After watching a recent video of Dr. Wakefield; I've been thinking a lot about what he said. He calls Autistic Enterocolitis a new disease. He said that digestive distress is not part of Autism. I guess what got him to take a second look was the fact that parents would come to him, because their children's digestive distress was being ignored by other doctors. You know, that attitude, that a kid with autism, is just another crazy person and therefore don't have pain, they are just being autistic.This holds true for my Mickie, who has gone through periods of not eating and has lost weight to the point of having death reflected on his face and hearing from the doctor who saw me as a teenager, that he can't help him, because he needed an Autism specialist. Every time I hear the words Autism Specialist I want to scream!! Most autism specialist are not specialist at all.
One thing in particular that Dr. Wakefield said, caught my attention; he said that if not treated early on this disease would become Crohn's disease-an inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn’s disease can affect any area of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, called the ileum.
Mickie used to look normal and now he has lost all muscle tone. His extremities are very thin, much like a Crohn's Disease patient. I'm hoping that as time passes, with treatment and the diets, his body will start changing for the better. Someday I hope to be able to take him to Thoughtful House in Austin Texas, where Dr. Wakefield and his collages are helping so many other children like Mickie.
He talked about causation as being the Measles part of the MMR. A multidisciplinary disease needing a multidisciplinary approach.
The last statement he made, was simple, but powerful; he said.....____The child is not defective, he is sick.
