Intelligence, Autism, and Choline.....

A friend recently asked me about whether or not there is a link between the intelligence of parents and children with autism. He had heard or read somewhere that parents of children with autism tend to be extremely intelligent, especially if they were involved in the field of engineering or mechanical industry. This made me reflect on my husband's intelligence and background as well as my own and wonder if there is a possible link or not. I too wondered about the role of choline deficiency on all of my past experiences and the thoughts of how this may have played a role in my son's autism. I responded to my friend that there are so many ideas and theories out there that one really does not know for sure what to believe or if any of this research is ongoing, supported, or is just one person's thoughts as to yet another possible cause of autism.

My husband has a vast amount of knowledge that he has accumulated throughout the years as well as a memory that spans beyond belief of historical, political, and scientific knowledge of anything and everything. His thoughts and problem solving ability are quite phenomenal. While I have a Master's degree and aspire to attain my PhD someday, he has little college and no degree. He can fix about anything, he has built radios, and he does in fact work in the field of engineering. His mathematical ability allows him to work with medical parts that have tolerances in the millionths, he has built many things with his own two hands, and while he does not have a degree, he excels in a field that requires strong communication skills, strong mathematical ability, and motivation to get the job done accurately....the first time.

In reflecting on my own knowledge and background, my father was quite an amazing man. He too never went to college, but he did go into the Navy and attained a Journeyman's license in Tool and Die. He started his own business with very meager money and a small, dirty, and dilapidated building. My mom was his secretary and did all of the accounting even though she never went to college either. Together they built that business up to now what has become a multi-million dollar business. He can fix anything, he can problem solve at a very high level, and his wisdom has helped me to be a better person. His motivation in life has helped me to believe that if I set my mind to something, I can do just about anything; just like him. His strong communication skills enabled him to be a leader who was highly respected by his employees. He knew how to work with people, to make them feel valued, and to keep good employees. I believe that these skills including motivation and communication contribute to overall intelligence, and although are not considered in IQ tests, are so important in being successful in life.

I have to admit that there were setbacks in my lifetime that always led me to believe that I just was not that smart. I have a twin sister, and she was the studious one; the one who tested well on high stakes tests, the one who always got straight A's, and who was declared as the "smartest twin," when my 8th grade teacher asked my class in front of me which twin was smarter. In unison, my peers all answered that my twin was the smarter one. What an unfortunate and humiliating experience for a teenager trying to find herself and cope with the fact that I just was not blessed with the same smarts as my identical twin. But in delving deeper into the definition of intelligence and the many layers of levels of intelligence that exist, I have come to discover the the very definition of intelligence is varied and not exact in any possible way. High stakes test, IQ tests, and a multitude of other tests may supposedly measure intelligence, but does this actually determine that one individual is smarter than another? I honestly believe that intelligence is important, but equally important is the motivation to do something and to succeed at that very task that determines our overall ability level as well as our failures and successes in life. In fact, if one lacks motivation to succeed and make accomplishments, then despite possibly being the Valedictorian of his class or the one who was granted a full scholarship to the college of her choice, one will fail.....miserably.

Realistically reflecting on and evaluating my own intelligence, I actually believe that I have ability levels in some areas that are quite amazing as well as astounding to most. I have an uncanny ability to remember zip codes and addresses....numbers in general. I have a memory that seems to remember everything which was great in college but not so great with life experiences that I wish I could forget. I dwell to unhealthy levels about things that bother me....I remember every detail about things that go unnoticed by most. I am quirky, blatantly honest, naive, and curious. I am obsessive and strive to be in control yet I often feel out of sync or out of control. I personally feel that my motivation to be successful at everything I do is both a blessing and a curse. When my motivation is extremely high, I lose sight of being able to stop and pick up, to take a break, to remember to eat, and to stop and enjoy the smell of the flowers, the beautiful scenery around me, and the simple joys in life that are the true blessings. I am a roller coaster always going up, down, and around dangerous curves. I don't know how to blow off steam very well, I am very anxious, and I don't know how to shut off my brain and give it a little rest at least once in awhile.....I am a perfect disaster. I have accomplished things in life that others thought I could never do on my own. I have done things in life that others are utterly amazed at. Finally, I have had many, many people tell me that I am their hero, that I inspire them, that they think of me when they are having a tough day.....This to me is both humbling and what actually inspires me to try even harder in life and to do more for others; I cannot stop now....I have a driving force within me to somehow make a difference in this world recognized or not. It doesn't matter to me. All I care about is helping others, inspiring others, and being remembered as one who never stopped at anything.

