[Aunt Bean]

I have been noticing a few things lately and wonder is any of you know enough about autism to answer my question? When I am very tired (like after digging a couple hours and dehydrated) that my hands start having the appearance of children I have known with autism....stretching out and twisting slightly. My friend that I help care for with PD also does this with her hands. Also, not wanting to make eye contact when her dopamine level is low > Alot of Autistic children do this, and I find myself looking away when I am talking to people and it really takes a big effort on my part not to do this. It is not a problem when I've had enough tincture, just when I'm depleated.
Do autistic children have low dopamine or is there another neurotransmitter , nerve impairment or metabolic imbalance going on that gives such striking simularities?

[reverett123]

I am almost convinced that PD is part of a spectrum disorder including many of the modern day plagues such as autism, asperger's, schizophrenia, bi-polar, CFS, diabetes, etc. The common denominator being an unbalanced stress response and the individual variants arising from genetics and environment. That is primarily based on intuition but I have a pretty good intutive sense.

[lindylanka]

I recognise the hand movements you describe, they are there in children with very overt autism, sometimes called flapping, I don't have tremor but do have a right hand flap when tired, and when out walking for too long. Not sure about eye contact, but have difficulty keeping my eyes on things that move erratically, makes them feel immensely tired when low on dopa.

[girija]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...s-build-brains

Looks like autism and PD have common friends ! definitely connected.

[JennyO]

Having studied autism and being diagnosed with PD 3 years ago I can see many similarities between PD and autism. I recently wrote a list and came up with 25 points. I think I have found the link and tried to liaise with Parkinsons UK research but am told that they don't do research into this kind of thing because it would involve thousands of people and they don't have the funding. Apparently the government commissions such studies but they didn't tell me how or who to contact. Initially they sounded enthusiastic but now they tell me they'll 'get back to me' and in the meantime put my ideas on file.
I would have thought it is really worth investigating and I'm not prepared to wait so this is why I'm posting. Has anyone out there any idea how I can get this moving forward?

[TrishaPDX]

Dr. Klinghardt, a leading research and treating physician specializing in autism and Lyme disease, amongst other pesky neurological disorders, has remarked that Parkinson's is adult autism.

[lindylanka]

My son is high end autistic spectrum. Other son was unusually early, walk, talk read etc, I did too. It was not always a comfortable thing to be. Braintalk had gifted children as a condition, many PwP are gifted people. But a little 'neuro-diverse' too, rather than neuro-typical?? When PD hit I could see this more because I was thinking about it, most of these things have positive and negative aspects. All three of us share the things below, but I am moving closer to my high end autistic son, we are more visibly 'different' .

• very early speech development
• lateral thinking rather than linear
• multi-tasking difficulties
• drops things a lot/clumsy
• stay on task a long time
• when fully engaged other difficulties drop off
• difference between ability and output
•*difficulty initiating tasks especially if the choice is too great
• lack of fear/poor awareness of danger
• tactile issues with textures
• self limited food choices
• does not like change
• poor short term memory/good long term memory
• addicted to learning
• insightful about people and things
• not always empathetic
• strange sleep patterns/cycles
• dislikes sensory overload
• good coping strategies
•*others perceive them as a bit different
• physically strong, but slow, not sporty
• jiggly legs thing

This

[Bob Dawson]

This is a most amazing thread.
Have you ever heard the remark:
How can he be so smart and be stupid?

[ginnie]

Some how these are indeed all related, as well as many other auto-immune conditions. The flight to fight response is kicked in, and never shuts down. At least that is how Mayo clinic explained my medical condition. I wish you all the best. ginnie

[Aunt Bean]

Does anyone else 's body "JUMP" out out it's skin at a noise?
I read your list Lindylanka...I fit almost all of them...though some of the things are completely gone when I have the right amount of l- dopa from fava tincture in me
I started this post in 2010 and there wasn't much response. Glad to see it back again. It is on my heart so much that autistic kids would benefit from the same diet as I use and a little natural l-dopa. I know several autistic kids / now teens too, but how can we make a difference in their lives and the lives of struggling (sometimes at the end of their rope)parents when the doctors and researchers don't seem to have any help for them. I have a friend that has anxiety disorder..he tried making tincture and it helped him so much. He is now off anxiety meds. It is interesting that anxiety disorder/PD/autism all have so many similarities