Our Friend Rachel wrote a fantastic email about Autism, and her thoughts on the possible causes. Due to time constraints, Mike S and Mr. J were unable to read Rachel's letter on our show. So we asked her if she wouldn't mind if we posted it on our blog to share with our listeners? She said yes, and Mike S and Mr. J are greatful that she did.

One quick note. Rachel refers to her daughter as Mar throughout her letter. It's short for her real name. Which, for her protection, we're not going to tell you. So snack on that nugget will ya?

So without further a'due, Mike S and Mr. J are all kinds of proud to present Rachel's letter.

Some thoughts on autism...

What I find interesting is that so far, there hasn't been definitive answers as to what causes autism, or how to "cure" it. Right now, most parents are "working with it" as I would say. It's not like some disease...it's literally about having your nervous system wired differently. From the beginning. Now, symptoms may not show up or may be able to be assessed until a child is older, say 3-6. I happened to know that Mar was different from the time she was born.

Here's a gentle example of how Mar experiences and sees the world compared to others her age: I took her to a horse riding class that was a couple hours one day. There were four other girls her age there. They were all busy talking, doing things. MarLeigh sat back and watched. When it came time to brush the horse, all the little girls did as they were told and picked up a brush to brush the horse. In the midst of all the noise and busy-ness, we watched Mar slowly approach the side of the horse, reach out both her hands, and place them on the horse. Then she petted the horse slowly, feeling it. My mother looked at me and said she finally understood how differently Mar relates to the world.

One of my questions that I entertain concerns what happens at the level of DNA. If certain things can "switch on" the gene that causes autism, then what can switch it back off? And WHAT causes it to switch on? Japanese scientists have been doing research on how our thoughts can switch on beneficial genes and turn off bad ones, and also on how vibration and "the stuff of the universe" can play a part in how our genes operate. I wonder what implications that has on what we're seeing with autism now. I think it's much bigger than what scientists and others are attributing it to.

It looks like the occurrence of autism has increased 10-fold since the year 2003. And here are POSSIBLE causes of autism - like I said before, no one really knows for sure:

1) genetics. Certain chromosomes may have abnormalities. I don't like that word...we use it because what's showing up is very different than what we're used to seeing...I would say these chromosomes are working differently in these kids...why are they working differently? This is where the age of the man can come in, and family history can come in. But I'm not sure - no one in my family or Mar's dad's family has this. No known cases. Mar is the FIRST to appear on either side with autism.

2) vaccines, specifically thimerisol which is derived from mercury. Now, Mar has had no vaccines with mercury in them. ever. She still has autism. Who knows what my levels are, and how much of htat was passed to her in the womb. If I'm toxic in metals, then she could have been and that could have been a factor. Also in question is the multiple vaccines given in a short amount of time - this could cause immunological changes that are not beneficial to children.

3)yeast, candida. Mar had intestinal yeast, and when we dealt with that and got her the vitamins, minerals, fats and enzymes she needed, her situation improved greatly.

4) heavy metal toxicity. Pretty self explanatory. When Mar took her ION panel test, all her metals were very low. So at least with her, that's not really a factor. I am, however, trying liquid zeolite to remove any heavy metals in her system to see if that changes anything.

5) chemical exposure. Metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. can cause changes in a child's system. If you think about it, if the mother is toxic, the baby will be toxic too. Then add that on to what happens after they are born, and the chances of having problems increases.

6) neurotransmitters and other nutrient deficiencies or overproduction. When the wrong kinds of neurotransmitters are made, and made in mass, then it confuses the nervous system. (Same thing is if there aren't enough of something made.) For instance, Mar was making way too many "alarm" neurotransmitters which would cause her to be in a state of fight or flight...if she couldn't get away from a situation, she would fight. She was always scared, always anxious, which only heightened the nervous system overwhelm...the trick became to prevent that overwhelm, and once we got her on her supplement system, her alarm neurotransmitters decreased and her moods became more even and calm.

