Cobbers on the Brain

Back in my home town in Montana I have had the pleasure of working as an aid alongside some of the staff in my old school’s special education department. Over the past three year’s I have helped as an aid with these children after I had gotten done with classes for the semester and the majority of these children I worked with had autism. I had never worked with special needs kids before, so at the beginning of this experience I was definitely nervous.
I have been doing this because I enjoy the challenge of working with these children. I feel as if I am truly a part of helping people’s education as I work with and have watched these children progress over the past few years.
Now, the way you have to work with these children really varies from child to child, and as such every child needs to be cared for differently. Most of these children are very set in their ways and behaviors though. They have strict schedules that they all follow and any deviation from that schedule usually results in increased difficult behaviors.
It can be very strange for the outside observer watching in. For example, one of the children the first year I aided had a lot of peculiar qualities. The first time I saw him walk around and meow like a cat I asked one of the special ed. teachers if I should intervene. They told me right away that while I might feel like kids should have to act a certain way, sometimes intervening with these children just wouldn’t work. This is just their normal behavior and sometimes it needed to be accepted. The children in the classroom I were in were generally cased as the more moderate to severe children on the spectrum, and the high functioning ones that can follow normal rules are normally integrated into the regular classrooms.
Obviously this outward behavior was not always tolerate, and sometimes if he refused to transition to the next activity planned for him we would have to take away one of his “fun” activities for the day, which was never very fun because he didn’t always agree with doing that. Some of the children sometimes even had “meltdown” experiences with inconsolable crying and tantruming. The major problem with these were that we weren’t always sure what caused them and it made it hard to prevent the situations from happening again in the future.
There were a many other difficulties I experienced with working with these children. Many of the children I worked with had underdeveloped language skills that is a common problem among autistic children, preferred to be alone instead of interacting with the other children and had other difficulties in expressing needs and emotions. This made it particularly harder to interpret the individual needs of these children, but all the more rewarding when the hard work you put into these individuals in reflected in better behaviors.
Overall my experiences as a special education aid have been very beneficial for my own growth as a person. I have learned to work with kids, and especially special needs kids, at a much more helpful level than I ever thought I would be able to. If you ever find yourself in the situation where you can work with children’s in the special need’s department, I suggest you try it even if you think you might not enjoy it, it is truly a rewarding experience.

By way of definition, Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in communication and social behavior, and by repetitive behaviors. Recent research has shone a light on the fact that while genetic factors are largely responsible for the occurrence of autism, specific environmental factors might act as risk factors triggering the development of autism in some instances. Thus, the confluence of environmental triggers and autism related genes is currently an area of keen research interest. As highlighted by Ashwood et. al. in a 2006 paper, for successful development of the central nervous system  to occur, a functional or normal balance of the immune response is paramount. Ergo, the brains of Autistic patients are characterized by structural and signaling synaptic deficiencies as well as a dysregulation of neuronal survival and growth factors named neurotrophins, all of which seem to be tied to a common thread of Zn 2+ and Immune system abnormalities, among other pertinent but less significant environmental factors.
A few of the environmental factors that trigger the mutation or expression of mutant autism related genes, affect Zn 2+ homeostasis, and proper immune system function include maternal diabetes, heavy metal poisoning, prenatal stress, parental age, malnutrition, psychiatric drugs, toxins, and melatonin deficiency. Regarding immune system abnormalities, a cytokine imbalance is characteristic in the CSF of autistic individuals, and could be the starting point of the inflammatory state, leading to the disruption of trophic factors and increased apoptotic signaling in the cytoarchitecture in the CNS. Consequently, neurodevelopmental arrest or slowed down growth occurs. In the case of the cytokine IL-6, an associated increased expression of proteins called metallothioneins (MTs) that cause Zinc sequestration has been noted. Its worth noting that Zinc is a necessary co-factor for the proper activity of a vast amount of enzymes and proteins. Furthermore, both Zn 2+ deficiency and IL-6 have been shown to cause a reduction in the activity of Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), a substrate for the IGF-1 receptor that is a component of the PI3K-Akt and Erk- pathways. The former modulates neuronal growth as well as dendritic and axonal maturation and the latter, the expression of neurotrophins imperative for proper neurodevelopment.
While deciphering all the interconnections involved in the physiological state of autism might seem like trying to pick needles out of a haystack, the best that you the reader can do is to avoid the environmental stressors that trigger the expression of autism related genes. For instance, plan on having your children at a younger age to avoid autoimmunity issues, ensure that you are not over or malnourished, ladies avoid taking psychotic medications when pregnant and manage your Zn 2+ and blood sugar levels when pregnant. Special mention to researches working to elucidate the pathophysiology of autism and highlight possible treatment targets, I implore you the reader to support research efforts in this regard.

