I've been the About.com Guide to Autism since 2006. Since I began writing about autism, the same questions have plagued our community - is there a "real" rise in autism? do environmental toxins cause autism, and if so which ones? - and debate has raged. In fact, of course, as parents we don't have real answers to these population-based questions; we only have the studies that seem to contradict one another at every turn.
There is, however, one question which we can answer from our personal, individual experience. That is - are children with autism sicker than other children? If so, what does that mean to our definition of autism itself and how it should be thought of and treated? As with all things autism-related, of course, the answer to that question varies from person to person. Some people with autism are very sick indeed; others are perfectly healthy - but do have the social/communications delays which presently define autism spectrum disorders.
As a non-scientist, I have no claim to "truth" relative to this issue. I can say my own son - like many other kids I know with autism - seems not only healthy, but sometimes healthier than many other youngsters in our community. In addition, I can say that I honestly never saw a regression in my son; rather, I saw a slowing of development in certain areas. Tom's development continues to be slower than it should be, and he has serious problems with social communication. But he isn't sick; never has been; and he has developed new skills slowly and steadily throughout his childhood.
Yet I personally have met many parents who have spent unending hours in the emergency room with their children on the autism spectrum, and I've certainly read many books and anecdotes about extreme physical illness in young children on the autism spectrum. The vast majority of those kids seem to have the same issues, too: explosive, uncontrollable diarrhea or vomiting, seizures, severe sleep issues, and serious skin problems.
Many of the families I've met with autistic kids who have significant health problems describe their children as having developed typically until a sudden regression not only undermined their speech and social skills but also destroyed their health. One day, parents say, their child was a healthy, happy, chatting two year old; the next he was in the emergency room with a high fever, seizures, or other major problems. From that time forward, parents say, their child was never fully functional or truly well again.
There's been much debate about the question of "regressive autism," which is not an actual diagnosis within the autism spectrum. Video and anecdote suggest that the disorder is real, but there are also those who say they can see subtle signs of autism in very early videos of children who then "regressed." Part of the debate, of course, swirls around the question of whether regression, assuming it is real, occurred as a result of particular vaccinations.
Based on my own knowledge and research, it seems reasonable to me to suggest that we are actually looking at multiple disorders that happen to share certain symptoms. Yes, all of our kids have social communication delays and challenges - but they seem to have very different sets of physical symptoms. I can't help but wonder whether those children who suddenly wound up in an emergency room at age two, and continue to have serious physical and developmental symptoms, are suffering from something very different than the "autism spectrum disorder" that affects my son and youngsters like him.
Does your child with autism have physical symptoms?
Physical Illness and Autism: What's the Connection? originally appeared on About.com Autism on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 07:57:28.
