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Recently, I posted some information regarding adult and teenage children with autism spectrum disorders. I had a parent of an adult child that is being treated at the office with Hemispheric Integration Therapy and functional medicine who made me aware of this link that I am providing below specifically for children over 21. We recently had a request on the message board of our support group from a parent who had a child who was about to turn 18. He had heard that there was specific things that should be put in order before the child turned 18 in order to ensure that he would receive maximum benefits. He was fortunate enough to belong to our support group and get some help with regard to this matter. For all of you out there that are not local to Tampa, this link from the Easter Seals site I thought was informative and a good place to start.
http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntlc8_autism_after_21
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A major part of Hemispheric Integration Therapy and the functional neurology approach to the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders deals with the term “Functional Disconnect Syndrome.” A Functional Disconnect Syndrome is a situation where connections between neuronal pools do not work at a level synchronized enough for normal behavioral and executive function of the human brain to take place. This may result in difficulty with language, social skills and learning among others. Allow me to attempt to clarify that in plain English. The disconnect refers to different areas of the brain not being connected in the sense that the areas do not communicate well with each other. This suboptimal communication relates to the fact that “the wires are there, they just are not working well. That is to say, if the wires between brain circuits were cut, then we would have a physical disconnect syndrome as there would be a literal disconnection. In this case, the wire are there, connected but they are not functioning well. This under functioning causes poor communication between the areas as though there were some physical damage when in reality there is not. It is for this reason that if we perform an MRI of the brain of a patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder it seems relatively normal. That is, there is no tumor, infection or vascular accident for example present to explain the child’s symptoms. Think about it, if the child did have a tumor, then his diagnosis would be “brain tumor” or “mini stroke” not autism. You would have a concrete answer for his symptoms. Something that you could see and touch and get your hands around.
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