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

amother

↑ Mauve ↓

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 3:37 pm

amother OP 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?

If he says he's in pain, why aren't you taking him to the doctor? That's not typical of ASD at all. (Anxiety is, and something similar to OCD. But not that type of physical complaint. Gutt and digestive issues are very common, but those aren't meant to be ignored. They're meant to be treated.)

amother

↑ Mauve ↓

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 3:40 pm

amother Daisy wrote:

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]

There is no autism gene. Autism susceptibility comes from the genes you noted.

(In addition to those genes, it's been known for decades that people with ASD have very poor gut health, as expressed by excessive stomach pain. So that's also a piece of the detox puzzle.)

The theory is that a child without a vulnerability is exposed to toxins and does not develop autism. A child with enough genetic vulnerabilities will develop autism from being exposed to enough toxins.

Ptsd can look like autism but it's not. A skilled diagnostician can differentiate. If it's the parents who are causing the trauma, they often prefer the ASD diagnosis to the PTSD. But again, PTSD is going to come from a far more severe trauma than normal parental imperfections.

amother

Begonia

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 3:42 pm

Seeing as my mother and father in law and my husband all seem to have signs, I am assuming it's genetic. I have 4 kids. 2 have signs of hf autism. It doesn't look the same in everyone and since people change a bit over time it often looks different in adults. But some behaviors can be learned. My son was carefree and barely rigid until 6 years old. It wasn't on the list at his earlier evaluations. But my husband is very rigid and my son idolizes him. He is 8. I really hope that when he starts developing his own identity he relaxes a bit. Starts around 9. Accepting your child for who they are and focusing on what they can do also helps. We all have strengths and weaknesses. For hf autism kids they struggle socially. For other people they might have a temper. Or OCD.

amother

↑ Amber

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 4:03 pm

amother Wandflower wrote:

Were a very NT family, no autism anywhere in the picture until we had an autistic kid. So I don’t agree with this at all. We were told it was some kind of genetic mutation. But I wouldn’t consider us an ND family.

No one in my family has ASD. There is some ADHD. Only my FIL has ASD from my DHs side and we both come from large families.
We have 3/4 with ASD.

I literally have no idea how this is my life. I cry a lot.

amother

↑ Snapdragon

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 4:06 pm

amother DarkYellow wrote:

I'm surprised nobody is talking about autoimmune encephalitis. I have two with autism-- one may have been born with it but I didn't see it until 13 months. The other regressed into it at almost 4 years old. A lot of autism could be PANS or PANDAS. We went to THE Pandas specialist in our state who wouldn't even run a Cunningham Panel when the dnase and strep titers came back normal and long term antibiotics did nothing---- he waved it away.... "it's just autism".

Why do brain scans of those with autism look different than those without?

my son had hf asd symptoms and only later got pandas. I always wonder if the remainder is pandas leftovers or truly hf asd. Or both? But when I read about trauma mimicking asd, I was clearly an absent or once called refrigerator mom till my second was born. So maybe it's all trauma?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 4:20 pm

amother Mauve wrote:

We’ve been to the dr a few weeks ago because of his leg. “ I Can’t move my leg! look dr here this whole area is soooo painful maybe it’s broken!” Long story short. When that pain disappeared he started complaining on something else. It’s his way of asking for recognition and attention. So I’m not worried. He has this issue of not feeling safe. He also has digestive issues and we’re working on that

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 4:26 pm

amother DarkYellow wrote:

Interesting, in one of his visits at the natural dr who does corrections, she mentioned PANS. I told her he’s often very tired and weak. She said his body has some virus dormant. So it makes sense that he should feel tired and sluggish. I will check again this week if all of it is gone.
Thanks for brining it up

amother

↑ OP

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 4:27 pm

amother Tanzanite wrote:

I'm not understanding... Can you explain more what you mean by the bolded? Is that related to the autism?

He’s constantly overreacting and dramatic about his health!

amother

↑ Watermelon

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 5:00 pm

amother OP wrote:

He’s constantly overreacting and dramatic about his health!

I'm not sure this is an appropriate angle, but have you considered counseling or medication specifically to deal with his concerns/anxiety about his health?

amother

↑ Mauve

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 6:13 pm

amother Snapdragon wrote:

So the refrigerator mom thing goes both ways. A lack of attachment is disruptive but kids with a tendency towards ASD are harder to attach to. So their mothers are more likely to be less attuned to them.

If that's the problem, attachment can usually be cured with a floor-time approach (done by you, not an outsider). That can help reduce the effects of the early attachment issues but won't make him more attuned than he was as a baby.

amother

↑ Daisy ↓

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 6:35 pm

amother OP wrote:

Chronic infections are a huge stressor on the immune system and the nervous system.
If you're looking for ways to help him heal, this is definitely a piece to look into.

amother

↑ Darkblue

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 8:13 pm

amother Wandflower wrote:

I agree.
My HFASD kid was severely lacking oxygen at birth. The doctors considered it a nes that he was fine - and he was until we saw the HFASD. Is it connected? No proof but I'd be inclined to think so.

amother

↑ Daisy

Sat, Nov 09 2024, 8:18 pm

amother Mauve wrote:

There are some genetic mutations that are associated with asd. Fragile x is one of them. 22q microdeletions and other micro deletions as well. Though true genetic asd is rare. More commonly it's epigenetic.