9-year-old child Given Marijuana for Medical Reasons
“J” is an autistic child who also has post-surgical and bowel-related chronic pain. His autism manifested itself as aggression rather than simple withdrawal, resulting in severe behavioral problems. Authorities in Rhode Island granted the parents a license to give their child medical marijuana (they opted to do so in the form of brownies). The results were dramatic:
Pre-pot, J. ate things that weren’t food… His pica become so uncontrollable we couldn’t let him sleep with a pajama top (it would be gone by morning) or a pillow (ditto the case and the stuffing)… The worst part was watching him scream in pain on the toilet, when what went in had to come out… Almost immediately after we started the cannabis, the pica stopped. Just stopped. J. now sleeps with his organic wool-and-cotton, hypoallergenic, temptingly chewable comforter.
Next, we started seeing changes in J.’s school reports… An aggression is defined as any attempt or instance of hitting, kicking, biting, or pinching another person. For the past year, he’d consistently had 30 to 50 aggressions in a school day, with a one-time high of 300. The charts for June through July, by contrast, showed he was actually having days—sometimes one after another—with zero aggressions.
This post is likely to elicit strong opinions; I would encourage everyone to at least browse the original source articles rather than basing judgments only on the excerpts above.
The article is written in two parts. Link for original article. Link for followup.
Via Metafilter. Photo credit Marie Lee.
Comment (45)
Permalink
Please share:  email
this 
|
| Neatorama Shop » T-Shirts About The Economy | |
 |
|
| $700 Billion T-Shirt | See more T-Shirts
About The Economy » 
|
Derek Paravicini: The Musical Genius
Part I [YouTube Clip]
Born 3-and-a-half months prematurely, Derek Paravicini was so small that his doctor presumed that he was dead. Just as his mother had given up hope, she heard the faintest whimper. To keep him alive, he was put on oxygen but improper equipment left him blind and autistic. At the tender age of 2 years old, Derek discovered the piano, and his life was never the same.
Fast forward 30 years. Derek couldn’t tell his left from right and could barely count to ten but his brain is a perfectly programmed musical computer.
Press play or go to Link [YouTube, Part I] to see the amazing things Derek Paravicini, the musical genius, could do.
The rest of the clips: Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Link: The Human iPod, article at Daily Mail by Harry Mount – via LiveScience
Previously on Neatorama: 10 Most Fascinating Savants in the World
|
Comment (7)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Enlarged Amygdala: The Cause of Autism?
Scientists are one step closer to finding the cause for autism. In a new study, Joseph Piven of University of North Carolina and colleagues found that children with autism have enlarged area of the brain called the amygdala:
"We believe that children with autism have normal-sized brains at birth but at some point, in the latter part of the first year of life, it [the amygdala] begins to grow in kids with autism. And this study gives us insight inside the underlying brain mechanism so we can design more rational interventions," said lead study author Dr. Joseph Piven.
A normal-sized amygdala helps a person process faces and emotions, behavior commonly known as joint attention.
"When you see a face, you scan it, identify if it’s friend or foe and make a decision about whether to move forward or avoid it," said Dr. Barry Kosofsky, chief of neurology at Cornell Medical Center, who was not affiliated with the study.
UNC researchers conducted diagnostic assessments, in addition to the MRI scans, to monitor the children’s behavior. They found toddlers with a large amygdala also had joint attention problems.
|
Comment (20)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
-
Your purchase helps support the blog - Thank you!
