Help With Autism

Yesterday in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a bill that requires insurance companies to cover the cost of autism therapy for children in the state.  According to the law, insurance policies will cover behavioral therapies for autistic children for up to $36,000 a year and a lifetime maximum of $200,000.

The bill passed earlier in the spring and is among several bills that have been introduced in several states around the U.S. 

Asperger Syndrome is one of several Autism Spectrum Disorders.  It is characterized by a lack of social interaction, repetitive behavior and speech abnormalities.

Kids who suffer from Asperger Syndrome have difficulty interacting in social settings and are often skilled at memorizing numbers, facts or puzzles; they’re also unable to pick out metaphors and literal interpretations in speech.   Like other forms of ASD, there is a treatment for autism in the case of Asperger’s.  Helping a person develop their skills is the most popular and overtime, further practice can assist a child into sharpening their focus in areas that were lacking before.  

I recently found a several articles that related the intake of dairy and wheat products to behavioral problems in autistic children.  Studies found that wheat and dairy foods were among the common factors in the children’s collective diet.  

Posts on several message boards suggested trying a gluten and casein (the prominent proteins in wheat and dairy, respectively)-free diet as a potential treatment of autism.  I have checked out several cookbooks with vegan and gluten-free recipes, but I’m also waiting to hear back from a dietician and our family doctor to see if this is a safe practice.

As any likeminded adult could repeat, parenting a child with autism is a taxing journey.  Parenting in itself isn’t easy, but watching your child unable to express themselves due to a factor that is beyond their control is heartbreaking. 

There are times when I’m trying to help my child out with a puzzle or play with them and they get extremely frustrated and stomp away.  After that, it takes a long time to calm them down.  Recently, we’ve been treating their autism with PCM-Rx, which not only has detoxification elements, but it also has a calming affect.  There’s been a change in my child within the last few weeks that we’ve been using PCM-Rx.  Obviously, we will have to work together to treat their autism, but to let them know that everything will be alright and that a hug can actually get them to stop from destroying things is a wonder in itself.

One of the questions I always get, from parents with autistic children, is “Where do we begin?”.  I believe that recovery starts in the gut.  Over 70% of our immune system is from the gut.  When our children are injected with foreign substances and exposed to environmental toxins, their immune systems are heavily taxed.  What can  happen is what I call “Immune System Hyperdrive”.  The system becomes over-worked.  Alot of children with “Immune System Hyperdrive”, who later get the Autism diagnosis, experience ear infections and get antibiotics.  The antibiotics kill all of the good flora in the gut, reducing the ability to eliminate things like Candida Albacans.  Candida, then lines the gut with a film, inhibiting the ability of the stomach and intestinal linings from absorbing proper nutrition from food, further weakening the immune system.  The child develops food allergies, etc.  It is a nasty cycle. 

So, when I get asked “where do we begin”, I suggest  performing a candida cleanse.  It is crucial to clear the gut so it can absorb nutrition and begin to rebuild the immune system.  Once the gut gets better, then we begin the heavy metal detoxification process.  I will talk about that later…

ADVANCED PARENT TRAINING SESSION
AUTISM ONE 2008 CONFERENCE, MAY 21-25, 2008, CHICAGO, IL
www.autismone.org 

Friday, May 23rd from 1:45 – 6:00 pmHave you been to several biomedical autism conferences over the years?  Has your child been using biomedical interventions, diets, and supplements for a while?  Then join us for this new feature of Autism One and hear:

Sudhir Gupta, MD, PhD presents:
Contemporary Immunological View for the Pathogenesis of Autism

Autism is a multi-factorial and polygenic disorder in which immunological and metabolic factors appears to play a role in the pathology of the brain and the gut.  In this presentation Dr. Gupta will provide evidence and propose a role of determination of fates of CD4 T cells to explain the pathology in the brain and the gut of autistic children.  A role of oxidative stress in the cells of the immune system will also be discussed. 

Mary Megson, MD presents:
Medical Management of the Improving Autistic Child:  Does my child still need 25 supplements a day?

Experienced parents are very knowledgeable and have tried various biological interventions with their children with autism as they heal.  This talk will discuss treatment of those “almost off the spectrum” kids.  Many need support in long term management of their child’s ongoing biomedical treatment. 

Anju Usman, MD presents:
From Complexity to Simplicity:  Implementing the right protocols for your child with ASD

 Biomedical interventions have evolved over the past decade from B-6/Magnesium to options almost too numerous to count.  In our attempt to leave no stone unturned, some effective and non-invasive interventions may be overlooked.  We will discuss a few protocols that we have developed and refined over the years.  These protocols are individualized based on specific signs, symptoms, and laboratory biomarkers.  Protocols to be discussed will include those for:  strep/aluminum, glutamate/Ca+2, ammonia/biofilm, COMT ++, COMT–.

Jeff Bradstreet, MD presents:
Understanding the Core of the Gut-Brain Connection and How to Fix It in ASD

The automatic regulation of the gut largely requires a balance between two opposing sides of the nervous system: the sympathetic (fear, fight, and fight) and the parasympathetic (rest, focus and digest).  The rest and digest side uses acetylcholine as its main transmitter and the vagus nerve as the principle pathway. The vagus nerve simultaneously regulates motility, digestion, heart rate and speech (through the recurrent laryngeal nerve). Now we know it also provides anti-inflammatory signaling to the GI tract as well. It is likely the vagus nerve plays a central role in ASD symptoms and recovery.
 

