A refreshing Seminar by a DAN! Doctor

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I know how many of us dislike DAN! doctors. However, I attended a seminar at the request of a friend, and I have to say, this one given by Dr. Soto, a neurologist, was most informative. Most of the curebie people want to blame vaccinations for autism, but this guy put things into perspective. He said that genetics play a real big part in many of the difficulties that autistic people have such as sensory issues, self destructive behaviour, communication problems, etc. What was most refreshing is the fact that he did not blame the evils of the entire world on vaccines containing mercury.

Instead, he suggested that viral load from a flurry of vaccinations as well as certain artificial chemicals in most processed food play a contributing factor in many physical problems autistic people have. He also pointed out how certain stressors (from other people) can also aggravate things. He explained things from a whole body perspective. He also has a saying that I can agree with, "Genetics loads and cocks the gun, but environmental factors help pull the trigger." He emphasized the GENETIC factors involved. This is something I have yet to ever hear from other DAN! Doctors. Like many in the neurodiversity movement, I am leery of many so called doctors who come along preaching this or that "miracle cure." This man was different. The seminar was most refreshing. I think that there are some in the medical profession who are actually listening and beginning to understand.

I could be remembering this wrong, but I think the viral load theroy being falsified was the whole reason the curebie comunity came up with the mercury theory. The theory goes something like, kids get all there vacines at once, and it's too much for their developing imune system to handle, and somehow causes autism. Even though there was no supporting data to corroberate this theory, doctors took this claim seriously and stopped giving the vacines at the same time, this is still true today. Dispite this, Autism diagnosis did not go down, and it may have even gone up, if I remember correctly. After their viral load theory was disproven, the curebies came up with the mercury theory. I could be remembering it wrong, but it was something very similar to this.

But aside from that I like the fact that he mentions the genetic aspect of Autism. Most of the other things that he says are similar to what most of mainstream science is saying.

I do wonder if perhaps physical environmental stuff can take someone who would be like me (or rather, a young child who would be like I was as a young child) and cause them to be, instead of a little autistic, a lot autistic. Or maybe just make someone a little more autistic than they would be. And possibly even just on a temporary basis.

I think it is correct that severity is related to environmental factors, and not to amount of autistic traits. I base this on observations in Aspie-quiz. It is not so that the group diagnosed with Autism has higher average scores than the group diagnosed with AS/HFA/PDD, it is the reverse. The self-diagnosed group also have similar scores as the AS/HFA/PDD group. Therefore, severity, according to various diagnostic instruments of children, is more related to how well the child can compensate and how well it can interact with its enviroment. That's also why chelation and diets can improve on these measures, as these children improve their coping and general functioning when the environmental stressors are removed. They do NOT improve on autistic traits.

I'm guessing he'll be thrown out of the organization soon, if he doesn't step up the "chemicals are BAAAD" nonsense.

I don't agree entirely with him--autism is almost all genetic, and in his zeal to prosecute "chemicals", he ignores the sensory and social environment. I could eat a completely organic diet, take fifty supplements, and never have a vaccination, and still get more benefit out of wearing comfortable clothing.

I think so. Chemicals, environment, irritants... I feel that anything that can trigger an AS person into being subliminally irritated and subconsciously distracted, can worsen the AS.

I'm very, very allergic to non-gold metals. When I was in Tucson, AZ one winter when they had drought conditions and high levels of dust (they have a lot of minerals and mining in that area), I got weird "allergy" attacks that coincided with the dust advisories. I became itchy all over, irritable, confused, disoriented and generally got low functioning. That was when I was diagnosed with AS (in an emergency room).

Since that time, I have noticed that I am higher functioning when I'm on a very healthy diet with a lot of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant foods (like raw vegetables, and certain kinds of fruits like pineapples) and that I get lower-functioning when I eat a lot of processed foods, wheat foods and not a lot of anti-inflammatory foods.

I'm also very allergic to mercury (thimersol), and can't get flu shots.

IMO these things that people might think "cause" AS maybe just trigger lower-functioning episodes where the symptoms get more obvious, and then they think the irritants are causing the AS.

It is my observation in my own body that anything that distracts me subliminally like an all-over allergy, or just being swollen and irritated all over, distracts my mind from being coherent. It's like the flood of small negative bits of information from the sensory system that aren't individually enough to register consciously, can still be a kind of subconscious sensorimotor noise, and drag down my executive functioning.

I think it would have to be extreme, though, not just subtle stuff. For example, a child who grows up with constant seizures; a child who grows up with untreated severe allergies; a child who is constantly forced into aversive sensory situations; a child who grows up eating very little fruit/vegetable/milk/meat type foods and as a result has chronic nutritional deficiency; a child who has a chronic physical illness like juvenile diabetes, cancer, or any number of congenital things kids can have; a child who grows up with untreated irritable-bowel or celiac disease; a lactose-intolerant child who is constantly forced to drink milk... (I know, I know, celiac usually appears early-twenties or so, but it has been known to happen earlier)...

Unless you have a serious sensitivity to it, you're not going to have any long-term effect from a candy bar every few days or occasional exposure to allergens. And unless your mom's totally oblivious, the sensitivities are probably going to be obvious enough that they should be easy to detect, after which you know they exist and can narrow down to identify them without cutting out EVERYTHING a child could possibly be sensitive to (which apparently some of these DAN! guys recommend, and end up with kids eating nothing but rice pudding and supplements)... I mean, this stuff isn't rocket science. If something causes problems, don't eat it.

But these DAN! people are still clinging to the idea of universally "good" and "bad" foods, and that's a myth that's long-ago been refuted. There are no simple answers. It's all about the individual.

I had symptoms of gluten intolerance already as a small child. Also, you forgot dental fillings containing mercury. Every time I had my teeth fixed at the dentist I had strange symptoms that made me lower functioning that lasted for months.



I wouldn't be so hasty with such a conclusion. There could very well be good and bad foods for Aspies and NTs. AFAIK, nobody have checked foods from this perspective.

Well, if one exception disproves universally good and bad foods, then I'm such an exception. I have no trouble with wheat, milk, or food additives--only high-fat foods cause me any trouble. I know this because as a child, I was on a GF/CF diet for several years, and there was no difference. In fact, it was during that time that I was misdiagnosed with oppositional-defiant disorder, thanks to insisting that the rules at home be totally fair, and thanks to having meltdowns when forced to touch dishwater or take showers. On the other hand, if I eat a meal with a lot of fat in it, I'll feel tired and cranky--probably because all the energy's going to digesting all those calories and not to thinking straight. I also don't have any trouble with injections--I checked; my performance at school and number of meltdowns were totally constant after I got a flu shot this year, and the stress only increased during finals week!

My littlest sister is another exception. She also has no trouble with wheat or milk--but for her, red meat is nearly indigestible. She's strongly gifted, moderately Aspie.

Never discount the placebo effect, incidentally. Sore teeth could cause just as much trouble as a mercury filling. And if you expect things to be worse, they often will be...

We'll have to use statistics here, and not exceptions. The only thing that would be relevant is that certain foods, on average, could be good or bad for Aspies. We cannot say anything about the individual, only make some general conclusions about the group.



Then I'm the rule. I noticed the difference of GF-diet already after a few days, and I feel much better when on a high-meat diet.



I had no idea about amalgam poisioning at this time. This was in the late 1970s or something. It is a retrospective explanation for the symptoms I had at the time. I suspect that people that grind their teeth a lot while be at higher risk of mercury poisoning from dental fillings.