Autism and Violence: From Newtown to Norway
By Dan Burns and Dr. William Walsh
Dr. William J. Walsh is an internationally recognized expert
in the field of nutritional medicine. He earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering
from Iowa State University. He’s authored hundreds of scientific articles and
reports, and he directs physician training programs in Europe and Australia.
Working at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, he organized a prison
program researching the biochemical causes of violent behavior, and he
developed biochemical protocols to treat behavioral disorders, ADHD,
depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and autism. I’ve been talking
to him about his new book Nutrient Power,
where he predicts that nutrient therapies will revolutionize the field of
mental health. Our discussion today centers on autism and violence.
DAN: In a recent series of mass murders in Connecticut, Colorado, and Norway, we see young men who either carry or are presumed to carry an autism spectrum diagnosis. Families of ASD children and adults are deeply concerned. Do individuals with autism have a higher risk of psychopathology and violence later in life? Where is the silver lining, if any, around this cloud?
BILL: There are many challenges and concerns regarding
persons in the autism spectrum, but this is not one of them. The school shooter
in Connecticut was incorrectly identified as autistic in early media reporting.
The Colorado movie assailant clearly had experienced a schizophrenia breakdown
prior to his crime. The Norway killer apparently suffers from a delusional
disorder, not autism. Prior to clinical work with 10,000 behavior-disordered
patients, I was a prison volunteer and ran an ex-offender program for hundreds
of parolees released from Stateville Prison. To my knowledge, I’ve never met a
violent criminal with a history of autism. I’ve evaluated 6,500 autism patients
over the years and the most cases involving violent behaviors were adults who
had never received biochemical therapies until adulthood and had developed
mental retardation. I believe ASD persons need antioxidant supplements
throughout life to protect them from neurodegeneration.
DAN: In his book Dyslogic Syndrome, published two years after his death, Bernard Rimland argued that due largely to “brain cripplers,” including pesticides, heavy metals, and over-vaccination of infants, “We’ll soon be faced with a biological epidemic that goes beyond autism to include thousands of young predators who rape, rob, and kill without reason, mercy, or awareness of the consequences of their actions.” Those are Dr. Rimland’s words, not mine. Comment?
BILL: As always, Dr. Rimland was right. He was generally right about everything and he was absolutely right in this area. We know environmental “brain cripplers” are responsible for the increase in autism incidence. However, an important question is: “What happens to brain-damaged persons who escape autism? I’m sure the answer is higher incidence of mental and physical disorders, including higher incidence of violent crime.
DAN: You’ve said that people with anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) have a lot of the same biochemical abnormalities and epigenetic errors that you see in autism.
BILL: I’ve tested more than ten thousand violent children and adults, including hundreds of ASPD persons like Charles Manson and Henry Lee Lucas who are often called sociopaths or psychopaths. Autistic persons and ASPD criminals both exhibit undermethylation, toxic metal overload, OCD tendencies, socialization deficits, and evidence of epigenetic causation. However, the similarity ends there and the two groups exhibit strikingly different characteristics. For example most sociopaths have excellent verbal skills and were never plagued by food sensitivities, immune problems, yeast overgrowth, etc. The greatest difference is in behavior -- more than 75% of sociopaths will have a history of a criminal arrest whereas the autism population has a very low crime rate.
DAN: So what makes the difference between a violent psychopath and someone like my 25-year-old son, Ben?
BILL: There’s all the difference in the world between the two groups. Psychopaths have striking abnormalities in brain chemistry, especially low activity at serotonin, dopamine, and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors. In contrast, autism is a developmental disorder that results in structural differences in the brain, and does not appear to be dominated by neurotransmission considerations. However, one question remains: what happens to autism-prone children who escape the environmental insults that trigger autism? It seems likely that many will develop severe behavior or learning disorders as Dr. Rimland predicted.
DAN: What about autistic meltdowns and impulse control. What about those bruises and bite marks on some caregivers’ arms?
BILL: In my experience, more than 90% of ASD persons exhibit very low zinc levels in blood. Zinc deficiency is strongly associated with irritability, anger, and poor impulse control. My colleagues and I have provided zinc therapy to many thousands of children and adults on the spectrum. Most families have reported significant improvement in behavior following zinc normalization.
