In fact, I take it a step further. I don't think television - in moderation - is a hurtful thing. I use TV, videos and computers in the homeschool curriculum I've developed for my son with autism - as I find he learns very well from audiovisual input, and less well from a combination of verbal and manipulative input. I've even written articles about the virtues of limited TV for kids with autism, and plan to write much more about the positive impact of video modeling.
Once a child is diagnosed with autism, however, parents can have a very significant positive impact on their child's development. Some of the most popular and best-researched treatments for autism rely on a great deal of 1:1 interaction and social education. While I certainly don't know a great deal about day to day Amish life, it occured to me that a life rich in such interactions could actually be therapeutic for a child with autism, speech delays, social issues, and so forth.
I'm not sure why this would be considered anti-parent; if anything, it seems to me to be a wonderful thing that we parents, with or without professional support, have the power to make a real difference in our children's lives. In fact, the longer I live with a child with autism, the less I rely on the professionals.
At this point in our family life, we are engaged daily in providing our son with real-life experiences that are making a difference. In the past year, with minimal therapies, he has developed an impressive new array of social, academic, and language skills. One of the most exciting changes is that he is starting to see himself through others eyes - and to like what he sees.
I'm very proud of the work Tom's father and I have done to help him connect with himself and the world. The causes of his autism remain obscure... they may include genetics, environmental toxins, or just a combination of unlucky factors. In the end, though, we love our son, and we're proud of the person he's becoming. And so far as I'm concerned, that's the real core meaning of being a parent.
If properly documented you’ll find that Amish do not have lower rated of asperger’s and high functioning autism.
I think it’s less to do with Amish interaction but the Amish way of life would just let high functioning autistics fit in more but I believe their rates on their same. While RDI might be a part of it.
Here are the more likely reasons:
Less harsh lights, and sounds from every day equipment like vacuums because of no electricity so this will be calming.
Amish talk less than the “English” me and you so there’s less forced conversation.
Amish life is more patterned with a lot ritual. Autistics like predictability.
Amish do a lot of hard real work and it’s very regulating
Even they do use motorized vehicles usually pay someone to drive them in groups so they can buy in bulk. They produce less smog, which can magnify autistic symptoms due to SPD. There some like me I know
State the smog connection a lot
“autistic children aren’t born with the ability to naturally play” Amish toys are simpler wooden toys, rockers and dolls that would foster more creative play but also spatial recognition, regulation.
PS
I know you have a great heart, and that you were not blaming anyone.
Thank you for putting together such a wonderful article driven site. It’s truly been one of the better ones I’ve read.
Lisa Jo,
Thank you so much for clarifying your intend.
Let me clarify for you exactly which part of your post was offensive. Here:
“I found Rebecca’s insights intriguing. To my mind, they argue for the notion that at least some of the huge rise in autism diagnoses may be linked as much to culture as to symptoms. What’s more, in recent months I’ve come to realize that a great many of the therapies developed for autism really have just one thing in common: when done correctly, they involve a great deal of high quality 1:1 communication with the child.
You state that Rebecca’s insights are intriguing. Rebecca’s “insights” were in reference to her belief as to the cause of autism not the treatment. The statement that some cases of autism may be a “cultural” relates to cause and the statement that the best treatments involve “high quality 1:1 communication”, given the previous context, clearly implies that this therapy must be so effective because the child was not given the appropriate opportunities to develop these skills previously. Your story was about causes not treatments…but nice try.
The “refrigerator mom” cause was disproven decades ago…but thinks for trying to through it back into realm of thoughtful debate.
Lisa~ as always you bring interesting topics to your blog which makes one think. Whatever your opinions are, you do have a right to have them and mighty nice of you to share them on your blog.
Many people think many things to the cause(s) of autism, it’s nice to look and talk about them all.
In follow-up to my previous post, I agree with Sandy 100% but I would go further. It is not just nice to look at all the possible causes…it is critical that we do so and that we figure it out a.s.a.p.
As I previously stated, The “refrigerator mom” cause was disproven decades ago. Operative word, Disproven. This discussion distracts from productive consideration and debate and serves only to harm parents who would have gone to the ends of the earth to keep autism from happening to their child and for many will go to the ends of the earth to medically treat their child’s multifactorial disease which is mislabeled as a neurological disorder. The implication serves only to breed a completely inappropriate stereotype of autism and the families who are effected by it.
Lisa may well have never meant to imply that neglectful parents cause autism but that is what the article says…maybe she just did a poor job of building her logic around her intent. I actually hope this was the case because there is no excuse for throwing this DISPROVEN theory out for discussion. It serves no productive end.
