Brain White-Matter Lesions From Gluten Allergy (Celiac)

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FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER Sacramento, California http://www.feat.org

" Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet "

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August 12, 2001 Search www.feat.org/search/news.asp

EDUCATION

* For Schools, Each ASD Child Is A New Puzzle

SCIENCE

* Study Identifies New Source Of Stem Cells

* Brain White-Matter Lesions From Gluten Allergy (Celiac)

CARE

* Computer Opens World Of Speech For Local Man

For Schools, Each ASD Child Is A New Puzzle

[by Claudette Riley in the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader’]

http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/webextra/autism/autismschools081201.ht

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Since 1993, the number of students with autism in Missouri public

schools has more than quadrupled.

And that increase, from 420 eight years ago to more than 1,700 in

2000, has left districts scrambling for more resources and information to

meet the growing need.

“There has been a tremendous increase in what they call ‘autism

spectrum disorders’ internationally,” said a Goff, Missouri’s director

of effective practices in special education.

Officials attribute the increase to an emphasis on early detection,

better diagnostic tools, more awareness about autism and a larger number of

students with autism attending public schools.

The numbers are expected to continue climbing, especially with the

state’s decision to start tracking the diagnoses of early-childhood

education students this fall.

Awareness about autism increased sharply in the mid-1990s, pushing

districts to invest in more training for staff, brush up on the latest

advancements and find successful programs for the disorder.

They’ve found some keys: Students with autism learn better in

environments that limit the number of distractions, offer routines and

repeat important information to increase retention. But there’s no

one-size-fits-all in autism.

“The needs of the students are so varied,” said ,

director of special education in Springfield. “The students are at different

ages and different cognitive levels ranging from gifted to severely

retarded.”

There’s no known cause of autism, though a handful of theories exist

from genetics to infections to environmental toxins such as mercury to diet

and allergies. Some even believe vaccinations are the cause.

Educators say they often have to battle misconceptions about autism.

“A lot of people think of it as ‘Rainman’ — that they are geniuses in

math or have great skills. But it’s not like that,” said Misty Kinsey, an

autism education consultant for the Greene County Special Education

Co-Operative, which includes Republic, Fair Grove and Walnut Grove.

“It’s basically a social communication disorder. They don’t always

interact with others and have a sensory difference — where they are either

over- or undersensitive to things.”

That sensory difference can mean that the buzzing of a florescent

light can be distracting or that those with autism don’t pick up on the

meaning of gestures from others.

Most students with autism share some similarities: a self-stimulus

like rocking or clapping hands, concrete or sequential reasoning, difficulty

expressing emotions and a need for routines or order.

“With the kids I’ve worked with, hands-on activities are important and

so is a visual schedule so they can go from one activity to another,” Kinsey

said. “A lot of kids — you have to kind of wait on a response. It takes a

while for them to process information.”

Autism, perhaps more than other disorders, can take on such a wide

range of characteristics and extremes that what works for one student would

be completely inappropriate for another.

“There are many kids who have the same diagnosis but react widely to

the methods of treatment,” Goff said. “The challenge is figuring out how

they learn and designing the intervention.”

Finding what’s best for the student is critical to their progress.

“When they find what works for them, they flourish,” Kinsey said.

The difficulty designing effective programs has led to a large number

of due-process hearings in the state — where students or their families can

challenge the district’s individualized education plan for that student.

That number is especially high for students in early-childhood special

education, officials said.

“It’s one of the more controversial and challenging areas of special

education because of the difficulty diagnosing and programming for those

students,” said. “The research available to this point doesn’t

suggest one approach.”

Not long ago, students with autism were sent to state schools or

behavior-disorder classes. More are choosing public schools because the

availability and quality of services is increasing.

But often, a medical or what is called an “educational” diagnosis — by

school officials following state guidelines — of autism is just the

beginning.

Part of the challenge for districts is that with no confirmed medical

link for the onset of the disorder and a wide variety of educational

approaches, each child is a separate puzzle to be solved.

Goff said districts will continue to research and duplicate what’s

working: “These are puzzling children, and we have to figure them out.”

* * *

Study Identifies New Source Of Stem Cells

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-08/mu-sin081301.php

A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) of McGill

University has identified a non-controversial source of stem cells that can

produce a number of different cell types, including the type of neural cells

needed to potentially help patients recover from a spinal cord injury or

Parkinson’s disease.

