Sensory & Spectrum

Hang in with me for this long explanation. We are going to cover a lot of information…and there will be a recurring concept throughout, that concept is a focus on the Central Nervous System.

The nervous system is greatly affected in a child with this disorder. The list of challenges that are linked in the child with autism include attention, sleep challenges, hyperactivity, behavior problems, social interaction issues, sensory processing challenges, and more. Even more, the nervous system is so closely connected to the digestive system and the immune system that commonly there are moderate to severe problems with appetite, digestion, bowel and bladder as well as immune and autoimmune challenges.

The Central Nervous System is intimately connected these other systems (those who analyze will separate the systems for purposes of study…but they are so closely connected that it is hard to define where one ends and the other begins). Let’s look at these systems as a three ring chain, with the Central Nervous System as the common / connecting link.

For the purpose of this article, we will focus on one major possibility, though there are many ways. Traumatic Birth Injury is the primary mode of injury that we see in our office. “Constraint” that happens in the uterus (breech positioning) and forceful movements that happen with the birth process are the most common causes of trauma.

Birth interventions are at “epidemic” levels in the United States according to the WHO, including, but not limited to cesarean delivery. The WHO states that C-section rates around 10% are necessary, while anything above 15-20% “likely does more harm than good” – the US has C-section rates in some parts of the country on excess of 33%.

In addition, many vaginal births use induction or other forms of augmentation that can increase the stress response of mother and baby. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics demonstrated an increase in autism diagnosis for births that included induction.

The most common area of injury during the birth process is the upper neck and skull. The possibility of the risk to these areas, and the resultant issues from it, can go up exponentially as the number of interventions rises. Induction, prolonged pushing, forceps, vacuum extraction can all lead to greater risk of traumatic injury to the infants head and neck.

Many don’t realize, no one in the medical system is really trained to check (or address) these sorts of injuries, so most of the time they go completely unmentioned to the parents. — If the injury were evaluated and addressed by a pediatric chiropractor shortly after it occurred, much of the neurological components of the injury could be prevented. Some of the best lessons to be learned about autism in this country is the concept of preventing additional cases.

If the injury occurs to the upper neck, it can put pressure on the spinal cord and brain stem, in addition to spinal and cranial nerves in the vicinity. The joint fixation (vertebral subluxation complex) in the area can lead to improper neurological “wiring” and “signaling”, both to and from the Central Nervous System. This disturbance to the communication system of the body is one of the primary reasons that man children with autism have real challenges with social interaction, behavior, learning and sensory processing.

The trauma and the resulting neurological changes can put the nervous system into a chronic state of stress. The name for this is the “Stress response” or fight / flight response. This response can be an important part of a valuable short term response. However, when this response becomes chronic, or is “stuck on” for long periods of time it can be detrimental. The nervous system of the child with autism has been in fight / flight, possibly from the very first moments of life. We commonly see on history forms that children with autism, also had colic, ear infections and digestive disorders.

These challenges are not routinely and immediately addressed in our current health care system. Instead, it waits for symptoms to appear before action is taken. There may be far fewer children suffering if we took action sooner. Many times it is so evident to see the “stress and fear” in the eyes of a child who struggles with autism. There are no words to describe the joy of watching that stress and fear dissolve as they move through care in our office.

Let’s now return to our three-ring chain example with the nervous system, immune system and digestive system. A chronic state of stress will “down-regulate” both the immune and digestive systems causing altered functioning. If we look at the digestive system, a chronic state of stress can lead to decreased motility of the bowel and inflammation. Now the bowel is doing a very poor job of breaking down and “digesting” foods, which leads to further inflammation and irritation that can leak into the bloodstream and trigger a response by the immune system.

The challenges of neurologic stress will also affect the immune system. Opening the possibilty that the immune system will dysfunction and the child my suffer with inflammatory reactions, eczema, asthma and allergies. As inflammation increases, the cycle continues. With this positive feedback cycle continuing, symptoms keep getting worse and worse.