Research…

Today I spent a lot of time reading through the ever-growing pile of autism research articles that I collect. I use Google Alerts, which allows me to set up search criteria and uses Google’s search technology to monitor not only news outlets and scientific journals from around the world, but also the web, blogs and all kinds of groups. When “hits” occur a link to the source material and a brief synopsis are automatically emailed to my gmail account. I then label them according to several categories I have set up and archive them in the 2800+ MB (and growing) of free storage that comes with the account. All of the archived material is searchable in several ways. It works so well that I have never deleted any email at all and am still only using less than 10% of my storage space. I can store documents and images, etc. all in one place, accessible from anywhere in the world – pretty cool, huh?

I have created a system in which I use one set of search terms to cast a very broad net, and several other sets of much narrower terms to focus in on what I’m interested in. In this way I not only get the veritable mountain of material that is published daily concerning various aspects of autism (and the other issues that interest me), but I also get a closer look at what the mountain really contains that pertains to me (and Zach). It works for me, but a lot is going on and keeping tabs on it requires a lot of reading. I suppose it is a coping strategy for me, however, sometimes I get too much information or read something that is pretty disturbing.

Today I read an article exposing what has become a scandal and debunking the link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Apparently the research was funded by a group of trial lawyers who wanted to make some bucks off the pharmaceutical companies (villains attacking other villains) and perpetrated by researchers who got rich from doing seriously flawed studies and then acting as expert witnesses based on those studies. Another article offered a thoughtful look at the link between environmental toxins and autism and proposed taking a more holistic approach to treating side effects like gut problems, which are common in autistics, to improve their ability to learn. This was about improving the effectiveness of traditional approaches, not something absurd like curing autism. A third article pointed out the need for a greater speech-language focus in autism programs. I read a very ho-hum article on disciplining autistics and a wonderful article on mirror neurons, which would seem to hold the key to understanding autism. I suspect that this area of research will yield more fruit than any other area of autism research that is currently being undertaken. I plan to write quite a bit more on this as I learn more – stay tuned.

The kick in the teeth came in the form of an article that was just published today. It suggests that it is very likely, given the paradigm followed by the researchers, that chelating autistic children, in a misguided attempt to cure their autism, is causing permanent and significant brain damage to these children - similar to that of lead poisoning. The parents and doctors who have done this will have to live with the knowledge of the harm they have done to these children. The follow-up research is apparently already in the works and will most likely culminate in primate studies. The only positive that will hopefully come out of this is that all of the doctors, who in their arrogance feel that they know best and thus don’t have time to wait for proper research to be conducted, and who have been chelating autistic kids (and worse), will be sued into bankruptcy, drummed out of practice, or better yet jailed (nope - no axe to grind here!).

The final article concerned the use of anti-psychotic drugs (Risperdal in particular) to treat behavior problems in autistic children, the thought of which is completely repulsive. The side effects of these medications are permanent as well, and include: fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats (occasionally heart failure), restless muscle movements in the eyes, tongue, jaw, or neck, tremor (uncontrolled shaking), trouble swallowing, light-headedness and fainting.

I have gotten into the habit of taking a few moments for prayer, both before and after my daily perusal of these materials. Not to do so seems unwise and ungrateful, for I have two bright, beautiful, healthy, wonderful children who are fine just the way they are, and for that I give great thanks.