Scientific American article my WW leader...

[LIZARD]

...gave me yesterday...WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Check it out!!

http://www.sciam.com/print_version.c...E283414B7F0000



LIZARD, definitely keepin' this one!

[JungleWoman]

That is very interesting!

I didnt know that Kanner and Asperger were independent and didnt know eachother! Even more eerie that they came up with the same name for the disorder.

Truly cool that your leader gave you this

A<><

[mryan]

I don't normally post here. I used to, but then found out my daughter(Hannah, 7) was actually Landau Kleffner Syndrome ( seizure disorder). I was so excited to read this article, it explains Hannah totally. She could not deal with sensory info at all. She reacted so weird to noises and sights. Then she was on prednisone for a long time and now she is on lamictal. It is just as the article states, "if the child's mirror neuron functions are dormant rather than lost, it may be possible to revive this ability." When we got the seizure activity under control then she responded to stimuli appropriately. She has most of her speech back and is getting better everyday. Just thought I would chime in...... - Martha

[peglem]

While I did find the article fascinating, I still have a problem with the certainty that there is a genetic cause, or predisposition for everything. Do they really know this? I also think they should be very slow to extrapolate results obtained from HF to low functioning. And, one more thing- having TONS of experience with a head banger, at least in my daughter's case, I do not believe it is self stimming. I think it is more like a tic- overwhelming urge(causes anxiety/arousal) and sense of relief when urge is satisfied. I think most head bangers are so low functioning that they cannot say why they are doing it, so the experts concoct an explanation which evolves into scientific fact w/o evidence. The mirror neuron theory sounds very plausible- I just think they need to be careful not to assume that same or similar behaviors(autism) always have the same cause. My daughter is 12 years old, until she was 10- NOBODY ever looked to find out why new behaviors or new problems were happening. Since you could explain everything that she did as being autistic or a result of frustration from poor communication. Now, a picture of a child who has been suffering brain damage for many years as the result of autoimmune problems from untreated strep infections is emerging. They assumed they knew the cause- would not look any further and now....what a mess. Sorry about my little tirade here- I did find the article informative, just went off on the assumption parts....

[milivica]

Peglem, I see what you're saying...I think when I read the article I assumed it was for 'some' cases. Although, I did take from the article, and maybe was wrong (for sure a possibity!) it was more about autistic behaviors than autism. If that makes sense.

I loved the MU stuff...I have to admit, I had a real emotional time reading a lot of it. I can't tell you how many people at the hospital I told that thing about babies sticking out their tongue if mommy does is bull, cause I can't even get him to look at me let alone do that. I mean, I knew...I knew I knew I knew. I just didn't know what it was I knew, in the 'honeymoon' days of never even having heard the word autism. Once in a while, how early I knew and all that intervention he lost (not that there really was any) hurts. Hurts really bad. I'm sure we all know that feeling. The older our kids, the more we know that hurt.

Just when I was getting kind of depressed reading, they made the ecstacy remark, baawawawaaa!!! Vincent's case manager flipped out when he said 'puberty', can you imagine, "yes this is Vincent's mom, he'll be taking ecstacy from now on to improve him MU functions, so I don't expect your goals for age appropriate touching are going to go very well". I know they didn't say give him ecstacy per say, but it was just the relief I needed while reading things that were hard to read. Cause I knew it from day one. And no one would listen...except dh, but he and I alone couldn't help him.

I wasn't agreeable with their ideas about not doing eye contact, but maybe I wasn't understanding what they meant. Who knows.

Again, this MU thing, wow. I and I'm sure all the other parents here knew that, but like, didn't have the verbiage for it. I for sure didn't know there were parts of the brain that turned on or off if a task was being done, or watched like the monkey/peanut stuff. That's another thing that made this hard to read....I don't see that Vincent's MU was ever 'activated'. So maybe there's no hope to reactivate something that was never working or is absent. Anyhow.

I'm been pretty fixated on the hour show I saw last night, about Kim Peek (Rainman). There's something (I think it began with a C) that connects the right and left side of your brain. He doesn't have it. As he read, he used his left eye for reading the left page and right eye for the right page...unfortunately they didn't say if it was simultaneously, or one page at a time with one eye at a time. I'd like to know that.

Anyhow, great article Lizard...I can't believe I read the whoooole thing!

Mili

[Mother's Heart]

Corpus Callosum he has Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum. It's the band of white fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain...carry the communication and coordination between them

[LIZARD]

Originally Posted by milivica

I'm been pretty fixated on the hour show I saw last night, about Kim Peek (Rainman). There's something (I think it began with a C) that connects the right and left side of your brain. He doesn't have it. As he read, he used his left eye for reading the left page and right eye for the right page...unfortunately they didn't say if it was simultaneously, or one page at a time with one eye at a time. I'd like to know that.

Anyhow, great article Lizard...I can't believe I read the whoooole thing!

Mili

Mil,

I just ordered the book:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...305&x=09212210

I can't wait to read it! I didn't catch all of the Discovery Channel show. What did you think of it?

LIZARD, who really hopes I can see it again, in its entirety!

[milivica]

Originally Posted by Mother's Heart

Corpus Callosum he has Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum. It's the band of white fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain...carry the communication and coordination between them

YES! That little sucker. Corpus Callosum.

Lizard, the show was awesome. I was really overwhelmed watching it, because I had just watched a show on Ferrel children, and was exhausted from all the emotions of that. Plus I was making some comparisons in my mind to kids on the spectrum...especially the differences which there were more of than simularities. However, Ferrel children that were more sensory deprived than left 'in the wild' had more 'autistic behaviors'. Anyhow, I'm processing all this, and just filling my head with endless streams of thoughts, and boom Kim Peek comes on.

So yes, the show was positively awesome, as all awesome shows not nearly long enough. I most loved the fact that one scientist lady mentioned that he really wants to connect with others. And named the 4 phrases he uses over and over to do so. She said one thing I loved and can't remember, something about not having theory of mind but she put it VERY well....gosh I can't remember, like, he doesn't know she's not thinking what he's thinking and he doesn't know that she knows...eh nevermind, I can't remember.

I thought of Vince and myself lots...in terms of his social deficits. Just like Kim Peek uses the same phrases either to connect, or to have that 'static' comfort of knowing the next response I see Vince do, I used to do too. I loved that Kim Peek wound up raised in a home with love instead of an asylum, and wondered how many lives that could have been happy were destroyed - I know that happens to nt's too. I mean, I see no difference in asd's of all ages and nt children in terms of vunerability when in the hands of 'the state'.

I loved how Kim Peek said he and his father shared the same shadow...and loved that his father found it profound. Me too. I think Kim Peek would be a totally enjoyable, fantastic and exhausting friend to have.

It's cool you got the book.

Mili

[tgrimes]

Well , I thought it was really sad. Mostly because i do not think this person would command any respect from any of the people we saw interacting with him were it not for his savant ability.
Except for dad, of course... and he is over 80 years old, and still dressing him and brushing his teeth?

[Isabelle]

I saw at the very end a reference to what could really be the cause behind all the damage to the brain: a virus (neuropathy-related vaccine?), a weak immune system perhaps inherited making it a genetic disease, fevers/infections, seizures and with a every generation more severe the damage done to the brain and nervous system.