DAN: What about psychotropic drugs? Do they induce violence in ASD kids/adults? Do ASD kids/adults respond atypically to psychotropics? What does your research reveal?
BILL: Psychotropic drugs have helped many persons, but also have harmed others. Studies of 50 prominent cases of school shootings since 1990 reveal that a high percentage of the offenders had ok behavior during formative years. Most developed anxiety or depression during teen years and were treated with SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants. There is solid data showing that an occasional side effect for teenage boys is suicidal ideation and sometimes homicidal ideation. I believe most school shootings were caused by inappropriate use of antidepressants. Not all depressed persons have low serotonin activity – In fact about 20% have elevated serotonin activity and deteriorate if given an SSRI. This is described in my book Nutrient Power.
BILL (continuing): Recent studies at the University of Iowa Medical School and elsewhere have shown that atypical anti-psychotic medications like Risperdal and Abilify reduce brain cortex volumes. In other words they slowly and gradually shrink the brain. Mainstream doctors routinely prescribe these medications for autistic children as young as age two. Although these drugs may improve behaviors, I find it impossible to justify the use of these drugs, especially for young children still undergoing brain development.
DAN: The title of your book is Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain. Can the brains of adult schizophrenics, psychopaths, ADHD, Alzheimer’s and autism be healed? If so, how?
BILL: For most of these conditions, age is a critical factor. I’ve worked with 3,600 schizophrenic adults and my outcome studies indicate significant treatment effectiveness until age 50, but nearly zero success after age 60. Our outcome studies indicated great improvement in ASPD or sociopathic children until age 13 with sharply declining efficacy thereafter. We believe drug and alcohol abuse is the primary reason for the decline. ADHD appears to be treatable at any age, but children respond more quickly than adults. Brain cells destroyed during early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease cannot be fixed, but several experimental therapies offer the hope of brain stabilization after treatment has begun. With respect to autism, early intervention is essential. I’ve witnessed hundreds of autism recoveries, but most involved intensive biochemical treatments prior to age four. Autism can be successfully treated at any age, but the degree of recovery (with presently available therapies) declines with age.
DAN: Is there anything on the horizon that would offer hope for actual recovery of ASD adults, like my son Ben?
BILL: Actually, there is. There’s a report that came out just two or three days ago, a new study led by University of Washington researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry. They’ve identified a brain chemical needed for the development of synapses that is very low in autism. It’s abnormally low from the beginning until about age 8 or 10. And then it normalizes. That implies that the ability to develop new synapses seems to be no longer hindered after age 8 or 10. I think that’s really promising for older autistics.
Dan E. Burns, Ph.D., is the father of a 25-year-old son on the autism spectrum and the author of Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism. Through his new dba, Appleseed Ventures, Dan empowers parents to organize communities where their adult ASD children and friends can live, work, play, and heal.
William J. Walsh Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in the field of nutritional medicine. He is president of the non-profit Walsh Research Institute in Illinois and conducts physician training programs in advanced biochemical/nutrient therapies in Australia, Norway and other countries. His book, Nutrient Power (Skyhorse Publishing), which describes an evidence-based nutrient therapy system, was recently published. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and scientific reports, as well as been granted five patents. He has presented his experimental research at the American Psychiatric Association, the U.S. Senate, and the National Institutes of Mental Health. After earning degrees from Notre Dame and the University of Michigan, Dr. Walsh received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University. While working at Argonne National Laboratory in the 1970s, Dr. Walsh organized a prison volunteer program that led to studies of prisoners and ex-offenders researching the causes of their violent behavior. A collaboration with Carl C. Pfeiffer, M.D., Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of nutritional research therapy, led Dr. Walsh to the development of individualized nutrient protocols to normalize body chemistry and brain chemistry. Over the next 30 years, Dr. Walsh developed biochemical treatments for patients with behavioral disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease that are used by doctors throughout the world. Dr. Walsh has studied more than 25,000 patients with mental disorders. His accomplishments include (a) groundbreaking studies reporting reduced violent behavior following nutrient therapy, (b) the 1999 discovery of undermethylation and copper/zinc imbalances in autism, (c) the 2000 finding of metallothionein protein depletion in autism, (d) the 2007 published study linking copper overload and post-partum depression, (e) the identification of five biochemical subtypes of clinical depression, (f) the 2011 development of the Walsh Theory of Schizophrenia, and (g) the direction of the Beethoven Research Project that revealed that the composer suffered from severe lead poisoning. Dr. Walsh has conducted chemical analysis of more than 25 serial killers and mass murderers, including Charles Manson, Richard Speck, James Oliver Huberty, Patrick Sherrill and Arthur Shawcross. He has assisted medical examiners, coroners, Scotland Yard, and the FBI in these forensics studies. He has designed nutritional programs for Olympic athletes, NBA players, major league baseball players, a heavyweight boxing champion, PGA and LPGA golfers, and others. Walsh Research Institute's current research includes studies of autism brain tissues, the role of epigenetics in mental health, oxidative stress in disease conditions, and underlying causes of bipolar disorder.
