , Department of Psychobiology, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, New York and Jay S. Schneider, PhD Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That article featured two case studies of children who, during periods of severe lead poisoning, developed autism or autistic symptoms.

I mention a possible lead/autism connection again at this time because of news of yet another recall of lead contaminated toys and the announcement by Health Canada that it is sponsoring a pilot study aimed at measuring the long-term accumulation of lead in people's bones, something that cannot be determined by more commonly used blood tests, but that still poses a potential health risk. The National Post, author Tom Blackwell, has a good article on the announcement Recall of toys sparks study on lead risks and some related articles in the sidebar of the article page.

The NP article also includes criticism of Health Canada's lead investigation effort by lead safety advocate Kelly O'Grady who argues that HC should sponsor studies that focus on the most vulnerable - children under six years of age:

"It's kind of bizarre," said Ms. O'Grady, head of the group The First Six Years. "Health Canada is going in all the back doors, instead of looking at the elephant in the living room."

Mr. Blackwell also reports that:

Just in the past two weeks, the regulator [ Health Canada] publicized recalls of 35,000 plastic charm bracelets, 2,200 necklaces, 770 pendants and 575 sets of doll clothing, all imported from East Asia and all containing lead above the allowable limit. Such items are considered a danger to smaller children who might put them in their mouths.

Whether lead exposure is a causal agent in autism causes or simply causes "autistic like symptoms" and impairs learning capacity and intellectual development it is long past time that Health Canada and other public health authorities began to make a more sustained effort on two fronts. One, to immediately and thoroughly work at eliminating exposure to lead poisoning, particularly amongst children and pregnant women and two, began more thorough research into the role of lead and other environmental toxins into the development of autism and other neurological disorders. As Lidsky and Schneider concluded in their study:

The two case histories presented here, as well as the reports of autistic symptoms in children with disorders that produce brain lesions or encephalopa- thy, indicate that there are multiple causes of autism. Further, the ability of brain infections and lead poisoning to produce such symptoms highlights the importance of environmental factors in the etiology of *autism*.

The ability of *lead* *poisoning* to induce symptoms of *autism* is also relevant to cases of preexisting pervasive developmental disorders irrespective of etiology. Such individuals have a greater propensity to engage in pica and, as a result, are more likely to become *lead* poisoned.

In such cases, *lead* poisoning can be expected not only to negatively impact neurocognitive functioning, but also to potentially exacerbate the preexisting symptoms of *autism*

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Autism Confusion

Parents across North America have been fighting hard to help their autistic children overcome the deficits associated with their autism disorders. These parents, and I am one of them, find joy in their children and want to enhance their abilities to live as full a life as possible. But there are some misguided exceptions, who find joy in their children's autism disorders.

The logic of the "Be Happy Your Child Has a Neurological Disorder Movement" is difficult to comprehend. These parents are actually happy that their children suffer from autistic deficits. The more extreme amongst them, like Estee Klar-Wolfond of the Joy of Autism, The Autism Acceptance Project, and other "projects", actually try to undermine the efforts of other parents seeking to help their own children overcome their deficits.

The confused thinking of the joy of autism mindset was highlighted in a recent letter to the editor of the Lebanon Daily News by Bonnie Price, mother of a 16 year old autistic boy who can not talk and who has the intellectual level of a 3-4 year old . Ms Price actually thanked God that her son is autistic even though she acknowledges in her letter that autism is a terrible affliction. Caring for her son has made her a better person and for that Ms Price expresses gratitude that her son is autistic:

Thank God for autism

Editor:
Lebanon Daily News

My son, Seth, is almost 16. He was born with classic autism and mental retardation. His mind is that of a 3- or 4-year-old. He cannot talk at all, and he can never be left unattended. So why in the world would I say “thank God for Autism?”

Seth has taught me the meaning of unconditional love and brought a closeness to our family that could not have been but through trials. When he was 3, his natural father and I divorced. Were it not for autism, he may have fought for custody. Were it not for autism, I probably would have worked 40+ hours a week in pursuit of material possessions and never had learned to enjoy the simple life God has blessed us with. Were it not for autism, I may have ended up cold and indifferent to the needs of others.

We have witnessed the compassion, caring and generosity of others that we may otherwise not have seen. So, for all the misery of autism (and it is a terrible affliction), I am still deeply thankful God made Seth just the way he is. Seth is a beautiful person with autism.

Thank God for autism!

Bonnie Price

Edward Boehler, father of an 8 year old autistic boy took offense to Ms Price's expression of joy that her child is autistic as he stated in a response to Ms Price also published in the Lebanon Daily News:

Finding no joy in child’s autism

Editor:

Lebanon Daily News

I respond to Bonnie Price’s “Thank God for autism” on Sept. 29. I have an 8-year-old boy with autism, and I was more than offended by her letter. Unlike her son, my boy can talk. He attends regular school classes with an aide. He loves to swim and ride his bicycle. He loves video games and playing on the computer.

I have a beautiful daughter, too. She is wonderful. She is full of life and is very athletic and bright. My two children are the joy of my life.

Price stated that her autistic son has taught her the meaning of unconditional love. I think all parents have unconditional love for their kids. If they didn’t, there’s something wrong.

She stated that if it weren’t for autism she probably would have worked 40 hours a week in pursuit of material possessions. Is she saying working your butt off in sacrifice to support your wife and kids is a bad thing? Working 40-plus hours a week has bought a house for my family, clothing and bikes for my kids, a swimming-pool membership and cars to drive my daughter to soccer and basketball practices and games.

Autism is horrible. My son has no real friends. He will probably be made fun of when he gets older. He never asks questions. He won’t play soccer, basketball, baseball or football with me. Autism is horrible !

I love my son to death. Seeing him smile or laugh really makes my day. Thank God for Autism? Those are four words that will never come out of my mouth. I thank God for my two great kids, not for my son’s mental disorder.

Edward Boehler

I concur with Mr Boehler.

I love both of my sons including Conor who is severely autistic. I enjoy being with him every day. But I am not happy that he has autistic disorder. I find no joy in the knowledge that he will, like some other severely autistic persons, live his adult life in the care of others. Or that he can not fully communicate or comprehend the world. Joy of autism disorder is a confused, and sometimes harmful, mindset to which I will never belong.

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