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As many of you know, our oldest son has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, and we have been on the road towards healing with him for some 5 years now.
The start of the “healing road” was a fast and furious one. Well–actually, I take that back.
The start of our healing road actually seemed like more of a major road block.
Our family physician recommended an appointment with the Dept. Head of Psychology at our local children’s hospital and a mental nervous drug prescription. I had already started down the “alternative medicine” path prior to the autism diagnosis, but at this point I found myself moving quickly into a brand new world.
The following months are a blur now, consisting mainly of mom being up until midnight (or later), scouring the internet for therapies that might help, reading accounts of healing, wondering if what other parents said had healed their children –might.just.heal.mine.
I have mixed feelings as I write this, because I do not want to insinuate that what I have done might work for your child – and thus set up for you expectations that might not become a reality. However, at the same time, I feel that to not share the things that have helped us would be a true disservice to others who are looking for help.
So here is a brief history of our treatment path. Some successes. Some “failures”. What we have done and what we are doing now. And what I think is perhaps the best healing technique of all.
1. Occupational Therapy -
We did a lot with this at the beginning of our journey. Sensory Integration, massage, touch, brushing… we tried to fit a number of these things into our schedule. It was hard to do and got tedious frequently. But we did feel that it helped at least to some point. One of the books that we found to be the most helpful was The Out-of-Sync Child.
2. Genetic testing & Nutritional Supplementation –
This was overall a flop. While the testing was interesting, the supplement regimen was completely overwhelming both mentally and financially. We could not afford the expert-directed evaluations and I was unable to handle the intense trial-and-error approach to supplement management. We spent quite a bit of money up front and quickly moved on. Luckily, I still had all my hair 
.
3. Dietary Intervention
- Gluten-free and Casein-Free
There is a lot of information available in books and on the web about gluten and casein (a protein found in cow’s milk) and the roles that they are thought to have in aggravating autism. I won’t go into all of this here, but suffice it to say that I think that removing these proteins from your child’s diet is imperative. There is data showing that the real effects can sometimes take quite awhile to show up, though there are plenty of stories about children showing marked improvement almost instantaneously.
While I follow more of a whole foods approach than the author, the book Special Diets for Special Kids contains a wealth of information on this topic.
To see how manageable (and tasty ) a gluten-free and dairy-free diet can be, take a look at my Recipes page. There, you’ll find healthy, whole food ideas for some of our family’s favorites like:
- Chocolate Almond Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream
- Dairy-Free Bean Fudge
- Dairy-Free Berry Mousse
- Focaccia Flax Bread
- Whole Foods
This means whole grains, and few to no processed foods. Basically, no “junk.” This is crucial. It sounds overwhelming, but basically, kids with autism have broken bodies and we need to do everything we can to allow them to heal. Putting “junk” food into a broken body will just continue to muck up the mechanisms and delay healing of all kinds. In fact, it might even worsen the situation.
- The Candida Diet
Our son, like many persons with autism, struggles with candida overgrowth. Candida basically is a candida albicans, a fungus that is present in all people’s bodies, but, when one’s digestive flora is out of balance, grows out of control and starts to cause systemic issues.
I love baking and, well, my son loves to eat. For a good part of his childhood, I was baking whole grain goodies regularly, and he ate them–well, too regularly. At one point, things really got out of hand and his trunk was covered with a rash and he was lifting up his shirt in public to scratch himself. Suspecting that the rash might be caused by candida, we took him off of all sugars, including dried fruit and fruit, and limited his grain intake. The rash cleared up within two days, following one night of worsening, which is typical when the candida is starved of its food (sugars).
We kept him on a pretty strict diet for a while, and his skin is perfectly clear now. He now has fruit and dried fruit occasionally, and we are not limiting his starches as much. But refined flours and sugars are out of his diet almost 100%, and I suspect that that will continue for his entire life.
4. Nutritional Balancing
This is the name of the current protocol that we are using for our son. Basically it is a program that naturally coaxes out heavy metals and toxins by re-balancing the body nutritionally and with supplements. I have been genuinely pleased with his progress and scientifically measured tests have demonstrated that the metals are coming out of his body. We are working with a specialist named Theresa Vernon and have been thrilled with her expertise, compassion, and knowledge of the adrenals and their role in total body health.
5. Essential Oils
As I mentioned in my post on Natural Sleeping Tips, I have begun gradually experimenting with essential oils. The main way that I have been using these with our son is when his anxiety gets out of control. The YL Peace & Calming blend and Lavender oils (I am currently working on choosing another essential oils company to work with. Read Which Essential Oils Company is Best for more info.) really seem to help him better manage his mood swings and get the sleep that his body so greatly needs. In fact, while I put the finishing touches on this post, my son had a panic attack and asked that I would please rub some of the lavender oil on his feet. Within two minutes, the panic had subsided.
6. Perhaps the Best Therapy of All – “Low and Slow”
There are, in my opinion, a number of causes of autism. My theory is basically that it is a “whole person” affliction, affecting the nervous system, brain, digestive system, and endocrine system. The more I learn about adrenal health, the more I see how healthy adrenal function is crucial to whole wellness.
Basically, the more stressed out one is, the less toxins are filtered out of the body, digestions worsens and everything goes downhill from there.
So while it is my tendency to try to find new ways to help my son and to work tirelessly at them, I find that really, one of the best ways to help him is to do whatever I do calmly.
A dear friend told me of another mother of a child with Asperger’s who called being calm with her son, “Low and Slow.” How appropriate.
Just simply loving our son as he is, speaking softly and sweetly, and having a sense of peace has an almost magical effect on him. Literally any day that I can slow down and live at a more restful pace is a day when I can really “see” him healing and blossoming.
It isn’t easy, but it is cheap! And keeping my own self calm truly is the most effective healing technique that we have tried (though it is likely the most difficult).
In closing, I don’t mean to insinuate that any of the above methods will for sure help your child with autism, and here is the classic, but necessary, disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a nurse, nor any kind of medical practitioner. I was pre-med for a brief time in college and I devour medical information voraciously, but that’s about it. I’m just a mom struggling to heal her son, hoping to help other parents along the healing road as well. Please consult with your own physician prior to following any of my recommendations .
Blessings to you and yours as you continue down this road.
What Natural Treatments Have Worked for Your Child?
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You really hit it right on. We had done DOZENS of things for our son since his diagnosis over ten years ago. It’s hard to say that any one thing helped….but I feel that God graciously gave us ability to work hard with him AND try many therapies, supplements, diets…..and much more! But, trying to get the magic formula is impossible! He’s now an amazingly independent, self-sufficient, sweet 12 year old {starting middle school TOMORROW}. I pray daily for his salvation and that he grows to love God more each day!
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
Hi Becky! I wonder if you could tell me how your son is doing specifically. I think now that my son could handle school, but I am not sure about life on his own (i.e. driving a car, getting a job, etc.). We do think that he is following the Lord (though imperfectly), and that is the most important, but every parent hopes that his or her child will be able to “make it” without living at home.
Thanks for stopping by! By the way, I sure could use a well-organized friend like you to help me pull my house together
!
Hi,
I wanted to comment here because my 19 year old son has Asperger’s as well. He is now living on his own, and while not as successful as I would like, he hasn’t came home asking to move back in, unless we move away then he said he wants to come with us. I did not think he would be able to drive a car, or manage his bills either, and am now so very proud that he is able to have some semblance of a normal life.
We didn’t do the diet treatment or anything similar, though slowing and calming his environment was always a part of helping him to cope. Unfortunately, he was not diagnosed with this until only about two years ago and at that point said he would prefer to handle things how he knew instead of changing his world all over again. At the time it was ADHD, Bi-polar and ODD, that or folks would just swear he was a bad kid, till they knew him then they just felt sorry for him.
