Discussing Autism

I’ve linked to two very informative sites here…you don’t have to go anywhere to get your information. Just read ahead.

First thing to know is that checking your child for lead exposure is relatively easy: it is a simple blood test that your pediatrician, family doctor or public health department can quickly do. There is no safe level of lead in blood. But unless your kid has been gnawing on Thomas every night for a few hours before bedtime, you might consider that the Environmental Protection Agency has found that paint that is in good condition but contains lead is usually not a hazard.

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Got Lead?
Approximately 1.5 Million RC2 Corp. Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Toys are being recalled due to lead poisoning. The Corporation, located in Oak Brook, Il., voluntarily recalled wooden vehicles, buildings and other train set components for young children listed in the chart below. The front of the packaging has the logo “Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway” on the upper left-hand corner. A manufacturing code may be located on the bottom of the product or inside the battery cover. Toys marked with codes containing “WJ” or “AZ” are not included in this recall.

As of June 13, retailers were instructed to pull the toys from the shelves and consumers were asked to take away the recalled toys and contact RC2 for a replacement toy.

Yesterday the Chicago Tribune reported that

“A spot check of more than 100 retailers by state investigators showed that the toys still were on sale in a handful of stores and that numerous other stores had failed to post recall notices, the Illinois attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.

Further, the investigators turned up packages of the toys that at first glance appeared not to be included in the recall but on closer examination were found to have a second wooden toy train piece inside that is part of the recall. Company officials later told state authorities that some toys subject to recall may be packaged with toys not covered by the recall.

As a result, the attorney general’s office said the scope of the wooden train recall could be much larger than originally thought and that its investigators likely will conduct another statewide sweep to check whether those train sets are being pulled from store shelves.”

According to Maurice Possley of the Chicago Tribune, Senators Dick Durbin and Amy Klobuchar are now digging into this issue. and bloggers like Growing your Baby recommend putting ALL of your Thomas Collection away until this issue is resolved (and MommyDocs agrees).

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D) on Thursday demanded answers to lots of questions posed to both the Oak Brook-based distributor of Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys and the Consumer Product Safety Commission related to the national recall of 1.5 million of the lead-painted toys.

“Given the clarity of the statute, regulation and standards it is hard for me to understand how these products were allowed to enter into commerce,” the senators said in a letter to Curtis W. Stoelting, RC2 Corp.’s chief executive.

On a positive note, Senator Barack Obama first introduced the Lead Free Toys Act in November 2005. It requires “the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify any children’s product containing lead as a banned substance under the Hazardous Substances Act.”

Illinois, where Obama is Senator, has the highest lead poisoning rate in the country (perhaps why the Chicago Tribune is so focused on this story) passed the first state-level preventative lead legislation last summer. This particular law bans children’s products containing lead in more that 600 parts per million.

Obama, D-Ill., did not specify a parts-per-million limit in his original lead free bill. His new legislation will ban any product aimed at children younger than 6 containing more than “trace amounts” of lead.

Lead poisoning in children can cause maladies ranging from hearing and behavioral problems to kidney damage.

For more on the recall visit National Public Radio and keep updated on the Chicago Tribune. And for a video…go here.

Replacement Trains
I am currently offering several replacement offers. I know that my son can’t live without his Thomas, and many of your children may have a difficult time as well. So, purchase a new train through this site (through Amazon or KB Toys) and I will donate 10 cents on every dollar (you all spend) to Autism Speaks. This offer will be good the entire month of July.

Its easy…Just click on these links and purchase your replacement trains here. You can even order more if you are ordering for birthdays or Christmas (I tend to order more if there are sales or free shipping…or Donations…hint, hint). Everything will trace right back to this site!

Word Press, Technorati, Tank, thomas, toxic, train, lead, illinois, chicago, tribune, RC2 Corp, Thomas and friends, james, Recall, Replacement, Sen. Barack Obama, Attorney General, Amazon, KB Toys, Fundraiser, Donation, Autism Speaks, NPR, Lead Poisoning, Tags

I wish I could cure my son (and we still don’t even know if he has autism), as do most parents who have autistic children (or so I think). Wouldn’t every parent WANT to cure their child?

