BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“Something is happening in our environment for us to see such an increase in autism. We need to ‘get over’ the scientific consensus of genetic causes and accept environmental ones.” Jeet Varia, Ph.D.

A single tear rolls down her cheek. She reaches out to touch the photo, her fingers tracing the outline of her son’s face. “Why, honey? Why couldn’t you just be…normal? The tantrums, the meltdowns…the way you’d avoid eye contact, the repetitive behaviors.”

“I knew something was different. I could feel it, but I hoped, I prayed.” She trails off, lost in thought. Her mind flashes back to a series of moments: Andre struggling in preschool, the worried looks from other parents, the countless doctor’s appointments, and then the diagnosis; autism spectrum disorder.

It is an unfortunate but true fact that knowledge and awareness of autism spectrum disorder in Latin America and Caribbean Countries is limited. In a research study titled, “Age of autism diagnosis in Latin American and Caribbean countries” (2024) researchers aimed to identify factors associated with the age of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis as reported by 2520 caregivers of autistic children from six Latin America and Caribbean Countries.

They found that the age of diagnosis of autistic individuals in Latin America and Caribbean Countries corresponded to the start of formal schooling despite a much earlier age of first noticed developmental concern, highlighting the need to reduce this age gap and increase children’s probability of benefiting from early intervention.

In 2022, Deirdre Marie Johnson-Taylor (Walden University), presented a paper titled, “Exploration of the Cultural Perspectives of Caregivers of African American and African Children with Delayed Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.”  In her study, she explains that autism is understood to be a brain-based disorder with genetic origins that is characterized by the early onset of a serious, social learning disability. She reminds readers that caregivers are an intricate part of the process of identifying ASD. African and African American children are identified with ASD at later ages than Caucasian children.

Although there has been research investigating neurological disorders in autism, the findings are not always conclusive. A study titled, “Neurological disorders in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” found that previous summaries of existing studies have not evaluated the full range of neurological disorders.  Their results suggested that individuals with autism are more likely than the general population to have a range of neurological disorders, including epilepsy, macrocephaly, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, migraine/headache, and inborn abnormalities of the nervous system.

In order to provide individualized healthcare and support of high quality to individuals diagnosed with autism, health care professionals and other support providers need to be attentive to neurological complications.

News studies are being released that shows autism isn’t just a neurological condition. This is according to the authors of a scientific review published recently on Preprints.org.

Brian Hooker, Ph.D., Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Chief Scientific Officer; Jeet Varia, Ph.D., CHD science fellow; and Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D., a Pediatric Neurologist and Neuroscientist, co-authored the report, which is undergoing peer review with Development and Psychopathology, a Cambridge University Press journal.

The authors examined the findings of 519 studies to illustrate how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects multiple body systems, including the immune, digestive and central nervous systems.

Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D.,  an autism researcher since 1995, reported that the science of autism has become “Enormously richer” and ASD “Can no longer be considered just a ‘psychological’ problem — it’s a whole-system problem involving many systems that influence each other.”

She and her co-authors also contend that the latest scientific evidence suggests ASD is largely driven by environmental factors. These include: exposure to toxins in food, the environment, medicine, or personal care products.

In their report, the authors reviewed new research showing that the brain and the immune system communicate with each other. In previous decades, scientists didn’t think ASD was linked to lower, or altered immune system function, because the brain was “Viewed as an immune-privileged site,” they wrote. “However, over the last decade, mounting evidence has uncovered the role of the immune system in CNS [central nervous system] health and functioning and disease.”

What we are now finding is that many modern clinicians often use pharmaceutical medication as if it were a magic bullet that can eliminate a disease’s cause, or symptom. In their review, the authors argue that future treatments for ASD need to “Go beyond the current reductionist and ‘magic-bullet’ medical paradigm.”

The authors wrote, “This single-target perspective tends to neglect consideration of how these medications unintentionally impact the overall regulatory ability of the human organism. Medications should be designed to: mimic, modulate, or promote the body’s natural resolution mechanisms instead of interfering with them.”

There is still so much that needs to be discovered about ASD, but I want to encourage parents to not ignore what you see. Seek the help that you need for your child, and for yourself.

REFERENCES:

https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2017.100

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology

https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202411.0618/v1

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender_category/toxic-exposures/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361320951370

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/brian-hooker-ph-d/

Science About Us

BIOGRAPHY

1 in 33 Kids Ages 5 to 8 — More Than Previously Thought — Has Autism

New First-of-Its-Kind Autism Diagnostic Test Examines Child’s Exposure to Environmental Toxins

BY PAUL JUNOR

The Ontario government’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement, unveiled on October 30^th, 2024, has sparked widespread criticism from various education stakeholders, including the Ontario Liberals, NDP, Ontario Greens, and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO). These groups have voiced their opposition to the government’s fiscal priorities and its failure to address critical issues facing Ontarians, particularly in the education sector.

Ontario Liberals and Other Stakeholders Respond

The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) expressed disappointment that the Fall Economic Statement failed to tackle urgent issues affecting the province. In a press release, the OLP outlined several key priorities they believe should have been addressed, including:

• Real investments to maintain emergency room services
• Expanding access to family doctors for 2.5 million Ontarians
• Providing long-term financial relief for residents
• Addressing the affordability crisis in housing

Bonnie Crombie, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, criticized Premier Doug Ford’s government for prioritizing “billion-dollar giveaways” to wealthy insiders instead of investing in critical public services like healthcare. “Doug Ford is more focused on giving billions to the rich than addressing the real issues affecting Ontarians. People are dying on waitlists while this government squanders money on alcohol sales, foreign spas, and Greenbelt scandals,” said Crombie. “It’s time for Ontarians’ tax dollars to work for the people, not Doug’s wealthy friends.”

