Symptoms of Autism NOT Listed in the Diagnostic Literature
In fact, ALL of the criteria presently use to diagnose autism are behavioral, and include deficits in social and communications skills, repetitive behaviors, inflexibility, and lack of imagination (despite the fact that many people with autism have outstandingly creative minds!).
The question that concerns me (and many others interested in the subject of autism) is - why in the world are the many symptoms so often associated with autism so rarely addressed? Why, if people with autism are so frequently plagued by specific physical and mental symptoms, aren't the researchers focusing on those issues - which may provide clear clues to the etiology and treatment of autism? Why, instead, are we so focused on finding an elusive genetic fingerprint - and on remediating "antisocial" behaviors?
The M.I.N.D. Institute, a research facility at UC Davis, has undertaken a study which will actually classify people with autism by their biological symptoms. The project began in 2006, and is ongoing; so far there have been no outcomes. According the M.I.N.D. Website:
"Children with autism clearly are not all the same," said David G. Amaral, research director of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and co-director of the project. "The tremendous variation leads us to believe that autism is a group of disorders rather than a single disorder -- several autisms versus one autism. We are determined to provide the specific biomedical and behavioral criteria that accurately define distinct subtypes."The site goes on to describe the research:
Called the Autism Phenome Project, the large-scale, longitudinal study will enroll 1,800 children -- 900 with autism, 450 with developmental delay and 450 who are typically developing -- who will undergo a thorough medical evaluation in addition to systematic analyses of their immune systems, brain structures and functions, genetics, environmental exposures and blood proteins. Children will be 2 to 4 years old when they begin participating in the study, and their development will continue to be evaluated over the course of several years. The first phase of the research is funded by the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and philanthropic donations.This project, if successful, may provide a launching pad for exploring the many different autisms that are now being lumped together under one umbrella label. Meanwhile, though, we're stuck with muddling through - and parents are still hearing the same refrain from their children's doctors and therapists: "read everything you can - then make the choices you feel are best." Oh yes - and "good luck with that autism - hope it all works out."
My new article, Symptoms of Autism NOT Listed in the Diagnostic Literature, describes some of the more common symptoms associated with autism and includes links to further information and suggestions for managing some of those symptoms. This article is just a starting place for what I'm sure will be a fascinating area of research.
Do you or someone you love suffer from symptoms of autism not listed in the diagnostic criteria? Which do you find most troubling? Why do you think that researchers are so unwilling to delve into the causes of and significance of these symptoms?
Comments
You make some good points about other symptoms of autism. With a post like this it may some day be accurate to call this site About Autism, instead of About Neurodiversity.
Harold! I blush… Thanks so much!
Lisa
…if you don’t like the way things are, there are always opportunities to make REAL differences. DSM-V Prelude Project ( http://www.dsm5.org/ ) has been sitting here for quite some time now asking people to make suggestions. If you really want to be a part of the solution, make your list and get in touch here: http://www.dsm5.org/suggestions.cfm
This is an odd and presumptive article. The DSM categorisation of autism lists what we know about autism and how to diagnose it. Your ‘other’ symptoms of autism are based entirely on your subjective guesswork.
GI Symptoms? You say that many autistic people have them. How do you know this? If you want to pursue this option you need to do the science, not just presume based on your anecdotal guesswork. Autism needs accuracy and good science after the last few years of MMR dominated bad science.
Bewildered –
The DSM criteria are intended to describe what people with autism have in common across the board – not associated symptoms that may or may not be present. It does seem to be the case, however, that the autism spectrum as we know it today is made up of many different phenotypes (GI-impaired autism; seizure-related autism; etc.) – and I personally suspect that clues to causes and possible cures for at least some forms of autism are likely to be bound up in those symptoms.
As regards “proof” that GI symptoms are more prevalent among some people with autism that among the general population: Here are some of the sources I used when writing an earlier article on GI issues and autism; there are many more sources available.
Jyonouchi H, Geng L, Ruby A, Zimmerman-Bier B. Dysregulated innate immune responses in young children with autism spectrum disorders: their relationship to gastrointestinal symptoms and dietary intervention. Neuropsychobiology. 2005;51(2):77-85.
Molloy CA, Manning-Courtney, P. Prevalence of Chronic Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism 2003. 7(2) 165-171.
Thanks,
Lisa
In my opinion sensory issues should certainly be included in the DSM criteria. It is often the sensory issue which impact most on a child expected to sit in what we in the UK call a ‘mainstream classroom’ Because it is not included in the critera schools and the bodies who tell the schools how they should be dealing with autistic children, fail to recognise that sensory issues play their part.
