Looking at smell as a possible diagnosic tool is great. In the "NOW" understanding and pushing information out into the world about the seemingly subtle differences, between those living with ASD and the typical population is the best tool we have to creating safe and productive environments.
As a parent of a kiddo with autism I've watched my son's entire sensory system function in it's on unique way for years. He has under reactions to pain - so he has to be really hurt before he notices, he can't stand certain textures in his mouth, and having anything rubbed on his skin, or the sound of a siren is so painful it's torture for him. I typically explain Nick's sensory system as being like a music mixing board. Imagine most people's sensory responses both receptive and expressive (going in and heading out) are all mixed to be balanced at level 5 with a range of 0 to 10. Our kids however are scrambled; with their sight, sound, touch, taste, smell mixed within and even out side of the range.
That said, here's what I get in this story. I get an opportunity for people to become aware of the dangers facing our kids. People ask me why Nick I doesn't use the gas range to cook, but I let him use the toaster, grills, the over and microwave. They are surprised when I say it's not about the heat, it's because he can't smell the gas - and would blow the house up. So thanks to this story maybe a few more people will get the connection...If a person with autism can't smell smoke, rotten food, or gas and identify those smells as dangerous they are vulnerable to dangers. ........Donna
Study finds children with autism don't
react to good and bad smells
By Carina Storrs, Special to CNN
·
A study says children with autism spectrum disorder may be less
sensitive to odors
·
Researchers developed a device to measure children's responses
to good and bad smells
·
The device might one day help diagnose autism
(CNN)Children with autism spectrum
disorder often have either an exaggerated or a numbed response to sight, sound
and touch. This behavior is so common that it's one of the diagnostic criteria
for the disorder.
Now, a new study suggests that children with autism might also
experience smells differently from children who have typical development.
To explore how children with autism respond to odors,
researchers built a device called an olfactometer, which delivered different
scents through a small tube that fit into nostrils. A second tube measured how
much air the children were breathing in during each scent -- in other words,
how much of a sniff they were taking.
The researchers exposed 36 children -- 18 who had autism and 18
who did not -- to alternating bouquets of pleasant smells, such as roses or
shampoo, or unpleasant smells, such as sour milk or rotten fish.
They found that children who did not have autism took a longer
sniff for roses and a shorter one for rotten fish, and the difference in
breathing happened quickly, within one-third of second of being exposed to the
scent.
In contrast, children with autism did not change their breathing
in response to the different aromas.
"What we measure, the sniff response, is quite intuitive
(and) adults and children with typical development react similarly," said
Liron Rozenkrantz, a doctoral student in neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute
of Science in Israel. The difference found in children with autism was
striking, said Rozenkrantz, who was lead author of the study published Thursday in
Current Biology.
It is unclear from the study if children with autism did not
have a sniff response because they didn't perceive odors in the same way other
children did, or because they just couldn't control their sniffing behavior.
Still, the idea that differences in smelling could be a symptom
of autism might not be news to parents of children with autism. There have been
accounts from parents about children who want to sniff people or objects, or
who choose their friends based on their odor, even when it's imperceptible to
others, Rozenkrantz said.
It has been difficult to study smelling behavior in children
with autism because tests often ask them to describe odors, even though
difficulty in communicating is a hallmark of autism, Rozenkrantz said.
The olfactometer-based test takes about 10 minutes and does not
require the children to answer any questions or complete a task. In the study,
they wore the device while watching cartoons.
The researchers in the current study found that their
olfactometer could accurately identify the autism status of 12 of the 18
children who had autism, and 17 of the 18 control children who did not have
autism.
The ability of the device to correctly categorize autism in 81%
of cases raises the possibility that it could one day be used as a way to
diagnose the disorder. The fact that it does not require a verbal test means
that the olfactometer could be used in babies as young as a few months old,
Rozenkrantz said.
However the average age of children in the current study was 7.
For the device to become a method for early diagnosis, it would first have to
be tested in young babies, and babies identified as being at risk of autism
would have to be followed into childhood to see if they actually developed the
disorder, Rozenkrantz said.
"It's way too early to say whether this could be helpful in
diagnosing autism," said Dr. Paul Wang, senior vice president and head of
medical research for Autism Speaks, an autism
research and advocacy organization. Wang was not involved in the study.
In order to be used as a diagnostic tool, the device would have
be tested in more children and also show that it can identify autism in more
than two-thirds of children with the disorder, he said.
However the current study does give some idea of olfactory
symptoms that could be occurring with autism, Wang said.
"I think this really fits well with increasing research on
general sensory symptoms in autism," he said.
The researchers saw that children who had a dampened sniff
response were more likely to also have deficits in communicating and
socializing, but were less likely to have repetitive behaviors, which are the
other hallmark of autism.
Differences in sensory reactions have previously been thought of
as part of the repetitive behaviors of the disorder, but "this is an
interesting study that suggests that the senses are more tied to
socio-communicative behavior," Wang said.
These findings could also provide some clues as to why many
children with autism have trouble eating.
"It could be muscular problems, with swallowing and
chewing, but smell is a big part of taste and children with autism may not
perceive smell in the same way as other children," Wang said.