I am so glad to hear that some things are working for you and your son and I pray that he will soon be able to live with a sense of normalcy in being able to drive and in time working away from home and finding his own niche in the world.
Thank you for your kind comments, Mechelle. I am hopeful reading your words. Some days go so smoothly for us that I think he will for sure be independent, and then other days it is quite frightening. I need to trust in the Lord that He knew all about this. In truth, the one who need the most help is me. My heart. My responses. My anxiety. It is a long road – this life. My son is helping me w/ a few small things on the blog and I am hoping that he can grow into more and that this can be an opportunity for him for employment down the road.
Blessings,
Adrienne
God works in mysterious ways Adrienne. Keep up this blog!
I have a son with Aspergers and I really need some hope. Please pray for my son Daniel who is 16 year old? Please pray for his salvation and healing and that I would have the grace, wisdom and love needed to really help him? Peter
Wow, Adrienne. I take my hat off to you. All these interventions are difficult to do and so important. How is your son generally now?
Hi Ruth. In general, our son is so much better. There are days when people say that they didn’t notice that there is anything “wrong” with him at all. I wonder sometimes if it would be good to get him re-evaluated to see if he is officially “off” the spectrum. But I still see areas where I am concerned that he needs more development or he may not be able to care for himself. I am almost crying as I type this. I guess I need to think and pray about all of this. Someday I’ll post about how we got through breastfeeding with multiple food allergies. Now those were hard days. I guess anything is hard when you fight against adversity, eh?
Take care,
Adrienne
Have you ever heard of the GAPS Diet? It was created by a Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride to heal autism in her own son. It sounds like some if the nutritional things you’ve done, only “more”–it is designed to heal the gut and “reset” your body completely. The website is at http://www.gapsdiet.com.
Yes, Catherine, I have heard of GAPS. I looked into it and actually have read Campbell-McBride’s book. It actually gave me real insight into what is going on in all of us (issues in our bodies being passed down throughout generations). I did think that it leaned too heavily on nuts and honey, but perhaps I should give it another look. Have you tried it yourself? I must say that days on end of chicken broth does not sound appetizing at all
.
I haven’t tried it–it would take some pretty serious health problems to get me to go that restricted! I know a couple of families on it for various reasons–eczema, allergies, etc. I did not have the impression that it involves lots of honey and nuts unless you want it to–although the Intro diet is of course different from the full diet. I found an interesting article on Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s site that gives a brief blurb and some other links: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/12/autismgapsother-disorders-more-info-on.html
I am thankful my family does not have the kind of problems (so far) that would require this diet, but if we ever develop any, it will be the first thing I try.
Hi Adrienne, we are doing the GAPs diet for our son with autism, so i just wanted to back up what Catherine said that it doesn’t have to be heavy on nuts and honey (in fact many people do the diet without using any nuts or honey) Dr NCM specifically warns against over use of these products in the form of baked goods. They are allowed in moderation however. I personally love the broth, there are many ways to serve it and use it in cooking. The diet is hard work however as you have to make almost everything from scratch, so it is more difficult than GF/CF (which is what we were doing before). It’s still early days for us so I don’t know how much it will help my son. It sounds like you are doing great with all the things you have been doing with your boy.
Charlotte, I would love to hear how things go with your son! I already make everything from scratch, so in that sense, GAPS would not be much harder. And I do think it is important to really limit honey and nuts. It is hard to when so many other things are limited.
I have been meaning to do a more in depth study of GAPS and SCD, so I hope to one of these days.
If you remember, I would love to hear back from you! Do you know if there is any data on success of GAPS? I know that with what I am doing for us, which has not always had a definite path, I have seen great turnaround in certain areas. I used to not be able to tolerate starches at all at one point (some more high glycemic ones) and now I can, in moderation — for one thing. I have also heard of people doing GAPS over and over again which seems overwhelming to me.
In any case, I hope to hear good news from you
.
I am not aware of any data on GAPs currently but there is such a huge number of positive stories out there. The first family i met who actually recovered their son (from autism) used SCD, and i’ve heard of a number of GAPs families who have had outstanding success. there are so many online blogs and resources now so the diet has a strong following. I shall try and remember to come back and update you some time on how we do.
Thanks for sharing. We tried some DAN stuff, which made him worse until we stopped, which didn’t take long. GFCF has been nothing short of a miracle. Once a year we take him off it to see if anything has changed and he regresses tremendously so we put him back on. Vitamin D has been huge. Son had severe GI issues for 5 years to the point of being hospitalized and enemas, Mag Citrate, and Miralax stopped working. Another mom told me that Dr. Mercola’s probiotic helped her child within a week. I had tried probiotics before but I figured what did we have to lose? My son too had normal GI function within a week. I am stunned but very grateful to this community of moms who helps each other find answers. I am also stunned that not one of two GI specialists we saw even so much as recommended a probiotic.
Good luck on your healing journey!
Thank you so much for sharing! So you are saying that Dr. Mercola’s probiotic worked that quickly? I am taking a very nice probiotic now that I am really pleased with, but I am always open. The one that I have it so reasonable though it is hard to look elsewhere. The company almost went out of business but I hear that they are going to stay in business!
I think probiotics are crucial.
What probiotics are you happiest with? Candida issues in this house.
Search probiotics in my search bar
. There’s a post on them.
Great post! I love The Out of Sync Child – very useful book for us. I go back and forth between the diet. But I am interested in the Dr. Mercola’s probiotic…I may need to look for that.
I think it sounds interesting as well, Lisa. However, I will say that I got a great recommendation from a special needs homeschooling consultant for other probiotics and one of them was quite reasonable. Additionally, the one that I take in the evening seems to be super-effective. I like quite a bit of Mercola’s writings, but his products are typically very over-priced. I’d be happy to correspond about probiotics more. It’s a really murky issue. Take care, ~Adrienne
I am passing this wonderful post to my young mom friends who are struggling and working with their sons to make them whole.
Adrienne-
It’s so great how you’re sharing this information. Our foster (now adopted son) was on the autism spectrum (believed to have asperger’s) and were it not for a cousin of mine who shared from her experience with working with her autistic son (including the book, Louder Than Words) I wouldn’t have known where to begin. Removing gluten and casein from his diet and including probiotics and digestive enzymes allowed for amazing results (began making speaking sounds in the first week- his therapist was astounded). I wrote a whole foods cookbook called Everyday Gluten-Free (which also happens to be casein-free and free of many common allergens) out of the experience of changing our diet to accomodate our son. I also have other whole food cookbooks and a health guide for addressing candida from a diet and lifestyle standpoint. You can check these all out at our website, http://www.simplynaturalhealth.com. I’d be glad to send you a copy of any of these that you might like to preview.
