olga3...
Having spent 20+ years in the field of mental health, my first
thought, on hearing the behaviors you describe, was that these
might be early signs of autism. My immediate response to this
would be to suggest that you consult with your pediatrician
regarding what behaviors to expect at this stage of your child's
development, and that your pediatrician refer you to an expert
in infant behavioral development, and, perhaps, a neurologist.
Any information I can lead you to here will amount to speculation
until it is confirmed by a professional in the field of child
development.
That having been asserted, a Google search for:
autism symptoms infant
://www.google.com/search?q=autism+symptoms+infant
...produces the following information:
From Mental-Health-Matters.com - an article by
Derek Wood, RN, BSN, PhD Candidate, on 'What is Autism'
http://www.mental-health-matters.com/articles/dw001.php?artID=52
"Autistic children focus strongly on their task at hand.
To attempt to change their focus of play, for instance,
before they are ready to, can create an emotional crisis.
These same crises can occur with nearly any change, from
something as simple as adding new furniture to the house
to changing their daily routine. On the other hand, they
are highly distractible, and have difficulty paying
attention for periods of time. Both the crisis and
distractibility have a wide variety of behavioral effects.
Behaviorally, children with autism may display self-injurious
behavior, non-compliance, and aggression, over- and
under-reaction to stimuli and self-stimulation (often in
the form of repetitive movements). They may engage in
activities ranging from hand-flapping to repetitive sounds
to complex repetitive body maneuvers to biting, hitting or
scratching themselves. Much of this may be attributed to
their lack of ability to communicate their needs and
desires, as well as attempts at relieving possible
sensory issues."
Understand that he is speaking about children in general,
rather than infants, specifically. He later qualifies:
"Unless a person has a very clear picture of autism, there
is controversy regarding the diagnosis at the less severe
stages. The boundaries of autism as diagnosis are so vague
that its presence may be a matter of degree."
This, obviously, suggests caution in jumping to conclusions,
and while some of your infant's behaviors are suggestive of
the description above, this suggests the wisdom of continued
observation and consultation with authorities, rather than
panic based on assumptions.
Eileen McLaughlin, RN, BSN, notes, in an article on
Discovery Health.com:
http://health.discovery.com/diseasesandcond/encyclopedia/2800.html
"What are the causes and risks of the condition?"
"The causes of autism are not well known. Experts suspect
a genetic factor. What is known is that none of the
following can cause autism.
· bad parenting
· mental illness
· a child's naughty behavior"
"Psychological factors have also not been found to contribute
to autism."
"Some cases of autism have been associated with trauma,
disease, or structural abnormalities before or during
birth. These include:
· encephalitis or other serious infections affecting
the brain as an infant
· lack of oxygen during birth
· the mother having rubella, also called German measles,
while she was pregnant
· untreated phenylketonuria, a problem in the body's
ability to handle certain chemicals named phenylketones"
"What can be done to prevent the condition?"
"Since the cause of autism is not known, autism cannot
be prevented. Early recognition and treatment may decrease
the effects of autism."
"How is the condition diagnosed?"
"A team of healthcare providers should evaluate the person
with symptoms of autism. The team may include:
· a developmental physician
· a psychologist
· a neurologist
· a speech therapist
· a learning consultant"
"Diagnosis begins with a medical history and physical exam.
Further testing is then needed to identify other possible
causes of the symptoms. These may include blood tests,
cranial CT scans, cranial MRI scans, and
electroencephalograms (EEGs)."
"What are the long-term effects of the condition?"
"Long-term effects of autism depend on how severe the symptoms
are. Long-term effects also depend on how soon a person starts
treatment. The symptoms of autism may last a lifetime. But it
can often be improved with careful intervention and treatment."
"An individual with autism may develop seizure disorders and
depression."
"What are the risks to others?"
"Autism is not catching. It is not yet clear if some causes
of autism are genetic. Genetic counseling may be helpful
if a couple has a family history of autism."
"What are the treatments for the condition?"
