EVALUATING

AUTISM SYMPTOMS

RESEARCH BY DR. MARK GEIER, DR. JANET

KERN, AND DAVID GEIER

THE PURPOSE

The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs an individual’s ability to communicate, socialize, and behave. These three categories have been the primary components of ASD diagnosis. However, many individuals with ASD have also reported health, physical, and behavioral symptoms as well. The limited research that has been conducted regarding these symptoms has been done by studying each individually.

Dr. Mark Geier, who has conducted extensive vaccine and autism research, his son David Geier, and Dr. Janet Kern set out to evaluate health, physical, and behavioral symptoms in conjunction via a cross-sectional cohort study. Their 2012 paper in the Maedica Journal of Medicine is the first-ever study to evaluate these categories on a systematic and quantitative level.

THE PURPOSE

The health, physical, and behavioral symptoms commonly

reported in ASD individuals that the Geiers and Kern were

interested in examining included:

• Trouble sleeping

• Hyperactivity/lethargy

• Gastrointestinal disruption

• Anxiety

• OCD

• Aggression

• Self-harm

THE EXPERIMENT

Participants of the study included individuals that were diagnosed by the DSM-IV to have either ASD, Asperger’s Syndrome, or a pervasive developmental disorder not-otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).

The 54 total participants were verified to lack a history of the following disorders: Fragile X disorder, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, seizure disorder, PKU, or disorders resulting from a mother’s drug use.

Participants ranged in age from 2-16 with a mean age of approximately 6.

THE EXPERIMENT

How were the 54 participants examined for behavioral, physical,

and health symptoms?

All participants were first evaluated by Dr. Kern using the

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Dr. Kern has significant

experience evaluating children with ASD. The CARS is an

assessment that rates individuals based on a variety of

characteristics to determine the severity of their disorder. Each

of the 15 categories of the assessment are rated between 0 and

4; the higher a score, the more severe a symptom.

Dr. Kern used the CARS assessment to quantify behaviors like

emotional responses, activity level, the ability to adapt to

change, the ability to relate to people, and verbal

communication, among others.

THE EXPERIMENT

Participants were then evaluated by parents using the Autism

Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), which is specifically

designed for use by parents, teachers, and others who have

been able to observe ASD children over the course of an

extended period of time.

The ATEC is comprised of 4 assessment subtest categories:

Speech/Language/Communication, Sociability,

Sensory/Cognitive Awareness, and Health/Physical/Behavior.

Multiple items are assessed within each larger subtest.

Like the CARS assessment, the higher a total score, the more

impaired an ASD individual is determined to be.

THE EXPERIMENT

Within the ATEC assessment, the physical and health subtest

specifically included examination of the commonly reported

health conditions in individuals with ASD previously

mentioned (sleep disorders, incontinence, OC behaviors,

anxiety, etc.).

In total, 10 health subcategories were examined using ATEC.

Each subcategory was given a score from 0-3 to reflect the

severity and frequency of the health condition.

THE RESULTS

What did the Geiers and Kern find?

By the numbers:

48% of participants had GI disruption

41% experienced incontinence

67% were hyperactive

89% had behavioral problems

92% demonstrated obsessive compulsion

94% had eating disorders

57% had trouble sleeping

WHAT IT MEANS

These findings provide a clear indication that a significant

number of ASD individuals suffer from serious physical, health,

and behavioral symptoms. These specific symptoms are not

currently a part of the ASD criteria for diagnosis, which means

that a large aspect of diagnosing ASD goes unaddressed and

therefore largely untreated.

For each of the symptoms assessed, previous research offers

highly similar findings. For example, 67% of the children in the

study were found to be hyperactive, which is consistent with

what researchers Charnsil and Sriapai previously found.

Overarching consistency with previous findings reflects that

these results are not anomalous.

CONCLUSION

The Autism Spectrum Disorder is not just a psychiatric disorder. Individuals with ASD suffer from health, physical, and behavioral conditions that more significantly increase their risk for death than do the three symptom categories that are currently used to diagnose ASD.

By recognizing the presence of these serious conditions, doctors should begin diagnosing ASD using the ATEC assessment to evaluate these conditions. Researchers and physicians should also begin to work towards developing viable treatments.

The Geiers and Kern believe that more longitudinal evaluations of health, physical, and behavioral conditions in ASD individuals will be of further value to their investigation.