I also think that the bio side needs to be included to. It is not only that brain that is wired differently it is the whole internal system.
The GI symptoms you describe are caused be attempts to treat autism with psychoactive drugs and not by the condition, itself.
Just read the labeling of the products involved.
As such, these do not belong in the DSM.
Its always interesting to note that the mmr (safety/autism trigger?) debate is referred to as “bad science”,in fact there has up to now, never been an opportunity for the scientific evidence from all the kids allegedly badly effected by it to be properly viewed by a judge in the high court,maybe then there could be some clarity on the subject rather than just the constant polarisation/demonisation of the people involved.
Anyone that actually knows or works with someone with an ASD knows that the original DSM criteria is a highly reductive though at times very useful diagnostic tool,the children coming through today differ in terms of the health issues and the sensory needs etc from maybe twenty years ago in terms of sheer force of numbers…1 in 10,000 to an alleged 100+ in 10,000 then maybe it is time to review the diagnostic crieria and delineate it into further sub groups with a list of other relevent markers including sensory and other indicators???
A lot of families have depended on the DSM to obtain funding for education provision,as it has been hard to get a specific enough diagnosis from a paediatrician,without this its harder (in the uk at least)to get specified provision so its a double edged sword,you need the DSM to get a diagnosis but the criteria in it dont really contain all the variants of the disorder which appear to be emerging across the autistic community(and therefore the attendant needs of the individual concerned),it may also be salient to point out that maybe none of these other markers may be new, there are seemingly more autistic people nowadays, their illnesses and other specific related traits are becoming more apparent as their numbers increase….I think its fair to say that 30 yrs ago for instance Autism was considered a rare genetic disorder/illness/anomaly and no one really considered an autistics health or sensory needs because especially where profound/infantile autism is concerned for the majority of people developmental progress and cognitive expectations were none existent back then and they were usually stuck in either some godawful residential placement out in the sticks as far away from other “normal” folks as possible or drugged up on lithium and strapped to a bed in a psych unit somewhere,health and sensory needs were irrelevant when containment was the issue….my mother recalls seeing such things in the “institution” she worked in in the early 1970’s….thank god times have changed!So maybe its time to shift the perameters for diagnostic criteria too.
Autism is a biomedical disease not a mental disease. It is caused by too many toxins injected, ingested and exposed to a child. Each child has a different tipping point. Some of this damage can be reversed but if exposure continues the child will never get better. Genetics play a part but is not the only cause. We never had this amount of chronic disease in our population. What are we doing to our immune systems? Don’t you watch the Activa commercial that says “your immune system is in your gut” ? Stop blaming autism on a mental disaease. It should never be in the DSM IV.
Terrific article! My hat’s off to you. It is exciting to see someone able to climb out of the ruts.
This neuroimmune disorder – one complicated by opportunitic infections and a constellation of symptoms related to a suppressed immune system – requires us to walk away from the term autism if affected children are to receive the treatment they have a right to receive.
Leo Kanner’s children in the 1940’s were exposed to chemicals and the ethyl mercury their fathers worked with as most were involved in forestry and plant physiology at the time. Etyl-mercury was used in the fungicides so widely used back then.
Kanner either did not know this or didn’t recognize the exposures as important.
This environmental illness is giving us an opportunity to sound the alarm about our dying biosphere and how it is affected those most sensitive to the pollution. Instead…we look for a gene or say these children have always been there and we are just better at diagnosis.
This will go down in the history of medicine, if there is anyone left to write it, as a most obscene obfuscation.
Most of those “other symptoms” are actually shared with people who are extremely sensitive to MSG – monosodium glutamate. The genetic markers found for autism in February of 2007 explain why this may be. The genes for autism code for glutamate transmission. Please check the website MSGTruth.org. I have shown a flow chart of symptoms of MSG reaction with the autism symptoms colored gold. It is quite startling.
I agree – the list of criteria is just the tip of the iceberg as the social, communication and other problems all have underlying causes. It also means that the focus is on teaching communication and other skills whilst ignoring the fact that they have dietary problems (or sensory issues) which could actually cause physical pain . . .
The “lack of creativity” “symptom” has always annoyed me! I hope they get rid of that. It’s so untrue. It reminds me of textbooks that until recently said the multiple sclerosis causes no pain! Totally ridiculous. Some things get published once then cowardly are repeated over and over for decades.
i got more knowledge and infomation about autism becouse iam related with special children basicaly im special educator so want to get more knowledge about different disablity i hope about com and Lisa jo Rudy giving maximum knoledge about autism i am thank to her God bless her thanks shamim[special E ducator]