"Treatment for autism first focuses on education. This
should be tailored to each person's specific needs and
symptoms. Some of the treatments include:
· audiovisual therapies, which provide structured cues
· behavioral therapy to help the person deal with his
or her environment
· dietary review
· "inclusion programs" to help the person adapt to the
outside world as much as possible
· medicines, including antipsychotic medicines
· music therapy
· physical therapy
· speech therapy
· providing a structured environment for the person"
On the website of Dr Joseph Mercola, author of the
'Optimal Wellness Center' newsletter, is an article
by Rosie Waterhouse, of the UK Times, who notes that
scientists suspect a link between a mercury compound,
thiomersal, used as a preservative in vaccines, and
symptoms similar to those of autism:
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jun/13/autism_mercury.htm
"Mercury in vaccines for babies and infants could be the
cause of a steep rise in cases of autism in children around
the world, according to a growing number of scientists."
"The increase in reports of autism in Britain, America and
some other countries coincides with a growth in the number
of inoculations given to young children, say the researchers."
"Many of the vaccines contain a preservative called thiomersal,
which is 49.6% mercury - a substance known to have neurotoxic
effects, especially in infants whose brains are still
developing."
"Symptoms are similar to those displayed by autistic children."
"Autism is a spectrum of disorders that range in severity from
bizarre, violent behavior to an inability to communicate or
interact socially, along with repetitive patterns of behavior."
"Estimates of the prevalence of the syndrome in Britain range
from 10 cases per 10,000 of the population with "classic"
autism, to 9.1 cases per 1,000 showing some signs of autistic
behavior."
"The National Autistic Society estimates that there are about
500,000 people with autism in Britain, 120,000 of them
children. According to one recent study, there has been a
tenfold increase among children between 1984 and 1994."
"The new possible explanation of the rise has emerged after
a two-month review of all the available information by The
Sunday Times. Several groups of academics and researchers
in America and Sweden are investigating similar theories
that a combination of factors is to blame."
"They include a genetic predisposition, the cumulative effects
of mercury in vaccines lowering the immune system, with the
controversial measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) triple vaccine
being a possible trigger."
"The US Institute of Medicine is so concerned that officials
have organized a two-day meeting in July to discuss the
"hypothesis" that thiomersal and mercury in vaccines are
linked to autism."
DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:
"Imagine that, giving a newborn baby a substance that is
highly toxic to the central nervous system."
"I have seen hundreds and hundreds of autistic children
and have reached the conclusion that many, certainly not
all, had the root cause of their illness the hepatitis B
vaccine they were given on their first day of breathing air."
"The central nervous system of a newborn infant is particularly
susceptible to toxic influences. This is one of the reasons
why the hepatitis B vaccine is such a problem. If it were
given later in life, like many other countries do, it would
not be as much of a problem."
"This is especially tragic as there is virtually no legitimate
indication to give this vaccine at birth. The only infants
that may benefit are those born to women infected with
hepatitis B."
Another page on Dr. Mercola's site which discusses the possible
relation between autism and mercury is located here:
http://www.mercola.com/2001/feb/24/autism_mercury.htm
In summary, I would repeat the consideration that all this
is speculation until conclusive testing has been done, and
a diagnosis has been made by qualified professionals.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
Searches done, via Google:
autism symptoms infant
://www.google.com/search?q=autism+symptoms+infant |
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
14 Feb 2003 20:35 PST
olga3...
I now have a better understanding of your situation. Please be
assured that your concern is very common among parents of those
with a mental illness, and that their first thought is to believe
they could have prevented it had they known earlier. In the case
of an illness which manifests with the symptoms you described, at
such an early age, prevention is simply not possible. Rather the
symptoms are indicative of abnormal brain chemistry and activity,
with a stong genetic predisposition and biological components.
It would be like trying to prevent the onset of osteoporosis in
an older person who has a strong genetic tendency for this
condition. While earlier diagnosis, medication and diet can
ameliorate the condition, absolute prevention isn't possible.
The same is true with mental disorders, most of which are
neurobiological in origin, with genetics playing a large role.
While autism is the most common diagnosis given to children
with attachment disorders and overreactions to changes in
routine and environment, there is a broader classification
which pertains:
From AdoptionWorld.org:
---------------------------------
PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
"The disorders in this subclass are characterized by qualitative
impairment in the development of reciprocal social interaction,
in the development of verbal and nonverbal communication skills,
and in imaginative activity. Often there is a markedly restricted
repertoire of activities and interests, which frequently are
stereotyped and repetitive. The severity and expression of these
impairments vary greatly from child to child."