Thanks so much for sharing, you’ve given me some other starting points, im always looking for more info and treatments. we are a yr + in our Autism journey. Our son is 3 and was diagnosed a little over a yr ago although mother instincts told me at 9 months something was “off”. We started OT and ST and had a developmental person when he was 15 months. Since then we are GFCF ( he’s never had it except thru breast milk) he was unable to eat until after he turned 2. He was exclusively breastfed straight from the tap LOL til 2! Any who we are currently doing ABA, Horse therapy and Swim therapy. He will also start PreKD next week! I have some other things we will move forward with when money allows it. You really helped me feel more at “peace” with the not being able to afford the supplements part of your blog. My hubby and I struggle with that, we can only do so much and money doesn’t grow on trees! LOL so thank you so much I truly enjoy reading your blog! Take care and best wishes to you and your family
Hi Vanessa. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share. I can’t guarantee how much time I would have, but I would be happy to share more about what we are doing with Nutritional Balancing. I can say that there is some really interesting verifiable change happening, in both myself and my son. We are not “out of the woods”, and especially with my son we are still dealing with anxiety issues that are quite difficult at times, but he is now playing with other children (in fact, runs off to play right after church) and he even plays on an ice hockey team that accepts special needs children. We are a one income family as well and have to make choices. The Nutritional Balancing is only running about $30-$60 per month base for our son. He does take supplements, but I work hard at getting them for a good deal. I’d be happy to help you navigate that as well. I get very nice discounts on probiotics, some detox items and other things that we use. Take care, ~Adrienne
You have given me something to think about. We started on the Feingold Diet shortly before my son was diagnosed. His behavior improved after we made that change in his diet. He was still diagnosed with Asperger’s, ADHD, Anxiety and a few other things. He also has asthma and many food allergies (peanuts and tree nuts included). We didn’t want to medicate him, but were convinced to and it really has made a world of difference in his behavior, anxiety, and demeanor. The major problem we see with this is weight loss. I have since removed his afternoon dose, and his weight has improved. Though I am wondering if a GFCF diet would help even more; or if the probiotics or nutritional balancing may help. I just don’t know where to start with any of that. Thank you.
Hi Heather. I would personally start w/ GF CF and probiotics for sure. I have a few recommendations of types to try. The nutritional balancing is very reasonable. I am having a rough day w/ my son today, but overall he has gotten better and the cost is not prohibitive. I am on the program myself due to other health issues and I am still not out of the woods, but some remarkable things have gotten better. My son has TONS of food allergies. Oh, I would watch the sugar too.
Stay in touch,
Adrienne
Great post
I especially loved your last point
Wow, do I feel called out tonight by your words: “Just simply loving our son as he is, speaking softly and sweetly, and having a sense of peace has an almost magical effect on him. Literally any day that I can slow down and live at a more restful pace is a day when I can really “see” him healing and blossoming.” I had a BIG FAIL at this this afternoon and it’s been our undoing today.
On another note, we have gone CF and are headed toward GF, but are know it will be hard. also, have the Disconnected Kids book and want to reread a book on supplements, etc. I had out from the library. Still trying to figure out what will work best for our family, providing the best results with the least stress not only for our ADHD.SPD son, but for all of us.
Oh Martianne,
You know, this is always easier said than done. Or shall I say, easier done on certain days than on others? Today I have been struggling physically and our son has had numerous panic attacks. Not a good recipe for loving, soft, sweet, peace…… I have had to say “I’m sorry” to him numerous times and he has had to do the same to me.
Be careful with the supplements. I think that they can do a lot. I am still watching my son and I think that the Nutritional Balancing might just be the answer for a lot of folks, but we are still watching and waiting. I can say for sure that a number of my issues are getting a LOT better.
Hi Adrienne
I am 57 years old; when I first read about Asperger’s Syndrome, I saw parts of myself. I am the oldest of 6. I was initially breast fed; I don’t know what else I was fed/exposed to. My mother said I was colicky so she stopped breast feeding. She didn’t even try breast feeding my siblings. My father nicknamed me Pooper (because of the colick?); that name followed me. One of my sibs will still use it sometimes to be hurtful. Imagine the effect on my self-esteem.
I was always self-sufficient, independent and reliable but very moody; my sibs called me Oscar the Grouch (from the Muppets).
I followed an anti-candida diet for a brief time and noticed a big difference. I LOVE cheese and bread to the extent that I will eat them almost exclusively when I am under stress. I am vegetarian (35 years) and diabetic (diagnosed 4 years ago) and I do try to eat the best I can (with duly noted addictions!)
I have been diagnosed with Major Depression although my current psychiatrist calls me ‘high functioning’. Thus not needing intervention, perhaps? Although I have not been able to hold onto a job. (This is high functioning when I cannot support myself? I think modern medicine/psychiatry needs to take another look.)
A year ago I won a gift certificate for Reflexology (a treatment, not unlike massage therapy, that acts on the whole body, but by treating only the feet). I reacted several times by jerking or squirming. She told me that all those tender points were for the adrenals.
I need to learn more about the nutritional balancing that you mentioned.
I have used many essential oils and currently have lavender on hand. I will put some in a carrier oil and use it to massage my feet. Thanks for that suggestion.
Perhaps I was a forerunner for Asperger’s. I have read many articles that indicate human health has deteriorated over the years. Witness the increase in food allergies, asthma and Autism.
Paula,
I feel like all I can say is “wow.” What you have written echoes so much of what I have learned.
1. Yes, our health has deteriorated. I think it is a combination of our food deteriorating and passing things down from one generation to the next and toxin build up & stress build up.
2. I think you would be very interested in talking with Theresa Vernon (link in my post) about your adrenals. That is what I am working on mainly. It is hard to work on it, but necessary.
3. Let me know how the lavender worked. I am putting it on my feel every night at bedtime. But then, I am using a lot of other things to help me sleep as well.
4. From what you write about your diet, it looks like candida is an issue too. I can’t handle that stuff anymore. The proteins and vegetables really suit me well.
Take care. I feel your pain. I hope to see you around again.
~Adrienne
I just found your website. My son was diagnosed with AS this past November at age 14. He was a freshman in high school. I always knew something was wrong. His school work suffered and I didn’t know why. Now he is doing an online high school. So far so good.
Thanks for the information about diet and AS. I will be using it.
My son also has autism. His is classic. We’ve tried the occupational therapy when he was younger, ventured into the gf/cf diet –helped some, but we’ve pulled him off of it. J is on medication, but some of that is because he also has seizures. I think the biggest helps with J have been prayer and taking it one day at a time. He has made great strides in his eighteen years, and continues to teach me, probably more than I teach him.
Hi Dorothy.
I just wanted to mention that the woman with whom we are doing the Nutritional Balancing had epilepsy, but it was healed after doing the Nutritional Balancing. It really is quite reasonable. You may wish to give her a call. I agree with you so much on the teaching thing. I need to remember daily that the Lord gave me this situation for a reason and that with or without healing I must accept it and grow. Take care.
Adrienne, Again–I am so glad I found your blog! My daughter is not autistic (although I do have a cousin who is), but she does have some major meltdowns that I feel could be diet related, and her new pediatrician wants us to remove dairy for a few weeks (and then possibly gluten) because she has NEVER had regular-looking stools. (I’m sorry for TMI!) She is 3. It is all very scary to think she may have an allergy that is causing malabsorption of nutrients. Thanks for including so much great info. as I start this journey to modifying her diet!
P.S….Thank you for the VERY encouraging e-mail! I am a little behind on e-mails, but I am writing you back!!
Thank you so much for sharing part of your journey. This was a very touching and informative post for everyone, not just people with autistic children. I am so glad you came to FAT TUESDAY and posted it. I hope to see you here next week!
Adrienne,
Thank you for sharing the overview with everyone. I have several friends with young boys who have been diagnosed w/ Aspergers. It has helped me to understand better what they are facing. Thank goodness we all have a mighty Savior!!
As a mama of a 3 year old ASD kiddo, I have been around the bend and then some with all of this… So many parents do not realize that there is indeed a nutritional component to autism and ADHD. I dislike that there seems to be two camps “the biomeds” and “therapy-only”. I really think both are necessary: the biomeds to address the underlying causes and the therapy to help the child up to speed.
