Seattle Child Therapy – Thriving Child Blog

A is for Autism

I recently attended a two week intensive training at the University of Washington about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), including Autism and Asperger’s. It was an informative couple of weeks packed full of research and interventions. It filled me with hope that a lot has been learned and studied about how to work with children with Autism to improve the social and communication deficits and that we are moving closer to figuring out what is causing ASD. But it was also bittersweet in feeling that there are still so many unanswered questions in the range of issues from causation, medication, alternative treatment, sleep issues, sensory impairment, etc. I have deep compassion for the children and families who have been impacted by these disorders.

A couple of interesting things I learned:

Many studies have shown that 80% of infants that end up being diagnosed with an ASD had above average head growth – meaning the circumference of their head grew faster than typical developing infants. Typically they end up with an average size head, but it is the rate at which is grows – and the rate at which the brain is growing – that seems to be related to ASD and may even prove to be a predictor.

Researchers think there is a genetic component with an environmental trigger. One speaker, Sam Zinner, M.D. from gave the great analogy of the disorder Phenylkeonuria (PKU). It is a genetic disorder in which the body is unable to process a specific amino acid, which is in specific foods such as dairy products. So if a child with PKU is given milk, they can develop mental retardation. Zinner says Autism could have such an origin too – where there is the genetic component, and then something in the environment is triggering a process in the body that is creating the neurological abnormalities and deficits. It also shows how important figuring out the genetic element is- once we know the origin, it can be avoided. Just like we can now test for PKU, and a child/adult can avoid certain foods and be healthy and never develop mental retardation (or intellectual disabilities).

A few resources…

• The University of Washington Autism Center is a tremendous resource for families in the Seattle area dealing with autism, though unfortunately they often have a waiting list of many months.

• FEAT - Families for Effective Autism Treatment

• UC Davis International Autism Conference - check out the abstracts of the presenters to see the research that is being done in the field of Autism

• Sibling Support Project – an organization that works to support siblings of children with disabilities, with activities and support groups around the nation. They have multiple workshops in the Seattle area, including Children’s Hospital for sibs ages 6-13.