Autism is Medical - Not Mental.

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The diagnosis of “autism spectrum disorder” is made based on a set of criteria published in the DSM-V - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

• Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communicative behaviors, and developing and maintaining relationships.

• Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following: stereotyped or repetitive movements, speech, or use of objects; insistence on sameness, routines, or rituals; highly restricted, fixated, or intense interests; or hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment.

• Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period, cause clinically significant impairment in functioning, and not be better explained by another condition.

The diagnosis is often made by psychologists who have no training in the medical issues from which children on the spectrum very frequently suffer. Because autism is frequently viewed by pediatricians as a mental disorder, underlying medical conditions often go unrecognized and unaddressed. In my own circle of friends which includes a large percentage of parents of children who have received an autism diagnosis, I have heard all-to-often that in response to their concerns about gastrointestinal problems, including watery diarrhea daily for months or even years, or constipation so severe it results in impactions requiring multiple hospitalizations, parents are told, “That’s just part of autism.”

This is unacceptable. People diagnosed with autism can and do suffer from all kinds of underlying MEDICAL issues, and they deserve to be assessed and treated accordingly. They should not be written off and left to become even more physically ill and psychologically impaired because underlying viral, bacterial, fungal, or other microbial infections go unrecognized and untreated.

In the not-too-distant past, I worked as a biomedical consultant, assisting families of children (and adults) with autism diagnoses in employing dietary and nutritional interventions to improve overall wellness, which very often had a significant positive impact on behavior, learning, and socialization. As part of the comprehensive biomedical treatment of autism (and ADHD), we used a data-driven approach, which included obtaining specific labs to look at viral titers, gut health (fungal, bacterial, viral, parasitic infections, microbial imbalance), heavy metals and other toxins, and nutritional deficiencies.

What follows is one of several presentations I delivered to the community in Southwest Indiana, when I was associated with the Cady Wellness Institute. In this presentation, I review the history of medical documentation of viral and bacterial infections associated with autism. I also present information on PANDAS, PANS, PITAND, vaccine adjuvant-associated autoimmunity, vaccine-associated allergies (peanuts, milk, gluten, eggs, yeast, etc.), and I present a case of a child who developed chronic measles virus (and “autism”) after vaccination with MMR.

I pray this information is helpful to you and hope you will share with others.

This presentation is the second presentation in this series. Click here to watch the first: Autism is Treatable.

Here is a video of me giving this presentation in October of 2014. The slides are below. If you click on the video you can follow along with the slides.

This is an excellent resource: Nutritional Strategies to Cool Down Neuroinflammation in PANDAS.

This is an excellent resource for combatting yeast overgrowth: The Anti-Fungal Parade.

Note: Flulaval is now only available as a single dose quadrivalent vaccine, and no longer contains thimerosal/mercury, according to the updated manufacturer’s insert, which states:

FLULAVAL QUADRIVALENT is formulated without preservatives and does not contain thimerosal. Each 0.5-mL dose may also contain residual amounts of ovalbumin (</=0.3 mcg), formaldehyde (</=25 mcg), sodium deoxycholate (</=50 mcg), a-tocopheryl hydrogen succinate (</=320 mcg), and polysorbate 80 (</=887 mcg) from the manufacturing process. Antibiotics are not used in the manufacture of this vaccine.

Thank you for hanging in there with me. I know this is a lot to digest. I hope you find something useful here in your quest for healing and wellness. Please share this presentation with family, friends, and with your physician. Our children deserve better than the lack of treatment or even concern, about the physical, medical factors which may be contributing to the autism (or ADHD) diagnosis.

For more information:

Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS)

TACAnow

RecoveringKids

Just an FYI, all of my content is currently accessible to everyone. You do not have to be a paying subscriber to read or share. Archived posts are all free to view and share, as well. I am grateful to those who have become paying subscribers and I send you an extra thank you. I am praying for a beautiful 2024 for each of us, with improved health and well-being. I hope the information contained in this post is useful to you in your journey.

Marcella