According to new research lead by the director of the Autism Research Program at Kaiser Permanente, use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) by pregnant women may increase the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their offspring, new research suggests.
A synopsis by Medscape.com reports that the study involved more than 1800 children and found an adjusted 2-fold increased risk for ASD among mothers who used an SSRI during the year before delivery and a 3-fold increased risk when SSRIs were ingested during the first trimester.
SSRIs ease depression by affecting chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) used to communicate between brain cells. Most antidepressants work by changing the levels of one or more of these naturally occurring brain chemicals.
The Mayo Clinic also states that the SSRIs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat depression, with their generic names followed by brand names in parentheses, include:
Citalopram (Celexa)
Escitalopram (Lexapro)
Fluoxetine (Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Sarafem)
Paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR, Pexeva)
Sertraline (Zoloft)
Fluoxetine combined with the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine (Symbyax)
What is Autism?
For parents with children suffering from autism this may seem like a silly question. However, given much of the misconceptions and stereotypes about autism, its important to give a cliff notes version for our readers.
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The other pervasive developmental disorders are PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Autismspeaks.org goes on to describe the symptoms of autism as follows:
Autism affects the way a child perceives the world and makes communication and social interaction difficult. The child may also have repetitive behaviors or intense interests. Symptoms, and their severity, are different for each of the affected areas – Communication, Social Interaction, and Repetitive Behaviors. A child may not have the same symptoms and may seem very different from another child with the same diagnosis. It is sometimes said, that if you know one person with autism; you know one person with autism.
The symptoms of autism typically last throughout a person’s lifetime. A mildly affected person might seem merely quirky and lead a typical life. A severely affected person might be unable to speak or care for himself. Early intervention can make extraordinary differences in a child’s development. How a child is functioning now may be very different from how he or she will function later on in life.
Why is this Important?
In our advanced medical society we typically are able to give a cause and effect diagnosis of most medical conditions through a differential diagnosis and/or diagnostic testing. Sadly, parents of children with autism rarely have been given a definitive cause/effect relationship.
According to the study, autism cases have increased from 4 to 5 per 10,000 in 1966 to almost 100 per 10,000 today.
“While at least some of this observed increase in prevalence can be attributed to changing diagnostic standards, availability of services, and greater public awareness, there is considerable scientific and public concern about environmental factors that may contribute to autism risk, most likely in interaction with genetic factors,” write the investigators per the medscape.com article.
So while the research into autism and the apparent casual link between SSRIs is still in its infant stages, its important for the families and women who become pregnant to know this potential risk.
Autism Speaks offers a straightforward definition of Autism as “a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges.”
Although each individual exhibits varying forms of Autism (hence the “spectrum” of Autistic diagnoses), some groups of symptoms and behaviors are commonly associated with the disease. Catherine Lord, Director of the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center, offers the following answers about Autism Spectrum diagnoses: ASDs are defined by difficulty in three areas of behaviors: 1) reciprocal social interaction, 2) communication and 3) repetition and insistence on sameness. Exactly how an individual is impacted across these three areas varies greatly. There is no one behavior that is present in all individuals with ASDs or that would rule out ASDs in every person. Many, but not all, individuals with ASD have language delays. Some individuals with ASD, but not all, have lifelong language disorders. Some, but not all, individuals with ASD also have mental retardation that affects development of nonverbal problem-solving, everyday self-care (e.g., dressing; academics) and language. Within the category of Autism Spectrum Disorder (sometimes known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders or PDD), there are a number of subtypes that are associated with different levels of severity in different areas. Autism is the disorder that has received the most study and has been recognized for the longest time. It is defined by the presence of difficulties in each of the three areas listed above (social deficits, communication problems and repetitive or restricted behaviors), with onset in at least one area by age 3 years. It may or may not be associated with language delays or mental retardation. Asperger Syndrome is a form of ASD that is often identified later (e.g., after age 3, usually after age 5) and is associated with the social symptoms of autism and some repetitive interests or behaviors, but not with language delay or mental retardation. Many parents and professionals use this term with older and/or more verbally fluent individuals with autism because they feel it is less stigmatizing. Rett Syndrome and Child Disintegrative Disorder are both very rare, severe forms of ASD that have particular patterns of onset, and, in the case of Rett Syndrome, a specific genetic basis. Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is a form of ASD used to describe individuals who meet criteria for autism in terms of social difficulties but not in both communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors. It can also be used for children who do not have clearly defined difficulties under age 3 or later. This term is often used by professionals when they are not quite sure of a diagnosis or when the symptoms are mild. Several epidemiological studies have reported that as many or more children have PDD-NOS or less clear symptoms as have classic autism. The difficulties of children and adults with Asperger Syndrome or PDD-NOS are similar, and milder than those of individuals with autism, suggesting that these distinctions are fairly arbitrary and should not be used to limit services or benefits.
