Clinic Notes: What Horses Tell Us About Autism

I grew up in Texas, and in high school my life was horses and rodeo. I’m certainly not an expert on horse behavior by any means, but the first time I came in contact with a child with autism, I thought that some of their behavior looked horse-like--unbroken horse-like. For example, many unbroken horses, and many children with autism, will become uneasy if you try to approach them head on. You have to approach them from behind or at a forty-five degree angle. Horses and kids with autism also seem to know by your body language and touch whom they can ride/manage them and who they can take advantage of. I wrote Monty Roberts, a well known, practicing horse whisperer. He told me several clinicians had already recognized the similarities between autism and horse misbehavior and were applying his horse training techniques in their work with kids with autism. (See montyroberts.com)
Go to www.ABA4Autism.com for a longer article on horses and autism ad to learn how horse whisperer might help you manage your child with autism.

Clinic Notes: What does a Diagnosis of Autism Mean?

The first thing parents who bring their children to my clinic want to know is does my child have autism. If the child is older and already diagnosed with autism parents will often ask if their child still has autism. A recent study found that most children diagnosed with autism when they were two also were still diagnosed with autism at age nine. On the other hand, children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) when they were young had their diagnosis changed to autism when they were older. (Autism Diagnosis Remains Through Early Childhood So much for recovery? SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, June 2006.)
I see some health care professionals diagnose a child with PDD simply because they do not to alarm parents by using the "a" word. I don't worry too much about diagnosis because with ABA you simply treat the problem behaviors, which vary from child to child with a diagnosis of autism or PDD. I also tell parents who have children with a high functioning autism or PDD diagnosis that they are probably better off not telling the school system the child's diagnosis. Teachers are will always notice more behavior problems in a child with a diagnosis.

Clinic Notes: Early Biological Markers of Autism and ABA

Autism is usually diagnosed between the second and third year of life. Everyone agrees that the earlier autism can be diagnosed and treatment started the better. Now if the research at Yale University School of medicine holds up it may be possible to diagnose autism at birth. The found that children with autism were three times more likely to have trophoblast inclusions which reflect abnormal folding of microscopic layers in the placenta and are caused by altered cell growth. It was already known that trophoblast inclusions were more common in cases of chromosome abnormalities and genetic diseases. Citation: Biological Psychiatry, Published online (June 26, 2006).
It may very well be in the future that we start ABA and other therapies at an earlier age if this biological marker is a reliable indicator of autism.

Clinic Notes: Cruelty Toward Animals

In The Dragons of Eden, Carl Sagan presented the thesis that the cortex evolved to repress and control our lower reptilian brain, making civilized human behavior possible. I don’t know it this is true, but I do know that damage to the cortex that causes disinhibition is a significant clinical problem in children I see in my clinic, especially when aggression toward pets, care givers, and other kids is involved.
Aggressive behavior is common in kids with various neuropsychological disorders. Nonverbal kids learn to use aggression as a way to communicate. Neurological damage to the cortex of the brain, caused by trauma or drugs taken by the mother while she is pregnant, can cause cortical disinhibition in the child and further increase the level of aggression. Children with neuropsychological disorders, as well as those without, also learn violent, abusive behavior from adult role models, video games, and the media.
Twenty-five percent of men imprisoned for violent crimes had a history of cruelty toward animals in their childhood. A comparison sample of men convicted for nonviolent crimes had no history of cruelty toward animals. Aggressive women prisoners show a similar history. Cruelty toward animals is also associated with child abuse. Apparently, the abused child takes out his frustration on family pets.
See "Just Another Serial Killer Thriller" at http://www.aba4autism.com for the rest of this case history

Clinic Notes: Dopamine 101

Tourette’s is caused by an excess of the neural transmitter, dopamine. Parkinson’s disease is caused by a depletion of dopamine producing neurons in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra. Dopamine agonist such as L-dopa can temporally alleviate the paralyzing effects of Parkinson’s just as dopamine antagonists, like haloperidol, temporally relieve the Touretter of his tics.
In the 1980s, synthetic heroin contaminated with MPTP appeared on the streets. Several addicts who injected this contaminated heroin became “frozen” and were admitted to psychiatric hospitals with a diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia.
On closer examination, animal studies indicated that MPTP metabolized to a neurotoxin that destroyed dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra just like Parkinson’s. These frozen addicts were nearly mute, and somewhat like patients with locked-in syndrome.
See Case History # 9 in Little Bubba's Not Ready for Nashville Yet at http://www.aba4autism.com