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Autism/MMR + Autism
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My son is 18 months old and shows no red flags for autism. I am not worry that he has autism right now, but I am worried about the future. My son is Milk/Soy protein intolerant and has taken long than "normal" to outgrow this. He was diagnosed with Lyphonodular Hyperplasia at 4 months upon Colonoscopy with the GI telling us that it was common for children with Food Allergy/Intolerance to have inflammed lymph nodes. My concern is the controversy surrounding the measles vaccines and the suspicion that it may infiltrate the gut and cause brain issues including autism. I am especially concerned because my son's gut was so immature. We have opted to delay only the MMR to this point, but we are conflicted as to what to do now as he is entering my social situations and not fully vaccinated. Have you actually seen child that have developed autism after their MMR Vaccine? Any info would help. We are so torn as to what to do!!! Thank you.
Hi Kim,
No, I haven't personally seen a child that has developed autism after their MMR Vaccine, but I'm an autistic adult, not a professional and most other autistic people I know and meet regularily are about my age, and I have never asked them if they were told they developed autism after their MMR Vaccine. I have heard about that theory though.
These links suggest that while it can *look* as if the MMR Vaccine was causing autism because the first symptoms often show up around the age when a child gets the MMR Vaccine shots there is no proof it ever *did* cause autism in anybody.
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/sub2.cfm
http://autism.about.com/od/causesofautism/a/MMRVaccine.htm
However, if you're worried, talk to a specialist (also about your son's food intolerances, if he isn't in treatment at the time).
Keeping a strict diet avoiding his allergens might be a good idea, just to be on the safe side, even if you say he's "outgrown" these things (I'm in my 30ties and am *still* milk protein (casein) intollerant). Even trying to make sure he doesn't have any other allergies/intollerances you're not aware of yet would be a good idea so that his GI tract can heal and become as healthy as possible. Ask your doctor about this please, and don't try this on your own.
Hope this helps and sorry about the delay !
C.
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Answers by Expert:
Celtica
Expertise
*DISCLAIMER*
Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day.
I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism
and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.
I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).
Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.
Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.
Experience
As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better
I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.
In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area
(AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).
Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !
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