I've read with interest all of the comments. I used to take my son to HRI in Illinois, but after the staff changed, they were of little help to my son who is very nice most of the time, but has some very violent rages. Like Hannah, the only advice we get is to give him Xanax. Trying to get a 210 pound raging person to take a Xanax is really difficult. I am hoping someone can tell me of a treatment facility or clinic that does the biochemical treatments like the Original HRI used. There is nothing in FL but I will travel if I can get good help for my son.
Posted by: Glenda | September 26, 2014 at 11:42 AM
Walsh's book talks very specifically about chemical imbalances & specific blood and urine tests to use to help figure out the imbalance, as well as specific imbalances that seems to correlate to violent behavior, often coming on during mid-adolescence vs those recognized early in childhood like oppositional defiance and talks about why certain drugs AND nutritional interventions could make a situation WORSE instead of better, for example why folic acid could worsen behavior in some cases, or why a SSRI could possibly make certain people worse off if they already have high seratonin .
He also provides estimates of how long it can take, depending on the disorder, for a case to see improvement. His book covers a range of disorders including schizoph. disorders, depressive disorders including post partum, behavior and ADHD disorders, opp. def. disorders, autism spectrum disorders, violent behavior, etc. Some disorders may see improvement in as little as a week, some take 2-3 months (not talking about autism specifically here) and may still need to be tweaked according to followup tests. And in general he says that certain people need to continue their medications during the first few months of nutrient therapy until a doctor should or could begin weaning down the drugs. Some patients can get off pharmaceuticals, others find out they must stay on them, albeit at lower doses with an expectation of less side effects.
In one example, he talks about how in the short term, some symptoms could be improved but anxiety could temporarily increase but after a month or 2 anxiety can improve also. Each case is slightly different, which is why he talks about how important it is that the complete medical history needs to be taken in conjunction with very specific blood and urine testing. He doesn't claim 100% success rate, and reiterates that this an evolving science, but in certain disorders talks about complete alleviation of symptoms in over 50%/close to 60% and partial alleviation in another large percentage so bringing improvement in close to 80% for certain patterns of imbalances. Also discusses that often these issues are due to epigenetic markers, sometimes from transgenerational markers from environmental stressors being passed on, so that this is not a cure, ie people with epigenetic markers may need continual nutrient support to overcome the effects of the markers, so that a person could regress again if the support is removed. He mentions some research going on the in the cancer field that may be relevant to that. He talks about ways to overcome non-compliance issues and in which situations he sees the higher failure rates and why.
Posted by: Jenny | August 28, 2013 at 10:41 AM
Fransel;
I am so sorry for your trouble.
I am just a parent. I am an older parent by the way.
I feel that antibiotics were my best friends after vaccines got done destroying my kid's immune system.
I don't think we would have survived without them.
I would take antibiotics without a moment's hesitation.
And does it sound familiar -- Oh, yes it sure does.
It seems to be a lot of families that have along with autism also do have lyme (and not just the one with autism in the family has the lyme).