About Finn Mari D. is a beginning Yoga student at the studio where I teach and work as the studio assistant. I received a phone call from her asking about private Yoga classes for her son, Finn, who had been diagnosed years earlier with PDD. Later, I received a book, beautifully and lovingly created for teachers and caregivers, all about Finn and his situation, his development, diagnosis, and likes and dislikes. In speaking further with Mari, she shared that the family had moved to Seattle from Houston in order for Finn to participate in therapeutic programs offered in this area that they could not find in Houston.
I was inspired by his parents’ dedication to giving Finn every opportunity to thrive and develop into the bright and lovely boy he naturally is.
Mari had heard that Yoga was an appropriate therapy for ASD. The sole text I was able to locate on Yoga and ASD is an inspiring book about the journey of Yoga practicing mother and her son who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, Yoga for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents and Caregivers by Dion E. Betts and Stacey W. Betts.
The Betts explain about Yoga and ASDs in the introduction to their book: The physical symptoms of ASDs, while seemingly slight, may drastically impair wellbeing and health. These children need an appropriate and enjoyable physical program. The practice of yoga assists individuals with both strength and balance. The poses improve strength in the large muscles of the body and may increase the tone of the muscles. Yoga poses may also help to improve balance by helping your child become aware of the placement of his or her legs and feet in relations to the rest of the body. The resulting muscle strength and balance control may improve coordination. When the poses are practiced consistently, your child will feel more comfortable in his or her body, which can carry over into other areas of their life.
Another prevalent feature of children with ASDs is that they have many sensory issues. For example, they are often extremely sensitive to bright lights. These children also cannot tolerate loud noise. The taste, texture, and smell of food may present a problem to them . . . Some children, when presented with such stimuli, become upset and agitated. This behavior may cause your child’s peers to view him or her as different. These behaviors may lead to social isolation and feelings of loneliness.
Yoga may address and decrease these sensory problems in several ways. First, the physical practice of yoga soothes the nervous system. Yoga provides poses of flowing movements that allow energy to be released from the body. As your child goes through the movements of the yoga program, his or her body will become soothed and anxiety will lessen. By practicing poses, an over burdened sensory system is calmed and quieted. Moreover, the physical poses offer a non-competitive physical activity that releases pent-up energy. By practicing yoga, your child will have a respite from his or her usual experience of a sensory overloaded body.
Practicing yoga may help a child feel more at peace with his or her body. Once your child is calmer and more focused, he or she may be able to concentrate better on learning social skills.
Autism Speaks’ New York Celebrity Golf Challenge celebrated its ten year anniversary with an exciting day of golf at the prestigious Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY on Monday, June 16, 2008. The tenth anniversary event raised over million dollars for Autism Speaks with celebrities from the worlds of sports, entertainment and media participating. The day included both a morning and afternoon shotgun start at Winged Foot’s challenging East and West courses as golfers enjoyed the rare chance to golf at the home of the 2006 US Open. This year’s celebrity players and attendees included season five “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks; Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker; “Late Show with David Letterman” announcer Alan Kalter; “The NFL on CBS” play-by-play announcer Don Criqui; NBA Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich; actress Gloria Reuben; actor Greg Bello; former NFL player Howard Cross; “Banfield and Ford: Courtside” co-anchor Jack Ford; former NFL player Jeremy Lincoln; NY1′s “The Call” anchor John Schiumo; former NBA players John Starks and Kerry Kittles; Fox 5 meteorologist Nick Gregory; “Beat the Bogeyman” creator Dr. Travis Fox; ESPN anchor Trey Wingo; Managing Editor of CNBC Business News Tyler Mathisen; former NHL player and current NY Islanders assistant coach Dan Lacroix; CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-anchor Joe Kernan; and Fox 5 sports reporter Duke Castiglione. The golf tournament included several course contests as well as a celebrity putting contest …
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Autism Speaks is an organization founded by grandparents of an autistic child. They provide information, support and endeavor to increase awareness of autism spectral disorders. Since 2005 they have helped thousands of parents, researchers and increased awareness in the general public through their website, autismspeaks.org.
