Great new network television shows don’t come along that often, especially not ones that deal with such thorny issues as autism. I’m a TV junkie, I confess. That’s why I am so happy when a quality drama like NBC’s “Parenthood” comes along. Parenthood contains all the makings of a great television show: quality writing, excellent cast and realistic storylines that skillfully walk the line between comedy and drama. The story revolves around four siblings and their respective spouses and children, together with their parents.  It’s not the first drama about a dysfunctional family, and it won’t be the last, but it’s a family drama that works because the characters are interesting and quirky and we relate to their challenges.  Unoriginal genre aside, Parenthood does feature a storyline that makes it unique.  In the very first episode, we are introduced to a couple slowly realizing that their son has Asperger Syndrome.  By the second episode the diagnosis is confirmed and the parents experience a whole gamut of emotions so typical when receiving this type of news: devastation, denial, fear, confusion, and then inevitably, “what now?”  

What I love about this portrayal is how accurate it is.  Apparently the accuracy is not coincidental. It turns out the shows executive producer Jason Katims is the father of a child with Asperger’s. In interviews, he has said that he wanted to portray the disorder in as accurate a light as possible. He does so successfully, not only by showing the quirks of a child struggling with an autism spectrum disorder (not the least of which is that the boy insists on wearing a pirate costume to school every day), but by showing how his parents and extended family struggle with understanding and ultimately accepting. By the second episode, the parents turn on what I call the “Mama Bear” instinct, stopping at nothing to try to find a way to help their son.  Determined to find the best treatment, the couple turns to friends who have an autistic child, who proceed to bombard them with information about every therapy ever associated with autism. It’s a humorous scene, if not sad. Ultimately, the couple turns to a Behavioral Psychologist who provides guidance and reassurance of what every parent in this situation wants to know, that their child is going to be OK.  Also true to life, the couple has to move heaven and earth and jump through hoops to skip through the 12-month waiting list just to get an appointment with this specialist.  This is not uncommon with the very highly sought-after Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) intervention.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the story continues to unfold. If you missed the first few episodes, you can get caught up online at nbc.com and watch current episodes Tuesdays at 10 pm on NBC. There are some good takeaways here for parents when first learning that their child may be autistic. Seek out answers among knowledgeable resources.  Find community and support among trusted professionals as well as other parents who have been through this but don’t believe every anecdotal story of therapies that have no scientific basis.  No two children with autism are alike and what works for some, may not work for others. Treatment plans must be individualized to meet the needs of each unique child. Lastly, make sure the treatments you try are research-based and above all, safe.

Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder.  It is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of a distinct group of neurological conditions characterized by a greater or lesser degree of impairment in language and communication skills, as well as repetitive or restrictive patterns of thought and behavior.

In a landmark ruling, the federal “vaccines court” ruled Friday in three separate cases that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal does not cause autism. To anyone who follows this story this is not  actually news. The finding supports the broad scientific consensus on the matter that we have known for years. But sadly there is still a relatively large percentage of parents who are convinced that their child’s illness was caused by vaccines. Some reports indicate that as many as 1 in 4 parents still believe that vaccines cause autism.

We don’t discount that parents with a child with autism grasp at straws to try to understand this baffling disorder. Of course they want to explore anything that may help their children and are even more vulnerable to the latest web/news story. Having a child with any disability is painful and all consuming. High profile celebrities who lead the “blame the vaccine” parade do not help the matter. But the science here is very clear. There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism. It is time that we believe what the data shows. It is disheartening that so much time and money is being spent on something of no significance when we could be focusing our energies on uncovering what truly causes autism, how to best treat those affected by the disorder and how we help parents pay for the costs of those treatments.

I was pleased to see that the very respected Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, came out with a statement following the ruling in which they said “the proven benefits of vaccinating a child to protect them against serious diseases far outweigh the hypothesized risk that vaccinations might cause autism. Thus, we strongly encourage parents to vaccinate their children to protect them from serious childhood diseases.”

Sadly, I suspect this won’t be the last we hear on this matter. But here’s hoping it is because as Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA, wrote in a blog on the Daily Beast “The sooner we get over the idea that vaccines are the cause of autism, the sooner we can find what is really to blame.”

Recently the American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced plans to change autism diagnostic categories in the newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.  What is most significant about this is that a broad category of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been proposed that will include Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS).  In other words, Asperger’s and PDD will no longer be considered a stand- alone diagnosis.

The news has left many confused how this would affect treatment of the disorder and whether or not services would be cut. However, because behavior analysis focuses on behaviors, regardless of the diagnosis, treatment standards should remain the same.   Treating children diagnosed with ASD using applied behavior analysis (ABA), is still the best practice. ABA is the study of behavior and the relationship between behaviors and the environmental factors that trigger and maintain those behaviors.  When we understand what purpose a behavior is serving, we can work to change it.  Any quality ABA program should treat each child as unique, focusing on his/her individual needs and not the label or diagnosis.

One of the most commonly asked questions about autism is what are the earliest signs of the disorder? Researchers from the University of California-Davis MIND Institute have found that the earliest symptoms of autism, such as lack of eye contact, smiling, and communicative babbling, are not present during the first six months of an infant’s life, but become apparent between six months to one year of age. Their full study will be published in the March issue of the journal American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Many babies are born with relatively normal social abilities but some time between 6 -12 months parents begin to notice a gradual decline in social responsiveness. Sometimes it is not so apparent until closer to the second birthday. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently suggests that Doctors screen for autism twice before the end of the second year of age. Parents of children who were diagnosed closer to their third birthday often report having had a “gut feeling” that something about their child was different despite not having an official diagnosis. The following video is just such a story. The video documents the first five years in the life of Quinn – a wonderful, exuberant, mostly non-verbal boy with autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder affects approximately 1 in 110 children in the United States. It is most commonly characterized by deficits in social skills, communication, and repetitive behaviors. In the video, you can see how the signs of autism appeared over time, even before Quinn’s diagnosis was made at 21 months.