So now my focus on life is choline. Did it impact the intelligence of all of my family members? Did a choline deficiency cause my son's autism? My husband is from a large family, and food was often scarce when he was growing up. But his mother always planted a garden every summer, and his family grew up eating many vegetables. Affordable foods back then including eggs and burger were staples in his diet. Eating out at restaurants was extremely rare for him. To this day, he eats green peppers and tomatoes like an apple, for his love for vegetables stems from the life of living on fresh produce all of his life. My mom made breakfast for my family every morning with eggs, bacon, and we all loved peanuts and peanut butter. My favorite sandwich was peanut butter and honey. I loved eggs when I was younger. Again, these foods that are high in choline including eggs, beef, bacon, green vegetables, lentils, etc were affordable when we were growing up, and my family rarely ate at restaurants either, usually once a year to celebrate all of our birthdays together. We did not have much money for my dad was working to start his business, and I knew what it felt like to have nothing yet everything. I thought we had nothing since my parents could not afford for my sisters and I to have much, but instead I had it all because I had a loving family, we played outside from morning to dark during the summers, we ate homemade, delicious meals everyday, and we learned how to have a good time with no money; we had each other and I learned to appreciate anything and everything ever given to me.

As I grew older, my love for eggs waned. In fact, I once became sick after eating an egg casserole at work, and I almost cannot make myself eat eggs anymore. When I became pregnant with my first son, I was obsessed with peanuts and peanut butter. I ate peanut butter with toast, with honey, with celery, in every possible way every day. I craved it, and it was my daily staple. I could not get enough of it, and I could not have imagined that I could ever go a day without it. This son has a severe peanut allergy. On the other hand, his intelligence is both astounding and far exceeds typical intelligence, although I actually cannot define if there is really such a thing. He has always been able to understand at a level way beyond his years, his early language development amazed his teachers, and he is blessed with a brain that could take him anywhere he wants to go.

As the result of my first son's peanut allergy, I removed peanuts and all peanut foods from my diet. Yes, I gave up my favorite food for the safety of my first son as well as to hopefully avoid having a second child with the same allergy. When I became pregnant with my second son, I did not eat any peanuts, eggs, or much of any choline containing foods. I had a false sense that my pre-natal vitamins were making up for my diet inadequacies, and I did everything else in attempts to have a healthy baby including avoiding caffeine, avoiding being around smoke, getting enough rest, and relaxing as much as possible. I even slept in my car one night when my husband sprayed pesticides outside the house for bugs, for I feared the smell would possibly hurt my growing baby. I do remember eating pizza often, but I always ate pizza with mushrooms; no meat. This son has severe autism. He is almost 16 years old and totally dependent on my family for his care. He has no awareness of safety, he still wears diapers, and although his learning has increased dramatically since being supplemented with choline in June 2016, he has a long way to go and a lot of skills to learn to ever become even semi-independent. This kiddo's IQ is probably in the 40s or 50s.

Within 6 months of having this son, I was not feeling well. Liver tests and ultrasound revealed that I had fatty deposits in my liver. At the time, the doctor told me that I needed to lose the extra weight around my abdomen that I had gained during pregnancy, and that my weight was the reason for these problems. On the contrary, this is a classic symptom of choline deficiency. While I will never know for sure, I do believe that I was deficient in choline during and after my pregnancy with this son. I believe that this deficiency caused the abnormalities to his brain resulting in autism. Following birth, I pumped and fed my son breast milk for his first 8 months which probably continued to rob his brain of choline if I was deficient. Then I supplemented with infant formula with which I know was not supplemented with choline. In addition, when trying to introduce foods into my son's diet, he had a hyper-gag and vomited everything I tried to feed him no matted how slight the texture. This went on for over 4 years of his early life. It was not until he was over 4 years that he could eat slight textures or baby foods which too were not supplemented with choline. At 5 years of age, my son was still eating from jars of baby foods. I never thought he would eat food beyond that stage, but I can proudly say with persistence, attendance at a wonderful feeding clinic, and perseverance, now my son eats things I never thought he would eat! He eats nuts, lettuce, green beans, peas, vegetable soups, casseroles with vegetables inside, and almost everything! He is a great eater, he loves to eat, and you would never have known that this son of mine once could not even stand pureed applesauce! From the choline perspective though, he probably had little to no choline during his first 7-8 years of brain development thus contributing to a starving brain for choline.

So in concluding all of the topics discussed in this article, first I believe that intelligence involves many levels and types of abilities. It includes the ability to learn in addition to the ability to have the motivation to use what is learned and to pursue your dreams no matter how difficult they may be to achieve. It involves the ability to have "people skills" or the compassion to help others, believe in others, help them pursue their dreams and passions, and to make them feel important and valuable. Second, I believe that choline consumption has decreased throughout the years from the time I grew up due to being told that meats, eggs, soybeans, or various other foods rich in choline are bad for us. I do believe that a deficiency of choline can cause autism as in my own personal story.

Finally, this is my driving force now in life; to spread my own experiences, to increase knowledge of the importance of choline, and to hopefully help the world decrease the staggering amount of birth defects, liver disease, muscle disease, and aging problems. There has been ample research to support the fact that choline helps with all of these dilemmas with health in today's world. While I have not yet been able to pursue researching choline consumption other than with my son with autism, I aspire to join the world of research someday in attaining that PhD. Most of all, I want to educate as many people as possible about the detrimental effects of choline deficiency so that we can go on to have healthy babies, healthy bodies, and healthy brains!