BIOMED
I’m interested to hear if you have researched the cerebral folate antibody and cow’s milk. In a mom’s group I am in {with about 250 members}, many of the kids {and moms} are testing positive for this antibody, which blocks folate to the brain. I am getting my son tested this fall. Also, if you have read up on the difference between A1 and A2 beta-casein milk.
THERAPY
I am quite interested in the RDI approach {which is a home-based relationship developing program}. We are going broke at the moment between my son’s OT bills and supplements, but this is something I hope to do in the coming year 2012. RDI addresses the core deficits of social interaction and referencing. The work is done in the home. Even if we can’t afford it done the “right way”…their approach has changed how I approach my son.
Hi Nicolette,
I too agree with you about needing holistic approaches to the autism spectrum. Additionally, I feel that this is important in all areas of life. In essence, that is part of what I mean by the title of my blog, “Whole New Mom.” I feel that so many people take a “one size fits all” approach to so many areas of life and end up missing that life, spirituality, etc. is all so much more complicated than that. Oh, I could go on and on.
I have not done as much research on autism recently as that is part of what led to my getting adrenal burnout. I was working so hard to heal my son that it almost cost me all of my own health. Now I am looking at things from the metals / toxins end with the Nutritional Balancing. I am just shocked at some of the things that have been happening with my body primarily, but also as I am seeing metals come out of my husband and my sons. I guess I need to write a post about it. It is really something.
So no, I am not familiar with the folate antibody nor the difference b/t A1 and A2 beta-casein milk, but I do recall reading about it. Can you point me in a direction to get more info? And what does one do once one finds out that he is deficient in the antibody?
I did some reading about RDI and live quite close to Horizons, a local therapy hub that specializes in RDI. I had considered working with them, but yes, they are a fortune. It sounds like you have worked with them already? I would love to hear about your experience. I have a book by the director of the center here and I was very impressed with her thinking. Quite intuitive. I need reminders daily of the “right way” to approach my son.
Let’s stay in touch!
I stumbled across your post today and must say it’s great! So many things about nutrition are not understood today but proper nutrition can definitely do great things for your health and general well-being. My son is not diagnosed with anything, except asthma, but he is sometimes so wound up. I can say something to him and he just won’t even “hear” me, he’s so focused on his own agenda — especially when his asthma is acting up, and he can’t “really” breathe. We recently changed our family diet radically: no more refined anything, no “box mix” food of any kind, a lot more beans and lentils and vegetables, and green smoothies when I have time. I have seen improvements in him and in my own patience level. It’s great! It only proves the saying, “Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.”
I have wondered many times if we should try a GFCF diet for my son. Actually, I think it would probably be very beneficial. But, it just seems so overwhelming to even think about. Plus, I’m afraid he’d hate me for it. (Okay, he wouldn’t hate me, because he’s such a sweet boy. But, he wouldn’t be pleased with me.)
Hi Angie. I just wanted to encourage you to try it. I think if you poke around on my site you will find enough recipes to get you started. My son had a hard time to begin with, but he has said recently that he really doesn’t miss the gluten at all. I think I miss it more
. Let me know if I can be of help! Blessings. ~Adrienne
Adrienne, this is a wonderful, wonderful post, containing excellent advice. Your honesty in sharing your personal experiences with your son is sure to help and encourage so many people. Thank you for sharing it with the Hearth and Soul hop.
Thank you for writing this. I think many times people can get a diagnosis and feel lost, it’d be nice if they got a copy of your post at the dr’s office. Very enlightening. Your son is lucky to have you in his life.
Wow, did you ever make my day. We’ve had a good day overall, but not without anxiety struggles with my son. It’s easy to feel down when he struggles so much.
Hey stopping by on the hop. I wish you all the luck for your little one. Shah .X
My older son has PDD-NOS, high functioning. he has terrible eczema. could this be candida-caused? I’m chicken to go no sugar. He’s 15.
Hi Julia.
Eczema is a toughy. It was all life-threatening allergies when my son was an infant. Then it was candida. Now that we have done work on his candida and metal detox I saw something else that was really puzzling. He got a persistent rash on his face and our practitioner suspected that it was copper coming out. She said that copper is almost always behind skin rash issues. Well, I was so afraid that it was food allergies again, but I just went with what he said and as we’ve continued with the detox the rash disappeared.
I’d be happy to correspond about the eczema. I would move forward as you can on the sugar. It’s horrible for these kids (and anyone else). Check out all of the desserts on my recipe page and see what you can do without sugar. That’s why my dessert list is so long — because we needed some yummy substitutes. I think it’s great to meet food needs with other things, but we need to be realistic as well. Hope that helps. Just take a deep breath. You have no idea what a sugar-aholic I was.
Hi All-
I just had my four-yr-old son food sensitivity tested, and the results came back that he is highly sensitive to eggs (yolks and whites), and less sensitive (but still not good) to milk, whey, cheddar cheese, almonds, wheat, spelt, lemons, limes and grapefruit. Argh. So we are doing a 6 week elimination of all of the offenders, then will rotate them back in to see what effect they have. I am a chef and nutrition counselor, so I have a strong background, and it is still difficult to make the changes. No real pizza?! No egg/cheese breakfast sandwiches? No mac n cheese? I am starting slowly- this week no eggs, no almonds, no citrus, no milk. Next week I will add the remaining no-no’s. Already had good success today with brown rice pasta (kind of gummy, but he liked it!) and with a GF Bob’s Red Mill Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix. Fortunately there are websites like this one (thank you!) to support us on our journeys.
Hi Naidre,
Your story sounds similar to ours. I would highly recommend looking into the Nutritional Balancing or maybe the GAPS diet (I have not tried that). I feel that as we have removed metals our sensitivities have decreased. This is a hard road, but hopefully we can get somewhere.
By the way, Tinkyada pasta is quite good and we have found Trader Joe’s to be wonderful and inexpensive. Whenever we take a road trip to where there is one we stock up
. Tinkyada is available through Vitacost and Country Life Natural Foods (depending where you are located, they will deliver free on a truck to your door). Hope that helps. I hope to have more helpful recipes soon!
Hi Adrienne,
Our Aspie son is 8 and was just diagnosed a few months ago. It was so refreshing to read your post. So often it seems that people promote a false dichotomy of ‘biomed’ or ‘therapy’ approaches. We immediately started seeing a DAN Dr. and the GFCF diet. I have a host of food allergies, and after pouring over the GAPS website (and seeing few, but small changes in my son after 2 months on GFCF), we did the GAPS Intro together. I had tested with IgE reactions to egg yolk and egg white and couldn’t eat more than one egg in a week without throat/mouth itching. After 2 weeks of GAPS Intro. I was able to eat eggs again. Last week I ate 30 (counting baked goods) without reaction! My son had horrible eczema and lots of sensory issues and 2 months in, now he is potty training himself for the first time (without any help from me) and his skin is CLEAR for the first time in 5 years. We do consume a fair bit of honey (though not nearly as much as the sugar we used to consume), but have had only healing come out of this for all of us so far! Again, like you wisely said, this is not a one-size-fits-all journey. I’ve read SCD (the basis of GAPS) boast of 100% of autistic patients reporting improvement. Elaine G. (SCD) says “you will know within 4 weeks whether this will work for you or not”. Who doesn’t have 4 weeks to try?
Thanks for the ideas on adrenals and balancing. Two more things to read up on! Grace from Africa!
Hi Kimberly,
Wow. That is interesting to read about GAPS. I had similar response regarding eating corn (it may have been the glycemic index of it and not the corn itself, however, that was bothering me) by doing the Nutritional Balancing.
I am sure that we are either doing SCD completely or else very close, and have been for a long time. The one problem for me is that I am currently off of fruit due to candida and sugar metabolism issues, so I think that the diet might be too restrictive for me. I must confess that I have read the GAPS book, but I have not done an extensive study of either diet protocol. I should look into them again.
