Being here over a year I’ve already met five desi families who have kids with autism. In all of my life I hadn’t even heard of autism living in the gulf. Sure there were some of us who were slow but not on the spectrum.
It makes me wonder what is that is causing autism in desi families too ? Is it the food we eat, the vaccines our kids are getting.
My younger one is 10 month old and I am.scared to get him vaccinated for fear of autism …
Your opinions , research you guys have come across.
As far as I know getting vaccine is not related to autism..it was proven so! In my opinion, getting vaccine for my child outweighs the risk associated with it.
Food.. I won’t know!
Is it safe to assume that they are actually being diagnosed instead of just being called too hyper, too slow, can’t control em as we still label kids in Pakistan..you bet, not many ppl in Pakistan consider autism just like there is no such hing as peanut allergy to them which can actually cause death in some cases.
I also have not seen any concrete proof linking vaccinations to autism. My children have all received vaccinations per western guidelines and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
As far as never having heard of autism in desis before, there are a lot of conditions that have been around for ever in a day that have just been brushed off, misdiagnosed or given another name by people in Pakistan. And on the flip side, there are a dozen and one mysterious ailments and remedies in Pakistan that have never been heard if or would be excepted here.
Do your research, don’t give in to heresay and make an informed decision.
I am all in favor of vaccines and not getting my kid vaccinated was not an option in my mind.
I am not sure about the Gulf but I know Autism has not been too recognized in Pakistan…not a lot of similar issues are recognized back there.There is a huge social stigma attached with behavioral/psychological issues and they are often brushed away to avoid them altogether,unfortunately.So that can be a reason we ‘think’ that autism is not that prevalent there. People tend to call their kids ‘shararti’ or ‘hoshyaar’ when that kid might very well be a case of ADHD …etc…that is the ‘general’ mindset.
Even in the US they say that it is because it is more recognized and diagnosed than before hence the numbers have increased.
The very little I know about it,there doesn’t seem to be a straight forward causative agent or factor for causing anything on the ASD.There are a number of things and who knows one day they might come up with a link with something very basic in our lives but as others said if you have any concerns bring them up with your health care provider and do your research.
But yeah if you are concerned about additives n preservatives in food here, stick to farm fresh food! We buy produce, eggs, and sometimes even chicken at the local farm..it’s expensive for us ($30.00 for a4-5 pound chicken) but its guaranteed Zabihah halal, grain fed, cage free bird! Eggs, you can taste the difference, better than the super market declared organic egg! So yeah if you buy everything fresh n cook at home.. That’s the best you can do for your children!
The rumor started with a reseqrch paper published by a researcher which has since been debunked. I mean when was the last time something good came out of England. However, i do believe that food and enviornmental factors have something to do with it.The role of genetics is a fact.
I don’t think there is any single evidence/research that points towards what causes autism. There is so many different things people say… genetics, vaccines, food, envoirnmental, issues in pregnancy. Its not like its not present in Pakistan, its just underdignosed and I believe its overdignosed over here. People tend to label any out of the norm behaviour autistic. My son wasn’t saying words at 1 year .. you must remember that.. I was so worried. Well turns out, he needed more interaction with people… people who would talk around him.
GTG the reasons for no peanut allergy in eastern places is quite interesting.
There are many hypotheses, main one being that kids in east are exposed to whole peanut very early on and are desensitised, while kids in west are not exposed to whole peanut(including shell) until later r not at all. This causes hyperreactivity to the allergens. Also the hygiene hypothsis explains about allergy. So it’s not that we don’t believe in allergies, it’s that in the environment that we grow up in we are exposed to allergens very early and the development of allergies is very uncommon.
OP if you don’t want to immunise your kids research about it a lot from reputable sources so you are making an informed decision. Personally I would never take the risk to not immunise.
Okay I’m assuming this thread maybe linked to the former Doctor Andrew Wakefield who back in 1998 claimed that the MMR vaccination was closely linked to Autism.
As parents I think it’s a case of ‘prevention is always better than cure’. The debate in the UK has been great; and there have been hundreds if not thousands of medical professionals who’ve come into the media spotlight to say they’ve had their child vaccinated and sleep easy at night knowing their child is ‘protected’. If one feels that the struck off Doctor was right; it’s a case of researching and finding the answers for yourself.
We are currently battling a Measles outbreak in the UK with the numbers are rising to nearly a 1,000. It’s 2013 yet still we are facing such figures.
TBH I found the attitude of a certain UAE airline towards lactose intolerancy shockingly poor; and the same goes for the attitude of some in places such as Pakistan towards the Polio vaccinations this includes my own aunt. I don’t think it’s a case of problems such as Autism not existing in certain places around the globe; I think it’s a case of they are brushed under the carpet easier. So I’m wondering if the reason you haven’t heard of such medical problems in the Gulf is due to the cover up? It’s my own theory.
I’m aware of families in the UK (desi ones) where their child has been diagnosed with a medical issue and instead of getting help they have brushed the problem under their carpet and say the Doctors are mad and don’t understand some children are just ‘naughty’. This in my opinion doesn’t help other parents and fuels the fear of many.
