Autism: Made in the USA Movie

Autism: Made in the USA Movie

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Autism: Made in the USA Movie

Autism: Made in the USA Movie

Posted using ShareThis

Autism: Made in the USA Movie

Autism: Made in the USA Movie

Posted using ShareThis

Neuroliminal Training

Autism Improvement Using Neuroliminal Training

By Know It All

Autism Improvement Using NT

Only in the past few years have some Neurofeedback (NFB) clinicians worked with autistic children. Success has been rare. Few parents can afford the horrible cost, and few clinicians are willing to take on an autistic child, because of the difficulties involved.

1. How do you attach sensors to an autistic child? Even using a helmet?

2. If you do get a connection, how do you motivate such a child? (A key to success).

3. The cost can bankrupt any family except the very wealthy.

Enter Neuroliminal Training (NT). All three of the above problems above are solved with its usage. There is no sensor attachment needed, nor any helmet, nor is motivation important. Since NT works by using a subliminal messaging technique that works during sleep, or as a background to play or study, It can be done at home using a repeating CD, and at an affordable cost to even a low income family. NT improves autism symptoms gradually over time in the same way as NFB.

Neuroliminal Training (NT) does for autistics exactly the same three things that NFB training does – namely raise the SMR brain wave, lower the Theta brainwave, and increase the brain blood flow. (The latest NFB therapy includes HEG biofeedback which does this by feedback techniques). Hyperbaric therapy has had some known success with increasing oxygen as well, although it’s relatively expensive.

With volunteer tests and studies, it has been well proven that success rates are very similar for both NFB and NT. The only real difference is cost. For an average ADHD child to be “cured” (cure being defined in current NFB circles as “sitting still in class, paying attention to study, getting good grades, and in most cases, jumping in IQ scores”) costs $4000. For NT, the total cost is $197. (An autistic child requires many more sessions than an ADD/ADHD child).

Although I believe that there is a “continuum” between the simplest ADD child that cannot seem to concentrate on studying and a true non-communicative autistic child, there is one major difference. A person on the autism portion of that continuum may have had actual brain damage, whereas, the ADD/ADHD child has probably had little or none. Thus, a “cure” for ADD/ADHD is possible, but for not for autism.

To improve autism symptoms, simple “baby steps” toward “normal behavior” are what is seen using either NFB or NT. The good news is that continued usage continues improvement. This is a long slow process, and there are several alternate therapies which may be used at the same time. These are described in the NT literature. These include diets, the use of enzymes, probiotics, free allergy tests etc.

This “brain damage” that makes autism such a problem may be caused by various traumatic episodes such as an overload of mercury or other mineral toxicity, a birth or pregnancy injury, continual malnutrition (or drug addiction) by the mother during pregnancy, etc.

Of course, this autism spectrum is large and variable with each individual. Not to mention, the misdiagnosed cases. A high functioning autistic child might easily be thought to be in the ADD/ADHD range. Remember that all doctors have to make a diagnosis that will allow them to be paid from insurance carriers, and this makes the whole diagnostic process a mockery.

The “accepted” average success rate of Neurofeedback (NFB) (aka EEG BF) for
ADD/ADHD is between 85-90%. I suspect that a large part of these 10-15% “failures” are due to misdiagnosis of ADD/ADHD, where there has been brain damage, and the diagnosis should have been autism.

[FULL ARTICLE]

Facial Reflexology as Autism Treatment

Facial reflexology is a new type of reflexology in the United States and shows therapy benefits for some children with autism. Traditionally, reflexology has been associated with massage and/or pressure on the feet to help heal other parts of the body and improve overall health. According to the American Reflexology Certification Board, reflexology "is a scientific art based on the premise that there are zones and reflex areas in the feet and hands which correspond to all body parts. The physical act of applying specific pressures using thumb, finger and hand techniques result in stress reduction which causes a physiological change in the body." Lone Sorensen, who runs a reflexology institute in Barcelona, Spain, has used the same principles on the face. She has brought facial reflexology techniques to the U.S. and has currently trained a number of reflexologists in North Carolina. Sorensen says that facial reflexology is a combination of "traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), South American Zone Therapy and Vietnamese face maps with the modern science of neurology." A practicioner, Cyndi Hill, has a center in North Carolina called Shalom Regel Reflexology. Hill explains that facial reflexology was developed mostly for children and when she applies massage pressure to certain parts of the face, it may help neurological functions in children.

