For some time now in our
culture, the words “attention deficit” have been liberally applied to children
and most predominantly with boys.
The pharmaceutical industry receives
billions in profits from child prescriptions that help “manage,” these deficits
and disorders. With that “management”, the incidence seems to still be on the
rise.
And now we have an astonishing new study and report that says autism in children and particularly for boys has seen a dramatic rise.
Here’s the latest news from the US
government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention
In the U.S. about 1 in 68 children (or
14.7 per 1,000 8 year olds) were identified with what is now called ASD (Autism
Spectrum Disorder) in 2013 based on data collected on 8-year-old children
living in 11 communities. This new estimate is roughly 30% higher than
the estimate for 2008 (1 in 88), roughly 60% higher than the estimate for 2006
(1 in 110), and roughly 120% higher than the estimates for 2002 and 2000 (1 in
150).
Boys were almost 5 times more likely to be
identified with ASD than girls. About 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls were
identified with ASD.
The Center for Disease Control does not
know what is causing this increase. They say that some of it may be due to the
way children are identified, diagnosed, and served in their local communities,
but exactly how much is unknown.
About 80% of
children identified with ASD either received special education services for
autism at school or had an ASD diagnosis from a clinician. This means that the
remaining 20% of children identified with ASD had symptoms of ASD documented in
their records, but had not yet been classified as having ASD by a community
professional in a school or clinic.
In a recent AP
article, investigators have said that autism is now used as a diagnosis for a
broader array of learning disorders and conditions than it used to be. And that
could be a factor in explaining why autism is exploding along with claims we
are getting “better” at diagnosing. As with “attention deficit disorder” or
“attention deficit hyperactive disorder,” it seems to me that we may run some
risks when we create what some physicians have called “garbage can” diagnoses,
or the gathering up of a wider and wider pool of symptom descriptions, trying
to fit them into one category, then coming up with a one size fits all
treatment model based on the new disease category rather than a full
examination of an individual boy’s life.
I’d like to take
a look at some of the health and social deficits that are affecting boys, that
could be at the root of what at least some if not all of the boys behind the new statistics are
actually experiencing.
The Nutrition
and Exercise Deficit
Obesity is
beginning to drop in all populations with the exception of young boys. Faux
food (aka junk food) still on school cafeteria menus and predominant in lower
income families with less access to whole healthy foods is a known factor in
creating the obesity epidemic. Obesity puts many of the body’s systems on
overload and creates systemic inflammation that can affect brain function in
the young as well as old. Nutritionally empty calories are more dangerous than
formerly thought as they can affect brain chemistry leading to social and
behavioral problems.
There is a race to
create uniform academic standards everywhere but no physical education
standards based on the latest research in exercise physiology that I am aware
of, at least not one that has gained national recognition and support.
Nature Deficit
This generation of modern industrial world boys spends the
least amount of time outdoors than any other known in history. More is now
known about some of the health consequences of Vitamin D3 deficits caused by
limited exposure to natural sunlight. We know that kids that play outdoors
regularly get more exercise. We also know that regular contact with the
outdoors and nature has a powerful affect on our brain chemistry and can boost
the immune system.
Father Deficit
Dr. Gregory Ramey, Executive Director of Dayton’s Children’s
Pediatric Center for Mental Health Resources tells us that 47 percent of kids
report that moms are their most influential relationships, compared to only 20%
for dads. This may be due in part to the fact that 75% of single parent homes
are headed by moms, so these kids just don’t have much access to dads. Even in
two-parent families, children have little routine contact with their fathers.
Despite a dramatic change in the last 50 years, moms still spend twice as much
time caring for kids than dads. Dads are still somewhat of a mystery for sons
and daughters. And kids feel they
get in more trouble with dads cast in the disciplinarian role. Even when dads
are around, many kids don’t feel connected to them as they don’t seem
emotionally available. Children complain about their fathers watching TV, using
smart phones or sleeping after a long day at work.
Classroom Deficit
Crowded classrooms still based on the old factory model of
education with a lot of seat time and less individualized attention may be at
the root of much of what has been diagnosed as “attention deficit” in
individual boys. Boys are routinely disciplined more than girls with more
attention focused on “bad behavior” and punishment than the fostering of
pro-social behaviors. The developmental needs of boys are still poorly
understood and addressed in the classroom and on the playground.
So, what can be done to eliminate these deficits and bring
our boys back from the brink of these diagnoses, both real and socially
constructed?
There is more awareness than ever before about the obesity
epidemic with better food available in some chain grocery stores that make
available whole healthy real food. Both families and schools are waking up to
the vital role nutrition plays in physical and mental health as information is
readily available in print and virtually.
Dr. Mark Hyman, MD has clinical experience with eliminating
some conditions labeled as autism with non-pharmaceutical as well as
non-behavioral management approaches. A pioneer in functional medicine, he and
a growing number of physicians are looking to address multiple health and
social factors in treating the individual rather than a symptom complex or
diagnosis.
Schools with smaller classrooms, state of the art classroom
management techniques and refined special education programs that understand
and address the whole student stand a better chance of success. Supporting
teachers to balance the need for meeting academic standards with the need to
address each student on the basis of their passions, interests, cognitive,
affective and behavioral skills acquisition is key.
Nationally and
internationally implemented programs such as Healthy Play As A Solution and The
Passion-Based classroom derived from The Passion Test for Kids and Teens
program can help create nurturing and nourishing learning environments that
create more safety, joy, student and teacher satisfaction and achievement.
Providing more school counselors and integrated programs
that provide students with close case management by teams composed of
educators, classified staff and parents could make a real difference and do
where put into practice.
Fathers can provide more emotional support when they are not
automatically cast as the bad guys. Consequences for kids can be discussed and
implemented by both parents. Dads can turn off their electronic devices and go
outside to play with their kids as well as reacquaint themselves and their kids
with nature, whether it’s the park down the street or further afield. They can
ask more questions and get to know their kids while letting their kids get to
know them.
Perhaps the word “spectrum” in the newer term Autism
Spectrum Disorder can be even more useful in that each individual child or boy
needs to be viewed as somewhere on a spectrum, not of disease, but where he can
and is moving toward greater health and function through our more careful
examination and engagement with a full spectrum of deficits our society has
created that undermines the health and well being of our boys. When we take all
deficits into account and correct them, our society will be on the road to
bringing up healthier boys who can become healthier, more positively engaged
and responsible young men.
Links to references:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
"Don't be a Distant Dad" Dr. Gregory Ramey
Dayton Children’s Pediatric Center for Mental Health
Resources
Mark Hyman, MD
(Case studies in his book The UltraMind Solution)
drhyman.com
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