20 years ago on the internet I connected to a lady in Conn that had a son with autism and she herself ended up with lyme.
Kathy Blanco that blogs a lot here - her son had lyme (I think) - for she talks about it a lot, and talks about psych problems lyme can cause.
Teresa Conrick one of the science/research writers on Age of Autism - her own daughter had problems with Giardia. Probably came from drinking regular water plant -water that had a few spores from run off of near by pastures from cattle. There is usually so few of these spores that only those whose immune system is compromised in the first place does giardia bother.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/12/by-teresa-conrick-my-daughter-megan-regressed-in-her-physical-mental-and-social-health-after-vaccinations-her-life-fore.html
A lot of families that blog here have experienced PANDAS - Theresa Conrick wrote an article about that too.
PANDAS is a prolonged strep infection that causes psych problems, esp OCD.
In my own family - we use to have bouts of strep throat on a regular basis, as well as pneumonia. They had no immune systems strong enough to fight off things. So , they were sicker - than most and stayed sick longer.
I have a sister-in-law (mother of two twins with autism and third son with bipolar) -- since she turned 45 has had pneumonia twice a year. Her immune system is not making IgGs - She had to take IgG intravenous, and constantly has to take lots of antibiotics.
IgG in IV form is the main treatment for Kawasakis -- a form of vasculititis that my daughter - and son both had as children after a vaccine .
After the vaccines, my kids could fight off absolutely nothing and I was after antibiotics constantly.
If your son has lyme -- I would not worry about the gut - I would worry about getting rid of it and that is with antibiotics. After you get rid of lyme then you can worry about the gut.
Good luck! AND let us know how it is going?
Posted by: Benedetta | August 27, 2013 at 05:03 PM
My 20 year old autistic son on several biomedical treatments turned violent at age 17. He was also diagnosed with lyme disease around the same time. I have not sought treatment with antibiotics due to its potential harm to the gut. He is now in a psychiatric hospital where we are doing a combination of minimal psychotropic drugs (lowest dose prozac 10mg and low dose latuda 20mg). We also added homeopathic supports like NAC N-Acetyl LCysteine (900mg @ 3xday). He also gets Inositol in lieu of Zoloft. It seems to have tempered his explosive violent behaviors to some extent but lately has become anxious and socially isolative. He does not even come out of his room except to eat and when I visit. His autism doctor would like us to try LDN Low Dose Naltrexone 10mg to boost his immune system.
Does anyone relate to our condition? My family is needless to say devastated at the turn of events. We are still committed to no big pharmaceuticals but would try some if it helps. Son is on special diets and supplements.
Thank you for your time.
Posted by: Fransel Aquino | August 27, 2013 at 04:09 PM
1/3 of the way through the book. It is gripping, maybe the most promising book I've read for it's clear path. The people who could put this information to immediate and good use is staggering. This is the book that would bring activists of democratic origins into the autism fight with their (remaining) guns blazing for it implications on our prison systems, their disproportionate populations, and the movement to privatize prison management, and the money it's all going to cost the non-prison population. Every principal, teacher, school counselor, defense attorney, and family court judge needs to read this book. Every psychologist and psychiatrist should have this book on their desk. Every high school that runs a science lesson on genetics should make this their first book on the role of epigentics in the life sciences.
I am interested in this: There is reference in the book to psychiatrists during Freud's time forming early opinions re: schizophrenias. Could those doctors have missed clues to mercury involvement in their schiz. patients similarly to how we read about Freud and Kanner missing clues to the origins of autism in the book Age of Autism? Is there a rise in the rates of schiz. & violent disorders that mirror the use of mercury in industry and the rise in the vaccine schedule in the U.S. with a sharp increase in the 90's or after 1986 when vaccine companies were granted immunity?
I remember a brief reference from the book Age of Autism, to the Romans sending prisoners to the gold mines, where they would die or go crazy? Do I recall that right? In Walsh's book, there is mention of how record was found of the early Egyptians' reference to schiz. behavior. Aren't the Egyptians also known for their love of gold? Isn't mercury contamination part of gold mining?
Looking forward to finishing this book and sharing it.
Posted by: Jenny | August 24, 2013 at 03:35 PM
Reply to Vicki Hill:
I apologize for the delay in responding. I was in the north woods of Wisconsin last week in an area without internet or cell phone availability.
We are in agreement that autism does not preclude a person from violent behavior. My point was that the autism population has a very low incidence of criminal violence compared with the general population and those challenged by mental illness.
In my experience with 6,500 ASD patients, there were a few hundred families who reported chronic violent behaviors. Most of these cases involved a history of head injury, deprivation of oxygen during birth, or development of a comorbid mental illness..... usually schizophrenia. Others were adult autistics who gradually developed severe mental retardation
We have experienced many cases of classic autism followed by a schizophrenic breakdown. In these cases the SZ condition typically arises early, usually between ages 10-16. We were surprised to learn that ASD/SZ patients had better treatment outcomes than the others, apparently due to the frequent presence of a severe pyrrole disorder that is generally correctable within a short time.
With respect to Adam Lanza, I'm convinced he never belonged on the autism spectrum. However, it would have been better if my article stated this as my opinion instead of a certainty. A little background: Since year 2005 there has been a large increase in persons misdiagnosed with autism. We first noticed this in the course of three double-blind experiments with the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Case Western Reserve University, and the Bruce Ames group in California. We were seeing about 75 ASD patients each month and screened them for suitability in the studies. In 2005 we began excluding more than 20% of children from the studies, since they clearly had been misdiagnosed. This situation persists today. Most of the errant cases involved a diagnosis of Aspergers that clearly was inappropriate.
Adam Lanza's history is not consistent with ASD. According to reliable reports, he never exhibited food sensitivities, significant speech delay, G.I. tract problems, or most of the classic symptoms of ASD. In addition, he was an all-A student in the early grades. Thee are no reports of aggressive behavior until he started psychiatric medications for anxiety and possible depression around age 10. The coroner found psychiatric medications with his name on them, and stated that the cause of Adam's violence would become clearer when these findings were released. Most of the 50+ school shootings in the USA since 1990 have involved students with no history of suicidal or homicidal ideation until they started taking psychiatric drugs. The meds Adam was taking have not yet been released -- Many of us believe they will include an SSRI antidepressant, like in most other school shootings.
Best regards,
Bill Walsh, PhD
Posted by: Bill Walsh, PhD | August 12, 2013 at 05:16 PM
Thanks Dan for that information. I do apreciate it.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 11, 2013 at 11:58 AM
Benedetta, Dr. Walsh does not prescribe vitamins or foods for your child until he has seen blood and urine lab results and has conferred with your child's local MD. Ben's local MD has a post at University of Texas Southwest Medical Center (UTSW), a large medical school with a resource-rich network of hospitals and clinics in the Dallas area. The MD, Dr. J, formed a team relationship with Dr. Walsh to treat Ben's case, a partnership encouraged and supported by UTSW. Ben's lab work is posted on the web at the UTSW "Mychart" system, monitored by Dr. Walsh in Chicago, who can see them at any time just by logging in. Dr. Walsh then prescribes a nutrient protocol, and after 60 days, Dallas-based Dr. J authorizes more tests. Ben has Medicare and Medicaid, which so far have covered most of the costs of the lab work.
Years ago I tried dumping fistfuls of vitamins and supplements down Ben, praying for a miracle cure, but with no way to monitor the kind of incremental changes we are seeing now. Dr. Walsh's strategic, carefully monitored, targeted approach gives us "evidence based" protocols.
You might want to buy two copies of "Nutrient Power": one for yourself, and one for your local pediatrician who can write prescriptions, bill Medicare and Medicaid for tests, and monitor those high and low cycles.
Posted by: Dan E. Burns | August 11, 2013 at 09:52 AM
I am trying to see what Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain is about.
I see that it is very technical.
Does he give good pointers on vitamins, foods, or is it mostly pointing out that diet can be very helpful and why?
Considering buying it -- we are having a lot of trouble right now cycling high and low and no even ground.
Kind of really scared and unsure of what to do next.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 09, 2013 at 09:05 PM
Regarding VickiHill's comment, I believe that th ere is now some research saying the brains of Aspergers patients are quite different was brains of Autistic patients, so perhaps saying people with Aspergers are on the high end of the autistic spectrum may be incorrect.