FULL ARTICLE: Facial Reflexology Comes to Salisbury

Dolphin Assisted Therapy: Is DAT Dangerous?

***Re-posting this one, fixing the You Tube links and after coming across this article today ... Autism Therapy: Dolphin Therapy ***




I've seen a lot of talk of late concerning "Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT)" for kids with autism and other neurological conditions. Don't believe the hype that you hear about this "therapy." While it may be fun, your therapy dollars would be better spent elsewhere.

We do the horse therapy for our daughter and she loves it. I don't know about the therapeutic value, but it's a great activity. Horse "therapy", or Equine Assisted Therapy (aka - Hippotherapy) does not involve the level of danger associated with dolphin therapy and also does NOT endanger the animal. There is a big difference.

Other types of "Animal Assisted Therapy" (AAT) include, but are not limited to dogs, cats, elephants, birds, rabbits, lizards and (I kid you not) Rats. I am not knocking Rat Assisted Therapy (RAT), and the thought of it almost makes the dolphin telepathy folks seem sane. :-)

I think animals are good for kids with autism, but before you spend thousands of dollars, go rescue a dog or cat at Petfinder.com or your local pound.

The folks who push dolphin therapy often promote it as a "healing" experience and often imply that there is some magical telepathic link created between the child and the dolphin. Several even claim that the brains of kids with autism work along the same lines as the dolphins.

Originating in 1978 by Dr. David Nathanson, Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT) has been used as a therapeutic approach to increase speech and motor skills in patients who have been diagnosed with developmental, physical, and/or emotional disabilities, such as mental retardation, Down syndrome, and autism. It is suggested that the unconditional love and support a dolphin offers can benefit children and other mentally ill patients by helping them learn to develop trust. Many believe that dolphins have human-like emotions and the compassion that they're able to give increases self-confidence, social skills and academic achievement in children and others who may be lacking these skills. *

Lose / Lose

In reality, DAT is a lose/lose situation for the child and the dolphin. Parents spent literally thousands of dollars on this treatment that could have been better spent elsewhere. In addition to the financial strain, the kids and the dolphins are put at a great risk of injury or infection. Often these dolphins have been taken out of the wild via a process that often results in death or injury to other dolphins.

As Swim With The Dolphin (SWTD) programs and Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT) continue to gain popularity, we're seeing more and more dolphins being held in captivity than ever before. *

Dolphins that become desensitized towards humans are also highly at risk of getting entangled in commercial fishing nets or being hit by boat propellers.

Dolphins are bred in captivity in U.S. marine parks, but in other countries they are often taken from the wild. "If people knew how these animals were captured, I don't think they would want to swim with them in a tank or participate in DAT," Marino says, referring to an annual "dolphin drive" in Japan. "During the dolphin drives hundreds of animals are killed, or panicked and die of heart attacks, in water that's red with their blood, while trainers from facilities around the world pick out young animals for their marine parks. They hoist them out of the water, sometimes by their tail flukes, and take them away."

Each live dolphin can bring a fisherman $50,000 or more, she says. "The marine parks make millions off of dolphins, so that's a drop in the bucket. It's an irony that dolphins are among the most beloved, and the most exploited, animals in the world," Marino says.

(Physorg.com)

Safety

Putting your child in contact with a wild animal is dangerous. Yes, dolphins are cute and evolution gave them the appearance of smiling, but they are not like "Flipper." While we hate to think of them as such, but by their nature, dolphins are very aggressive predators. I saw one comment on this topic that probably sums up why people don't think they are dangerous: "They are too adorable to be dangerous!"

In contact with humans, dolphins have been known to bite and exhibit "sexually aggressive" behavior. In addition to biting, dolphins have head-butted, raked their teeth along limbs, cracked ribs, broken arms, bruised, and dragged people under water. One man in Brazil was killed when he apparently stuck something in the creature's blowhole, something I am fairly certain my daughter would want to try within the first minute of "therapy". The following story concerns a bottlenose dolphin, the same species as our old friend Flipper.