If you listen to or read the news, you know that there is a popular belief that childhood immunizations can cause autism. Some are so convinced this is true that they refuse to have their children vaccinated. The actual culprit is believed to be Thimerosal, a preservative widely used in the preparation of vaccines. Companies that manufacture vaccines have been strongly encouraged to stop using or greatly reduce the amount of Thimerosal. If you are concerned a particular vaccine may contain Thimerosal, ask your doctor.
As you develop your relationship with your child, you will both develop coping mechanisms. While yours might be to take a deep breath after encountering a stressful situation, your child’s might be a sudden destructive temper tantrum. Understanding that your son or daughter does not necessarily have the ability to process a situation the same way you do is very important. Again, patience will help you work with your child to develop appropriate coping mechanisms. It is well documented that people with autism need routines to cope. Develop a specific routine to deal with triggers.
Inability to properly perform joint attention (This is a condition wherein the usage of nonverbal cues or gestures calls another person’s attention towards a particular stimulus. Autistic children do not have this capacity. It is common for them to look at the finger that points the object instead of look at the object that is being pointed-at. They also lack the ability to point at objects.);
Special attention should be given in understanding the function of a problem behavior and the indicators for each function since an autism behavior plan is partially established on these functions. Below are some of the widely accepted indicators of each function:
Avoid the recurrence of challenging behaviors. There are several strategies to prevent misbehaviors from occurring, two are widely used. First is the reinforcement of positive behaviors by rewarding it whenever it happens. And second is the reduction of the rates of negative behaviors.
They also have lessened ability to understand social communication, conventions, and social understanding; they also score poorly in tests of identifying faces as well as recognition of emotions. They, however, have the capacity to become attached to their primary caregivers and develop bonds with a small number of friends. For them, quality counts more than quantity.
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How is bilateral coordination important in Autism? A major attribute that places us humans apart from many other animals is our ability to use tools – our manual dexterity, our bilateral coordination. Along with primates, we have an opposing thumb and separate digits that allow us a greater range of grasp and manipulation of objects in our environment.
We pay a great deal of attention to our baby’s developing gross motor skills e.g. crawling, walking, climbing and running. They are our way markers, our important milestones.
We pay much less attention to how our babies learn to use and coordinate their hands, their hand-eye co-ordination and the complex development of fine motor skills.
Achieving bilateral coordination (the competent use of both hands together) and fine motor skills is another major milestone in child development, without which we cannot fully master complex physical tasks, including the use of cutlery, dressing, drawing, handwriting and using scissors. Nor can we experience fully all the sensory information available to us.
Have you noticed how many children on the autistic spectrum perform tasks with only one hand? Check out the many videos of autistic children on Youtube and those on the Autism Speaks Video Glossary. Compare the dexterity of the 12 month old neuro-typical child with the much older ‘red flags for ASD’ children.
Why is no one concerned by this glaringly obvious developmental marker?
It is hardly surprising these children show limited interests, and repetitive movements. They do not yet have the physical skills to interact with objects, and explore their environment, irrespective of their lack of interaction with people.
Can we say for definite that the typical autism trait of lining up of cars and objects is not imaginative play, mimicking sitting in traffic on the way to the mall for example? Do we also know categorically that the child is not testing and honing his hand-eye co-ordination and spatial awareness in this lining up activity … or that he is not developing his geometric and numerical abilities? Children on this spectrum are known to enjoy intricate patterns!
He knows he is successful in lining up objects, or building towers from large blocks – and toddlers like to be successful. I would say that most babies are not great risk takers, until they know they have minimised the risk. Success is usually spurred on by receiving external reward and praise from parents, siblings or carers. Sadly the baby or toddler with autism cannot readily access that either.
Young babies tend to use the hand that is most convenient at the time. If an object is placed near their right hand, they will reach with that one, but if it is nearer their left hand, they are likely to reach with their left. By about 18 months, most babies begin to show a hand preference (about 90% of the time, it is for their right hands) and by their third birthdays, almost all children can be described as either right or left handed.