But, supernatural powers take it a little too far, don’t you think? I love the 4400 and have since the very first episode. They have had some unbelievable topics before and its made for incredible entertainment. However, this Autism issue took it to another level. Autism is a far too emotional topic to treat nonchalantly…like “glamorized, science-fictionalized publicity when as parents, we are daily fighting for informed and educated advocacy and publicity. This is not the kind of publicity I’d have chosen. And although I’m not against finding a cure, I’m currently more interested in the day-to-day challenges of raising an ASD child”.

Watch the Writers explain why they chose to heal an autistic boy here in the “Fear Itself” episode at USA. The 4400 airs Sundays on USA at 9/8 c

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My Masters Degree is in Reading and Language Arts with a specialty in Young Adult Literature. (okay the Lit. does not really apply here but the Masters Degree does…) Our Freebie and Friday Fun (education) today is Word Cards.

When teaching struggling young readers to learn to read one of the best ways is to create what is called a Word Wall. Many teachers do this but the best reinforcement and enrichment for emerging readers is from home and parents can create fun and easy word walls with both sight words and lesson or activity words that correlate with the classroom.

Use these word cards to create word walls within your home and assist your child in his/her reading fluency.

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Alphabet Soup Quiz:

Hee Hee

Out of 41 votes…the winner is…
Congrats!
I have several pairs of Pickel’s Pearls for you to chose from.

If there is something you want designed just let me know!

Head to Adoption.com to learn more about how scientists reversed Autism Symptoms in mice. Huh????

What Causes Autism? (from http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook/health_autism2.html)

A great deal has been learned about the etiology of autism in recent years. The physiological abnormalities that occur in autism appear in most cases to be due to a combination of genetic propensity and environmental insult.

The theory that best accounts for most of the abnormalities in autism is that of methylation dysfunction, however many other biochemical abnormalities have been found in increased frequency in autistic individuals, and a number of these will be discussed in this chapter.

The Genetic Propensity
What Is Methylation Dysfunction?

1. Methylation dysfunction: In February 2000 William Walsh, Ph.D. of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center discovered that “most autistic patients exhibit evidence of diminished metallothionein (MT) activity and (that)…many of the classic features of autism can be explained by a compromised metallothionein system.”

The metallothionein family of proteins is found throughout the body. They are short, linear, S-shaped chains of amino acids and are rich in cysteine, a toxic-metal-binding amino acid. Each metallothionein can bind up to 7 zinc ions and 13 copper ions.
They function to:

1. Regulate zinc and copper levels in blood.
2. Detoxify Mercury and other harmful metals.
3. Regulate the development and function of the Immune System.
4. Regulate the development and pruning of brain neurons.
5. Prevent yeast overgrowth in the GI tract.
6. Produce enzymes that break down casein and gluten (DPP IV).
7. Respond appropriately to intestinal inflammation.
8. Produce stomach acid.
9. Regulate taste and texture discrimination on the tongue
10. Normalize hippocampal function and behavior control
11. Normalize the development of emotional memory and socialization.
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What exactly is the Pfeiffer Treatment Center that we went to? Our pediatrician thinks its a quack center wanting to get our money.

Ped: Never listen to anyone telling you about chelation. All they want is your money. There is no reason to chelate unless they come into your house and find toxic levels of lead or arsenic. Then you obviously need to do IV chelation. Anyone else is just a quack.

Me: (dumbfounded, as I thought she was somewhat on board) Well, we are doing this naturally through vitamin chelation…Vitamin C, selenium,

Ped: (she cuts me off) You can get those things naturally through fruits and vegetables.

Me: (okay, conversation useless) Yes, but there are so many foods that he can not tolerate.

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“Winner of the Best of School Supply Eye-Hand Coordination Award! Children use magnetic wands to guide metal balls through the maze, selecting their destination. The first player to get all 5 balls into the center is the winner. Develops: problem-solving, visual tracking and logical thinking. Measures 12″ X 15″. Anatex offers a wide variety of Educational - Developmental Toys” - Amazon

I wish I had a code word to tell people about Little Pickel; that he can’t answer them, that he won’t tell them his name.