"These disorders frequently are associated with a variety of other
conditions. Distortions or delays in development are common in
the following areas; intellectual skills, as measured by standardized
intelligence tests (in most cases there is an associated diagnosis
of Mental Retardation); comprehension of meaning in language and
the production of speech (in addition to problems in the social
use of speech for reciprocal communication); posture and movements;
patterns of eating, drinking, or sleeping; and responses to sensory
input.
Various diagnostic terms, including Atypical Development, Symbiotic
Psychosis, Childhood Psychosis, Childhood Schizophrenia, and others,
have been used to describe these disorders in the past. However,
clinical descriptions have typically over-lapped; and apart from
Autistic Disorder, no generally recognized subtypes have yet emerged.
Though some early investigators suggested that these disorders were
continuous with adult psychoses (e.g., Schizophrenia), substantial
research suggests that they are unrelated to the adult psychoses.
For that reason, and the difficulties of assessing psychosis in
childhood, the term psychosis has not been used here to label this
group of disorders: Pervasive Developmental Disorders is used because
it describes most accurately the core clinical disturbance in which
many basic areas of psychological development are affected at the
same time and to an even degree.
This classification recognizes only one subgroup of the general
category Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Autistic Disorder,
also known as Infatile Autism and Kanner's syndrome. The evidence
suggests, however, that this disorder is merely the most severe
and prototypical form of the general category Pervasive Developmental
Disorders. Cases that meet the general description of a Pervasive
Developmental Disorder but not the specific criteria for Autistic
Disorder are diagnosed as Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not
Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS). Whereas in clinical settings Autistic
Disorder is more commonly seen than PDDNOS, studies in England and
the United States, using criteria similar to those in this manual,
suggest that PDDNOS is more common than Autistic Disorder in the
general population."
"Qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction."
"This impairment is characterized by failure to develop interpersonal
relationships and by lack of responsiveness to, or interest in,
people. In infancy these deficiencies may be manifested by a failure
to cuddle, by lack of eye contact and facial responsiveness, and by
indifference or aversion to affection and physical contact. As a
result, parents often suspect that the child is deaf (not realizing
that deafness, by itself, is rarely associated with extreme social
indifference). Adults may be treated as interchangeable, or the
child may cling mechanically to a specific person. The attachment
of some toddlers to their parent(s) may be bizarre, e.g., a child
may seem to recognize his mother primarily on the basis of smell.
In some cases the disorder apparently follows a period of normal,
or relatively normal, social development in the first years of
life; but even in early childhood, there is invariably failure to
develop cooperative play, imaginative play, and friendships. As
the child grows older, however, greater awareness of, and social
interest in, others may develop. Some of the least handicapped
may eventually reach a stage in which they can become passively
involved in other children's games or physical play, or include
other children as "mechanical aids" in their own stereotyped
activities."
"Impairment in communication and imaginative activity."
"Impairment in communication includes both verbal and nonverbal
skills. Language may be totally absent. When it develops, it is
often characterized by: immature but essentially normal grammatical
structure; delayed or immediate echolalia; pronoun reversals
(e.g., use of "you" when -i- is intended); inability to name
objects; inability to use abstract terms; idiosyncratic utterances
whose meaning is clear only to those who are familiar with the
child's past experiences (termed metaphorical language by Kanner);
and abnormal speech melody, such as questionlike rises at ends of
statements or monotonous tone of voice. Nonverbal communication,
e.g., facial expression and gesture, is absent or minimal or, if
present, is socially inappropriate in form.
Even when there are no gross abnormalities in language skills,
communication is often impaired by circumstantially and
irrelevancies. A disturbance in the comprehension of language
may be evidenced by an inability to understand jokes, puns,
and sarcasm."
"Impairment in imaginative activity may include absence symbolic
or fantasy play with toys or absence of playacting of adult roles,
or imaginative activity may be restricted in content and repetitive
and stereotyped in form. This is in marked contrast to the varied
content of normal "pretend" play. For example, a child with the
disorder may insist on lining up an exact number of playthings in
the same manner over and over again, or repetitively mimic the
actions of a television character."
"Markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests."
"This restriction may take various forms. In the younger child
there may be resistance or even catastrophic reactions to minor
changes in the environment, e.g., the child may scream when his
or her place at the dinner table is changed. There is often
attachment to objects such as a string or rubber band. Motor
stereotypes include hand-clapping, peculiar hand movements,
rocking, and dipping and swaying movements of the whole body.
In the older child there may be an insistence on following
routines in a precise way, e.g., taking the same route to a
favorite restaurant. There may be fascination with movement,
such as passively staring at an electric fan or other rapidly
revolving object. The child himself may be skillful at making
all kinds of objects spin, so that he can watch them, or may
spin himself around. The child may be exclusively interested
in buttons, parts of the body, or playing with water."
Verbal stereotypes include repetition of words or phrases
regardless of meaning. In older children, tasks involving
long-term memory, for example, recall of the exact words of
songs heard years before, train timetables, historical dates,
or chemical formulae, may be excellent, but the information
tends to be repeated over and over again, regardless of the
social context and the appropriateness of the information."
and...
"Age at onset. Onset is reported by parents to be before age
three in the great majority of cases. Very few cases are
reported with an onset after five or six."
and...
"In Schizoid and Schizotypal Personality Disorders there are
deficits in interpersonal relatedness. The diagnosis of Autistic
Disorder preempts the diagnosis of these personality disorders.
However, these personality disorders preempt the diagnosis of
Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified."
There's much more, here:
http://adoptionworld.org/awi/corp/sn/snpage2.htm
---------------------------------
While you couldn't have avoided your daughter's current diagnosis,
you can address the stress and concerns that parents and family
members typically experience as caregivers for the afflicted.
NAMI, or the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, provides
substantial resources in assisting those with mental illness
and their families with support, advocacy, education and research
to address the many stressors and issues (such as the stigmatization
of the mentally ill) which can and do arise. I would encourage you
to avail yourself of the benefits of a support group in which
parents like yourself express and resolve some of the very questions
and concerns you are asking here. Their homepage is here:
http://www.nami.org/
If I can assist you with further clarification, please don't hesitate
to ask, prior to rating this answer.
sublime1-ga
Searches done, via Google:
"personality disorder" "attachment to objects"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22personality+disorder%22+%22attachment+to+objects%22
NAMI
://www.google.com/search?q=NAMI
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
08 Mar 2003 11:19 PST
olga3...
For the sake of clarity, I will use quotes. In your most recent
Request for Clarification, you state:
"I sent a clarification to the below question as I felt my original
request was not clear enough, I heard nothing in regard to my
clarification...and hope the responder to my question, can still now
elaborate on the answer with the clarification I sent. Please let me
hear from you...as to whether or not you recived my clarification and
if so, why then did I not receive reply to it."
(You included your email address, which is unnecessary, since I can
still respond here. Additionally, it is against the Terms of Service
for researchers to have personal contact with customers via email.
Also, it is unwise to publish your email address in a public forum
such as this one.)
The only Request for Clarification, prior to the recent one, above,
is this one:
Request for Answer Clarification by olga3-ga on 14 Feb 2003 18:15 PST
...in which you asked:
"I wonder if the attachment to objects rather than people, could have
foretold that. If so, I also wonder if tests were done at that time,
if we could have avoided this serious personality disorder?"
My response is just beneath that, labelled:
Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 14 Feb 2003 20:35 PST
...which begins:
"I now have a better understanding of your situation. Please be
assured that your concern is very common among parents of those
with a mental illness, and that their first thought is to believe
they could have prevented it had they known earlier. In the case
of an illness which manifests with the symptoms you described, at
such an early age, prevention is simply not possible. Rather the
symptoms are indicative of abnormal brain chemistry and activity,
with a stong genetic predisposition and biological components."
To paraphrase this, preventing your daughter's condition would
have amounted to trying to prevent her from having an inheritable
condition such as eye color. It simply isn't possible, since it's
encoded in her genetic makeup.
Please read this clarification in its entirety, and if you do not
recognize the answer to the question in your request for
clarification dated 14 Feb 2003 18:15 PST, let me know, and I
will attempt to rephrase it.
sublime1-ga
|