I appreciate your encouragement! I think you will find the Nutritional Balancing quite interesting. I have two articles by Theresa Vernon on metals that were really eye-opening to me.
Grace from the U.S.A.
.
Hi Adrienne,
I recently read about therapies a Mom used to help her son with a brain injury and have been wondering how many other conditions this may help including autism. Would love the opinion of a Mom who has a child with autism as to how difficult it may be to try them or if you think they may be of any value at all. Here is a link to her story where she describes a few therapies that sound good, thanks.
http://www.healingwithoutdrugs.com
I wanted to stop by and thank you for participating in the Get Wired Blog Hop. I am both of your blogs on Networked Blogs and Facebook.
Have a wonderful day!
Vickie
http://victoriasvoice44.blogspot.com
I’m so grateful you shared this meaningful and important post with our first Gallery of Favorites, Adrienne! Thank you so much!
Adrienne,
I don’t stop by often enough and need to go more in depth on your site…. I think the posts that come from life experience are without a doubt the most powerful!! I firmly believe that as we are of this earth….we can be healed by what comes from it. (Without chemicals)
Great post and thanks for sharing at the hearth and soul hop!
Thanks for stopping by, Jason. I wish I had more time to write. But then sometimes I feel that my experience and knowledge is so limited. If you find that things need to be better organized, let me know. I can’t promise I can fix it quickly, but I would appreciate it.
A very informative article. I salute your desire to leave no stones unturned for natural remedies. I’ll be praying for your family.
Blessings,
Pamela
I just stumbled upon your blog, and am so intrigued! I have a 3 yr old that I just know something is not right with. I can’t explain it, and no doctor will listen. I watched something on Asperger’s the other night, and can’t get it out of my mind. We too are already doing oils and working on clearing generational issues with our kids. We are also starting to cut out alot of sugars and refined flours. And probiotics were an answer to prayer with our youngest daughter who was born several months premature with severe GERD. We started using them against the doctor’s wishes because nothing else worked. They were a miracle for her! I’m curious if you’ve heard of Kefir and what you think of it? It’s a natural probiotic. We have started using it now instead of buying other pill form probiotics. It’s so nice that it is free and replenishes itself almost daily. I really want to look into the nutritional balancing that you talk about! Where is the best place to start? Theresa’s website? My sis in law also has epilepsy, and has really been working on taking the metals out of her body. She found the fillings they put in her teeth when she was younger was a BIG cause of her seizures. It’s all so interesting, isn’t it! Like you said, I don’t know that there is a magical cure all for everyone…we each have our own path and our own things to figure out. But everything we put into our bodies really does make a difference in what comes out! Thank you so much for this post..it really was an answer for my family!!
Hi Katie.
I am so glad you stopped by. I have heard of kefir, but my oldest has a life threatening allergy to dairy and I am off it for awhile so it’s not a great option for us right now. I have a friend who is working on water kefir for me now. Unfortunately, I appear to have an allergic reaction to fermented foods right now in my healing so I am on hold for a bit.
I would take a look at Theresa’s website if I were you. I also have some articles that she has written that I could forward to you. What is your sister doing to remove the metals? It is my (and Theresa’s) opinion that nutritional balancing method of removing the metals is the only safe way to do it. I also really like zeolite for the same purpose, but I don’t think it will remove all of it w/o the nutritional balancing. I have been so impressed w/ this method that I am thinking about going into it myself in the future (when I can
).
Take care,
Adrienne
I just read a wonderful book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, on natural treatment for autism, ADD, ADHD, Depression, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and Schizophrenia. The link she found between all of these was poor gut health. Definitely worth a read!
Yes, Julie, that is a very good book.
I am convinced fully that the basis for a lot of our health issues today is our gut. There is a clear connection b/t the gut and the brain.
Sometimes it seems like an information desert and other times a buffet! Its great to read so many stories of parents thinking and experimenting and fighting for their kids. KUDOS!
My son is ASD and we’ve done many different things. I refuse to “drink the Kool-Aid” of any one thing until something is proven. After several years off and on GF/CF for my son, I discovered the Paleo Diet after identifying a gluten and dairy sensitivity in myself. That has been an adventure, but fun.
So many times I heard “I don’t know how you do it” me being a single parent with no support and my response is that God gave me a child that is perfectly made and perfect for me. The rest is just a different shade of parenthood. I feel so lucky to have him and blessed that God continues to cross my paths with other parents who understand and are positive. Keep up the great work!
I haven’t read through the comments to see if anyone has recommended this or not. But, have you looked into the GAPS diet? If your gluten and casein free already, then you know how much that differs from the SAD. Going on the GAPS is just a different diet. Probably extreme from someone eating the SAD, but for someone already GF-CF its just a different extreme diet. It really works!! I have had much success. I’m not sure why most doctors have never heard of it, but all of the ones we have seen have never heard of it.
Hi Julie. I have heard of GAPS and read the book about 3-4 years ago. I need to revisit it again and the SCD. We for sure are not on the SAD at all. I remember looking at it for my son, but with all of his life threatening allergies I thought it would be hard to make it work..peanuts, almost all nuts, dairy, egg whites and sesame. Our practitioner is familiar w/ it and says she thinks it really works for some people and not others. It might be worth a shot. Right now I don’t think I could handle a big change like that, but maybe in the future.
I’m a new reader (loving your blog!), and thought I’d share some of my story with you. We are on the GAPS Diet for my son who is/was diagnosed as autistic. We were GFCF for about a year before that. The day after starting GAPS, we noticed vast improvements.. We’ve been on it as a family for roughly 4 months now, and my son quickly went from 3 therapies (Speech, OT, and PT) to only PT which will be over before the year ends. Adults who work with kids on the spectrum have met my son and are shocked of his diagnosis. They’re even more shocked when I tell them that last year he couldn’t originate speech. He was completely echolalic.
While we use nuts every once in a while, we can easily omit them from our diet. They’re pretty expensive, so we don’t have them too often. We haven’t used peanuts or sesame at all and have yet to give our son anything with casein. We consume a good number of eggs, but mainly the yolks. My son doesn’t eat anywhere near the number of whole eggs as I do, and if I had no choice of using egg whites for him, I think the chia seed gel replacement would be the route I’d go. Of course it’s easy to type that, and unfortunately I don’t have anything other than speculation to offer you with respect to that.
I hope you don’t mind the testimonial. I saw your concerns regarding GAPS and thought I’d offer some insight. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Oh Pam – I don’t mind at all. I will for sure revisit the issue. I’ll make a note to take the book out again – can you recommend an easy “go to” list for how to do it and/or what to eat? I’ve read the book before but I was quite overwhelmed at the time. It would be nice to simplify it this time around. Was your son diagnosed with classic autism or Asperger’s? I assume the former, right? Mine is high functioning or Asperger’s. I for sure have gut issues and my whole family does, but his seems to be the worst. Thanks for sharing.
Hello again, Pam. I just mentioned this to my son and he got very nervous. He knows enough about it to know that it starts with chicken broth and he has kind of a phobia about broth. Lucky me, right? Could you tell me how long one is on broth at the beginning? Maybe if I prep him he’ll be able to do it.
Hi Adrienne,
Please try GAPS! I have a son, 11 who was healed from autism several years ago with Body Ecology Diet in a little over a year. We stayed on a organic, whole foods diet and used lots of probiotics. A few years ago, we had a SEVERE mold exposure and my son just sort of stalled. Not wanting to do a no sugar diet for 12 months at this stage, we did many other therapies including WAP, vision therapy, HBO, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, ect. We were all sick, so we all did most of the list.