RE: food. A lot of processed food is not good for you. As well as processed food meat/poultry that hasn’t been raised to a good quality is also bad if you take the advice of certain medical professionals who argue that the hormones used to ‘plump up’ animals are bad for the human body. I guess it’s a case of moderation.
Thank you guys for your input. Food I do keep an eye on that and we have minimal processed foods. Eggs I get grainfed and they do taste like eggs. Chicken and meat is still not organic it is zabihah halal though.
Will look more into it and decide InshAllah what we believe is the best for our kids.
So is your 10 month ld vaccinated or not yet? Or you are only looking into MMR that is given at 15 months? My son had a fever and full body rash within 10 days of MMR..he was miserable and it wasn’t even 1% of what measles could be.. I will be the first in line for second dose at 18 months just because I can never let the real deal happen to him.
Hmna..I understand but one of my aunties is allergic to peanuts in Pakistan..she used to swell up even if someone else was peeling it around her..guess what? Her friends and siblings pulled pranks on her using peanuts..so cruel but it was more like oh you are so nazuk etc etc..good thing she didn’t die of it..when she had kids, she never brought peanuts home! None f them are allergic but hers has gotten worse.
Another friend of mines daughter was recently diagnosed lactose intolerant in Pakistan… Guess what? No one in her family believes her and think she is becoming western! You see where I m coming from? We don’t do allergies in Pakistan!
Do you think it has to do with the fact that food is scarce for a good majority of the population that even the ppl who can afford food…find it inconceivable that someone can be allergic to food..i.e., “reject” food?
We got him vaccinated at 4 months and then didn’t go for his 6 month vaccinations. Made an apt but Tbh I’m scared.
Gtg I believe in allergies but you are right most desi parents don’t. One sister isvallergic to honey. My parents don’t believe her , how can she be it is in the Sunnah. Other has allergies to ants, an ant bite could be fatal.enough for her to die. My parents saw this first hand to believe it.
I don’t understand why people generalise so much about Pakistan. My friend has coeliac disease and was diagnosed in Pakistan. She avoids gluten, but she is the only one in the people I knw. Allergies are less common in Pakistan because of the overwhelming exposure to allergens. also majority of people are desperately poor and with lack of access to health care makes it more difficult to diagnose. If some people in your acquaintances don’t give importance to allergies despite being diagnosed that’s their problem and not a reflection of every1 in Pakistan.
I find sayings like “we don’t do allergies in Pakistan” very rude and highly ignorant.
hehe…this reminds me of the time when my eldest was diagnosed lactose intolerant. We were in Pak at that time…doc advised us a lactose free formula and as a reaction to that, my FIL bought a buffalo so my son can have ‘pure’ milk. yes yes, intolerance got translated into milk not being ‘khaalis’
Thankfully, we learned (the hard way) how important lactose free was for him.
In all honesty I don’t think the above folk can afford to get diagnosed with allergies as it’s hard enough seeking out good medical treatment via Government run establishments.
Just my opinion though.
@Afia-oh Lord that brings back memories. My daughter has the same as your child and it got translated as ‘cows milk is bad’ all other milk was okay.
@Hhmna-maybe the ones giving their opinion are those who like me have had to face the attitudes that are negative towards intolerancies? When some are willing to class what is dangerous for your child to eat as you being a ‘fussy parent’ or ‘nakre from abroad’ it leaves a bitter taste towards those select people.
Saying that though; I did say some people including my own aunt. I don’t have the time to chat to the millions of people that live in Pakistan.
^^ saying things like this is not exclusive to people from Pakistan, i am sure there are negative people everywhere yet i find a lot of generalizations about Pakistan here. sweeping statements live pakistanis do this/desis say that, are just ignorant.
If my experience is that with those who live in Pakistan how on earth is that ignorant? And when one is saying SOME this kind of indicates that the person is talking isn’t talking about a whole nation.
The negative people I have come across were from Pakistan and had recently moved to the UK and in Pakistan when I visited so if I’m ignorant I really don’t care.
Just jumping on everyone’s posts re: vaccinations and autism. It really boggles the mind that people will take the risk to not vaccinate their children because of debunked observations about vaccines causing autism.
With respect to autism in the desi community and in Pakistan, I think it’s underdiagnosed to a fairly large degree. I did a research project relating to this years back and while my sample size wasn’t huge, it did show that pediatricians and GP’s in Pakistan were shockingly unaware of diagnostic criteria for autism, much less resources for treatment and education—partially because I’m sure there’s still so much focus on diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases that the physicians still need to focus on.
With respect to food, I’m not sure how much we can say about organic or processed food leading to Autism. Remember that autism is also more likely to be found in higher socioeconomic status in the States and that’s also the population that’s more likely to buy more organic food. However, it can also relate back to access to care and it being overdiagnosed/ underdiagnosed.
Agree; also not sure if anyone else can shed light on the idea (perhaps a separate thread) but there doesn’t seem to be much media attention on it? Or press coverage.
OP; I think most will say to you that it’s not worth risking your child by not having a vaccination you are putting your child at risk. However as a parent you are the one who needs to make the final decision. I’d say research more, speak to other parents and visit the forums online where parents have not had their child vaccinated and the reasons behind it.