Mom at the parade today: What is your name?
LP: (stare)
Mom: What’s your name? Brooke wants to know your name so she can play with you.
LP: RRRRRabbittttt, come and get you.
Me: His name is *&^&*^
Mom: (weird smile)

I wish I had a code word to tell people who he is and what he is all about so they understand why he can’t answer them, or why he invades their space, or why he kicks them in the back. (Yep)

Or maybe I should just tattoo his name on him? OOOH, I’ll just tattoo the letter A for Autism. I’m sure that would solve a lot of problems. Okay, mean, I know but I am just getting so stinkin’ tired of people’s looks when he can’t answer them or when he says something weird in return. They just look at you like, duh, he’s four, shouldn’t he know his own name by now? He looks normal, gives eye contact, and seemingly “acts” normal. But then he starts talking about rabbits and eating people up (Where the Wild Things Are) and people just look away (if they don’t know us already).

Thanks for judging. Appreciate it.

Word Press, Technorati, Autism, judging, eye contact, answer questions, acting, normal, speech, echolalia, Tags

Okay, so it was a busy weekend. But, here is your chance to vote!

Picture One

Picture Two

Picture Three

Voting ends Wednesday at Midnight, whatever timezone you are in.

A gluten-free playdough recipe

This playdough has a commercial texture and will last about one week. Refrigerate when not in use.

½ cup rice flour

½ cup corn flour or glutinous rice flour

½ cup salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 tbsp sunflower oil (I recommend a different oil, as sunflower is high in copper)

Place all ingredients in a saucepan, mix well and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook, stirring, for three minutes or until the mixture forms a ball. – recipe from Ruth of the failsafebaby group

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With a Special Needs child I know that I am always on the lookout for products that I can use in the car, the doctor’s office, or just at home during down time. However, there are very few products that are not “accelerated” flashcards or that cater to kids with vision or hearing problems. Here is a great product (that is free and easy to download) that you can customize before you print. There are endless uses for these number cards.

Word Press, Technorati, Special Needs, education, numbers, flashcards, Tags

I’ve been holding off on this topic for quite a while because it hit a soft spot with me. Back in May University of Rochester reported that children with autism were more likely to be bullies than be the target of bullies because they have pent up energy that needs to be targeted to the appropriate channels and because they have underline medical issues that need to be addressed (like speech and language).

“Children with both autism and attention deficit or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders are four times more likely to bully than children in the general population.”

Recently there have been several instances that I have witnessed (or heard of) Little Pickel being the bully. I was very upset with 1) his lack of concern over the matter and 2) the nature of the attack and 3) the level of violence I saw.

1. In one instance I saw LP stand on the top of a ladder and the playground and kick a classmate in the face as she was climbing up the ladder so she too could go down the slide. Now, why would he do this? Absolutely no idea. I did not see any confrontation and she had not egged him on in any way. When he was reprimanded for this he was not upset but she was quite hurt.

However, this incident occurred toward the end of their year end picnic and LP was extremely disregulated. He was tired, I know he had to go to the bathroom (there had been no bathroom breaks in over two hours), and he needed a sensory calming break. Was this the reason? Possibly.

2. When in the classroom a speech teacher approached Little Pickel and got down on his level to say hello. Instead of responding he head butted her. Why? My assumption is that this was an uneasy transition for him. However, he was apparently more concerned over his head hurting than what he did wrong. The nature of the attack was apparently due to the transition and his space issues but it was quite violent. He hurt her and himself.

There have been several more instances like this since then and before then but I absolutely hate to think of my son as a bully. But is he a bully or is it his sensory issues and his communication issues getting in the way?

I will NEVER excuse my son for his behavior and he is always held responsible for his behavior. However, I will also always try to help him with his sensory issues and his communication so that he does not have to face these bullying issues. Sometimes I feel at such a loss though…that I can’t help him enough.