Does the Autism Key Lie in the Brain?
Dr. Fernando Miranda, a neurologist at the Bright Minds Institute in San Francisco stated today on the Good Morning America morning show that he believes the key to diagnosing autism could lie in the brain and that neurologists should be involved in the diagnosis.
Although not recommended for every child with autism, MRI’s and EEG’s are imperative for children who show any signs of seizure activity. However, not everyone agrees.
In the past, neurologists have not played a large roll in the diagnosis and treatment of children with autism, as that role has been played by developmental pediatricians as well as pediatric specialists in the field of autism. Lately, the shift is for neurologist to play a more active role because autism is both based on brain and behavior.
According to the article, The Answers to Autism May be In the Mind, “some research shows that children with autism are prone to seizures and that 50 percent of children diagnosed as autistic would have abnormal EEGs if tested” (but the source is not stated). So, would children with autism be misdiagnosed like the article states or do children with autism also have seizure disorders?
What is even more interesting is that Dr. Miranda believes that children who show abnormal brain scans should be placed on seizure drugs to see if there are any behavioral reactions to those particular medications. He believes the drugs are not harmful but many other doctors apparently disagree stating that even an MRI or EEG is not needed unless the following signs are present:
*If your child has had any regression
*If they seemed to be developing normally, but then that stopped
*If they have staring spells, or daydreaming spells, where they seem to “disconnect” for a time
*That combined with good eye contact and good social skills could mean seizure activity, but only sometimes
What do you think?
May 20th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
What strikes me as odd is that “staring spells” can be considered seizures. How could that be? If the child has good eye contact and good social skills, but is a daydreamer at times, how could one tell? All of it just fascinates me so much. One can never learn too much about autism.
I did the Autism Walk this past Sunday and was so impressed with the sheer volume of people (tens of thousands) who were there. Over 1.1 million dollars raised, too. What a great turnout for such an important cause.