Doctors urge autism screenings - Reports push for two checks before children turn 2

The Columbus Dispatch ^ | October 29, 2007 | Lindsey Tanner

[neverdem]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO -- The country's leading pediatricians group is making its strongest push yet to have all children screened for autism twice by age 2, talking of subtle warning signs such as babies who don't babble at 9 months and 1-year-olds who don't point to toys.

The advice is meant to help parents and doctors spot autism sooner. There is no cure for the disorder, but experts say that early therapy can lessen its severity.

Symptoms to watch for and the call for early screening come in two new reports. They are being released by the American Academy of Pediatrics today at its annual meeting in San Francisco and will appear in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics and on the group's Web site -- www.aap.org.

The reports list numerous warning signs, such as a 4-month-old not smiling at the sound of Mom or Dad's voice, or the loss of language or social skills at any age.

Experts say one in 150 U.S. children have the developmental disorder.

The academy's renewed effort reflects growing awareness since its first autism guidelines in 2001. A 2006 policy statement urged autism screening for all children at their regular doctor visits at age 18 months and 24 months.

The authors caution that not all children who display these symptoms are autistic.

Just because a child likes to line up toy cars or has temper tantrums "doesn't mean you need to have concern, if they're also interacting socially and also pretending with toys and communicating well," said co-author Dr. Scott Myers, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician in Danville, Pa.

[neverdem]

The AAP links to a 34 page pdf link "Identification and Evaluation of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders,"and a 22 page pdf link on management.

[neverdem]

Ping

[americanophile]

...otherwise your children could grow up to be like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

[ellery]

Thanks for the post. The son of one of my good friends has been diagnosed as on the spectrum. They caught it early (~18 months) and therapy has helped immensely.

Bump!

[SteveMcKing]

"Just because a child likes to line up toy cars or has temper tantrums "doesn't mean you need to have concern, if they're also interacting socially and also pretending with toys and communicating well,"

The AAP is forever pushing boundaries to make personality and character into whatever disorders they invent.

Treatable, of course, by paying grand sums for what's essentially political re-education when a child's primary indoctrination (ie. public schools) fails to produce the sheep that would serve their gay Marxist fantasies.

[maine-iac7]

I watched this on the news tonight and I kept waiting, knowing it wouldn't come, for some mention of suspected causes and how to possibly prevent this in the first place.

Hello? It seems the medical profession is just going to concentrate on the treatment/medications end of it and ignore pin-pointing why, in the space of a few years, we suddenly have an epidemic on our hands...1 out of 150 is epidemic.

No mention is being made of the thousands of parents who have reported that their child was fine, happy, healthy - then almost immediately becoming ill and then developing Autism after having the vaccine Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative in children's vaccines

There have been studies suggesting there may be responsible for the exponential growth of autism, ... and other childhood neurological disorders now epidemic in the United States.

Mercury poisons the brain...

Yet the causative link between the vaccine and the illness are ferociously brushed aside by the drug company and the medical field in a hurry - they would be bankrupt from the law suits were they to admit the link.

The total silence on any research for a cause and prevention speaks volumes -

[therut]

Ya sound like RFK, JR. and his crackpot theory. Sorry I do not believe in his rantings.

[kcvl]

Recent studies have confirmed the association between the use of thimerosal and autism has moved from “biologically plausible” to a “biological certainty” (Boyd Haley). Recent work by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons and Experimental Biology and Medicine have shown strong epidemiological evidence for a causal relationship between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

http://tinyurl.com/2etzmk

National Autism Association

[kcvl]

Have you ever heard this?

children whose mothers took thalidomide during pregnancy had birth defects, including malformed ears and shortened limbs. But they also had a significantly greater incidence of autism than babies born to mothers who never took thalidomide. Thalidomide clearly caused autism, but only if mothers took it early in pregnancy. If mothers took thalidomide in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, their babies weren’t at increased risk of autism.

Thalidomide (tha-lid-o-mide) was first marketed in Europe in the late 1950’s. It was used as a sleeping pill and to treat morning sickness during pregnancy. At that time no one knew thalidomide caused birth defects.

Thalidomide Revisited
Most everyone is familiar with the haunting pictures from the 1960s of so-called thalidomide babies, who were born with deformed limbs after their mothers took this sedative while pregnant. Overlooked in the early studies is that many thalidomide children are autistic—missed, no doubt, because their parents and doctors were dealing with the more obvious and dramatic limb deformities. But in 1994, Swedish researchers reported the surprising finding that thalidomide children had a high incidence of autism,3 and for developmental biologist Rodier, this was helpful news, because the Swedish researchers identified when, during their pregnancies, the women took the drug.

[neverdem]

I really doubt new cases of autism can be attributed to thimerosal. "Nearly all recommended pediatric vaccines available today in the U.S. are thimerosal-free." That testimony was from WILLIAM EGAN, Ph.D., ACTING OFFICE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF VACCINE RESEARCH AND REVIEW CENTER FOR BIOLOGICS EVALUATION AND REVIEW FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM JULY 18, 2000

Only multidose vials of the seasonal influenza vaccine still use thimerosal. There was a show on NOVA on epigenetics. One of a pair of identical twins was diagnosed with autism. The other wasn't.

[conservative cat]

I’m not sure exactly how much good this will do. Insurance isn’t that great about paying for therapies, and the government isn’t much better. If you are going to have an autistic child, it’s best to be rich enough to afford all the therapies or poor enough that the government steps in and does it for you.

[DoughtyOne]

...and five more tests before grownups can vote on any legislation!

[Marie]

My son had a gradual decline that screamed "Autism!" by the time he was 8 years old. He did talk (and talk and talk!) but he couldn't listen or make eye contact. As an infant, he did the head banging and rocking. I was told it was normal.

When things finally got bad I finally got him to a neurologist. The neuro ran thirty pages of blood-work and found he was a celiac. Two weeks off gluten, no more Autistic symptoms.

I've heard of other children doing very well off wheat and milk, some even have a total recession of symptoms like my son, but many don't improve. I think there's something in the environment that's making kids immune systems go into hyper drive, but there could be more than one factor. It could be, for some, vaccinations. For others, common chemical contaminates. Maybe floride in the water. Most likely it's a combination of things bombarding immature immune and neurological systems. I think it's terribly important that we don't stop digging until we root out the problem.

One more thing, I have a warning concerning Celiac disease. The neuro suspected my son had CD in a February and took the kid off gluten. It took a couple of months to get in to see the gastro. In August I was told to fill him full of gluten for a full month so they could do the confirmation test (the bowel biopsy). It was a month of hell and it still wasn't enough. The biopsy was negative, but the gastro and neuro said we'd say he was a Celiac because there was such a dramatic resolution of symptoms. Flash forward to November. Surprise! The kid is now a diabetic! I honestly believe that the shock to his young system of hitting him hard with his own personal poison triggered the diabetes.

If someone is suspected of having a food allergy, once you take them off a food, *keep* them off it!

[taxesareforever]

What’s the matter, business slow in pediatrics?

[neverdem]

In Science Classrooms, a Blast of Fresh O2

New Book: How Shyness Became a Mental Illness

The Outsourced Brain

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. Anyone can post any unposted link as they see fit.

[copperisme]

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism/complete-publication.shtml

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link!