Dan Olmsted and the commenters he sent over need to grow up a little. Do you seriously believe they actually think you’re a fan of Bettleheim’s hypothesis? They are trying to frame you that way with their “outrage.” It’s a lot like concern trolling. Olmsted is upset that he got the “Amish don’t vaccinate” bit spectacularly wrong. The rest are too.
That said, you put too much faith in therapies. There is actually not a single autism therapy that could be said to be proven by randomized trials; and not a single adult outcome study that ties successful outcomes to early intervention. In fact, very good adult outcomes existed before early intervention.
Also, as I noted before, we just don’t know the rate of autism among the Amish. Speculating about the environmental factors that account for an unknown rate does not seem logical to me.
I respectfully disagree. Just because one deems the topic unproductive doesn’t mean other’s deem it that same way. The Amish topic has been going on for a few years and even if it has no relevance, it may to some one. Maybe the Amish have some link we need to learn about, maybe they don’t. But it’s a topic that’s ever right out there and in the media recently as well. The Amish is also interesting for the fact that many do not vaccinate, hence the Polio some of their children contracted.
Dan Olmsted’s articles mainly were of the East coast- of a particular area. It would be nice to expand his research to include much more than that small sample.
Just don’t close doors is all I am suggesting and have an open mind when reading. This blog has always allowed for that.
I guess I feel that when people tell me immunization cause Autism they are accusing me of causing my daughter’s delay. I know this might not be their intentions at all.
My child’s delay happened before her mmr.
When will we stop accusing each other and calling each other names and actually start supporting each other. You might have a lot to learn from people even if you disagree with them.
The refrigerator mom theory was started by a mentally ill man who forged many of his credentials.
Before my daughter was found to have a delay I was accused of being too warm to my daughter which was causing her launuge delay because she didn’t need to ask for things.
Too cold, too warm. Can we ever win? LOL
OK so you don’t like the Amish data. Look at HomeFirst Pediatrics’ 35,000 unvaccinated children with no autism. I look forward to that article.
Parents are always going to struggle with the ‘was it me?’ since for many we don’t know the cause. probably for that factor, these things get out of hand like they do, on many forums however I would doubt any one living this life truly believes a parent promoted autism with intent on their child, Lisa included.
Joseph,
Could you please explain what you meant when you said, “That said, you put too much faith in therapies. There is actually not a single autism therapy that could be said to be proven by randomized trials; and not a single adult outcome study that ties successful outcomes to early intervention. In fact, very good adult outcomes existed before early intervention.”
Again to Sandy–My point is not that we should’t be discussing the Amish community, the incidence of autism there or the rate of vaccination in that community.
My comments around the portion of Lisa’s article that I think are unproductive are those related to culture and hypothesizing that many parents may be causing their children’s autism. The “refrigerator mom” theory is archaic and, again, disproven.
I, for one, would love to see a formal study done in the Amish community, for what ever its outcome maybe.
Nice try……you have gotten yourself into a pickle, and hate to tell you – there’s no getting yourself out. It is disgraceful that you are blaming parents and their “lack of 1:1 attention”. Tell me then – my son won’t watch television. He also has severe gut & digestive issues that are CLEARLY related to his autistic behavior. He also has chronic immunity issues – again when he starts to get sick is autistic symptoms skyrocket. There is NO WAY that you can convince me that his autism does not have medical (not behavioral) roots. And certainly reverting back to the “refrigerator parent” theory proves that some people (including you)just don’t get it.
What’s disgraceful is anyone who reads this blog on-going, would continue not to accept an explanation or just know that it was not Lisa’a intent.
By the way, severe gut & digestive issues and chronic immunity are not markers or red flags for autism.
There are a zillion studies out there linking something to autism. More so, there are many more public opinions that our child’s behavior is a direct result of our parenting. There’s no denying these issues are out there regardless of the refrigerator mom. The ‘refrigerator mom’ is one discounted theory- but only relates to ‘that’ one theory and one cant then associate any other theory to that. The TV theory has to do with states that have rainy seasons- the rise of cable TV. It has nothing to do with the bonding factor of refrigerator mom’s and frankly the TV theory in itself although interesting, doesn’t account for us: we don’t have rainy seasons where I live. TV does howevr contribute to more violence in this world so there is an actual effect for some. For us, TV did not cause autism, but it certainly does contribute to bad behaviors if not monitored for content.
All one can do with the zillion studies is decide it it relats to your child, and if it dosn’t move on to the next.
