Articles
Browse every published article connected to Stella Waterhouse, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Stella Waterhouse, or search within this exact expert archive.
It's a funny old world. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) produced by the American Psychiatric Association (APS) is one of two main international sets of diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorders: the other being the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), produced by the World Health Organization.
History is filled with creative individuals who “thought outside the box.” Often ridiculed, labeled as troublemakers, or initially discounted as unintelligent, many went on to make huge contributions to society. And yet today many of those people would probably be said to have Attention Deficit and/or Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) which is characterized by inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Another battle in the autism wars began with the apparent increase in ASD in the late 1980s, which some people believed - as some still do - was really the beginning of an epidemic. And that is where we find the first battle: a hotly debated argument as to whether the increase is/was real or not.
The 19th century too seems to have had its fair share of children who might fit the criteria for ASD today: children who, in keeping with those times, and depending on the severity of their problems were often classified as fools, idiots or imbeciles.
Today people generally try to be politically correct but, while a good thing in theory that can have some drawbacks, especially in relation to Autistic Spectrum Disorders as you will see. Thus nowadays it people commonly refer to ASD as a learning 'difference' or even a 'personality trait' but, although their good intentions cannot be faulted, both terms have flaws, with the latter in particular giving rise to some unintended (and unfortunate) consequences. However, before you jump to the conclusion that I am overstating the case, let me explain my reasoning.
The last article assessed the impact of referring to ASD as a learning 'difference' or even a 'personality trait.' As I said then, I believe that both terms can potentially cause problems. That is particularly true in relation to abuse, making it far too easy for abusers to justify punishments and other mistreatments as the way to 'make the child conform', or simply to pass the resulting distressed behaviors as simply part of the child's autism.
Time now to turn our attention to the USA where the arguments surround one particular vaccine additive - thimerosal - rather than the vaccines themselves. This mercury based product has been used as a preservative in many vaccines since the 1930s - before being removed from many of them at the beginning of this century. Thus it was in the Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus vaccine (DPT) vaccine routinely given children from two months of age, although it was not used in the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine.
There are two different aspects to this so I'll begin with the ongoing saga of the MMR a triple vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella. In the past it had been postulated that the triple jab and in particular the measles part, could cause encephalitis, the speculation being that this might trigger autism, perhaps by damaging the blood brain barrier or by interfering with the myelination process (mylin being a fatty coating which insulates the nerves that conduct electrochemical impulses).
My last article looked at the effects of the changes in the DSM one year on, focusing on the deletion of Asperger's syndrome but, of course, there was also another omission that attracted little attention; possibly because Asperger's syndrome took precedence. And yet that omission too is of great importance.
My last article on DSM-5 looked at the loss of one important diagnosis - that of Disintegrative Disorder. And yet reviewing the situation there is another aspect of major concern. And that, as you may have guessed, conce s the sensory differences. Why so? Let me explain.
One of Dr Down's contemporaries was Dr Isaac Kerlin, then considered a leader in the field of 'mental retardation'. He was the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Institute for Feeble-Minded Children in the US for many years: a school whose pupils included those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (some of whom also fit the criteria for ASD) alongside those with minor behavior problems and even some who would probably be considered delinquent today.
Many myths and fallacies are attached to ASD but perhaps one of the strangest is the idea that it only actually began in the 1940s, when Leo Kanner in the US and Hans Asperger in Austria both wrote papers on the subject; describing similar but apparently different symptoms which gave rise to the terms 'autism' and 'Asperger's syndrome' both of which now come under the umbrella term 'autistic spectrum disorders'.
A different tale this time: of mystery, child abuse, deprivation, political intrigue and murder all rolled into one. A tale of a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828; walking painfully and clumsily - as if uncertain how to walk.
I was always told that if you want to learn something you should 'ask an expert' and so when I set out to write a short booklet on anxiety in the late 1980s, I decided to begin my research by reading books and articles by or about people with ASD themselves.
Dyspraxia refers to children who have movement difficulties and means the poor performance of movement. The word is taken from the Greek dys - bad and ‘praxis’ - the learned ability to plan, organize and carry out sequences of coordinated movements in order to achieve an objective. In ...Dyspraxia refers to children who have movement difficulties and means the poor performance of movement. The word is taken from the Greek dys - bad and ‘praxis’ - the learned ability to plan, organize and carry out sequences of coordinated movements in order to achieve an objective.
Joseph and Rose Kennedy’s third child and first daughter was born in Bostonin 1918, just two months before the end of World War I, while an epidemic of Spanish flu was raging. Inundated with flu patients, the attending doctor, Dr Good, arrived late and, although it was not a difficult birth, the midwife held the child back until he arrived (as she had been trained to do): ostensibly to ensure a 'modern delivery' but in reality more likely to ensure that he received his fee.
. . . all such institutions are unnatural, undesirable and very liable to abuse. We should have as few of them as possible…’ Samuel Gridley Howe - American physician and philanthropist
Regrettably the past two decades have seen the rise of the autism wars. One such battlefront is linked to the idea that autism is triggered by some 'exte al force': an idea that has led many parents to buy into the idea that 'curing' autism would return to the child to 'normal' and one that has also encouraged numerous organizations to look for and/or advocate a cure.