My Kid is a Damn Nutter

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Science demands an even more critical view of the child than the mother's view. It will only include unbiased, double-blind, direct observations

[gathered during a single one-hour snapshot of the kid's life]

and will throw out intuition, emotion and previously-held beliefs

[established through hours and hours and hours of direct observation gathered day after day, year after year, 24/7/365 by someone who is absolutely obsessed with finding the answer to that burning question that drives them on past sleep, past any concerns of themself and their own needs, that person who isn't concerned about grant money, or finding an academic bit of trivia, but who actually needs a real-world solution that will actually WORK and produce visible results]

.

But, yeah, sure. Mothers don't know what's going on with their own kids. They're probably just "hysterical" ...

[Undertoad]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7963081

This study tested the hypothesis that commonly reported negative effects of sugar on children's behavior may be due to parental expectancies. A challenge study design was employed, in which thirty-five 5- to 7-year-old boys reported by their mothers to be behaviorally "sugar sensitive," and their mothers, were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, mothers were told their children had received a large dose of sugar, whereas in the control condition mothers were told their sons received a placebo; all children actually received the placebo (aspartame). Mothers and sons were videotaped while interacting together and each mother was then questioned about the interaction. Mothers in the sugar expectancy condition rated their children as significantly more hyperactive. Behavioral observations revealed these mothers exercised more control by maintaining physical closeness, as well as showing trends to criticize, look at, and talk to their sons more than did control mothers. For several variables, the expectancy effect was stronger for cognitively rigid mothers.

maybe you can study your own response if you eat a bowl of dicks

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

maybe you can study your own response if you eat a bowl of dicks

[Pie]

UT, you're most certainly correct, but MAN!

[Undertoad]

Further research took on the challenge of testing sucrose and aspartame effects by comparing them to saccharin as a placebo. It was found that “even when intake exceeds typical dietary levels, neither dietary sucrose nor aspartame affects children’s behavior or cognitive function” (Murray 1994).

[DanaC]

I have heard that aspartame can cause problems. How is that a control?

[Undertoad]

beautifully played.

[Undertoad]

D, they could have given them all sugar. The moms were the focus of the test, not what the kids actually did. The study hinges on the mothers' understanding of what was given to the children.

[Aliantha]

Something that has been gnawing at my mind also is the fact that so many kids have been diagnosed with certain behavioural issues and put on medication to regulate and control those issues, and yet the number of teen suicides is on the rise.

Logically, if we’re heading in the right direction with these things, shouldn’t that figure be falling?

I know mental health issues aren’t the same as physical health issues, but they’re linked.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Well just because UT is convinced is no reason for me to be also. I can think for myself as well.

Yes, but he's read the evidence. Have you? There is historical data available, there is "actual proof." But you have to look at it to come to a conclusion.

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I think it'll be another 50 years or more before we really know if what we think is going on now actually is.

Better hope to God we're wrong, in that case. If things are the way we think they are, and nothing changes between now and then, in 50 years we'd be looking at an autism rate of 78%. There's a reason people are shouting that we can't afford to wait any longer on figuring this out.

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Something that has been gnawing at my mind also is the fact that so many kids have been diagnosed with certain behavioural issues and put on medication to regulate and control those issues, and yet the number of teen suicides is on the rise.

Logically, if we’re heading in the right direction with these things, shouldn’t that figure be falling?

I know mental health issues aren’t the same as physical health issues, but they’re linked.

I certainly agree that's a sign that they're doing it wrong. Medicating the kids is not the long-term answer. Finding the root of the behavioral disorders is.

[Aliantha]

Clod, he's read the book you recommended and that's great.

I'm not going to argue with you. I just wanted to express a point of view.

I wish you luck with your quest. I think you're doing a great job of informing yourself.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I think you're doing a great job of informing yourself.

But don't you see, that's the point. I didn't inform myself until I had to. Until it was too late. I had the exact same "it can't happen to me and my family" attitude that most people have. All I can do now is try to inform others.

Ask yourself this: if, God forbid, three years from now Max is diagnosed, how will you feel if you didn't inform yourself? I know exactly how you will feel, because I feel it every freaking day. You don't have to reach the same conclusions I have, not at all. But every parent owes it to their children and themselves to honestly look at the evidence.

[Aliantha]

It's funny you would post that, because I was just this instant thinking the same thing. But I've been reading your thread and all the information you've presented, and I'm 10 times more informed than I was previously.

I thank you for that.

There are just some things that you're convinced of that I'm not, and possibly never will be. I don't have and surely can't be expected to have the same perspective as you Clod. Just for the record though, I'm not suggesting that what you're saying is wrong. I just don't believe we have enough evidence, and you have said yourself there needs to be more research done by independant sources such as government. I wholeheartedly agree with this.

We all need to protect our children.

[ZenGum]

What? Someone is actually thinking of the children?

[Clodfobble]

Which is another reason why so many people are of the opinion that autism is also an autoimmune disease, rather than a neurological deformity that one is "just born with." Helps a lot with the treatment if you know what you're trying to treat.