These findings are published today on-line in the highly cited scientific

journal Nature Cell Biology in an article entitled " Isolation of Multipotent

Adult Stem Cells from the Dermis of Mammalian Skin " by J.G. Toma, M.

Akhavan, K.J.L. Fernandes, F. Barnabé-Heider, A. Sadikot, D.R. Kaplan, and

F.D. . The paper can be viewed on line at

http://www.nature.com/ncb/future_issues/.

Dr. Freda and colleagues at the Centre for Neuronal Survival

and the Brain Tumour Research Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute,

McGill University, have isolated stem cells from the dermis of adult rodents

that will proliferate and differentiate in culture to produce very different

cell types- neurons, glia, smooth muscle cells, and fat cells. These novel

stem cells, SKPs, were isolated from the skin of juvenile and adult rodents-

an accessible non–embryonic source. Human studies have indicated that

similar cells are present in adult human skin. " We believe our discovery is

important as we have identified an exciting new stem cell from a

non-controversial source that holds considerable promise for scientific and

therapeutic research, " says Dr. Freda .

The work conducted at the MNI has led Dr. and her colleagues to

offer a new account of stem cells present in the adult. " SKPs represent a

novel multipotent stem cell less biased than other adult stem cells– they

have the ability to differentiate into diverse cell types of different

embryonic lineage and can be cultured for one year without losing this

ability, " explains Dr. . " This is extremely significant as rather than

being programmed to generate only skin cells, SKPs can be directed to become

neurons or neuronal support cells or even muscle cells- depending on what is

needed. Importantly, SKPs also represent a potentially autologous (i.e.

originating from within the same individual) stem cell source that can

generate neural cell types damaged in spinal cord injury or Parkinson’s

disease. This means that complications seen in donor transplantations are

avoided as the patient's own cells are being transplanted. " The MNI

researchers expect that the new findings will contribute to our

understanding of the impressive versatility of stem cells and offer a

potential solution to individuals with Parkinson’s disease and other neural

disorders.

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* * *

Brain White-Matter Lesions From Gluten Allergy (Celiac)

[Lends potential support to the gut-brain portion of the

vaccine-autism theory.]

http://www.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2001/08/08.10/20010809clin004.html

Reuters Health - Children with celiac disease http://www.celiac.org/

often have brain white-matter lesions, Dr. Matthias Kieslich and colleagues

from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in furt, Germany, report in the

August issue of Pediatrics.

The prognostic significance of these lesions is unclear and needs to

be determined, according to the researchers.

In their examination of 75 diet-treated children with celiac disease,

Dr. Kieslich said he and his colleagues expected to find brain

calcifications. " But computed tomography did not reveal any cerebral

calcifications, he told Reuters Health. " Instead, we were surprised that

magnetic resonance imaging detected unilateral and bilateral

T2-hyperintensive periventricular lesions in 15 patients. "

" Focal white-matter lesions seem to be more typical for pediatric

celiac disease than cerebral calcifications, " he added.

These lesions occur without specific neurologic symptoms and seem to

be independent of dietary compliance or length of gluten exposure time,

according to the results of the prospective study. The lesions may have an

ischemic origin, Dr. Kieslich said, arising from vasculitis or caused by

inflammatory demyelination.

" There have been reports of brain white-matter lesions as an

extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, but

not in celiac disease, " Dr. Kieslich said. Celiac disease, he continued,

" should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with unclear

white-matter lesions even without intestinal symptoms. "

Pediatrics 2001;108:e21. Full text of article

http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/108/2/e21

* * *

Computer Opens World Of Speech For Local Man

[There are a number of scientific studies that indicate that

Facilitated Communications doesn’t work empirically. However, a few swear

by it. The FEAT Daily newsletter is mostly an electronic clipping service:

If it’s about autism and it’s in the mainstream media, we electronically

clip it and put it in the newsletter. This is true even if we disagree with

the content; presented so the readers can examine the material for

themselves. By Brislin in the Times - Argus, Vermont.]

http://timesargus.nybor.com/Story/31284.html

Thresher sits at his computer talking to a visitor. It sounds

like an ordinary event. The difference is that Thresher is autistic and his

keyboard is transferring coherent and organized words into conversation.

There is a hidden voice within this spastic, sometimes silent, usually

charming, almost volcanic human being.