Also in the Adam Lanza case why should it be up to the mother to diagnose her son with mental health problems? I presume he was under the care of psychiatrists , or maybe not as he was a teenager and may have refused to get help, even if his mother was concerned.
I totally support Vicki in her efforts to try to improve the whole area of mental health/autism because so many treatments given by establishment medicine is just not working very well for a lot of people.
Posted by: Judy Nicol | August 09, 2013 at 05:55 PM
Benedetta, Rimland's quote can be found in "Dyslogic Syndrome," page 30, first bullet point.
Posted by: Dan E. Burns | August 08, 2013 at 08:37 PM
Dan; Good interview, thanks for the quote of Rimland - I was curious about where it could be found.
Addictions. This may sound silly but I was addicted as a young woman to crushed ice. I craved it, thought on it a lot.
I would take iron and it went away like magic.
So, it is possible and I do believe Bill knows exactly what he is talking about.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 08, 2013 at 07:16 PM
To Vicky Hill, I would suggest to you that both of your child's disorders may be manifestations of the one unified cause- mercury. Hoping for your finding solutions, treatments that work-
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | August 08, 2013 at 02:34 PM
Hannah, welcome and thank you for sharing your story - traditional martial arts would be EXCELLENT for you - it's memorization, routine, fitness and self-defense all in one. I train in Shito Ryu and my daughters (with autism) also work with my sensei. Autism and Martial arts is a terrific combination. I wish you well. KIM
Posted by: Stagmom | August 08, 2013 at 12:39 PM
Hello, I'm a female with High Functioning Autism soon to be 30 years of age. I myself struggled with self harm for years, and thanks to Mercy Ministries I dealt with the issues, faced them and have the tools and accountability around me when things become too much.
Exercise in any form from walking to jogging to biking or anything one likes make it fun and exciting! I've found that life post treatment this has been key for me is staying active at least 4 days a week. I will also say that depression still remains but working out allows the SSRI to be better metabolized and every humans natural 'feel good' endorphin's are released as well.
Nutrition does play a key part in managing my life believe it or not, and Mercy taught me how to incorporate that into my daily life. It's funny actually it was a bit like a social boot camp as well, so to speak. I'm glad I went through it, and came out on the other side with better coping skills. For me I'm investing in one of the two 1. marshal arts classes or 2. an Ever-last punching bag the huge one :-) While at the YMCA at Mercy I focused my energy (negative that is) in a manner that I could punch the living daylights out of the bag. helped a bunch. Having an outlet that is healthy for the autistic or said person on any spectrum including NT's is healthy for all of us. Because lets be honest anyone is capable of being violent *eye roll* The difference is a healthy harnessed outlet for negative stuff, and I don't mean medication. Hope this helps.
-Hannah
Posted by: Hannah | August 08, 2013 at 12:26 PM
Dr Walsh is so spot on. About three years ago, my adult autistic son who has seizures, developed PANDAS. He suddenly followed me around the house like a puppy dog, would increase his fascination with throwing things, and finally one day pulled my hair down on a wooden chair and split my head open requiring staples. This was NOT my son. We contacted DR Cunningham and told her my autistic son suddenly developed aggressions, OCD (bathroom behaviors), etc. We tested him even though he is not pediatric, and he was raging PANDAS, very high Cam Kinase levels. We began Z packs and whatever we could do. He also has lyme. Within a period of a couple of months we had ER visits where physicians would tell us, give um XANAX. We desperately wanted to help him. During the same time, he had an epiphany moment in the ER, after a seizure, and he was found to have HEART PROBLEMS. HE was trying to tell us in his own way, hey mom, I really feel like crap can you help me. He had ANTI CARDIOLIPIN antibodies, which means to you and me, the strep was doing damage to his heart. HE required a pacemaker, emergency, because he FLATLINED in the ER, complete heart block. My son is SEVERELY undermethylated as Bill suggested. We have seen a complete turnaround with him, with trying to methylate him with folinic acid/b12. It's interesting because family histories of perniscious anemia, point to MTHFR problems. Please do not dismiss the heart problems in our kids! Their altered homocystein problems are consequential and life threatening, especially when they reach the twenties or thirties. Holter heart monitor your kids for thirty days....please do it, you will not like the results.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | August 08, 2013 at 11:52 AM
"To my knowledge, I’ve never met a violent criminal with a history of autism."
