I don't have much on the way of valuable insights or conversation starters, I just think this story is sweet and these 2 brothers obviously love the hell out of each other, made me happy to read :)
My 8 yr old identical twin daughter’s have severe autism but one is definitely worse than the other, one of them can use some words but the other is completely unable to communicate.<p>I have absolutely no explanation for this, I cannot think of anything different that happened to them. They didn’t have antibiotics or surgery at a young age like in this story either.
This article annoys me to all ends. It started out badly by referring to autism as a disability, but it got worse in the fact that they’re assuming all of John’s symptoms are because he’s autistic. All of his disabilities can much easier be ascribed to brain damage post-partum. That hole in his heart meant he was getting less blood flow and less oxygen at a critical time in his brain development.<p>The fact that both twins are autistic has nothing to do with it!
This seems to bolster the theory that autism is modulated by the gut-brain axis.
Being given antibiotics at such an early age will probably severely dysregulation gut microbiota.
And GABA actually does cross the BBB but in small amounts. Perhaps at such an early age, dysregulation in GABA produced in the gut has significant effects on brain health - over stimulation, learning memory issues, etc.
One of my sons had a heart defect needing open heart surgery when he was 5 days old (it went fine!). In connection to that he was enrolled in a scientific study. Apparently when you are in a heart and lung machine as an infant (<1 month old) the pressure in the machine is so great compare to the normal pressure that the blood cells break creating free radicals. These free radicals can in turn create damage in the brain which can later on cause problems with executive functions and complex reasoning. Autistic people also have problems with executive functions (my other son has Asperger’s). Now I’m not saying that free radicals cause autism but maybe they modulate it when the same parts of the brain are affected by them during infancy.
It's so interesting to see the differences in their faces.<p>I can tell from the folds and wrinkles on Sam's face that he engages in more neurotypical communication.
Have they actually sequenced their genes and compared them? If there is a genetic explanation, then any mutations or replication errors during pregnancy would end up screaming into your face once you do the comparison.
He spent a month in a hospital as a small child. Of course this impacted his autism. We know that social interaction, play therapy, etc can be effective at reducing the severity and impact of autism and this is the direct opposite. How do you think a small child is going to learn about social interaction if they're stuck in a hospital without as much interaction and with much of the interaction being to the point? They're likely bored and witnessing the dry, clinical interactions of many of the staff. Neither of which are helpful.<p>Even staying a few days as a toddler is highly impactful on normal kids. They often don't understand why people are hurting them (IV, blood draws, ecg stickers, etc). They hate being stuck in the bed or their room for days with just toys and screens to play with - no running of course. In my experience it seems that fears and nightmares are common. The way the kid interacts can change for a short time after getting home (not as interested in the same type of play as before, happier with screen time, not as trusting of others, etc). Staying in a hospital is rough for someone who is fully developed and knows what's going, it's way more impactful for those who aren't.
This is driving me oddly nuts:<p>> "I think there's an understanding that 'My twin isn't quite as capable of communicating in the way that they need to, so I'll help them with that,'" she says.<p>> That description fits Sam and John.<p>> When asked to name his favorite episode of Sesame Street, John blurts out a series of words: "Abby makes the seasons change." Sam understands immediately and quickly steps in to explain.<p>> "There's an episode with Abby Cadabby, Rosita and Zoe, where they dance around with the seasons changing," Sam says. "I think that's the one he's referring to."<p>I know that episode. It's actually called "Abby Makes Seasons Change", [1] so that "series of words" is the direct answer to the question. The point is probably true in general, but the example sucks.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.sesamestreetguide.com/2020/02/sesame-street-episode-4191-video.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.sesamestreetguide.com/2020/02/sesame-street-epis...</a>
The autist focuses. Concentrates. Invests his entire attention in a particular sliver of the experiential buffet. That's autism.<p>If it's a useful sliver then there you go.
> identical twins at opposite ends of the autism spectrum.<p>I understand this is just a figure of speech, but this wording suggests that there are "two ends" of the spectrum and (as I understand it) autistic communities are trying to fight that myth.
One possibility (strongly supported by cases like this one) is that "severe" autism is caused by severe neglect, when the child gets essentially abandoned once labelled as "autistic". Has anyone tried to expose John to anything else than his "favorite" show? Was he even exposed to enough language?