Autism, Viewpoint on the Brain Disorder

2 – Purpose
I am not proposing any radical new treatment or
mystical theory. I have formulated my ideas on the
basis of what I have read in mainstream research
journals, from observations of my own children and
others, and patients in the hospitals I have worked in
over the past fifteen years. I cite many articles in the
medical literature that are no longer referred to and
likely long forgotten; I also cite many that have never
been referred to in connection with autism. I point out
these articles with the hope that their possible
relevance to autism might be considered by
mainstream researchers in the field of autism.

It perplexes me that auditory function has not been
more thoroughly investigated as one of the handicaps
of autistic children, or that the studies of blood flow
and metabolism in the brain have not been reviewed
for insight on how the multiple etiologies of autism
affect the brain.

As I started this project, I thought my main qualification
for writing this book was that I am the parent of an
autistic child; and that another of my four sons might
be viewed as having Asperger syndrome. I have lived
with autism now for more than half my life. My insights
are based in large part on longitudinal observations of
my own autistic son and his brother whose
development places him on the autism spectrum. I am
also well acquainted with other families with an autistic
child, and we have long shared impressions with each
other in our local chapter of the Autism Society of
America (ASA).

However, I am more than just a parent. I am trained
as a researcher in biochemistry. Day-care and after-
school schedules for my children conflicted with the
long hours required for lab experiments. This is why I
chose software development and computer operating
systems design as my career. I left Digital Equipment
Corporation sixteen years ago with funding for
retraining in teaching, and nursing. Several months
later I took a job at the hospital for the “criminally
insane” in Massachusetts, Bridgewater State Hospital,
where I still work as a nurse. I now have had more
than fifteen years of clinical experience with a large
spectrum of mental illnesses.

Research in state hospitals for the mentally ill is
hampered by confidentiality issues. However, I am
with my co-workers involved in day-to-day milieu
observations. We don't gather statistical data about
our patients, but my knowledge of mental illness and
"psychopathy" now covers a wide range. I work with
many patients afflicted with Asperger syndrome and
high functioning autism. These are part of the larger
spectrum of "schizophrenic" disorders. In this book I
refer to some of the many patients I have worked with
whose problems have relevance to autism or
disorders of language use.

The cause of autism, and all mental illnesses, needs
to be looked for in the brain. The current focus linking
genetics to behaviors completely ignores the locus of
neurological impairments. The problem with the huge
lay movement linking autism to vaccinations is that the
brain is regarded as a uniform organ, without
consideration of different vulnerabilities of
metabolically distinct systems within the brain. In fact,
the auditory system is susceptible to damage from
mercury, especially in combination with other factors
that compromise the blood-brain barrier - the reason
vaccination is not harmful to the great majority of
infants.

I have written this book as an attempt to reach out and
become involved with others in looking for clues to an
understanding of autism and autism spectrum
disorders. I hope the information I bring to bear is
useful even if in the end it refutes my current
viewpoint.