The Ease people at Vision-Audio.com are coming out with iPod/iPad versions of the Ease sound therapy. You can checkout an early version of their lite, personal and professional version by searching on Electronic auditory stimulation effect. Here is information from their site. Sounds impressive. I downloaded the lite version for now and will blog about it at a later date.

The EASe app from Audioforge Labs and Vision-Play recreates the functionality of $10,000.00 hardware devices and in all parameters that we have measured, exceeds their performance. The EASe app even provides therapists setup parameters not found in hardware along with preset scenes to quickly get a therapist up and running helping patients.

 You can also download a free Ease CD Sampler and a cute Ease video game - children listen to the music while they play the game. It's a good motivator.Don't forget you need the good quality headphones. Free Ease Demo Game/CD.

Autism Genetics Vs Environment

Is autism genetic, environmental or both?

The evidence continues to provoke and confound. The consensus from a group of studies concluded in the past six months is "both". But it's not as simple as that. Let's break it apart.

There is the multiplex version of autism (parents have multiple children with autism) in which several genes  are affected. This is the inherited type of autism.

The simplex version (parents have a single child with autism) breaks down into three types (but stay tuned, this will explode into a multitude of types very soon). First there are some rare inheritable disorders such as Rhett's and Fragile-X. These make up 8% of the multiplex type. Next there is a genetic version which is typically caused by mutated genes from aging parents. This is not inherited, but is still genetic. This, too, accounts for only 8% of the simplex cases. What is left is a  whopping 80+% of cases are not related to genetics. We used to think that autism 90% was genetic. One researcher called this new finding, "humbling".

As we all learned in biology, the environment of the mother's womb is instrumental in a baby's development. Researchers are now looking at the second trimester of pregnancy as being the key time that disruptions in development may occur. And high on the list of what they are looking at is a disruption of RNA functionality. RNA decodes the DNA strands in the body. If RNA is not performing its jobs correctly, huge changes can occur in the development of the child.

And now we come back to the miracle "cures" achieved with food supplements, changes in diet, hyper-oxygenation, etc. Is there a problem in specific children with the specific RNA mechanisms that ultimately create the proteins needed for food digestion, toxin removal and oxygenation? What is it about these remedies that affects not just the gastric system (for example), but affects the child's ability to communicate and to interact socially?

We also come back to the question: "What is autism and what are it's causes?" Will we continue to define it as a collection of symptoms: lack of social interaction, delayed/disrupted communication skills, etc.? Or will we define it in medical terms by the mechanisms that cause it. Stay tuned!

NIMH. (2011, 6 28). Autism Spring. Retrieved 10 31, 2011, from National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2011/autism-spring.shtml

Lactase Enzyme Deficiency in Autism

A new study out of Harvard Medical School found that 58% of children with autism age 5 and younger are deficient in the lactase enzyme. Lactase is used to break down lactose in milk products.

The researchers found intestinal inflammation in 6% of the 199 patients. The report said, " Lactose inflammation or injury may contribute to abdominal discomfort, pain and observed aberrant behavior....most not identified by clinical history."

This number is higher (65%) in children over the age of 5. Boys are at 1.7 times greater risk than girls.

1.       Reference

          Kushak, R. I., Lauwers, G. Y., Winter, H. S., & Buie, T. M. (2011). Intestinal disaccharidase activity in patients with autism: Effect of age, gender and intestinal inflammation. Autism, 3: pp. 285-294.

More Genetics Vs Environment on Autism

Here are 4 recent studies showing a link from environmental factors including toxins to autism. Expect to see many, many more studies of this sort. Journal references are at the end of this posting.

1. Twin studies show that autism can be traced to both genetic and to environmental causes. (Hallmeyer, J., Cleveland, S., Torres, A. Phillips, J., Cohen, B., Torigoe, T., Miller, J., Fedele, A., Collins, J., Smith, K., Lotspeich, L., Croen, L., Ozonoff, S., Lajonchere, C., Grether, J., K., & Risch, N. (2011). Genetic heritability and shared environmental factors among twin pairs with autism. Arch Gen Psychiatry, published online July 4, 2011.)

2.  Women who are genetically at risk for foliate deficiency have a reduced risk for bearing a child with autism  if they take prenatal vitamins before and during pregnancy. (Schmidt, R. J., Hansen R. L., Hartiala J., Allayee H., Schmidt L. C., Tancredi D. J., Tassone F., Hertz-Picciotto I. (2011). Prenatal vitamins, one-carbon metabolism gene variants, and risk for autism. Epidemiology, 4,476-85.)

