Is ASD caused by trauma? Can it be ‘fixed’ forever?

amother

Lightblue

Yesterday at 9:18 pm

There is so much out there on this topic.
There's alot of fingers being pointed to vaccination. Things are put into the body that don't belong and cause a trauma.
That's why diet can help. It releases toxins and allows the body to heal.
There is a video clip I really appreciated about brain trauma. Explaining mental illness is actually a trauma to the brain. And can be many situations where it can be reversed.
Happy to find it and link it if you're interested.

amother

Darkblue

Yesterday at 10:30 pm

I work with mainstreamed special needs.
I really strongly believe that you have to look forwards not backwards. If there are skills lacking, trauma etc now, deal with it from here. You cannot relive your life. I have a kid whose mother "rebirthed" her (whatever that means) because she was sure that stress during pregnancy caused her issues.

Yidishkeit has teshuva as an ikar - meaning accepting you made a mistake, regretting it and promising not to do it again. Nowhere does it say that you can go back and relive your life perfectly. That's impossible.

Step number one in helping your child is accepting them. Warts and all. Step number two is loving their differences.

You can't go back and "fix" everything so that it should be perfect. You can move forward from here - a healthier diet, a calm atmosphere, support, therapy and skills. And most important? love and acceptance.

amother

Strawberry

Yesterday at 11:36 pm

There is more and more evidence that ASD is genetic. Some evidence that things like high fever at a young age seem to correlate as well - but more and more research is showing genetic. They have not isolated the gene yet, but they are very close.

There are many things that can help "cure" ASD, but the fact that the "healer" is blaming it on your feelings sounds very Fruedian pseudoscience that has been debunked, and that they are exploiting your situation to make money.

I am all for natural healing BTW - there is a lot of evidence ( anecdotal not studies) of diet and gut health improving symptoms and therapies like ABA and DIR and CBT/DBT can really help. My brother was diagnosed with ASD as a child and today has a successful career, a masters, friends, and reasonable social skills ( he is still slightly "quirky").

amother

Watermelon

Today at 12:10 am

amother Strawberry wrote:

This! It reminded me a bit (ok, more than a bit) of the refrigerator mom thing from years ago that thankfully was eventually realized to be absolute nonsense.

As a mom of an adult with autism, I will say that these kids aren't "cured" in the way that you mean - they learn new skills, they learn how to better adapt to the world around them, ones who are high enough functioning learn how to mimic what others do and expect, but they are still genetically who they are and have challenges that a so called "normal" kid wouldn't. But each of these kids are so different from each other! One of them may learn to be better at social skills, one better at daily living skills, one better at dealing with overwhelming stimuli - there's a reason it's referred to as a spectrum Wink

One of the best most helpful things I was ever told I was told by a special Ed teacher who at the time was providing services to my son at home (he was little - under 4 for sure and honestly probably younger than that). I asked her if she thought he could ever get married and her answer was an eye opening "would you worry about that at this age if he wasn't autistic?" when I said no, she said "then don't worry about it now!" - and it's true, about things like will they be able to live alone, get a job, have a family, all those big things...if I wouldn't drive myself mad about it for any other kid at this age, why for him? The point is, stop worrying about the long term at this moment, even most of the "how did this happen" won't help you now, unless you stumble upon something that can be cured. Focus on helping him learn new skills and on developing his own skills and strengths.

I am not saying don't look for what will help him the most - we've all btdt, with many of us looking for the unicorn cure, I am just saying enjoy your little one, help him in the best way that you can, and don't let anyone talk you into believing that there was anything you did or didn't do that caused this
Hug

Today at 12:39 am

#BestBubby wrote:

If you mean trauma as in brain injury that can effect emotional stability/personality.

I don't think a traumatic experience can cause add.

ASD can be natural or nurtured. And of course if it's natural then any minute trigger makes it all the more worse.

amother

↑ Wandflower

Today at 5:57 am

amother OP wrote:

Could be while you were expecting. For example Not being excited for a new pregnancy can sometimes have effect on child

Still makes no sense. I was praying for this pregnancy for years. I was never so happy in my life. Like I said we did testing and the results showed that this came about at conception. So no trauma cause.

amother

↑ Daisy ↓

Today at 7:46 am

amother Wandflower wrote:

My son is autistic and I can’t fathom what kind of trauma he could have had. He had the best early attachment from all my kids. I was home with him and nursed him for a long time. Lots of skin to skin, holding him, etc. Everything was perfect. We did testing and were told it’s something genetic that happened at conception. So I don’t think it’s always from trauma.

Do you know which gene? It you know which pathways are affected it can help target treatment.

But fwiw research indicates that the vast majority of kids with asd have clean genetic panels, iow, not a clearcut genetic cause.

[Many of these kids have loads of polymorphisms that affect their ability to detox, absorb nutrients, regulate their immune system etc, but these are not the kinds of genes we talk about when we say someone's autism is genetic]

amother

Honey

Today at 7:49 am

amother OP wrote:

Or is it something you live with all your life? Please explain Asd to me in simple words.
- Mom of the previous thread whose child needs to be evaluated for asd.
Thank you
(Also, every person responds to trauma differently. Something about Cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. If you know more about it, please chime in! )

I believe my brothers regressive autism was triggered by being raped as a toddler. Sadly he has stayed frozen in his development and never grew up.

amother

↑ Daisy ↓

Today at 7:52 am

amother OP wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean about cerebrospinal fluid, that sounds like something a craniosacral therapist would know more about.

But even if a traumatic event was the catalyst that sent your child's nervous system into such a fight-flight tailspin that he fits criteria for ASD ever since, you'd still need to address this on a body level.

Whether it is or isn't triggered by trauma, I believe your son can heal. But not via therapy.

amother

↑ Daisy

Today at 8:03 am

headband22 wrote:

What kind of diet helps with ASD

GAPS, gluten and dairy free, low oxalate

amother

Amber

Today at 9:32 am

My DH has ASD, only diagnosed when my son was diagnosed. My FIL has ASD also came to light around a similar time.
3/4 of my kids have HFASD.
We are not having more children because genetics are not on our side.
None of this is related to trauma.

miami85

Today at 12:10 pm

Trauma can cause PTSD which can cause ASD-like symptoms--perseveration, lack of eye contact, poor social skills.

There ARE Dr's who will likely diagnose is as "ASD" because the DSM-5 criteria do not include a "Developmental" or "from birth" component which is more typical of true ASD.

amother

↑ OP

Today at 12:58 pm

amother Daisy wrote:

I appreciate every single response here!

So if therapy won’t heal, I guess it is still necessary to help him be the best he can be. What else is there to do?
The past 2 days he’s been in terrible pain all over like emergency needs X-rays, and I’m not a normal mom for not taking him to the dr! I believe the Anxiety is all part of the package?