Could you please explain what you meant when you said, “That said, you put too much faith in therapies. There is actually not a single autism therapy that could be said to be proven by randomized trials; and not a single adult outcome study that ties successful outcomes to early intervention. In fact, very good adult outcomes existed before early intervention.”
In evidence-based medicine, the randomized trial (preferably double-blinded) is the gold standard. If you look at the evidence for ABA, for example, there’s only one randomized trial comparing ABA treatment to something else. The trial (Smith, Groen & Wynn, 2000) with errata (Smith, 2001) had pretty disappointing results. It should be noted that this trial was specifically carried out to address criticism of the methodology of prior trials. There are numerous well known problems with Lovaas (1987) which is the non-randomized trial where much of ABA hype originates.
But even if interventions had some short-term benefit, we know nothing of adult outcome. There are no adult outcome studies that tie early intervention to outcomes. It’s also important to note that poor outcomes in autism are not a given, as generally assumed.
Actually, there are some approaches with promising results and randomized trials. Dr. Gernsbacher has talked about that. The approaches don’t actually involve treating the children, but training the parents on various techniques. (Sorry Dr. Gernsbacher if you now get accused of being Bettleheim). Still, we don’t know what effect, if any, this has on adult outcomes. It might be decades until we understand what an ideal educational/social environment for an autistic person looks like.
People-the assertion by poster Joseph is absurd as tens of thousands of teachers and parents and therapist and MD’s and psychologists have seen first hand the benefits of early intervention. ABA, Floortime, speech and occupational therapy all work for a substantial % of children. Biomedical alone or in conjunction also offers excellent benefits as thousands can attest. You don’t need a double blind study to verify things that are already understood and work.
Any parents new to this whole thing please implement biomedical and behavioral and physical therapies as soon as you can.
Lisa- I think that some will find this new book is an extraordinarily helpful guide (the table of contents is on this site):
“Autism and it’s Medical Management” by Michael G. Chez, M.D.
http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book.php/isbn/9781843108344
It’s also on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Autism-Its-Medical-Management-Professionals/dp/1843108348/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208792955&sr=1-1
When I read your original post, honestly I didn’t interpret it as laying blame on me. I thought the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle was something interesting to ponder. I’m always trying to achieve more 1:1 with Jack … at school .. at home, etc. The more we connect, the happier he seems to be.
People-the assertion by poster Joseph is absurd as tens of thousands of teachers and parents and therapist and MD’s and psychologists have seen first hand the benefits of early intervention.
Can you quote the assertion that was absurd? I assume you mean “false.” I’ll retract it if you demonstrate it’s false.
BTW, I’m aware of majority expert opinion. However, in evidence-based medicine, expert opinion is Level-III evidence. Randomized trials are Level-I evidence. I go with Level-I.
I’m just tuning in I guess the day after the positive interaction of the Amish discussion-I guess it’s how you look at it. I apologize I did not read all of the comments, so pardon me if repeat any issue. If in fact the Amish community does have a lower rate of autism, at leasted reported and recorded; I think we do need to look at what they are doing and not doing for prevention and treatment. I have read Dr. Mercola suggesting raw milk for people on the spectrum. I think it would be interesting to know if the majority, if not all of the Amish community ingests raw milk, fresh eggs, and other organic foods.
To comment on Lisa Jo’s blog today, I can certainly understand, having two children on the spectrum, on both ends at that, where the longer you parent a child or children diagnosed with ASD, the less you visit professionals. I believe we as parents know and love our children the best, no matter what they are or are not diagnosed with.
I must comment about the discredited refrigerator mom theory about Autism.
The discussion about this past idea seems to always contain the kind of cultural distortion that marks many ideas today – grasping at fragments to challenge and disprove, instead of looking for the grain of truth and modification.
“Refrigerator “mom” is not the same as a focus on “parents”. The old concept focuses on the mother, as if the mother’s family actions have no relation to her supports, relationships and lifestyle, and extended family and cultural expectations.
Parents may play a much bigger role in autism continuing than the medical view suggests. When I worked with autistic children, I often noted one parent being the “softie”, the other, the diciplinarian, both frustrated and angry with the other one for not being willing to learn the value in their different ideas and find ways to collaborate that include consistency in both. Yet different expectations about how to communicate across gender, also made resolution rare. The autistic child felt in the middle, proud of her power to generate an open battle, yet confused because she loved both parents, and felt guilty that her actions may be to blame. Lots of self doubt and fear, inner turmoil. Even with eurological issues, there were blocks to compassionate setting to grow.