We still had medical issues from the mold exposure and I was pretty sick of it all and so I got GAPS and read the book. WOW!!!!!!! This makes so much senase. My water broke and I was on IV antibiotics for a full day before I gave birth and so that is why my son had colic and ended up with regressive autism at 28 months! and why Body Ecology Diet worked with him and why the mold threw us all into a series of health issues. November 1st, we started GAPS and I can’t tell you how much healing this diet has done already. Yes, the intro is hard and we stayed on it for 10 days and even now, we eat a list of about 30 foods, but you can be so creative with them. I miss raw foods the most….salads especially. But tomorrow we start juicing and within a month, I expect that we will be eating more or less the full Gaps which is not that hard. The cravings for carbs only lasted a week or so. The broth is amazing and can be made into soups or added to other things to disguise it for kids who don’t like it. The fermented veggies are so good and do amazing things. Last night for a one month treat, I made meatballs from veal, pork and beef, carrot, onion and garlic and a red sauce and put it over spaghetti squash…..it was so good. For Thanksgiving we had roasted duck with plum sauce, celery root and shallots cooked in duck fat and broth, beet, carrot and fennel gratin, steamed greens, squash and walnut crusted pumpkin pie with coconut cream. We are not starving or deprived on this diet. My son is doing amazingly well and is now tells me….thanks mom so much for doing this diet and is completely happy to be on it because it makes him feel so much better.
Thanks, Lynn. We’ve been talking about this. I wouldn’t miss the raw foods at all. I don’t care for them. I am going to have to get the book again and review it with my practitioner. We are doing Nutritional Balancing to remove toxins and I am seeing healing in both of us. Our practitioner is familiar with GAPS so I think we’ll be able to have a good conversation about it. Thank you for sharing! And mold issues are horrible! I empathize with you! Did you know that IV antibiotics are loaded w/ aluminum? I am dumping a ton of it right now and I know that it one of my sources. Post to come about that as well.
Adrienne, I checked out the Nutritional Balancing site and am impressed by her knowledge of adrenals and toxicity. I completely agree with most of the points she makes in regard to removing toxins and how adrenals exhaustion can become a vicious cycle. According to her site, she follows an Atkins diet, which avoids starchy vegetables, fruits, sugar and is heavy on meat and fat. The diet is similar to WAP and GAPS, but these two add in fermented foods and broths. She lists both Nourishing Traditions and Gut and Psychology Syndrome in her recommended reading. What surprises me is her use of Splenda which is a chlorinated table sugar that is man made. Stevia I can understand, but Splenda, no way! I am going to e-mail her and will let you know what she says.
Hi Lynn,
. She is very sharp and doesn’t toss things out there lightly. I would have to take notes next time I ask her about it…maybe you will get the answer and can just fwd it to me 
. One really balanced thing she says is that if you use a number of different sweeteners in moderation, then if there turns out to be a problem with one of them, you haven’t had as much exposure as if you ate one kind alone. I think she is right on there. And if you follow the Splenda argument that it is chlorinated table sugar….I wonder how many people won’t touch Splenda but drink tap water. And there is plenty of chlorinated tap water in your “organic veggie” – know what I mean? Lettuce is 90%+ water and it is watered by tap water. I need to run now, but I do not necessarily think that Theresa is off base here. I am not sure. Regarding the fermented foods, I know they did not agree with her for a long time. Me neither right now. I have a lot of work to do before I try it again. I get a candida-like reaction. Thanks for your thorough work!
I have talked with Theresa extensively about Splenda. She thinks Sucralose is OK but not really Splenda. I think she has some solid thinking there. Wow – the other real foodies will be after me if they read this
I just stumbled upon your site this morning and I feel so relieved seeing another special needs mom who is NOT doing the whole supplement routine! Our son got diagnosed with autism 5 years ago (he’s now 9). We did gf/cf plus a whole bunch of other -f’s, for almost 3 years, plus did a whole slew of supplements. It was complex and expensive (and I am stay-at-home mom and my husband was farming full time- he had to go back to work because our son’s autism was draining us financially). We saw a biomed doc in Kansas City and we were constantly testing our son, plus doing allergy shots, b12 shots and chelation. Initially, we saw improvements, but at the end of it, he started regressing (after a bout with RSV) so we tried the SCD diet. We were on it for 6 weeks and our son got worse and worse. We scratched the whole thing. We eat a healthy diet (I make everything from scratch and we grow our own organic meat and garden produce). He’s still dairy free and we use olive leaf extract (saw a HUGE improvement from adding this in regularly!), vD, and probiotics. We recently had genetic testing done and discovered that our son’s autism is not typical and is the result of a genetic mutation that occurred at conception. In fact, the geneticist said that he’s never seen a child with our son’s combination of phenotype and symptoms. Our son is very smiley and generally happy (we have some emotional meltdowns- mostly seem to be weather related), he looks you in the eye and he loves being around other kids. His speech is his biggest deficit and he still stims some. I have finally learned (most of the time!) to give it over to the Lord and not to stress over the future. I figure the skies the limit and I will not limit my son in what I think he can or cannot do. He loves farming, so my husband and I are really hoping that he’ll be able to take over the farm someday. Anyway, that’s my little story, but I’m constantly researching and trying ways to improve our health and continue to help my son progress. I’ll definitely be back to your site as I have time!
Hello Melinda. Thanks for stopping by and so nice to hear your story. I will say that we are still muddling through all of this and it isn’t easy. We are doing a different kind of supplement treatment now which is Nutritional Balancing. I have seen great changes in me and my youngest is over his regular headaches, but my autistic son is mixed. I regularly have people tell me that he is greatly improved but his anxiety and perseverations have been a big problem recently. However, we have had a TON of stress at home so I am not surprised. I am intrigued by your experience with olive leaf. I think we tried that and both of us got really sick from it. I was thinking it might have been die off. What probiotic do you use? I was just thinking this morning that I would like to do a post on probiotics. I have some interesting experiences with them and would like to put this all together for my readers.
I sure hope to see you around again!
I’m definitely going to research Nutritional Balancing. Since olive leaf extract is an antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal, my guess is you were experiencing die off. By the time I started to give it to my son regularly (which was about a year ago), we’d already extensively treated him for candida, so I’m positive the bulk of his was gone, hence no die off reaction for him. We’ve discovered that our son cannot, under any circumstances, run a fever. No dr. knows why, but there’s definitely a correlation between him running a fever and major regression. The higher the fever, the worse the regression (like months to YEARS). Part of my thought to giving him the olive leaf was to prevent sickness. My husband and I take capsules and have for several years to prevent sickness (we don’t even get colds anymore!), so I started making tinctures for my kids. I get all of my supplies for the Bulk Herb Store. As for our probiotics, we use Klaire Labs. You have to have a dr. code to buy from them (which we got years ago from our biomed dr.) and they are suppose to be the highest powered on the market. The are super expensive, though!
Melinda, I don’t know if you visited Theresa Vernon’s website or not, but she is great. She can be reached at 707-544-0661. I thought I was detoxing as well. So far my detox reactions have been really severe at times. Either the toxicity is awful, or I react horribly, or both.