What 95% of so of the "school shooters" have in common is that they are taking or had recently stopped taking psychoactive drugs, often the proven violence inducing SSRIs.
But since Big Pharma Inc owns our "free press" we do not hear this.
Posted by: Lou | August 08, 2013 at 01:52 AM
My son gets violent and has been diagnosed as Asperger's and schizophrenia. However,according to one of the top psychiatrists in the field, he has toxicity because of his genetics and may have an underlying medical problem. Despite displaying classical physical signs for 10 years, his metabolic ketoacidosis has not been diagnosed until now. Six months on he has yet to get treatment,
Nevertheless the psychiatrists still want to have their say. I
I believe that the worse thing that can happen to anyone is to let a psychiatrist have a say in your life.
They have ruined my son's and ours for 50 years.
Posted by: Christine MacVicar | August 08, 2013 at 01:24 AM
Dan & Bill - Thank you. The interview was spellbinding.
More and more research is being conducted in this area. I think we are finally turning the table in understanding not only how easily the brain becomes compromised - but that it has the ability to heal itself with the right care and feeding.
I have worked for many years in addiction recovery where we use micronutrients with our clients. And it is amazing to see that once the brain gets the nutrients it needs, the cravings for other substances and obsessive compulsive behaviors diminishes. It is a miracle to see people emerge from their brain fog - and reclaim their lives.
Many studies have been done in schools and within prison systems where behaviors are changed dramatically with the use of nutrition.
It is going to be a wonderful day when people have the research and data they need to be able to realize that they can reclaim their physical and mental health with sound nutritional supplementation.
And it could not be more timely as our nutritional sources are depleting.
My new mantra is 'Nutrate before you Medicate.' It is as poignant as 'Educate before you Vaccinate.'
http://truehope.com
Posted by: Leslie Carol Botha | August 07, 2013 at 06:57 PM
Dan, thank you for interviewing the great humanitarian Dr. William Walsh. I bought “Dyslogic Syndrome” on your recommendation and appreciated Dr. Rimland’s detailing of orthomolecular vs. toximolecular treatment – among many topics, the hazards of filling our bodies with low-nutrition food, and taking prescription drugs and vaccines unquestioningly.
This statement by Dr. Rimland was particularly frightening: "Virtually 100 percent of drugs listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) list death as a potential side effect." But ultimately the book is about hope, saying, "Often, we can save these children with amazingly simple and inexpensive interventions."
Educators work the front lines controlling an ever-growing army of brain-damaged children, but their investment ends when the final school bell rings. It’s the parent-to-parent connections that can ensure this material gets disseminated more widely. And as Dr. Rimland said, "[Skeptical 'authorities' are no longer able to prevent knowledge from reaching the people who need to see it."
Posted by: nhokkanen | August 07, 2013 at 04:58 PM
I am so sorry Vicki, of course you are right. I guess I was just thinking just about myself.
The truth is - I am darn well blessed compared to what could have been.
Hmmmm, I want to share something with all of you - of something wonderful that has happened to us.
My son has a job. A good job- I mean it pays well - I still don't know anything about health insurance or retirement. HE has been at it for a month now, and doing well!!!!!
We may beat the odds here - that is the odds of being employed or not employed.
I know most of you are hurting and I wish you all the best that can happen - but untill this came along I was just hoping for a lottery - and I guess in a way my son and my family have won it.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 07, 2013 at 02:11 PM
Thank you for finding healing and helpful approaches for these disorders. Here's hoping we will soon as a society recognize the value of such nutritional efforts and the cost of some anti-nutritional exposures.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | August 07, 2013 at 12:39 PM
No question: the vast, vast majority of people with autism are not violent and will not become violent.
