Re: Changes in behavior with co-factors?--cindy

[Guest guest]

The DSMV for autism does not allow for physical/neurological/ genetic as causes right at the moment. So, if you have a problem such as mito, or epilepsy or brain atrophy, you cannot be autistic. You can have autistic like behaviors, but not autism. Carnitine deficiency can cause autistic like behaviors for example.

You are exactly right...just like my son with High Functioning Autism can not have ADHD also but he can have extreme hyperactivity as a side effect of the HFA. This is why the ADHD meds do nothing for his hyperactivity. However, in order to get proper support services sometimes they will list it as a seperate diagnosis. It also seems that there are mito families that have one child who is medically ill with mito disease and maybe a sibling with a ASD diagnosis...then the question is, does that child really have an ASD or do they have a different degree of mito? That is a big question on the mito-meta-autism yahoogroup.

Whitney, please forgive me if I sounded like your child has autism...i really meant that they could have behaviors on the autism spectrum. That is what I meant to say...it made sense to me...ha ha!

deb...mom to three great kids and wife to one amazing guy!http://www.lifeofloveproject.org/http://www.heartliftersgallery.com/ Crazy Lizzies!! PURSES!

[Guest guest]

Oh, I am with you that they list it to get services, but somehow most doctors, specialists ,etc. ignore physical/genetic/metabolic once a child has that Dx, instead of trying to get to the root of the behaviors.

Cindy-GA

Re: Changes in behavior with co-factors?--cindy

The DSMV for autism does not allow for physical/neurological/ genetic as causes right at the moment. So, if you have a problem such as mito, or epilepsy or brain atrophy, you cannot be autistic. You can have autistic like behaviors, but not autism. Carnitine deficiency can cause autistic like behaviors for example.

You are exactly right...just like my son with High Functioning Autism can not have ADHD also but he can have extreme hyperactivity as a side effect of the HFA. This is why the ADHD meds do nothing for his hyperactivity. However, in order to get proper support services sometimes they will list it as a seperate diagnosis. It also seems that there are mito families that have one child who is medically ill with mito disease and maybe a sibling with a ASD diagnosis...then the question is, does that child really have an ASD or do they have a different degree of mito? That is a big question on the mito-meta-autism yahoogroup.

Whitney, please forgive me if I sounded like your child has autism...i really meant that they could have behaviors on the autism spectrum. That is what I meant to say...it made sense to me...ha ha!

deb...mom to three great kids and wife to one amazing guy!http://www.lifeofloveproject.org/http://www.heartliftersgallery.com/ Crazy Lizzies!! PURSES!Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions.