I have been working with children with disabilities for almost 7yrs. It is challenging but the the most rewarding job I've ever had. I'm happy to see that society is becoming more aware and though not very accepting knowledge is power. Unfortunately there is no cure for autism but like they said on the show there is hope. I've lived my whole life in California and fortunate for us we are one of the few states that has many services for all ranges of disabilities. I am a realist and denial is one of the biggest ways you can hurt your child's progress and also sending them to school and to therapy thinking that it is our job to work miracles doesn't help either. It takes a big group of people and a positive attitude to deal with this issue. Consistency at home and out in the community is critical.  The truth hurts sometimes but it will always set you free. 

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Possible causes, our son’s AS:

—I had skin and breathing contact to Perchloroethylene [1976] and other cleaning chemicals, before getting pregnant in 1982; unknown if causative for ASD, but it has other known neurotoxicity;

—we lived near the freeway for years [1978-1998] leading up to and during pregnancy-I had an intense, long commute to work during pregnancy: a component of vehicle exhaust is known to cause autism;

—During first trimester [1982], a “friend” gave me an herbal substance he refused to disclose, which caused a mild, short “trip”; luckily only tasted, instead of drinking any quantity;

—I was overdosed Pitocin to speed up L&D. Pitocin=synthetic Oxytocin, which stimulates labor and helps bonding. Pitocin is one suspect in causing ASD/AS.

—Breast milk should taste sweet; mine tasted acrid; Doc said it was UNlikely the chemicals I had been exposed to previously were excreting in my milk; I think they were.

—Final insult seemed when son received one set of vaccinations [MMR, DPT, polio] at about 3 y.o., after which very ill, began more pronounced symptoms of ASD/AS [about 1985].

Many chemicals and stressors in environment can cause things to go haywire. More than one thing caused our son’s AS. His outcomes could have been far worse, if we had not been smart enough to do things to help him.

Advice: pay attention to instincts; be a good advocate; educate yourselves on what can help, do those things; see what works for your kid! Listen and pay attention to cues!

I had a epidural with the birth of my son and he has alot of promblems like ADHD, global develpmental delay with cognitve delay, tourettes, sensory issues enlarged sella turcica & just last year diagnosed with syncope. They diagnosed him with that because he had a seizure April 11/09 and 5 days later day before Easter had one at home, he did not have another episode until April 11 this year, the Dr in ER said ??seizures but the EEG/CT of head came back normal. Sometimes I think he has spectrum Autism.

There is no link between autism and epidurals. I feel like everyone on this site is trying to start conspiracy theories-and all that does is cause rumors and in the end it will hurt people. Please think twice before you assume something! There is no link, because the epidural medication never reaches the baby. Because it is placed in the epidural space, that is were it stays and that is why they prefer to use an epidural rather than using IV pain medication. The medication that is placed in the epidural never leaves the epidural space and never enters the blood stream which means it never has the ability to make it to the baby. If you are concerned about an epidural, then don't get one when you give birth, but don't try to tell everyone else that it causes autism-because that is frivilous and harmful. If you had looked into this prior to posting your comment you would see that a large number of people with autistic children didn't get epidurals and yet their children still have autism. Some studies have been conducted, but if you know anything about the anatomy of the human body and how an epidural works-you would know that there is no way it can effect the baby, unless it is placed incorrectly- and even then the chances of it harming the baby are slim to none! Please don't use this website to start rumors. all it does it make people peronoid and fearful of doctors.

I have two beautiful, brilliant boys, both born by cesarean and both times I was given an epidural.  One son, the oldest, is an Aspie, the other is neuro-typical.  Lets find another avenue and stop beating our heads against the same tired wall.

The guest on the show about autism was talking about school and how ALL children should be in class together.  I don't agree.         I visited my kids school and the special needs kids were very disruptive. Not so much autism kids but others.  They would yell, scream, screetch..and there was always a 'helper' with them.  I watched as the teacher tried to talk above the sounds but you just couldn't hear her.   ALL kids deserve an education but how does putting 2 special needs in a class of 20 help anyone? The other 18 kids were distracted the entire class!     If you look at the scores of the statewide test I think I know why they're dropping.   

I think we are all to blame for a lot of what we have going wrong. I mean as a species in general. There really isn't any right or wrong way to go about topics like this. It is very difficult to have a child with a disability. I can't speak from personal experience at home ( docs don't seem to think my daughter has ADHD) but I can look at the situation form outside the box from working in this field for almost 10 yrs now. there really isn't a place or person to point the finger at. We are all well aware of the dangers of everyday life, we are an evolving species always striving for more and bigger and better things. Did we really think we could have it all without consequence?  

As far as being mainstreamed i have to agree that putting a child with disabilities in a regular ed classroom can be very disruptive with or with out the 1:1 aid. I do however think that it is very possible and better for the school community as a whole to have a special ed class. Kids will be kids and they always pick on each other. It is after all human nature. We as adults and parents have the responsibility of showing them the difference between right and wrong and help them grow into educated and accepting pupils of society. The cost of education for 1 disable student would pay for an entire classroom of regular ed kids if not more. I am a realist when it comes to this topic. What are the chances that a disabled child will grow to become a productive player in society. All that money spent on them could go to less advantaged children who can grow to become a huge role player in this world. To be quite honest a lot of that money spent doesn't guarantee that your child will see his therapist those 40hrs a month or even that that person is qualified to have that position. I can go back and forth all day but it would change nothing. I have seen the best and the worst of special education teachers and school systems at the end of the day it is always about the money.

I believe that many of the conditions that are on the rise have to do with the chemical companies that push whatever they can to make money.  In the 60's plastics became the "thing".   Baby bottles, our carpets, floors, dishes etc. plastic.  We spray our food with poisons, fill our animals up with antibiotics and steroids and feed them trash like the leftover parts of other cows ground into feed.  We fill our homes with more chemicals that are stronger every day.  Everything is "Scented", remember when people smelled like people, and I don't mean all sweaty?  We scent our soap, deodorant, dish soaps and laundry soap and the list goes on.  People plug in air fresheners that spray chemical smells into the room, burn artificially scented candles.  We now spray our furniture to make it "smell better" and we also spray it to keep it from getting dirty.Our food has so many artificial colors and flavoring along with other chemicals.  People use Teflon or Silverstone pans, which gets into the food you cook in it.  We even scent our cat litter; BTW cats don't like the scented litter. I have Interstitial Cystitis and Fibromyalgia along with sinus problems etc.  I can't go near a perfume counter or the candle aisle in the stores or my nose starts burning and I can't breathe.  I was exposed to a primer at work that was supposed to be safe.   We had to evacuate the building; this was a 9-1-1 center.  I stayed with the boss and made calls to the oncoming shift to tell them to go to one of the many locations depending on agency.  I was also exposed to carbon monoxide 2x while working there from vehicles running over our air intake.This is why we have so many more cancers and other medical problems.  We are overpopulating the country, we need to quit applauding people like the Duggar Family, at that rate they would have 6,000 great grandchildren,

When I had my son July 16/1998, I had a book C-Section and yes I had a edpidural and my blood pressure did drop, I almost died plus a week before my booked C-Section I went in to hospital with some contractions they said babys head down and engaged so they wanted to take him out the next day but they did a amniocentisis and his lungs were not ready so bed rest, so like I said I almost died and then my sons head was stuck they were literally on top of me trying to get him out they ended up sending a nurse to get forceps an that is how they got him out and now he has Global Developmental delay with cognitve delay, enlarged sella turcica, Sensory isssues , tourettes quite bad and lately Syncope were he has like seizures. My sister was in for the C-Section and she said I did not do good for the whole surgery. Sometimes my sister and I think my son might have spectrum Autism disorder but has not been diagnosed with it.