HOWEVER, there is nothing about autism that gives one immunity from violence. No one can say, “Whew! My child has autism, so now I have a guarantee that he will never, ever be violent.” Every violent person was somebody’s child. No one brings a child into the world anticipating that the child will be prone to violence…but in rare cases, it happens – with or without autism.
Walsh claims, with no evidence, that Adam Lanza was misidentified as being on the autism spectrum. That is wishful thinking. Almost certainly Adam had a co-morbid mental illness, but there is zero reason to believe that he didn’t have Asperger. Several friends of the family, classmates, teachers, etc. – all said he had been a special ed student with a diagnosis of ASD. Who is Bill Walsh, or any of us, to now claim that all of these people were wrong?
Some people DO have a combination of autism and bipolar, autism and schizoaffective, or autism and schizophrenia. This is a real challenge for both the mental health community and the autism community. The autism community has no way of handling a person with this combination in a crisis situation. Police departments will tell you that they sometimes have the choice between taking such a person to a psychiatric hospital or to jail. Many psychiatric hospitals will not accept them; they know that their standard milieu is not the most appropriate setting for a person with autism and mental illness in crisis. Yet clearly jail is not a better alternative.
I am currently working with people in the mental health field to brainstorm on more effective approaches. More people in the mental health field need to be trained on how to handle those with the autism/mental illness combination. Regions need to have an identified place to deal with people with the combination of autism/mental illness who are in crisis. Funding needs to recognize that such people exist; currently the mental health funding often ignores them as well as the autism funding. As a result, they fall through the cracks.
Are people who have both violent? Certainly not, if they get appropriate supports and treatment. The problem comes when the situation is ignored. Adam Lanza’s mother knew he had Asperger’s Disorder; it is not clear whether she ever knew that he also had a co-morbid mental illness. If she had, she might have gotten treatment for it.
In February, 2013, Levi Staver stabbed his grandmother to death in Pennsylvania. Levi was diagnosed with Asperger years ago; and with schizophrenia more recently. The mental health people found that he didn’t respond to normal treatment for persons with schizophrenia…because of the Asperger. How do I know this? I’ve known his mother, Ruth Johnston, for more than 10 years. She and I were discussing how to get him into treatment a few weeks before he killed her mother. She knew he was a threat, yet the system didn’t see it…until he actually DID something violent. We have a very broken system; this young man couldn’t get help until he killed his grandmother and proved to the establishment that he was a danger to himself and others.
The best way to avoid such situations is for the autism community and the mental health community to work together, to acknowledge that, on RARE occasions, there is an overlap. I have spoken to many people in the mental health community who have tried to get help or information from those advocating in the autism community…only to get rebuffed. Denial doesn’t serve the autism community well. We need to acknowledge that these situations are VERY RARE, but not impossible. There are other Adam Lanzas out there today in the autism community. The best way to keep them from going over the edge is to make sure that they get psychiatric treatment when the signs show that they need it. Nancy Lanza knew her son was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum; what if the autism community had told her, had helped her learn, that not everything she was seeing at home was connected to autism? Would it help her to read this article…with Walsh claiming that a person with autism can’t be violent? That is nonsense…dangerous nonsense.
(I have an adult son with both autism and mental illness. I've dealt with this situation for many years.)
Posted by: Vicki Hill | August 07, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Ahhh Meanwhile; it would be nice to have some normal human beings coming our way - hope for what now seems dark -- and yet vaccinating is still full throttle.
CDC is the great Satan.
I mean it really, really is!
If we don't get this stopped and turned around there really won't be a human race left or a world worth living in.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 07, 2013 at 10:42 AM
Well, it sounds -- like living in the days before Noah and the flood in the Bible to me.
Maybe a scene out of Robocop.
I think I am lucky it was just autism and bipolar, God was having mercy on me - I just did not know it. May he never send a social path my way.
Sounds like the Zombies are coming after all. I guess if we can round 'em all up and put 'em in prison then we can teach them the diet -- if they are not over 50.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 07, 2013 at 10:38 AM
Dan & Bill,
All incredibly interesting and useful. I am in awe.
Many thanks,
John
Posted by: John Stone | August 07, 2013 at 08:18 AM