WOW it sounds like you need a big hug and a cuddle yourself. How courageous I couldn’t imagina how difficult it is to deal with such a problem yourself. I guess the greatest strength in all of us is love which is what you have stated by trying to remain calm. Interesting to hear as well that the body does not release toxins when stressed. I guess alot of us raise our voice reactively now when we are tired. As there is so much frustration and we are running around a million miles an hour without enough time in the day to get everything done. On another note our little dog lost both her eyes to glaucoma and everywhere we looked everyone said to not put obstacles in her way do this and do that. But we decided not to molly cuddle her and guess what she plays football runs around like a lunatic, up stairs, across fields. So I am strong believer sometimes that if we create stress, we can create it around us too. I loved your post and I wish you and your son the very best in the future and I hope verything works out
What a kind comment, Leigh. Thank you.
What a beautiful post.
I just found your website, as I’m always looking for wholesome recipes for my family, and was touched to read about your efforts to heal your son. I, too, have been working for the past three years to heal my now-9-year-old son with autism. We have been *amazingly* fortunate in our journey, which included many of the approaches you listed- GFCF, whole foods, occupational therapy (not much help with us), and a calm environment. We also tried homeopathy which gave our son’s healing an added boost.
It took some time, but our son was able to move from high-functioning autism, to mild ADHD in 18 months, and we are beyond thrilled with his progress. Just in the past few months, we were even able to re-introduce gluten and casein into his diet with no reactions. Like you, we feel very blessed, and are grateful to the other parents who have shared their stories about what worked (and didn’t work) for their child. If you’re ever interested in reading about our son’s story, I’d be happy to send you the link.
All the best to you and your beautiful family.
I’d love to hear about your son. Thanks for taking the time to write. We are having a lot of anxiety issues w/ him right now so it’s a particularly rough time. Thanks for your kind wishes.
Even for those not on the spectrum, going GF helps a lot with that sort of behavior. Blessings to you on your journey!
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Thanks, Annie. We have gone GF. I am thinking we may need to go grain free next.
Hi Adrienne,
I just found your blog through the healthy home economist. I love your approach to healing your son!!! We have a ten year old daughter with PDD. We have tried many things with her. Right now we are working with Dr. James Neubrander. He recommends the GFCF diet and supplements and meds to get rid of the yeast. She is also on daily M-B12 shots. He also had us try the hyperbaric chamber. He is very scientifically based and orders tests along the way to see how the treatments are working. I haven’t seen a huge change in my daughter since we started this two years ago. My husband is convinced that he sees changes in her. I’m concerned because her stimming is off the charts right now. We also tried the GFCF diet twice with her. Once for a year and once for nine months. I didn’t see any change in her. Also, now that she is older, it is extremely difficult to keep her form getting restricted foods. She also has terrible constipation! Even massive doses of pro and prebiotics haven’t helped! Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks and keep up the good fight! You are doing a wonderful job with your son!! God bless you!!!!
Hi there. I personally avoided the candida meds. Supps are much safer, in my opinion. Did you try sugar free? About the constipation, there is a probiotic that I LOVE. But it might be being discontinued. Check out the link to Strata Flora on my Store page. It really helps. I have another bathroom help that I hope to share w/ readers soon. If you don’t see it soon, email me and I can send you more info.
Ummm..otherwise, if it were me, I’d for sure top all sugar and all refined grains and even fruit. I am very happy w/ our practitioner. I of course can’t tell you what to do but you might want to check out my post on adrenal fatigue and look up Theresa Vernon. Her info is there.
Blessings!!!!
Thanks so much!!! I will check those things out!! Thanks for your honesty and compassion!!!
My son is 18 now, and had at autism diagnosis at age 3. He has made a complete recovery, recently graduated from high school, and has joined the Army – he’ll be leaving for boot camp on Sunday.
The things that made the main difference in his life were speech and Occupational therapy, which I engaged in as training, and used 24/7 the rest of the time, starting at about 18 months.
At three, he was still profoundly affected, and I was introduced to Touch Pressure/Joint Compression therapy as a way to help him with sensory issues. This was a life changing practice for my son and when I asked his therapists why they didn’t tell me about this earlier (he was still waking up four or five times a night at age three, which was corrected within a week of starting the therapy), they said it was because most parent’s won’t do it, because of the time committment. I was kind of outraged but too busy catching up on three years of sleep to do anything about it. Within one week of starting the therapy he began sleeping through the night, and within two weeks he began putting together three-word sentences for the first time. Things progressed rapidly from there.
We weren’t really doing any real food, but my son made known to me that he wanted some dietary changes. As it turns out, his body prefers meat and real fats over vegetables and carbohydrates. Once, when I tried to make him eat a vegetable (green beans, which he still hates) he hollered, “YOU CAN ONLY FEED ME COOKIES, CANDY AND MEAT!” Meat it was.
As he got older, we switched to whole milk from 2%, to butter from margarine (!), from using modern fats to traditional ones, and eventually from whole milk to raw milk. Regarding allergies, I’d like to say that allergies can vary from person to person. If casein and gluten worked for your son, that’s awesome, but they are pretty individual, so it’s important to find out what your child’s particular sensitivities are and work on those. I would also like to say that cholesterol is a healing food.
At the age of 9, my son told his first lie (you parents of autistic children will understand what a triumph this is), and soon thereafter made his first genuine, unprompted apology. In 5th grade, he asked to stop receiving services at school, because it made him feel as though he were different from the other kids. In 9th grade, he was removed from the special education program altogether. When I asked the staff how often this happens, they said, “never”.
Today, my son is an awesome young man. He is slightly socially immature, which is fine, and he is one of my favorite people on all the earth. Frankly, if everyone could be more like him, we’d have a much better planet. He has a great sense of humor, several good friends, a relationship – a real one, with God, and is a very caring son. He wants to get married and have children, and not wait too long to do it. Though he’ll need to meet a girl, first. I guess I worry that he won’t be able to meet her emotional needs. I think she’ll need to be the type of person who asks for what she wants, which can be a rare quality in the under 30 female of our species, who always seem to want men to read their minds. But if he treats her half as well as he treats me (and he’d better), all she need do is ask, and he’ll treat her like a queen. And no, I’m not giving out his number.
So many families and so many stories. Thanks for this blog, which makes me feel less alone. Our son, aged 4, has just been diagnosed as having Asperger’s. He’s had a year and a half of occupational therapy and speech therapy; we’ve been advised to do more of this. We’ve been off gluten, dairy & eggs, after blood tests showed that these were the baddies, 8 months ago. He had vitamin therapy but as the (pricey)bottles ran out, we didn’t ever replace them, except for a multivitamin and vitamin D. He’s also taken homeopathic meds. Which of these explain that he’s doing slightly better? (Fewer melt-downs, and shorter ones. Progress in the language department.) Could you tell us how you’re getting enough calcium into your son? I’m a little bit worried about this part.
Hi Julie.
I get concerned abt calcium but there are different theories on that. With Nutritional Balancing he is taking a supp that has Ca in it. He eats a good amount of leafies usually. Sardines are great too. Does that help? You can purchase inexpensive Ca supps but you need to do research on balancing w/ Mg and D3.
Thanks for your kind words….by the way
. I’m going to start speech w/ my son soon.
Thank you, Adrienne, for your speedy reply! We do eat sardines, but should probably eat more. Our son drinks rice milk, which is supposed to have some calcium…but who knows what else it has in it? Then, there are almonds, but we haven’t been soaking and drying them so I don’t know if they count as helpful. Everyone keeps telling me about kale, but that seems hard to come by in France, where we live (and where the approach to autism is incidentally supposed to be more Dark Ages than anyplace else in the Western World.) That’s lucky that your son willingly eats his leafy greens. And now we’re going to try your ice cream recipes. Thanks again!
Julie,
Try looking at other leafies to see if you can get them. You could plant kale – can you have a garden? It grows super easy and your son might like my Kale Chips. If you are into saving money, you could just make your own rice milk (I have a recipe for that as well) and you can add your own calcium as need be. It is much cheaper that way. Sesame is a good source, by so far my son is allergic. Blessings!