Autism doesn’t stop Thresher from telling the world what’s on

his mind. He speaks freely and sometimes loudly to anyone who is watching

him.

Thresher, shy about admitting his age – over 30 – is a master of

facilitative communication (FC). He communicates by typing into a computer.

Punctuation is not a concern for Thresher; his message is most

important.

“yes, I am w ay too old to say really really way to old,” Thresher

said of his age.

FC is an educational technique intended to allow people who cannot

speak or sign to access communication devices. It serves people afflicted

with mental retardation, autism, Down’s syndrome, and other developmental

disabilities.

The impact FC has had on Thresher’s life in the last decade is hard,

even for him, to express.

“this is my only w ay to really express myself my speech is eas ily mi

sunderstood,” Thresher said. “I am au tis tic...I am very different when it

comes to my way of mov ing the differences make me look stupid...wit hout

the touch I go too fast and type the sanme thing oiver and over just like my

speech. I can show you my intelligence with FC otherwise I would not be able

to.” Thresher began learning FC as part of one of the first groups of

students to experiment and express their hidden voices. Up until that time,

his audible sounds were never understood. It was frustrating to his family,

and to Thresher, who knew in his mind that he had so much to say.

“before 1990 (was) very minsd boggeling for me and my family they

meant well but didn’t know the real son. Those who tried to teach me thought

I didn’t understand them and some thoug ht I was retarded,” Thresher said.

Thresher’s skill is good enough so that he is a presenter at seminars

and workshops with his facilitator, Harvey Lavoy, facilitated communication

coordinator at Washington County Mental Health Services.

In May of last year, Thresher prepared a document for a meeting at the

FC Institute in Syracuse about his ideas on what personal traits

facilitators should possess, as well as what skills and training

facilitators need and how facilitators should be evaluated in their work.

Assessment is an important part of determining who is a good candidate

for FC. Meeting with a facilitator like Lavoy, or Pascal Crevedi-Cheng of

the Center for Human Services in Chittenden County, is just the first

step.

Lavoy and Crevedi-Cheng first assess individuals on the basis of

pointing skills. It is important that the person is able to isolate their

index finger. The degree to which they can do that varies among individuals,

Lavoy said.

“Cerebral Palsey patients,” for example, “may have more difficulty

with physical coordination,” Crevedi-Cheng said. For autistic patients, it

is not so much a matter of muscle coordination as the reliability of their

responses. A lot of how we evaluate people is based on their responses

because a certain level of skill is needed, he said.

Critics of FC have suggested that the real communicator is the

facilitator behind or beside the individual at the keyboard. Thresher and

others like him need the help of a skilled partner to use the keyboard

because they are not able to keep their body movements in control. In

Thresher’s case, Lavoy sits beside him supporting his (Thresher’s) forearm

near the elbow with an open palm.

Countering the criticism of FC, Crevedi-Cheng contends that FC has

come a long way in the last 10 years.

“Many people were using this (FC) without a structured training

approach.

More attention is given now to technique and strategy. Facilitators

need to go through a certain level of training.” Training to be a

facilitator includes a six-hour class covering motor-planning issues, the

nature of support and how to physically give support. Training also includes

feedback and monitoring techniques to keep the participants focused to the

task of communicating. Procedures for documenting communication skills are

also taught, according to a brochure by the Division of Developmental

Services.

In his document that was presented to the Syracuse forum last year,

Thresher shares insight into the world as he sees it and the importance FC

has to his life.

“People see me and think I don’t understand the\m. I do understand

people I don’t have a way to show them unless I’m facilitated.” The FC

Institute at Syracuse University strives to bring credibility to this

facilitated way of communication for disabled individuals.

“There are examples that could leave the impression of not knowing who

is communicating,” admits Marilyn Chadwick, a speech and language

pathologist and director of training at the FC Institute. “The institute

strives to tear apart that notion.” Their goal is independence –

communication without the facilitator, she said.

Faciliated Communication is different from other forms of assistive

technology, Lavoy said, noting that other institutes may have rehabilitative

programs that allow individuals who have become disabled to function in the

way of college and in the daily world with independence. At this time,

however, people such as Thresher require the support of a skilled

facilitator by their side.

“It really takes lots of ability to slow me down and keeop me focused

with my movement problems the touch has to be firm and reassuring and not

leading me but following my actual typing movements the less support

support...serious movement lapses occur and I shut doewwn with proper

support I can type like righbt now,” Thresher said.

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