Similarly, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), representing 160,000 university students across the province, also expressed its disapproval. The group, which advocates for the interests of full-time and part-time undergraduate students, emphasized the need for stable, public investment in post-secondary education. Michele Wodchis-Johnson, President of the University Students’ Council at Western University, argued that “Public education should be publicly funded and financially stable enough to provide quality education to future generations. Investing in post-secondary education is an investment in Ontario’s economic future.”

ETFO’s Strong Condemnation

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which represents over 83,000 educators, also sharply criticized the Ontario government’s failure to address the ongoing crisis in public education. In a media release issued on October 30, 2024, ETFO President Karen Brown condemned the government’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement, calling it a missed opportunity to reverse the damage caused by years of funding cuts to Ontario’s schools.

“There are no meaningful investments for public education in this statement. It reflects a deeply troubling trend,” said Brown. “Violence in schools is on the rise, class sizes continue to grow, and special education remains severely underfunded. Meanwhile, the Ford government focuses on expanding alcohol sales and funding vanity projects that benefit insiders. This is not fiscal responsibility—it’s gross mismanagement and a deliberate attack on our public education system.”

Brown pointed out that, in the 2024-2025 school year, funding for students will be, on average, $1,500 lower than it was in 2018. This translates to a staggering $3.2 billion in cuts for the current academic year alone. Notably, this figure mirrors the approximate amount that Ontarians will receive in rebate cheques from the government in 2025, a move widely seen as an attempt to sway voters ahead of the next election.

“Sending out $200 cheques to voters right before an election is an insult to Ontarians. It’s clear the Conservatives have run out of ideas,” President Brown continued. “It’s outrageous that they continue to cut funding for public schools while using Ontarians’ own tax dollars to try to buy their votes. The message is crystal clear: this government doesn’t care about public education.”

ETFO’s Call for Accountability

The ETFO concluded its statement with a firm commitment to hold the Ford government accountable for its neglect of public education. “We will not stand by while this government abandons Ontario’s schools,” said President Karen Brown. “Students and educators deserve a fully funded, equitable, and inclusive public education system. Our future depends on a strong, well-resourced public education system, and we will not let this government dismantle it.”

ETFO also made it clear that they will continue to advocate for the restoration of education funding and push for policies that prioritize the needs of students and educators across the province.

For more details on the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, visit the Ontario government’s official website: Ontario’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement.

BY PAUL JUNOR

The launch of the campaign, “For Us, For You” by ten provincial associations on October 17^th, 2024, is intended to increase awareness of the growing wage gaps for frontline workers. The resultant staffing challenges and impact on patient care are of primary concerns to these organizations. Details of the campaign can be seen on the website of the Canadian Mental Health Association: ontario.cmha.ca. The campaign highlights the need for urgent investments in Ontario’s community health sector to ensure crucial services and support remain available to meet the needs of Ontarians of all ages.

The campaign indicates that there are currently more than 200,000 workers that are working in various fields in the community health sector. These include primary care, mental health, addiction organization, home and community care, long-term care and other community health settings. In addition, there is an accumulated wage gap of over two billion that these workers are shortchanged compared to their counterparts who worked in hospitals and schools. They play essential roles in emergency departments and hospitals as they are the first ones the public meet.

There has been attention focused on the effect of significant staffing shortages on the patient care of Ontarians. The results from a survey show that:

• 94% of community health organizations identify compensation as the biggest challenge with hiring and keeping staff
• Over 80% are seeing wait times for services and supports continue to grow

The “For Us, For You,” campaign hopes to work with the Ontario government so that it can:

• Invest over $500 million each year over the next five years to close the wage gap, in addition to sustainable and ongoing increase in line with projected inflation.
• Address Bill 124 shortfall that continues to impact the community health care sector.
• Establish a working group with the government to develop a sustainable approach to building and supporting the community health care workforce.

The names of the ten organizations involved in the “For Us, For You” campaign are:

• Addictions and Mental Health Ontario
• AdvantAge Ontario
• Alliance for Healthier Communities
• Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
• Canadian Mental Health Association of Ontario
• Children Mental Health Ontario
• Family Service Ontario
• Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
• Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association
• Ontario Community Support Association

Leaders related with these organizations released statements for the campaign.

Tatum Wilson, CEO of Children’s Mental Health Ontario states, “By addressing wage disparity, we can strengthen the entire system and ensure that Ontarians have access to the comprehensive care they need, when and where they need it.”

Sarah Hobbs, CEO of Alliance for Healthier Communities states, “Primary care teams are experiencing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges, driven by wage disparities and inability to offer competitive compensation. These staffing shortages result in fewer professionals available to provide the care patients need, leading to delays and reduced access to services. Addressing pay parity is a practical and necessary step to ensure we can attract and retain the skilled professionals required to maintain consistent, high-quality primary care for all Ontarians.”

Dr. Kevin Samson, President of the Association of Family Health Team of Ontario states, “The community mental health and addictions workforce continues to struggle with staff retention and difficulty attracting new workers at a time when there is a surge in demand for our services. Meanwhile, the wage gap for the community health sector continues to grow. Our staff deserves to be paid an equivalent living wage as that of their counterparts in health and other sectors so that they can focus on providing quality care for Ontarians.”

Camille Quennevile, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association states, “There is a crisis in child and youth mental health that we can’t solve without addressing workforce shortages. Too many families are turning to hospitals in distress because of long wait times and a lack of treatment availability at community-based child and youth mental health centres. This is further exacerbated by frontline vacancies and high turnover because our wages can’t compete with hospitals and schools.”