“Refrigerator mom” blamed a cold mother, only the mother, so was sexist, fragmented,and blaming and yes, deserves discreditation. No mother is an island.
However, that does not negate the unwitting impact of parents in todays struglgles in child rearing, when different children have different needs and styles and disabilities. It is not a question of blame, it is a question of stopping to feel what is wrong, and work in small ways, whatever they may be, to improve it. From an evidence based approach, Joesph makes a similar point. Even without the best or right method, small actions from parents that are collaborative, tracked for impact, and adjusted for failures, that support each family member, can bring improvements.
Having grown up in such a setting, I feel sensitive to it. When father and mother work at odds with each other, distrust each other’s approach, timing or methods, don’t find ways to communicate to learn to experiment gladly to help each other move forward, when extended families don’t focus on positives, but drop messages of blame and criticism – based on theories and models from the past or books, without care about their specific family as the primary focus – we have a culture where no one is on the same page, though verbally we may say we are.
Our society ignores this effect, focusing instead on tiny fragments analyzed in laboratories, and argues over them competitively, while people in families and society tend to judge ourselves and each other, while we also rush to intense goals in haste to keep up with competition or defray blame.
In fear of blame and failure, we compare real people to science models, as well as child-rearing, instead of making sure that both parents and extended family do some successful, small, family-benefitting projects together and with each child, both separately and together. We look for intellectual perfection and proof, comparing life to theories – a conceptual, argumentative set of actions. Intellectual solutions have their place, for they represent the process of stepping back and analyzing, but instead of being the situational supports they reflect, they are over-applied and used as weapons, in a war that hurts children. “When the lions fight, the grass suffers”, says the African proverb.
Arguments go on too long, or come up at the wrong times, then are avoided, in a non-resolved climate that distracts from the tasks of parenting, of paying attention and accepting a child’s slowness or silence, working with them and enjoying communicating with them non-verbally and watching for other communication from them and responding confidently to it. We can foster this by eating family chores structure that includes realism and fair expectations for each child, adjusting demands and cues and reminders geared to age and learning style, to build cues that facilitate healthy actions by all children, actions and manners that support each other in families. Instead, we focus more on TEACHING verbally, while actions are separate, either disengaged, or rushing around in a fragmented world.
Personally, I think Supernanny has great cues for involving all children, helping parents focus on the children’s needs together, AND finding workable ways to change patterns of resistance and undermining that occurs between parents. Sure, the show is focused on instant results, and many pieces are left out because of time limits to show highlights in a one hour show. But with years of experience, she shows ways to hear and try to help each family member to help the others, organize small changes that promptly(!)find small ways to do actions that support each other better. The focus itself, is healing, which I believe accounts for the popularity of the show.
The over-estimated, analytical expert approach of mathematical analysis, takes too long, is misapplied without that feedback getting back to those planning studies, for there are too many variations to report in complicated lives.
Experience, not just professionalism, needs to be recognized as wisdom. Different experiences of success with compassion, tracking and flexibility. Using a distant mathematical or medical science, not to mention medication, to treat families by comparing them to a “norm” is a process that is by its own choice of distrusting emotion, deaf and cold. It makes us a “Refrigerator Culture”….).
No culture has all the answers, not even the Amish, or Supernanny or village cultures – but each culture has competent answers for different parts of life challenges.
Culturally, we Anglo, Irish, white, Jewish adults, have particular forms of blindness to ways to be there, calmly together, rather than jump into intellectualizing, competing and undermining each other. We medicate or drink to achieve the calm we don’t think we can find otherwise. We miss the importance of showing signs of clear, brief ways to plan supports for each other’s actions and support for others, opposite parties, ideologies, including school teachers – instead, we accept lack of resolution, by seeking professional abstractions and in-office treatments and individualism as if this approach was normal. We accept a media that makes their living from highlighting a focus on what is wrong. We accept competition and guns as if normal, because we cannot have a cross gender or setting debate in a peaceful enough way to find compassion and variations and common goals. A child who grows up in our world, is not likely to be “normal”.
actually i am doing extensive research on this topic and heard stories of children with autism, aspergers and/or ADHD can have parents that are in-denial and neglect to treat them, can cause social and neurological disorder to their children. Or children who are socially confined period can possible develop these syndromes and disorder. How is a child socially confined? Usually at the parents advisory.
I’m interested is some of the newer theories on ultrasound during pregnancy and pitocin used to induce or augment labor as possible causes (or contributing factors) for autism. There isn’t a lot of research yet, but I wonder if the Amish use ultrasound and induced/augmented labors as much as the typical population (I imagine not).