Guest guest Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Here is a peds emedicine site stating the literature is suggestive, but not conclusive for pica attribution to a dietary deficiency http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/914765-overview Medline: states one cause is dietary deficiency of, eg iron and zinc http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001538.htm neither site is " biomedical " or a " bunch of quacks " Neither is talking about autism, only pica. But pica *is not* a feature of autism. Pica is a feature of pica, which can strike anyone, regardless of neural orientation, so it is not something you have a particular expertise in, from your perspective as an autist. This is different for oromotor behavior, but the dividing line is less than clear, and both can coexist in the same individual. They are two different things with similar features, but serve two different purposes. Corollary--you can hate the feel of wool on your skin and take a sweater off, and you can be too hot and take a sweater off. Both are different issues. Mouthing behaviors can be OCD (commonly comorbid in autism), can be muscle spasm, can be stim, can be an attempt at self restraint (gritting your teeth, or chewing on a pencil to prevent an outburst) and can be anxiety relieving (like jiggling the leg). The reason you did it may not be why Sara's child does it. If you meet one autistic, you have met one autistic. I wanted my son to chew gum to relieve anxiety. School would not include it in the IEP--other kids being jealous, improper disposal cited as reasons. No money for an attorney. Chewing on a straw may be an acceptable substitute, or they may object to that too (saliva contamination, infection control, etc). > > " Could " does not mean " is " . I made no definitive statements > regarding the specific case in question, merely expressed a > potentiality. > > As for " who I am " to make such a suggestion, I am autistic. I am > also someone who drove my mom nuts with the specific behavior I > suggested as a possibility during my early high-school years. > > I also made no allusions to you, specifically, meaning that personal > attacks are unwaranted. ly, I don't know you well enough to > make accusations. I did, however, state that the zinc theory is, by > and large, an example of one of the ways in which the medical > establishment doesn't understand autism... or autistic individuals. > I also stated that the same could be said of the " biomedical " > establishment, while openly calling them a bunch of quacks. > > Finally, I would like to point out that the causal explanation > usually cited for pica by the zinc theorists is incompatable with > simple (i.e. uncomplicated) stimming, which is the alternate > explanation that I mentioned as a possibility. > -- Cheezem > aspieperspective.blogspot.com > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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