Autism Spectrum Disorder has been rising in the United States (an increase of 40% since 2000 according to the CDC) since Dr. Kanner discovered it in 1943. This is rise doesn’t have a certain contribution however due to its ever changing standards that qualify someone in the spectrum.
In majority, Autism is mainly caused by genetic factors that can predestine a child to impaired social and communication behaviors but maybe even heightened intelligence. However, in a paper published in 2013 that looked at environmental factors associated with Autism, stress seemed to stick out like a sore thumb.
How can stress cause a neurological disorder? The paper talks a lot about how prenatal stress can influence the development of the baby and even cause changes that previously would not have been a factor. They still think that genetics is the leading cause but that stress may play a role in increasing the risk.
An important system in the body is the HPA axis or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that is responsible for the neuroendocrine adaptation component of the stress response. The stressor signals to the hypothalamus to start a cascade of hormones to be processed until a certain blood concentration of cortisol this protection is seemingly achieved and the cortisol exerts negative feedback to the hypothalamus.
One study looked at autistic children versus typical children cortisol circadian rhythm. They found that both groups showed expected circadian variation with higher cortisol concentration in morning than in the evening samples. The children with autism, but not typical children, showed a more variable circadian rhythm as well as statistically significant elevations in cortisol following exposure to a novel, nonsocial stimulus.
The HPA axis can also modulate the immune system in response to a stressor, with high levels of cortisol resulting in a suppression of immune and inflammatory reactions. This helps to protect the organism from a lethal over activation of the immune system, and minimizes tissue damage from inflammation.
With repeated exposure to stressors the HPA axis can become sensitized and no longer function correctly under stressed conditions causing dys-regulation of the immune system at a critical time in development.
Stress is a mainstay in our society nowadays, with economics being its pusher. Taking time to relax while pregnant should be kept in mind, since many implications of stress are now being realized.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disease. It has multiple causes, such as various mutations, and concussions and head trauma may also play a role. In over 90% of cases of ALS the cause is unknown. Only about 5-10% of cases of ALS are inherited from a person’s parents.
There is no cure for ALS. The average life expectancy for somebody with ALS is about 2-5 years. There is one medication, Riluzole that can extend some people’s lives for about 2-3 months. There are some forms of ALS that take significantly longer, but most people diagnosed with ALS sadly do not have long to live.
ALS usually starts with subtle muscle weakness. It can also start with shaking, tripping, or speech problems. However, in most cases it starts with muscle weakness in the arms and legs. Over time the muscle weakness worsens, leading to difficulty swallowing, walking, and even breathing. As ALS progresses patients must use wheelchairs, be unable to speak, and eventually need assistance breathing. Most people with ALS die because of respiratory failure.
ALS is difficult to diagnose. The symptoms of many other diseases can easily be mistaken for ALS. Patients undergoing the process of diagnosis usually get two or three opinions as well as a variety of tests to determine it is in fact ALS and not another disorder.
Most treatments for ALS are focused on improving a patient’s immediate quality of life. Treatments include: physical therapy, speech therapy, nutritional support, and eventually end of life care, sometimes including mechanical respiration.
There are a lot of ethical issues with treating ALS. Since patients do not lose brain function, physician assisted suicide is often brought up. There is also the cost of treatment. Riluzole, the only FDA approved medication for ALS is over $1000 a month. ALS is already a horrible disease. The financial and emotional burdens that falls on family members only make everything worse.
ALS is a tragic disease. It is important that people know about it so that people with ALS can access the support and care that they need. Some awareness efforts, most notably the ice bucket challenge, have been successful. Still, there is work to do to do to research and treat ALS.