HOPE IS ALWAYS REAL
RECOVERY IS HAPPENING 

Autism one 2008 conference, May 21-25, 2008, CHICAGO, IL
For a list of 100+ speakers and presentation abstracts (in progress) visit: www.autismone.org

Give your autistic child the help they need with time-tested Maxam nutraceuticals.

Mike Worthley of www.HelpYourAutisticChild.com has been offering educational aids for parents of autistic children for over a year. Now he has opened www.HelpYourAutisticChildBlog.com, where those parents and other educators can come together to discuss working methods and techniques, as well as sharing their stories about dealing with autism in their families. 

When his daughter Olivia was diagnosed with autism 4 years ago, Mike Worthley dedicated himself to researching the condition and how best to overcome the limitations and difficulties it presents. His years of study on the subject led to the creation of www.HelpYourAutisticChild.com, a storehouse of information and products revolving around the world of autism. “I discovered these products, tried them with Olivia, liked them, and decided I needed to share them with the rest of the world,” explains Mike. “I find something good to share with the autistic community, then I do what I can to get it out there.”

 Autism is a growing issue, with 1 in 150 children being diagnosed with various levels of autism and related disorders. “It’s bigger than any childhood ailment, and no one is paying attention to it,” says Mike, who has grown very active in the online community of autistic parents. “There are things we can do as parents that can really help with the autistic symptoms of our kids. I’m suggesting things that I’ve tried that have had a positive effect on my own child, and I’m bringing them to market. It’s shameful that a lot of these therapies and nutritional items aren’t covered by insurance.” 

As part of his goal to help bring these products to the attention of the autism community, Mike has begun a blog at www.HelpYourAutisticChildBlog.com where his customers can read articles about his products, new studies in the field of autism, and advice from other parents of autistic children. “I’m constantly doing research, taking input from other parents as far as what is working for them,” says Mike, who hopes the blog will be as beneficial to him as it will be to his customers. “I’m hoping to bring access to things like ABA, which is a type of therapy for autistic children. We used a product that is similar to Floor Time, which is another product that’s out there. I’m looking to make sure that people have more than one resource on my site; I want to take it to the point where if you want to have a home speech therapy course, you can come to my site, find it, buy it, or get the information to find out what you can do on your own.”

Mike wants to focus equally on positive stories and informational facts. “I’m going to have a Feel Good section. There are success stories that people aren’t hearing about. My own daughter made the Honor Roll in a normal first grade class –that’s a feel-good story. I want it to be a positive, uplifting experience,” says Mike, who sees community support as vital to his business. “I plan on putting articles up, and I’m trying to put up as much independent research as I can. It’s going to be an opinion blog, of course.”

 One of the major areas of research that Mike has studied is the connection between mercury poisoning and autism. “I think a lot of symptoms of autism match up perfectly with mercury poisoning,” he explains, going into detail with his articles and giving strong opinions on childhood vaccinations and Thimerasol, as well as products like PCA-Rx, which remove harmful mercury from children. “There will be nothing on the site or on the blog that I haven’t tried personally, as a parent,” explains Mike, who focuses always on the welfare of the children. “Everything is thoroughly researched; anything on there will only go out if there have been major testimonials from parents. I’m the parent of an autistic child; that’s the number one thing.”

Just a quick update.  Olivia tied her own shoes, yesterday!  She got a new pair of Reeboks with the circles on the bottom of them.  She has an extreme fascination with shoes, to the point where she will stop a complete stranger and ask to see his/her shoes up close including the bottoms of the soles.  Anyway, she tied them both and is very, very proud.  We have been seeing good progress since we started using the AF-x a couple of months ago.  It is natural nutrition that is sprayed under the tongue.  Olivia actually looks forward to getting her “shot” before bedtime.

Autism is a perplexing disorder for which there is no standard and consistently-accepted treatment. Many autistic children are treated with traditionally-used chelation substances (like DMSA and DMPS) to counteract the abnormal effects of the disorder when heavy metal toxicity is suspected as a cause. However, PCA-Rx’s clathrating qualities have been found to work as well or even better against symptoms of autism in kids, without the side effects. PCA-Rx has also shown to be effective against symptoms of other EIs – such as angina, Crohn’s disease, Epstein-Barr virus, fibromyalgia and Parkinson’s disease, to name a few – also thought to be caused by toxic exposure.

It is thought that childhood autism could be triggered by vaccinations that young kids receive for measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) and, to a lesser degree, diphtheria (DPT). Specifically, it is thought that the measles component of the MMR vaccination and the pertussis (whooping cough) component of the DPT shot may be to blame. Most autistic children are normal and functioning well up until the time they receive their MMR and DPT vaccinations, which have been found to leave autism-triggering toxic residues in the body. PCA-Rx has proven to be a safe and effective weapon for finding and removing – through clathration – some of these harmful residues from the bodies of young autism sufferers. PCA-Rx’s additional ability to not remove any of the body’s natural minerals also results in an absence of the physiologically-stressful side effects common to other chelating drugs.