I normally write on the FM boards because i have FM but i also have a high functioning autistic son and was noticing that he seems to have more outbursts in the fall and winter. I don't know if this is because he gets sick more often or lack of sun light. Does anyone else notice this with their loved ones?

I believe you're right about the depression and we do talk alot. Does the cod liver oil come in pills? He will take pills but if it is a liquid he and i battle big time.

I have FM. I am 42 and have 2 children. My daghter is 16 and has been dx with bi-polar recently. She never showed any signs of this when she was young. My mother is very bi-polar so it does run in the family. My daughters dad died when she was one year old.

I remarried when she was 7 and had a son who now is 6. He has been dx with SID and ADHD. With all the reading I have done I do believe he has Aspergers. I am leagaly separated from my husband for 2 years now. He will not address my sons issuses, refuses to even think anything is different about our son. We have 50\50 custody (I gave him 50\50) I do believe a child needs both parents in different ways. But now with this 50\50 thing I can not do much with my son as far as help.

I was just wowed to see woman with FM and children with special needs! I am not alone in this mabey? I have such a hard time with the way I feel and tending to their needs. I just want to play mommy anymore sometimes (but always do and will.)

How do you get through all of this ladies?

Codey (Carol)

Wet Weather and Autism Link

MARY ENGEL BY MARY ENGEL

Posted Nov 6, 2008

By Mary Engel

Los Angeles Times

Children in California, Oregon and Washington are more likely to develop autism if they have lived in counties with higher levels of annual rainfall, suggesting that something about wet weather might trigger the disorder, according to a study released this week.

Among possible explanations: Bad weather could lead to more television and video viewing, which in very young children has been linked to language development problems.

Or staying indoors could cause a deficit of vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin" increasingly found to play a vital role in health.

The study stressed that the association between autism and rain has not been clinically proved and that possible explanations need further testing.

Federal health officials estimate that autism affects one in 150 children in the United States, a number that has risen dramatically in the past three decades from roughly one in 2,500. The increase is due partly to an expansion of the diagnostic criteria to include milder, related conditions as well as to increased awareness.

The new study looked at children born in the three states between 1987 and 1999. In Oregon and Washington, which are bisected by the Cascade Mountains, counties west of the range received almost four times the rainfall and had autism rates that were twice as high as counties on the dri er east side.

the disorder

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs communication and socialization and is often marked by repetitive behaviors such as rocking and head banging.

Date: Nov 5, 2008

© 2008 The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

My hobby is studying genetics. My family members have a long list of neurological problems.
Autism is not one of them, but Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Tourett and Bipolar are.... among many more.

What I have learned is the the Vitamin D receptors do play a large part in neurological problems. So, the dark winter skys and perhaps even the grey rainy ones might stop the amount of light necessary to get into the eyes, starting a depression of sorts and the vitamin d receptors not working properly anyway, don't get sun on the skin. Many of our schools don't even have windows any more. Just a/c . We have become a society of people who jump in the car in the garage and go to the mall or parking garage and never get out in the sun.

Plus, our ancestors, did not get any sun in Europe. The Industrial Revolution filled the sky with smoke and during the winter, they suffered. So much that 85% of European children had Rickets at one time. Which could be a major culprit in all of these neurological diseases.

In addition, I have learned how much the thyroid plays parts in these genes and how close they are to the neurological disorders. I have a bad thyroid, my mothers was horrible as are two of my sisters. We all have Fibromyalgia and offsprings with the neurological disorders above. They have known that Schizophrenic survivors are born more in winter months.... one has to wonder if it was lack of Vitamin d to the Mom, or perhaps cold intollerance from her thyroid. I can't get cold for even a minute or I am off to the hospital.

I don't think there are simple answers. I like the cod liver oil idea. I also like having a light that will bring sunlight into the house ....... perhaps one of the SAD lights. Costly, but will change mood.

I have lived in the tropics for winters for a while. I have NO FMS symptoms here. But, when I go home, even in the fall, they begin. Atmosphere, cold, or lack of bright sun light???

You are definately validated..... and it may be all of the above. Wrapping up did not help me. Staying in heated areas did nothing either. Electricity is different in our bodies when the atmosphere is cold vs. hot. Since we are made up of trillions of atoms.... who knows what the actual reason is. But, it's definately worse in winter for everyone.

Hop

Going from the light into the dark is a CHANGE. And change can be upsetting. Perhaps your son will have less outbursts once he adjusts and resets his cognitive compass.

Also, like anyone, people on the spectrum can be affected by the lack of stimulation, activity and socialization that often accompanies the winter months.

Perhaps some trips to the Mall under the bright flourescent lights and the buzz of activity would be helpful.

Best wishes,
Cate

I am exactly 42 years old and I have a son with autism and I have fm also. I am having such a bad flare right now. We just found out today at an annual ARD meeting at my son's school. We have been trying to tell them all these years that my son has autism but they wouldn't listen and finally I raised a fuss about it so they had a specialist in autism watch him for a few days and she said that he does have it. This is his last year in junior high school and next year he is supposed to go to high school. I just kind of wonder if all these years that we have been trying to tell them that he has autism if they had had some things in place like they are about to do if he would be doing better now? He is doing fair but not that great. He doesn't know how to read much at all. Pamela