| I am often surprised and upset when I hear that a rather serious
physical problem of an autistic child is dismissed as ‘just
another symptom of the disorder,’ when the problem should be
addressed directly. A commonly reported problem is insensitivity to
pain. Many, not all, autistic children lack perception to pain. They
may fall and then bruise or cut themselves quite seriously, but they
exhibit little or no reaction to the injury. I sometimes hear of an
autistic child who will place his/her hand on a hot stove, suffer
a severe burn, and show no reaction.
When this type of problem is discussed with a pediatrician or another
health care provider, in many cases, very little is done to determine
what may be happening. The remark commonly given is: “Autistic
individuals tend to have a high threshold for pain.” HOWEVER,
if this child did not have autism and exhibited insensitivity to
normal levels of pain, then this problem would likely be treated
as serious; and there would be much concern about treating the problem.
[Insensitivity to pain may be due to elevated levels of endorphins,
endogenous opiate-like substances, in the body. One possible source
of these endorphins may be from eating food items containing gluten
or casein. If the person has a ‘leaky gut’ (i.e., small
holes in the intestinal tract), these proteins may slip through
the holes and cause a chemical reaction. The chemical configuration
of gluten and casein is similar to endorphins.]
Another problem often seen in autistic individuals is chronic diarrhea.
Again, many autistic children suffer from this problem. Chronic
diarrhea is very uncomfortable, and the child may not be absorbing
all of the nutrients from his/her foods. This can affect brain development
and, consequently, cognitive processing and behavior. Again, many
health care providers simply state that chronic diarrhea is common
in autism; and this problem should not be of any concern. [This
problem may be due to some type of intestinal tract problem, such
as ‘leaky gut,’ yeast overgrowth, low levels of secretin,
some type of infection, presence of a virus and/or toxins, such
as metals.]
It is quite obvious from the research literature that many autistic
individuals have physical health problems. Some physicians are aware
of these problems, but many are not. In fact, it is usually the
parents who, through their perseverance, learn the best ways to
treat their children’s physical problems. Defeat Autism Now!
(DAN!), a coalition of clinicians and researchers sponsored by the
Autism Research Institute in San Diego, developed a report on understanding
and treating many physical symptoms associated with autism. The
report is entitled: ‘Biomedical Assessment Options for Children
with Autism and Related Problems.’ A copy of the protocol
can be purchased from the Autism Research Institute for $25 (address:
4182 Adams Ave., San Diego, CA 92116).
Author
Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of Autism, Salem, Oregon
Copyright Autism.org
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