3. Women who take SSRIs before or during pregnancy (i.e. Proxac, Zolov, etc.) are at a 2% increased risk for bearing a child with autism.  (Croen, L. A., Grether, J. K., Yoshida, C. K., Odouli, R. & Hendrick, V. (2011). Antidepressant use during pregnancy and childhood autism spectrum disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 73, 1-9.)

4. I may have mentioned previously that toxins including heavy metals, PCBs and jet fuel products are showing up in bodies of pregnant women - who typically carefully watch their health. Those elements are most likely in all of us. (Woodruff TJ, Zota AR, & Schwartz JM. (2011). Environmental chemicals in pregnant women in the United States:  NHANES 2003-2004. Environmental Health Perspectives, 6, 878-85.)

Blue Light at Night

Blue light waves are emitted from TVs, computer screens and some light bulbs including some fluorescent and the high efficiency light bulbs. Turns out that blue light is alerting and more than that, it can limit or prevent melatonin production in the evening when we need melatonin for our sleep cycle. After seeing blue light, it can take up to 90 minutes for the alerting effects to subside and melatonin production to kick in. During this time, you may have a very antsy child happy as a clam, dancing on his bed.

This problem can be avoided by limiting TV and computer in the evening. A child who is very sensitive to light may also benefit from wearing blue-light glasses at night 1-3 hours before bedtime.  The glasses are orange and do not allow blue light waves to penetrate. There is evidence for the glasses working in adults. There is anecdotal evidence for children - but I haven't seen a formal study.

Another option is to install yellow light bulbs. They come in a variety of forms including the new energy-efficient cork-screw style bulbs, and can be purchased on-line. Stay posted - I'm going to buy one for the hallway outside my bedroom to see how well the yellow lights work in general.

Here is a web site to check out: LowBlueLights.com. They offer junior sizes of glasses and the yellow bulbs.

More Video Modeling

Mary Beth Palo began videotaping "everything" she wanted her son with autism to learn - turn the lights on and off, put on clothing, tie shoes, behavior for the grocery store, etc., etc. He watched the videos and learned how to do it all. He was tying shoes at age 5. His language increased. She helped him learn his ABA lessons using video taping, too. Child Net has a wonderful video of Ms. Palo describing her work with her son. Watch it here. This is great stuff!

When she realized how successful that could be, she created a combined ABA/video modeling program with the endorsement of James Partington, PhD, BCBA-D, a behavior analyst who developed the ABLLS-R model for assessing the skills of a child with autism. Both Ms. Palo and Dr. Partington market it on their websites. Go to her website:  WatchMeLearn.

ADHD Meds and Therapies Update

I have mixed feelings about meds. Here is a little about the pros and cons, and an update on therapies.

The teachers who want to see a child with ADHD takes meds are right when they say it will help keep him from falling behind in school. Once behind he may have a hard time catching up.

However, meds do not cure , they only help with attention, etc. for the hours after the child takes the pill. And the side effects can sometimes be difficult. There is a new med out called Intuniv that works in a different way, lasts 24 hours and appears to have fewer side effects. This is an option for parents to consider and discuss with their doctor.

A lot of the experts these days are suggesting that you try to not go the meds route until you have tried other things for 6-12 months. Here are things to try:

1. Neuro-feedback, which is expensive but has the best results record around.

2. Interactive Metronome (IM) - usually found in a pediatric occupational therapy setting. I sometimes mix IM with sound therapy and get good results - but you'd have to find an OT who knows how to do that.

3. Cognitive therapy in which a psychologist or social worker helps the child to see what his challenges are and offers some approaches to meeting them.

4. Self Management techniques in the classroom in which the child scores himself for staying attentive and then is rewarded at the end of the day if he succeeded 75% of the time. (To get this started, another adult scores with him so that he understands what is expected).

5. There are also programs that help with working memory (another problem for kids with ADHD) - I do not have personal experience with this, but evidence is good.

6. Nutritional help - some children have food sensitivities that mimic ADHD symptoms. The best way to find out is to eliminate a variety of common allergens - milk (cheese, yogurt and whey), wheat, soy (soy oil is everywhere), and corn (don't forget corn syrup) are the usual culprits. Do them one at a time for 2 weeks and be religious about it - reading the labels of everything. And forget about eating out while you are doing it unless the restaurant you are going to has an allergy menu.

By the way, new research shows that a daily vitamin with minerals is very helpful. So is a high protein breakfast. And if he is a picky eater or has poor bowel movements, a visit to a DAN doctor (austim) may help to correct gastric issues.

The children who do best with getting rid of ADHD symptoms are those who have done multiple therapies. Which means that the parent has to shell out for lots of pricey therapy. How a parent with limited means accomplishes that is to browse the book store books, settle on an approach and go from there - working step by step through the book. And then on to another one.