5 truths about ADHD and autism

However, he or she may still decide to leap. That is why counseling is also helpful.

Many parents read that autism rates rose when the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced, so they are afraid of the vaccine despite numerous studies disproving a link. The autism rate has continued to rise despite a falloff in immunization rates. I propose an alternative pseudo-theory to explain this: Along with autism rates, cell phone usage has continued to rise. Furthermore, cell phones are known to emit radiation, which can obviously affect the brain. The conclusion is obvious. Perhaps “non-vaxxers” should be giving up their cell phones rather than vaccines. 

Hence, vaccines should be spaced out. An equally valid theory (it has no empirical support, either) is that autism is due to the number of separate times vaccines are given, so spacing vaccines out increases the risk of autism. This last premise appears to be true in my practice, where a child is more likely to have autism if vaccines are spaced out. The reason for this is not due to the vaccine spacing, of course, but to the positive family history for autism, which increases the risk for autism while pushing parents to postpone immunizations. Of course, logical arguments such as the above will not be effective for true believers, but might sway others.

Children with autism with large vocabularies but poor comprehension will often give associative answers (eg, what sleeps-bed). Questions and norms for this test can be found in Table 20 in the study “Arnold Gesell’s developmental assessment revalidation substantiates child-oriented curriculum” (Guddemi M, et al; 2014).¹

It's available online at www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit.

REFERENCE

1. Guddemi M, Sambrook A, Wells S, et al. Arnold Gesell’s developmental assessment revalidation substantiates child-oriented curriculum. SAGE Open. 2014;(4-6):1-18.