James Williams

1
James Williams

• Biomedical Issues From An Autistic Perspective
  How Do We Experience Them?

2
Introduction

• Name James Williams
• Individual with autism, aged 24
• History of biomedical health issues
• Have not always been open about these issues

3
What will be included in this presentation

• My personal experiences with biomedical issues
• How I dealt with those issues and how they
  impacted my life
• Stories of others I have met with biomedical
  issues
• What finally compelled me to open up about
  biomedical issues

4

• This presentation is NOT an anti-vaccine or
  pro-vaccine presentation!

5
Lets Not Forget

• The vaccine controversy has been a major obstacle
  for accurate research on biomedical issues and
  autism
• People with autism still endure biomedical issues
  regardless of their cause and should still be
  researched
• Not all biomedical research is anti-vaccine yet
  people often stereotype it as being so

6
New Research Suggests People With Autism Have
Body Differences Just As They Have Brain
Differences!

• Dr. Jeff Bradstreet has found evidence of
  distinct medical ailments that he has only found
  in the bodies of children with autism
• Dena Gassner has uncovered evidence showing that
  hormone levels differ in the bodies of
  individuals with autism, discussing the
  possibility of hormone poisoning
• And many people with autism often have greater
  behavioral issues when they dont feel well
  physically!

7
Lets Ask the Audience

• Raise your hand if you are a parent who has a
  child who has endured any biomedical issue, such
  as impaired digestion, food allergies, or an
  impaired immune system.
• Raise your hand if you are a person with autism
  who has endured biomedical issues.
• Have you or any of your children benefited from a
  special diet, or any biomedical interventions
  such as probiotics or vitamin supplements?

8
Case Study Autism Oasis for Kids

• In 2011 I made several visits to the Autism Oasis
  for Kids, a special school for children with
  autism in Florida.
• The schools director prepared hot lunches daily
  that were gluten-free, casein-free, and
  vegetarian, and every student enrolled in her
  school was given the option to receive these
  adapted hot lunches.
• The director noted to me that the students with
  autism who ate her hot lunches daily often showed
  improvement academically and behaviorally.

9

• The physiological symptoms and biomedical issues
  with autism should not be ignored or dismissed!
• One could even argue, as I do routinely, that
  autism constitutes a physiological disorder as it
  does a mental disorder, and that biomedical
  issues and physiological symptoms are just as
  much a part of autism as are social and sensory
  issues.
• For this reason, I decided last year to start
  becoming vocal about biomedical issues with
  autism, as a person who has endured many of these
  issues myself.

10
Origins of this Presentation

• I have attended the AutismOne conference, a
  biomedical conference, for many years
• Concerned by the lack of speakers with autism
  discussing their biomedical issues and attempts
  to stereotype these issues as being the ramblings
  of incompetent doctors or nutty anti-vaccine
  activists
• Have benefited from many biomedical interventions
  myself, even those that have been dismissed as
  tomfoolery by others
• Decided I wanted to change things and share my
  story

11

• With that, I shall now discuss my history!

12
Biomedical Memories

• Endured a major sinus infection, known as
  sinusitis, from age 3 to 5
• Endured frequent headaches from age 5 to age 7
• Suffered from two eyes that could not teem or
  work together and underwent intensive eye therapy
  around similar time
• Endured routine feelings of soreness in my feet
  and could not walk longer than two blocks without
  pain and exhaustion
• Was unable to keep my head straight while walking
• Had multiple cuts to my chin as a young child
• Endured several freak nosebleeds in the middle of
  the night at age 7

13
Biomedical Memories

• Many doctors were unable to diagnose the causes
  of those ailments at first
• Finally, some of them were diagnosed and treated
• The sinusitis was caused by enlarged adenoids in
  my nose and I received a major adenoidectomy when
  I was five
• The headaches were caused by an unknown allergy
  to glutenafter cutting out gluten at the age of
  7 my headaches finally disappeared, and I have
  been gluten free for the rest of my life
• To this day I endure major physical ailments if I
  eat gluten, which can range from chills,
  headaches, hot flashes, a sore throat and runny
  nose, physical soreness, and diarrhea

14
Biomedical Memories

• Freak nosebleeds were never diagnosed
• Foot soreness was due to a combination of low
  muscle tone and improperly jointed feet,
  underwent extensive occupational and physical
  therapy as a child and wore orthotics in my shoes
  for over 10 years, today I routinely walk up to
  3-4 miles as a time
• Improper walking posture was due to curves in my
  spine and developing scoliosis and I underwent
  extensive chiropractic treatments for over 6
  years
• Chin cuts due to issues with balance that often
  caused me to have falls while running or walking

15
Biomedical Memories

• Important to remember All of these issues
  happened concurrently with many mental issues of
  autism!
• Often struggled with communicating these issues
  to others sometimes due to verbal ability and
  other times due to not being able to know where
  and when to talk out of fear of being
  misunderstood or disciplined
• Often wondered if these experiences were unique
  to me or if this was the reality of childhood,
  since I was not aware of my autism until age 8
• Spent many hours trying to focus on how to endure
  the pain I was going through
• However, I did NOT spend much time thinking
  whether or not these issues were caused by
  vaccinations!

16
Biomedical Memories

• During this time, I endured many cycles of being
  unable to regulate meals and digestion
• At one part of my life, I routinely stuffed
  myself at meals, unable to entirely know when I
  was full
• I often felt intense hunger even after a large
  meal (sometimes only 5 minutes after previously
  feeling full) and a constant need to eat
• No diagnosis was ever given for this and this
  continued until

17

• My immune system and digestive system collapsed
  between the ages of 11 and 12 and I almost
  starved to death!