Difficulties with gross and fine motor skills, awkward gait, avoidance of PE and sports are all relevant to autism. Dyspraxia, or motor planning has been co-morbid with autism as far back as I can remember, To find out about how and when babies develop bilateral coordination, and to understand why helping your child to improve coordinated use of both hands will impact significantly on your child’s autism visit:Autism Toddler Program.
Raising a child with autism is not an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of courage, patience and love. When a parent first finds out that their son or daughter has autism, there is a feeling of loss and a mourning period. We all want our child to be the best they can be, but when you hear those words, even the most optimistic people have to face an uphill battle. Having an autistic child means that there is going to be a lot of unknown. Parents have no idea how their child will turn out. This can be a scary thing and drives many parents into denial and does not allow them to do the things they need to do in order to achieve success.
When a child is diagnosed parents need to jump in with both feet and find out the best way to help their child. As much of their focus as possible needs to be on where to begin and how to effectively and affordably do it. Unlike in the past, there are a number of resources that help a parent get started. These include Autism Speaks, TACA and the Autism Society of America. One of the first keys in getting your child help is to act fast, and do not wait for others to tell you what to do.
Make sure you and your partner are on the same page. There is nothing worse than having a house divided. Both parents need to be focused on the common goal and form a united front to do everything possible to help their child. It is easy to point fingers and blame the other person when you are in crisis, but you have to move past that and get things done.
Beginning the search for therapy providers and doctors who can help can be a daunting task, but it has to be done and done quickly. Many children with autism have other issues outside of autism, and it is imperative to have a pediatrician who is on your side and will listen to you. A large number of families take their children to DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors to test for allergies, deficiencies as well as a host of other things. Locating a therapist is easy for parents who live in cities and suburbs. For those who live in rural areas, locating a therapist for every issue can be a challenge, especially qualified ABA therapists. Families may have to drive a distance in order to find a therapist. Once those have been located, it is recommended that the parent interviews each therapist to make sure both parties are working toward a common goal.
Once a therapist is located it is now time to figure out how to pay for the therapy. As parents of children with autism, we face the fact that in the majority of states in the US, there is no insurance coverage for children with autism. This reality smacks a parent in the face soon after they begin the process of looking for therapists. Most insurance companies will cover 10-30 visits for OT, PT or SLP. There is virtually no help in covering Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), TEACH or Floor Time services. Families must focus then on paying out of pocket or finding alternative methods of providing therapy.
After a therapist is located and schedules are set up, parents must now figure out how to make the most out of each session. It is imperative that a family member or friend sit in on each therapy session. This does two things. First is allows a parent to learn everything that the therapist is doing. When the therapist leaves after an hour or two the parent can now take over and continue to work with their child on the skills learned that day. Having a parent or family friend constantly work with their child will provide the child with a better chance of reaching their Maximum Potential.
Having a child with autism is not an easy thing. It can be both extremely frustrating and rewarding at the same time. Parents who are proactive in doing their research and finding the help that their child needs typically see better results. Sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it, will only result in frustration. Parents need to think out side the box and develop a plan on how to best help their child with the resources they have. Learning skills in ABA or other therapies can only make a parents life easier and give their child the best opportunity for success.
PGA and Autism Speaks Tee Up to Raise Awareness In honor of Autism Awareness Month, the PGA recently collaborated with Autism Speaks on a public service announcement (PSA) that debuted on the Golf Channel and CBS during the 2008 Verizon Heritage on Hilton Head Island, SC. The PSA features a heartfelt autism awareness message from Liezl Els, wife of pro-golfer Ernie Els. The Els’ 5-year-old son Ben has been diagnosed with autism. Ernie Els first announced his partnership with Autism Speaks and his mission to raise awareness about autism during the PODS Championship in Tampa Bay, FL in March. Ernie Els and fellow pro-golfer Cliff Kresge, who also has a child with autism, wrote a personal message that was placed in every player’s locker at the Verizon Heritage tournament, encouraging them to wear the Autism Speaks puzzle piece pins to show their support. Els will continue to raise awareness throughout the season by sporting the Autism Speaks logo on his golf bag. Click here to view the PSA and PGAtour.com videos and here to read more Video Rating: 0 / 5
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