Conor Goes For A Swim (and a Dive and a Slide) and Shows Terrific Progress In His Rhabdomyolysis Recovery
Conor home after a great swim adventure;
making terrific progress on his recovery
Conor's autism and profound developmental delay were supplemented by two grand mal seizures between November 2012 and April 2013. The second seizure occurred two days after he began treatment with the anti seizure medication Lamotrogine. During the second week of treatment when his dosage was increased from 1 to 2 25 mg tablets a day he began to sleep and medical advice was sought. The specialists were not available quickly but our family doctor saw us early the next day and advised us to cut back on the dosage which we d...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 24, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
DSM5 Autism Spectrum Disorder Has Arrived: Are Ari Ne'eman and John Elder Robison Still Autistic?
The DSM5 has been released and is now beginning to impact the world of autism. Most discussion of the DSM5's New Autism Spectrum Disorder has ignored the effect of the language of mandatory criterion A which will act to exclude from autism diagnosis those with severe intellectual disability. Most of the discussion has focused on the potential exclusionary impact on those who would meet DSM-IV Asperger's criteria. That being said the DSM5 autism team leaders have assured the high functioning end of the DSM-IV autism spectrum that those currently diagnosed with Asperger's or high functioning autism will not lose ...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 19, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Conor's Physiotherapy With CBC's Terry Seguin
Conor is still recovering from Rhabdomyolysis, an adverse reaction to anti-seizure medication, Lamotrogine and needs phsyiotherapy to rebuild his damaged muscles, balance and co-ordination. Just being home is a huge help for Conor, back home with Mom, Dad, his brother and his familiar routines. One of those routines has been to get out of bed every morning at 6 am. If he is awake at 5:30 he stays in bed until 6. That is his routine and Conor has a classic autism need for routine. When he gets up each morning his routine has also included turning on the television and watching "CBC Terry S...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 15, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Unthinking Autism Guide Shannon Rosa Attacks Autism Parents .... AGAIN.
Shannon Rosa, with the Twitter help of Seth Mnookin and Dr. Jon Brock is at it again, misrepresenting autism disorders and the state of knowledge about autism causation and of course blaming autism parents fighting for their children for the latest report of a professional caregiver abusing an autistic child because they dare talk honestly about the negative aspects of autism DISORDERS :
"At their worst, negative media-sown autism messages influence people like Greg Simard, who brutally beat a 12-year-old, non-speaking autistic boy in his care. Simard justified his actions by saying of the boy, .......
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 12, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Conor Is Home From the Hospital!
Above Conor, and Mom, in the bottom pic, on the way home.
Conor's Mom stayed at the hospital with him 24/7, for 2 weeks
Dad spelled her off at times and the nursing students also sat
with Conor and gave Mom some breaks once he was moved
from the Intensive Care Unit to a room in Pediatrics.
In the grainy pic below (taken in dark lighting) Conor rests
at home on one of our living room cozy couches.
Conor is home! After 2 weeks in the hospital, including 6 days in intensive care, it feels great to have our buddy home with us. Yesterday I told Conor I would be back at 8 am this morning to take him home...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 11, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Dr. Tom Insel's Shameful DSM Retreat
Left - Transforming Diagnosis Insel
Right - NIMH Is Not Abandoning the DSM Insel.
In Transforming Diagnosis NIMH Director Thomas Insel said that the DSM was invalid, based on an antiquated system of diagnosis and .... patients deserve better. Then he retreated, tried to hide and claimed that people were misrepresenting the Transforming Diagnosis article, that the NIMH was just talking about research not clinical practice. Last I checked Diagnosis is a key part of a medical clinical practice. If you are talking about participants or subjects you are talking about research. If you are talking abo...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 9, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Adult Autism Care in New Brunswick: An Open Letter to Premier David Alward
May 6, 2013
Honourable Premier David Alward
Respected Cabinet Ministers and Party Leaders
Dear Premier Alward
I am the Acting President of the Autism Society New Brunswick and a parent that was involved, with many other parents, in the advocacy that led to the establishment of the UNB-CEL autism intervention training program, the provision of early autism intervention to children aged 2-5, UNB-CEL autism specific training of Education Aides and Resource Teachers and the reversal of the decision to close the Stan Cassidy Center tertiary care autism team. We also argued with some modest ...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 6, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Conor Is Safe Now But We Almost Lost Our Buddy: THANK YOU To ALL Who Saved Him!
