The audio clip can be found here.

Did anything really surprise or shock you in your research?

“Two things were shocking. We exposed ourselves to all kinds of daily products and measured our blood before, during and after that exposure. After doing those experiments, we found elevated levels of the chemicals in our blood. So, for example, I’ve been doing mercury research for about ten years but I’d never actually consciously sat down, eaten a bunch of tuna and measured my levels. I found that my mercury levels almost tripled in a few days, just by consuming several tuna meals consecutively.”

As anyone involved with autism in some capacity is painfully aware the discussion of mercury as an underlying causal agent in some ASD’s is heated and everpresent.  It is usually in regard to vaccinations, but the recent change in position of many of the most vocal autism groups (Green our vaccines campaign) has moved, to some extent, away from that line of causality.  Never the less, I find it incredibly interesting what the author found regarding his mercury exposure from eating tuna.  I also remember reading a review of a scientific paper that showedd a correlation (yes, I know what that means and does not mean) between autism rates and environmental mercury levels in Texas.

For me this just confirms that anyone that dismisses the idea that some ASD’s can be manifestations of environmental exposure to toxins is naive or has their “head in the sand”.  This book, which I might consider trying to read, sounds like it may provide some rudimentary, anecdotal data on how exposure to everyday items can have a profound impact on our internal environment. Now consider the impact for pregnant mothers and unborn babies as they develop.

Perhaps there is something to the “detox” aspect of alternative autism treatments.  At best it is helping and at worst it is unlikely to be doing any harm and is just making your bank account lighter.  I don’t think I would go so far as to support full chemical chelation as a good option for all ASD’s, but it is undoubtedly appropriate in some cases and should be considered as option for some.  Would we do this with K?  Not likely, not without some good compelling evidence from medical tests that it was warranted.

Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?  Please let us know what you think.

Here is the information on their page regarding the show:

In the big dictionary of mental disorders known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM for short, autism is listed as a mental illness. According to the psychiatric manual, people with autism don’t communicate well, have trouble interacting with others, and often have some unusual and repetitive behaviours. Scientists have been very interested in understanding what causes autism — mostly with an eye to curing it.

Now, two autism researchers in Montreal are arguing that maybe autism isn’t something that needs to be cured. Maybe it isn’t even a mental disorder.

The two researchers make an unlikely team. One is Dr. Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist and cognitive neuroscientist at the Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital. He has been studying autism for 25 years. The other is Michelle Dawson, who is autistic. Ms. Dawson has never been to university, but is working at the level of someone with a PhD. For the last couple of years, these two have been collaborating on research into autism. They argue that autism should be recognized as a different way of being human, rather than as a disease or series of defects to be eradicated.

We sent freelance science journalist Alison Motluk to Montreal recently, to speak to the two researchers.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet but the preamble seems to be very interesting and captures what is a very divisive issue within the autism community- how autism should be viewed and what, if anything, should be done about it. I look forward to listening to it, I hope that it is a balanced review with some input from both sides of the debate.

I will comment further once I find the time to listen to the podcast in its entirety and have had some time to digest it. If anyone has invented a day with more than 24 hours I would love to be a beta tester!!

Anyone that has listened to it and has some thoughts I would love to hear what you think.

Update:
I checked the CBC’s podcasts and found the first part of the series that I have downloaded and stored here for sharing in case the streaming version goes off-line.

Update #2:
I found the second portion of the broadcast and have added it to the podcast section of our repository as well and can be found here.