Today the Dr. Oz Show focused on Autism and asked the question, "What causes Autism?". If you have ever read articles about autism causes or been in a room of parents debating the topic, you would quickly find out that it is a very heated and emotional debate between researchers, pediatricians, and parents. Some say it's environmental factors. Some say vaccinations caused their child to enter the world of Autism. Some say it's genetic. Some people believe it's the age of the mother and/or father at time of conception.
What do I say? I really think there is more than one cause of Autism, and I truly believe it isn't the same for every child. What do I think happened to MY son? I think Ryker has it in his genes, but it was triggered by some environmental factor. I have no idea if it was vaccines or something in his diet [have you seen all the crap in processed foods these days?], or something totally different. I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that our little boy was typically developing for the first year of his life and then we lost him.
If I could do anything over again in his first year, I would do two things differently. The first thing I would do is space out both of the kids vaccinations. I am not against vaccinations, but I do think that giving 3 different shots in one day can have an effect on some kids... which may have been the case with Ryker [again, I have no idea if that was the trigger]. I also wonder if his pre-maturaty had something to do with it because his system may not have been matured enough to handle the amount of vaccinations he was given so early in life. Secondly, I would be more aware of the ingredient list on foods. I have always been health conscious, but never realized the types of things that are in foods these days. Since changing Ryker's diet to gluten-free, I have become educated and am amazed at the things the government allows in our foods. Aluminum in baking powder? Really?
Sorry for this soap box post, but I have been thinking about it a lot today and I know there are people out there who are curious about my thoughts on the cause of my son's Autism. Like I said, I'm not a doctor or scientist-- I'm just a mom who knows my kid better than anyone else. :)
Wow... that just forced me to go check the ingredient label on my baking powder.
ReplyDeleteI have recently become more interested in eating as "natural" as possible (making things from scratch, not buying things with huge ingredient lists), but hadn't checked out my baking powder.
Do you have something else you substitute for baking powder?
Vicky-- I am doing the same thing. If I can't pronounce something in the ingredient list, I'm not eating it! :)
ReplyDeleteYou can buy baking powder without aluminum. I use Argo Baking Powder and it says "Aluminum Free" right on the front label. I buy it at Wal-mart, so it should be available wherever you shop!
I think we share the same views on what the causes are. It happens to run in my genes but I also think it does have to do with the environmental stuff as well. I spaced out all of my children's vaccines cause I thought it was too much too quick. Keep strong and he is such a blessing for you!!
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