18
My Autoimmune Collapse

• When I was 11 I had an extremely stressful
  experience in the fifth grade, where I was never
  able to feel calm in school
• Suffered periodic bouts of stomach flu and
  abdominal pain during the year
• Finally, I woke up with extreme abdominal pain
  less than two weeks after I completed the fifth
  grade
• Started feeling abdominal pain after each meal
  and gradually lost my ability to eat normally

19
My Autoimmune Collapse

• Doctors were unable to accurately find a cause of
  this ailment and no interventions worked,
  sometimes, they made it worse!
• I gradually became unable to tolerate solid food
  and lived on liquid meal replacements for
  approximately 6 months
• Blood tests showed an autoimmune collapse, high
  levels of mercury, and an impaired digestive
  system yet doctors were interpreting the tests as
  showing I had nothing wrong
• Lost 45 pounds

20
My Autoimmune Collapse

• Although my abdominal pain eventually started
  fading, I started losing my desire to recover and
  started enjoying being sick
• Often force fed by parents in an attempt to stay
  alive, resulting in a constant war zone between
  me and my parents
• Started hearing schizophrenic-like voices in my
  brain due to malnourishment and starvation
• Endured major appetite loss even after my
  abdominal pain faded after meals
• Started enduring respiratory attacks after
  certain movements as well

21
My Autoimmune Collapse

• Joined a Buddhist temple and used meditation
  temporarily to help clear my mind, however, this
  eventually did not work for me
• Also underwent drama therapy to help deal with
  some of my past autism-related traumas
• An endoscopy showed signs of acid reflux disease
• I was almost on the verge of death until a
  turning point emerged 6 months after the collapse

22
My Autoimmune Collapse

• Started sessions of acupuncture which gradually
  impaired digestive abilities
• Discovered some of my abdominal pain could be
  resolved by drinking hot tea during meals, along
  with ice cream
• Gradually started eating soups to improve
  digestion

23
My Autoimmune Collapse

• These remedies were not sufficient, however, as I
  still endured a total appetite loss and has lost
  the will to eat
• Often viewed eating and drinking as a chore
• The final remedy that caused a full recovery from
  my autoimmune collapse was taking zinc
  supplements
• After zinc supplements, my appetite loss ended
  and I was transformed into a person who now felt
  hungry and was willing to eat and recover from my
  ailment

24
My Autoimmune Collapse

• Two weeks after taking zinc supplements, I had
  fully recovered from my autoimmune collapse
• I was eating normally and had regained digestive
  abilities
• My respiratory ailments and schizophrenic voices
  soon cleared up afterwards
• By the time of my recovery, I had been ill for a
  little over 9 months

25

• Ive had many more issues since then, but thats
  all the time I have for now.
• So why did I decide to become vocal about
  biomedical issues?

26
For Many Years

• Was very quiet about my biomedical issues
• Wrote several novels and spoke more about social
  and educational issues
• Established myself as an author and presenter and
  have spoken at conferences all around the U.S.

27

• But during my travels around the United States, I
  started hearing stories from people with autism
  and their families about their biomedical issues.

28
Examples

• One of my good friends with ASD got pregnant and
  her biomedical ailments worsened during her
  pregnancy
• At a summer camp for individuals with ASD, I
  worked with a girl with ASD who had major
  digestive issues (that she called her tummy
  problems) and the other staff did not always
  understand her issues
• Met a family with a young boy with ASD who has a
  weakened immune system and has been unable to
  attend school due to his physical ailments

29

• After hearing these stories and many more I
  realized that since I had endured many biomedical
  issues myself, it was time for me to speak out
  about them.
• I have met many doctors such as Dr. Jeff
  Bradstreet and Dr. John Hicks who have been
  impressed at my ability to articulate my story
  with others.

30

• I also felt upset that there were not a lot of
  people with autism talking about their biomedical
  issues.
• With that, I would like to share the following
  advice for anyone who wants to help a person with
  autism who is enduring biomedical issues

31
Advice

• Be aware that many of us are not always unable to
  understand the science of our ailments but we
  still suffer and feel the pain.
• People with autism arent always focusing on
  whether or not vaccinations caused their
  ailments, and the vaccine debate should not
  distract people or get in the way of helping
  autistic kids who are chronically ill.

32
Advice

• Some children with autism may not be fully aware
  of what it means to not be sick since they have
  been ill much of their lives and may resist
  attempts to recovery because they may see it as
  an unknown change to them.
• And finally

33
Advice

• Safe zones should be provided for people with
  autism to openly share their issues with people
  they feel comfortable talking to. They should be
  allowed to talk to people they are comfortable
  sharing with.
• Remember that social rules in society make many
  topics about health inappropriate subjects to
  talk about, and have hurt people with autism in
  their attempts to communicate their problems with
  others, and we need to find ways to help them
  speak.

34
Advice

• In high school, I had many friends who endured
  health issues and often felt frustrated that they
  could not speak openly in many social situations
  when they needed to about their problems.
• My friends and I created safe social groups where
  we had the right to be open. We should create
  these places for kids with biomedical issues.

35
Conclusion

• Biomedical issues are real and not just the
  ramblings of quacks.
• I hope that more people with autism in the future
  can be vocal about their biomedical experiences,
  and I hope I have given a voice to others in this
  presentation with autism who have not been able
  to communicate these issues.

36

• My mother always told me growing up, The ability
  to communicate your needs honestly is the best
  way for people to understand what you are feeling
  and going through!
• Thank you for listening. I will now answer your
  questions.