Vitamin D

Scientific American Magazine recently published an article about the apparent connection between the presence of vitamin D and autism. Mothers who do not spend enough time in the sun, where they will absorb more sunlight and make more vitamin D, may be at higher risk for a child with Autism. Also, children who have a lower exposure to sunlight may be at higher risk.

While this does not answer all of our questions about Autism, it is an interesting development. Many people have commented about the success achieved by Paul Bondonno, MA Psych. and myself in our free social groups. It is interesting that our activities involve, first of all being outdoors at a public park, and second, that the children are being active. Several neurologists have suggested to me in recent years that the physical activities the children engage in help them to coordinate their movement and develop their motor skills.

I am not a doctor, but in my day children would go outside and run around. We played basketball, soccer, and other games. Many of the children we work with today in our groups want to play video games indoors all of the time. Many of them are sensitive to sunlight and avoid being outdoors for that reason. In any case, we work to motivate these children to spend more time outdoors, and to be more active.

Studies are being conducted now on the vitamin D theory. I believe this will not answer all of our questions about Autism but it will add to our knowledge.