In March 1994, a bottlenose dolphin that the locals came to call Tiao began appearing on the beach near Sao Paulo. Tiao did not seem to be associated with any nearby group and was obviously attracted to humans. Such animals, often called ambassador dolphins, are rare. No one knows why they prefer to associate with humans rather than their own kind. But the attraction was mutual. According to the BBC's magazine Wildlife, "At times, Tiao would be surrounded by up to 30 people, climbing on his back, tying things to his flippers, sticking things into his blowhole, hitting him with sticks, even trying to drag him out of the water to be photographed with the family and kids on the beach." In December, after nine months of this, Tiao rammed one man to death and injured several others. *

I highly recommend you watch the Penn and Teller show Bulls*&^ on Dolphins. Part II of this episode mentions DAT for kids with special needs. WARNING: Graphic Language, Don't watch if you are easily offended. If you are not easily offended, you are in for a hilarious treat.

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Related articles on both side of the Dolphin Therapy issue:

• Call for Ban on Dolphin Assisted Therapy


• Dolphin Assisted Therapy Does Not Aid Recovery


• Miracles Of Dolphin Assisted Therapy Research


• A contribution to the science of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy


• Is Dolphin Assisted Therapy Research The Answer?


• Dolphin Therapy For Autistic Children


• Controversial Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT): A Note from Ann Novek


• The Promise Of Dolphin -Assisted Therapy


• Dolphins and People...


• Dolphin Assisted Therapy


• Swimming With Dolphins May Not Have Any Health Benefit


• Dolphin Experience 2008


• Swimming With Dolphins An Aquatic Adventure


• Dolphins and Kids


• Something's Fishy


• Does dolphin-assisted therapy really work?


• Swimming With Dolphins Doesn't Confer Any Benefits


• Dolphin Disappointments


• Healing yourself in the new earth


• Dolphin Assisted Therapy


• Dobbs defends dolphins rights to interact with people.


• Dolphin Therapy Smells Fishy


• Dolphin way of life

Autism Yoga Therapy

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Autism

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) May Alleviate Symptoms of Autism

Researcher Says He Has "Found the Pathology of Autism"

Dr. Manuel Casanova holds an endowed chair at the University of Kentucky. He's written dozens of peer-reviewed papers, and receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Casanova is conducting research on the autistic brain -- and, according to him: "I think we have found the pathology of autism. ...It explains so much, it all makes sense."

Not only does Dr. Casanova believe he has found the pathology of autism, but he is also working on a treatment which may have the ability to lessen autistic symptoms of hypersensitivity without compromising the creativity and savant abilities that make autistic people so extraordinary.

Minicolumns in the Autistic Brain: Good News and Bad News

The outer part of the brain is called the neocortex. Within the neocortex are groups of cells called minicolumns. These minicolumns are the smallest unit of cells capable of processing information. Ordinarily, minicolumns include relatively large cells, called neurons, which allow communication not only within an individual minicolumn but also among different parts of the brain.

Minicolumns in people with autism are smaller and more numerous than normal. In addition, neurons within each minicolumn are reduced in size. This may be both good and bad, says Casanova: "Since the efficiency of connections among neurons is a function of cell size, the presence of smaller neurons in the brains of autistic patients has a dramatic effect on the way that different parts of the brain interact with each other. Brain activities that require longer projections (e.g., language) may be impaired while those that depend on shorter connections (e.g., mathematical manipulations) may be preserved or reinforced."

In other words, people with autism are exceptionally good at anything that can be processed in one area of the brain -- such as math and visual discrimination. They are, however, exceptionally bad at anything that requires coordination among various parts of the brain -- such as social skills, language and face discrimination.

[MORE ...]



Related:

• MRI LINKS AND OTHER COOL THINGS: Autism and extraordinary ability
• Autism treatment study using aba and tms
• Look Me In The Eye: Brain Plasticity and TMS
• Clinical Trials Show Promise for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
• Initial Studies of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
• Brain Stimulant: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Autism
• Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) « Hacking autism

Autism Epigenetics

Related:

• Epigenetics defines at Wikipedia - In biology, the term epigenetics refers to changes in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence, hence the name epi- (Greek: over; above) -genetics. These changes may remain through cell divisions for the remainder of the cell's life and may also last for multiple generations. However, there is no change in the underlying DNA sequence of the organism;^[1] instead, non-genetic factors cause the organism's genes to behave (or "express themselves") differently.
• Can Epigenetics explain autism's causes?
• New Theory Of Autism Suggests Symptoms Or Disorder May Be Reversible
• Epigenetics of autism spectrum disorders.
• BioNews - Epigenetic link to autism
• Autism, fever, epigenetics and the locus coeruleus.