Lead Poisoning & Autistic Symptoms
Many symptoms caused by childhood lead poisoning also fall within the list of symptoms included in the old definition of Autism and what is now known as Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Lead poisoning is a childhood disease most commonly caused as a result of a landlord’s failure to take proper care of painted walls, windows, and doors in an apartment rented to a family with young children. Young children living in an apartment with peeling, chipping and damaged lead paint and lead paint dust breathe in this contaminated material causing lead to enter their blood. High levels of lead in a young child’s body causes serious permanent brain dysfunction, learning problems, behavioral disorders, and attention deficits.
Children under the age of seven are very sensitive to the hazardous effects of lead because their brains are still developing and are able to absorb ingested lead more easily than adults. This is also the period of time when children play on the floor, their hands touch the floor and painted surfaces in the apartment, and then their hands find their way to their mouths. Sometimes high lead levels are not identified until after the child has already been observed to demonstrate some symptoms that are on the ASD list of symptoms. Other times, a child will first be diagnosed with lead poisoning and then be classified or categorized as ASD.
ASD is NOT a medical condition. ASD is a diagnosis made upon the presence of a minimum number of symptoms which have reached a certain level of severity. Since lead poisoning causes many symptoms included in the list of symptoms under the ASD heading, lead poisoning is a cause of ASD by definition. For example lead poisoning causes cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, behavioral delays, neurological immaturity, and attention deficits.
The key difference between children with lead poisoning who have symptoms similar to ASD and true ASD children is whether or not the child has the ability to have relationships with others. For example experts in the field will consider whether the child is able to communicate with a parent or with a sibling, or with a classmate or with a teacher, or with other adults. If your child has a history of lead poisoning and is able to have a relationship with others, then you should consider consulting with the lead poisoning lawyers at LK.
If the symptoms and problems which your child is suffering from were caused as a result of apartment conditions which existed because your landlord didn’t take proper care of the painted surfaces, then you have a right to obtain compensation for your child. LK lawyers will evaluate your case and determine whether they can assist you in obtaining compensation for the damages and injuries to your child including his lost intelligence and future diminished lifetime earnings ability.
LK lawyers have successfully obtained millions of dollars in compensation for children who had been lead poisoned and were also diagnosed with autism or ASD. If your child has high lead levels and has been diagnosed with ASD, but has the ability to have social relationships with others, then you should consider contacting us to investigate whether your child may have been misdiagnosed. LK works with the finest experts in the fields of psychology and pediatric medicine who are acutely aware of the similarities and differences between lead poisoning and ASD.
