I have been saying this for some time now... I found this article on another board. I find it's very interesting and perhaps more prevalent then thought. Just IMHO
thank you for posting this....there's a lot of talk about higher rates of autism.... a study would be just the thing.
i used to work in special ed and taught autistic kids, so i have a special interest
Posted by imanurse (Member # 7022) on :
Columbia states in regard to a spirochete induced autistic like syndrome , "This is probably a RARE occurrence."
Just ask 'Biting Back' about this. Her son was diagnosed as autistic before he got his real Lyme disease diagnosis.
Posted by snowflake (Member # 8950) on :
There is a lot of discussion about the possible Lyme-Autism link at this yahoo group:
Thanks for posting the information. They don't mention anything about the possibility of autism in children who contracted lyme while in the uterus.
What really stinks is that some unknown number of our children are likely being born with lyme and there have been very few studies on the effect this will have on them. I wonder how many children are born with lyme and either develop autism or have it when they are born as a result of lyme? Terry
Posted by Gabrielle (Member # 5329) on :
I know such a "rare" case.
My friend who has Lyme gave it to her son in utero. At age 3 he was diagnosed with "autism-like" disorder.
Gabrielle
Posted by MOSue (Member # 9570) on :
Hi!!! Just an FYI on the discussion of autism and lyme, there is a big textbook called Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant published by Remington and Klein 4th edition that I found cheap on Amazon.
There is a whole chapter in there written on the link of Lyme in babies via the mom by a physician here in St Louis who is really into this.
I have not read it yet, but when i glanced at it it wasn't written for us parents. But I thought I'd at least try and attempt it.
Just wanted to share. MO Sue
Posted by MOSue (Member # 9570) on :
Hi!!! Just an FYI on the discussion of autism and lyme, there is a big textbook called Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant published by Remington and Klein 4th edition that I found cheap on Amazon.
There is a whole chapter in there written on the link of Lyme in babies via the mom by a physician here in St Louis who is really into this.
I have not read it yet, but when i glanced at it it wasn't written for us parents. But I thought I'd at least try and attempt it.
Just wanted to share. MO Sue
Posted by JeffM (Member # 8919) on :
I am a psychologist and an autism expert. I think this study was a waste of money.
Having said that, I am the father of a child who became "autistic-like" at age 11, misdiagnosed as 'progressive neurodegenerative disorder of unknown type', and when then cleared three or four years later.
I literally watched as she developed autistic like behaviors -- echolalia, hand flapping, self stimulation behavior. However, her case was much more complex because she also lost her ability to walk, swallow, talk, think and take care of herself.
We now have a diagnosis for her, Lyme Disease. The two experts who have diagnosed her believe this was it all along. They have many patients for whom Lyme mimicked a neurodegenerative disorder (like ALS).
So the idea that Lyme causes autism is farfetched to me. However, the idea that autism may be misdiagnosed when it is really neurocog / neuropsych / neuro Lyme, seems plausible.