7) gluten and casein. Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, oats. Casein is a mild protein found in cows milk, goat and sheet milk. Here is what one study said about this as a cause:

"As we've already talked about, autistic people often have gut problems including frequent gut dysbiosis. As a result, digestion is impaired resulting in the incomplete digestion of gluten and casein. What is disturbing is that when not properly digested, gluten and casein can end up as peptides (protein building blocks) with a chemical structure that resembles that of the opiates. There is a significant, and growing, amount of published research showing that gluteomorphin and casomorphin (the offending peptides) have been detected in the urine of autistic children (15, 16). These peptides can pass easily through the blood-brain barrier and interfere with the functioning of neurotransmitters such as Sheraton and dopamine, just as the opiate drugs do. As a result the patient suffers a range of neurological and psychological symptoms." From http://www.ei-resource.org/autism.asp.

You have my other list of possible causes and links to autism...which includes a couple things not listed here.

My answer to what autism stands...their nervous systems are wired differently. Because of that, their bodies need different things and act in different ways. Because the wiring is different, the brain may act differently. Perceptions are different.

When I look at Mar, and all we've gone through, I have to say I'm very thankful. I mean how bad can it be to get gluten and casein out of her diet? She'll be much healthier and won't get trapped into junk food addictions. How bad is it that she is much more sensitive to sound? She hears what most people can't, and is very sensitive to other's emotions and energies, which allows her to be more compassionate, empathic, and in tune with the subtle and unseen. Yes, we do have to give her tools that will allow her to handle these situations without having her become drained or take on someone else's "stuff," but geez, don't we all need some of those in our own lives?

As a parent, I watch. It's my job to know when I need a specialist to intervene and provide some help - say, in learning social skills, or how to teach her to use her words to ask for help - and when I can let things unfold without interference. It's my job to get Mar the tools she needs to move through life, and at the same time, it's my job to protect and ensure that her essence remains intact - that she's not squelched or treated like a piece of clay that has to be molded to fit a certain standard. Hogwash on standards. Who made them up anyway? It's my job to watch for clues of readiness, then jump on them and encourage, while remaining aware of the delicate balance that needs to be held between pushing to hard and being totally lax.

Mar is beautiful, brilliant, gifted, and very intuitive. She is teaching me new ways to look at the world, how to move slower and more deliberately, to pay attention to things that I may have totally missed. Autism to me is being wired differently, so that their experience of the world is very different that what we have come to know. The problems arise when too much stimuli comes winging at them, and their brains and nervous systems cannot take it in, compute it, sort it, integrate it fast enough. Then overwhelm sets in, soothing behaviors become manifest (Nic's train wheel motion with his arms, or Mar's hitting her arm against her side), and the child retreats to a space where they can calm down and balance their systems again. When they are calm, then they can come out into the world again. I wonder if they are demanding that the world take on a different pace - to hell with the competition, rush rush rush mentality, forget all the noise and frantic energies...just calm down, slow down, see what's really important, and tune in to yourself and each other. That's what many of these kids do best...maybe they are showing us a different path, a different way of being in the world that would be more beneficial to us all.

This may be very simplistic to some, and again, I have not had experience with the more severe cases of autism so I cannot speak for them. I just know that I have had to put all my trust and faith at times in my CHILD, and watch and listen for guidance. I have done assessments and pursued more speicalized help when I have felt it necessary to do so. The rest of the time, I watch, I wait, and I be that outer "skin" for Mar until she can develop it herself. And she will. I encourage where appropriate. I don't push to fast or too hard. And I have had to learn huge lessons in flexibility, unattachment, and simply living life in the very moment. What gifts! I have learned how to listen with more than my ears.

I really believe that these kids are here for a reason. That doesn't mean we can't do what we can to help them on their life journeys and get them the help they need. But it also means that we pay attention, that we trust in their innate ability to thrive and our own inner guidance, and that we be willing to look further than "abnormalities" and "syndromes" and "how to FIX it" because I'm not sure it all NEEDS "fixing." And what IS "fixed" anyway????