Question about head injuries and KC

[Carole Rutherford]

One last try at replying to this thread

OMG Gareth that is terrible. The impact must have been terrifying for you

David was hit by a car doing 30mph or so we are told - he smashed the windscreen and made a huge dent in the bonnet of the car as well as the wing.


It was one of those moments that every parent dreads. The phone rings and someone is telling you that your child is lying in the middle of the road waiting for an ambulance to arrive.Thank goodness that one of the people who was there was a nurse. His friend was so stressed by it all that he had to have two weeks off school. I actually followed the ambulance to the scene of the accident which was surreal.

The autism exploded from David after the accident. The professionals could no longer ignore what was now smacking them in the face. David finally got his diagnosis aged 13 but what a way to get a diagnosis.

Spacial awareness is a HUGE issue for people with autism - by the way most of them are MEN Gareth Both David and Matthew have problems with this.Not only that but they both have personal space issues. They have no comprehension of their own body in time and space. Hopes that makes sense We have huge amounts of fun everytime we go out together because they both accuse each other of no looking where they are going The spacial awareness issues are another reason why I will probably have to update DLA because the ASD and the KC together are a pretty potent mix

I suppose that David was an accident waiting to happen and it did

Carole

[GarethB]

Carol,

If David likes theme parks (I know it is off the subject), when I went to Lego Land last year there was an autistic group of kids that had a great time.

They too had problems of personal space so as you are awar queing is not the nicest of things to subject these kids too. What they do at Lego Loand for anyone with a disability is to gove you a special pass which means if you go to the exit of the ride, you jump the que and get on first.

Lego Land was also very KC friendly as I could not wear my lenses at the time so seeing the steps to get on rides was a bit tricky at times.

[Carole Rutherford]

Gareth do you have ESP

We are off to Lego Land towards the end of May for 5 days, but not with David, who used to do Theme Parks but not any more, but with Matthew. Lego is one of his BIGGEST obsessions. Not only that he can make his own designs to scale, well they appear to be to scale to me, without any plans, he can build the most complicated things without any help at all Some kids want to go to Disney Land but Matthew wanted Lego Land and now that he is 9 I think that he is old enough to enjoy the whole experience. However I did worry that he would crash into a Lego creation and smash it to pieces We are aware of the 'jump the queue system' which they operate. Lego Land know that they are quite autism specific as many of us parents have told them. It was nice of you to take the time to post me about this. We will obtain this pass, however I hope that we do not have to use it, which may sound strange, but we try to be as 'normal' as possible when we are out. So unless it really gets the better of Matthew we will queue
thanks
Carole

[GarethB]

Carol,

Matthew sounds like and autistic person I remember being facinated by when I saw him on Blue Peter when I was a kid.

He would look at a building and then sit for hours doing the most amazing picture which was extrodinary in the level of detail it contained.

I remember being enveous of the patience and eye for detail that he had.

At that age is was unaware of the many other issues autistic people have and to my shame I am still quite ignorant. Sorry, but I do find your updates on your boys facinating and educational.

Hope you all have fun at Lego Land.

[Janet Manning]

To get back to head injuries and KC.....
From a homeopathic perspective, we perceive people as born with various susceptibilities. These may never manifest, but given the right environment or trigger, they will do so. For example someone may experience a deep grief, from which they find it difficult to recover and this may trigger their susceptibility to eczema, which has never been a problem before. I treated an elderly lady to whom this had happened. A homeopathic remedy for grief cured her eczema, which she had had for 9 years since the death of her husband.
Equally a trauma such as an RTA, which is a tremendous shock could easily trigger a problem such as KC, though not actually cause it. It could also exacerbate an existing condition such as autism. In these cases where the problem dates back to a shock, a homeopath would treat the shock, depending on how the individual responded to it. E.G. Some people respond to shock by going numb and being unable to react, whereas others will become very anxious in daily situations and hyper. Each of these responses
So from my perspective as a homeopath, I think it is entirely plausable that a head injury could bring out a latent susceptibility to KC or anything else for that matter.

[Janet Manning]

Got interrupted by my loved one coming home and notice that I left a sentence unfinished!!!

I meant to say that each response to a shock will need a different homeopathic remedy.

[Ali Akay]

I saw a young lad a little while ago who was adamant he had perfect sight until he was assaulted. The striking thing about him was that he had very large corneas.There's anectodal evidence that patients with large, flat corneas are more prone to developing KC, perhaps because collagen is not packed as tightly as in small,steep eyes.I know keratoconic corneas are steep, but they usually start off as flat and this is borne out by topography which usually shows flatter than average corneal peripheries. I had told that lad that there might be some connection with the trauma he suffered but the consultant was adamant it was pure coincidence, so who knows!

[Carole Rutherford]

I have wondered about large corneas because David has always had large corneas and so does Matthew who is 9 years old and is so far clear of KC. I am so sorry to again go back to autism but large corneas are also very common in autistic people. Ian Jordan who is something of an expert on eyes and now something of an expert in autism, has also found this to be true. Where the autism is concerned it is thought that the large corneas could well be down to stress, at least many alternative therapists believe this to be so.

I am a great believer in triggers and being born with various susceptibilities. My poor kids really do appear to have drawn the shot straw where those are concerned.

But I also believe that their are links to many conditions that may in years to come be found to go hand in hand with one and other. For example their is a link between autism and thyroid conditions and also auto immune disease. The jig saws are there we just have not so far been able to make the pieces fit.

Carole

[Janet Manning]

That's interesting Carole - the link between autism and thyroid disease. The mother of a little boy I treat who is on the autistic spectrum, developed an under active thyroid whilst pregnant with him! Another piece in the jigsaw perhaps?

[Lynn White]

Ali, are there any papers connecting large flat corneas with onset of KC? I've been studying amblyopic eyes here in Yarmouth and found many high astigmats have very flat, large corneas and corneal distortion but not actually KC.

These patients often mentioned they had a debillitating childhood illness just before their sight went worse and others have mentioned trauma.

Lynn