In mid-April, pursuant to a neurologist's advice, we started Conor on Lamotrogine, an anti-eleptic drug which is reputed to have benefited many people suffering from seizure activity. Hours after receiving his third dosage Conor suffered his second Grand Mal seizure, that we know of, since his first in November 2012. Last week he became extremely drowsy and last Friday April 26, 2013, our family doctor recommended we reduce the dosage (the neurologist is out of town until May 13, 2013). Later, early Friday evening Conor's condition worsened noticeably and a rash had developed. Rash development is a known ...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 1, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Autism, Grand Mal Seizures, Meds: Conor Needs Some Kermit Komfort!
Conor enjoys some Kermit Komfort this morning while sleeping and awaiting a trip to see our family physician. It has been a very difficult week for my Buddy as we work through his seizure and medication issues. Hoping things turn for the better today! (Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick)
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 26, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Autism and the Natural Environment: Conor Celebrates Earth Day Every Day
Today is Earth Day! Conor celebrated yesterday with some Run, Jump, Fly fun on the North Riverfront Trail here in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. We try to get outdoors and celebrate our natural environment with Conor every day, every chance we get. (Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick)
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 22, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Autism Rising? Not According to Behavior Analyst Steve Taylor Who Proclaims That Autism Is 100% Genetic In Origin
Since my son was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder in 1998 the rates of diagnosed autism have risen dramatically from 1 in 500 to the current estimated rate of 1 in 88. There is common acknowledgement that a substantial increase resulted from the DSM-IV changes which pushed acceptance of Aspergers as part of an autism spectrum. Social factors such as increased awareness and availability of services under an autism label have also been cited. Some purported autism experts though have concluded that the dramatic autism increases are entirely attributable to diagnostic changes, increased awareness...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 19, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs
Mother Of An Autistic Son Asks Autism Speaks for Some Actual Autism Awareness
The following commentary is from the blog Muslimah Next Door written by Dishad Ali. It addresses an issue that I have raised several times - the lack of real autism awareness created by autism awareness events. The author's comments at Muslimah Next Door under the title When an Autism Awareness Event is Anything But are followed by a letter from Harshita Mahajan the mother of a teenage autistic son addressed to Autism Speaks. I sincerely hope that Autism Speaks takes the mother's concerns, and the contents of her letter, seriously and begins to provide during autism awareness events awareness o...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 17, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Source Type: blogs
Autism and Seizures: Conor's Second Grand Mal Seizure (That We Know Of)
The pictures above were initially posted on this site on May 26, 2012, several months before Conor's 1st known Grand Mal Seizure in November. As I posted then, external conditions were perfect and Conor was enjoying a favorite activity in a favorite location when he suddenly began hitting himself in the head. I don't know what caused it, Conor lacks the communication skills to explain, but it was definitely internal. Together with many similar circumstances including sudden closing of his eyes and looking blankly into the distance I reported them to his pediatrician as possible seizure activities. The pediatrician di...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 16, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Source Type: blogs
Blood Tests and Autism: Conor and the DECH Both Did Very Well Today! Thank You Very Much!
Our entire family has had nothing but good experiences at the Doctor Everett Chalmers Hospital, the "DECH", in Fredericton and that trend continued this morning when we took Conor for blood tests at 7 am. The tests were required by the consulting neurologist to establish some base lines before starting some new medications to address Conor's seizure activities. We contacted the DECH yesterday to see if they could accommodate Conor with a direct entry to the blood works room without taking a number and waiting in line. We explained his autism, intellectual disability and tendency to have meltdowns when frustrate...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 12, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Source Type: blogs
Autism Severity: Verbal Communication Doesn't Count? Crows Say Otherwise!
Photos by Harold L Doherty
One of the more irrational features in some autism discussions is the claim that being non verbal is not a significant indicator of autism severity. Anyone who thinks that verbal communication is not a significant factor in daily functioning is fooling themselves. Communication is important for humans as it is for birds. Crows are often reputed to be the smartest bird species and YouTube abounds with clever activities of crows. Anyone who has walked in areas populated by these very smart birds has heard the loud oral communication that goes on between these marvelous, ...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - April 9, 2013 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Source Type: blogs