Hi! I have a 20-year old with Aspergers. He drives, works part-time and goes to the community college part-time. We have found that “juicing” has been really beneficial. Our son eats organic foods & snacks (expect for pizza). It would be great to connect with someone in the Austin area. Thanks!
Hi Adrienne!
Thank you so much for posting your Autism blog! I found it incredibly useful! I have an 8 month old baby. I worry that she may have AS because I was really malnourished in the first trimester and lost about 20 lbs. maybe malnourishment affected her? However, by the grace of God she was born! She smiles back when smiled at. She barley let’s an unfamiliar face hold her. She is fine with her dad, grandparents, and my siblings carrying her. However, whenever she sees me, she always reaches out to me to hold her. Every times she sees a baby or child under 4 feet, she gets really excited and wants to touch their face.
She has received the first few immunization shot (about 7). I’ve decided to postpone it until she starts talking and behaving like her “normal” peers.
I have a question for you. I am curious about your 2nd son. Have you consented him to have any immunization shots? If he has received any would you mind sharing which ones?
I wanted to share this article I found about a lady who found a “cure” for her son’s AS condition. I hope you find it useful as well! God bless you!
Hi Marie. I only gave my son the HIB and a flu shot (I think) before I realized what was going on w/ my 1st son since he hadn’t been diagnosed yet. I am thinking about a few others but am consulting w/ my physician on this. There is a book that has an interesting chart in the back about a slowed down approach to vaccines. Here it is: Healing the Four Childhood Epidemics.
Here’s the article URL
http://www.facebook.com/notes/viviendo-philippines-inc/autism-and-virgin-coconut-oil/230106433699353
Very interesting. I had one practitioner tell me not to give my son coconut at all but I didn’t listen. Though now his anxiety is awful and I don’t know what to do. Sigh.
Aww I’m very sorry that it did not help significantly for you
….
Hey Adrienne I just have one little question for you. Please do not take this in any negative way. I am just really curious. If you would prefer to keep it private, I will understand justt fine.
I just want to know if your pregnancy with your first son was a pleasant one? (Would you say you ate healthily for the entire pregnancy? Had low stress levels? No complications whatsoever?)
I promise I am not trying to be condescending. I would really like to know.:) thank you so much for your time! I am truly greatful!
Hi Marie. I don’t see how I could take that condescendingly at all. I was not eating as healthy with my first pregnancy but it went fairly well. In fact, my horrible spring allergies were gone. I had fairly high stress since I was working and am a Type A personality and have always been pretty intense. I had no complications at all except the delivery was horrible. I had him at home and probably will share the story at some point. My second pregnancy was horrible. I think it is b/c I was copper toxic. I was horribly nauseous for all 9 months. I am eating healthier now than ever. But I THOUGHT I was eating healthy then. I had no idea how bad sugar was at the time. And refined flour. I was almost completely vegetarian. I was basically just beginning another step into learning about how to really eat. Bless you.
Have you looked into Dr. Klinghardts protocols and information regarding autism? I highly recommend his approach! He is big into EMF’s and creating an EMF free bedroom. Just a thought for your son and you. If you google Klinghardt Academy you can access lots of his writings. (Or go to betterhealthguy website). Peace.
Another reader mentioned this. we don’t have that much in the way of EMF’s but thank you. I am convinced it is getting harder and harder to eliminate them w/ the towers everywhere. Sigh.
Oh I have been so blessed to have found your site..I think you are doing an awesome job… My nephew they believe has Asperger’s I have been able to see the candida problem and when he was little he had food allergies which he has ate normal since he got older but I think the candida causes the allergies and he still has problems that make me think the food and yeast stuff is not gone.. I am curious if your son had vaccines? there is a high connection with the vaccine rates and autism. just curious if you had looked into that.. there are homeopathic detoxes out there for vaccines. I haven’t looked in to them much but I have seen them.. And for the supplement stuff I don’t know if you have heard of it but you can do muscle testing to see if the product is good for you or not.. if you were interested in it I could email you to tell you what I know about it.. It has a proper name that I don’t remember my house just calls it muscle testing..
Hi there. I wrote a post on vaccines and my son – if you search you can find it. Search “vaccines”. Yes, I have heard of muscle testing but I don’t know what to think about it. If you have something good go ahead and send it. Thanks.
Wow….very informative. Most of the information I knew but came across some regarding the adrenal system that I need to take a look into. Also the candida we battled, so this could be manifesting itself again into the issues we are having. I cant stress anymore than what you did Adrienne about the Low and Slow. With all kids, not just autistic children.
Yes, I need to remember that myself always.
Hi! I would love for you to do a post on probiotics. We use klaire ther biotic complete for my son and my daughter. My daughter (4) is somewhere along the lines of aspergers. My son (2) has terrible eczema that is currently being healed through a version of GAPS. He cannot tolerate nuts or eggs along with a ton of other foods, but rotating the foods he can tolerate has done wonders! We are all on an elimination rotation diet at present. I must say it is exhausting. My son eats mostly the cabbage family at present while my daughter is IgG sensitive to the cabbage family. And I’m sensitive to every spice!!
We are fortunate these sensitivities are not life threatening, but I am curious if you have done the elimination and rotation bit. If so, what did you think and how did it help/not help? I started holistic healing with my children just over a year ago. I am exhausted from the constant research and food preparation. We have so many sensitivities I don’t know how we can focus on candida. We’ve been GFCFSF for a year, whole foods and almost no processed foods. We are currently grain free along with countless foods at present. I will say once I removed coconut from my daughter’s diet her tantrums were way better.
I love your blog and am ecstatic that you are sharing your journey with all of us! Please know we are all Cheering you on and supporting you while we move along with similar health issues. I am so thankful for the Internet and the ability to communicate with other smart moms that are continually healing their kids.
All the best and God bless!
Hi there! I have done a post on probiotics but I haven’t heard of yours – the one that you mentioned. I am experimenting w/ a new kind. Were you looking for info on how they work or info on what kind is good?
What kind is good, thanks!
Did you find my post? Try searching for probiotics in the search bar.
. If you would like more info on the one that I am using now I would be happy to correspond via email – wholenewmom at gmail dot com.
My 8 year old son has been on the GAPS protocol for 18 months and it has saved our lives. He stopped stimming. He stopped crying constantly. His body language relaxed. He became able to talk about something other than his special interest. He acquired friends. He was able to start school again. He began sleeping through the night. His insomnia disappeared. His meltdowns have gone from 3 or 4 a week to maybe one per month. He looks me in the eye. He is no longer constipated. He talks about his feelings. He no longer feels pain and tingling on his head and hands. He no longer has full on panic attacks (though he is still struggling with some situational anxiety). But very very best of all, he started giggling and smiling once again.
I BESEECH YOU TO INVESTIGATE THE GAPS PROTOCOL. IF YOU OR YOUR CHILDREN ARE ILL. The earlier you start the better the outcome. GAPS is a challenge to master but still much easier than the stress of watching your child disintegrate or live in distress.
Every human should be taught in school what your intestines do for your body. It’s insane but medical doctors have no nutritional training or any schooling on gut mechanics (unless it’s their specialty). Your guts aren’t just important to your health, they ARE your health. They generate your immune response, cull out toxins, viruses and heavy metals. They are intimately tied to your mental health (they generate most of the serotonin our brain needs for example), they host a living foreign genetically independent ecology that doesn’t just aid in digestion but is responsible for breaking down and assimilating most of what you absorb from food. You would die without what is growing and living in your guts. The complicated majesty of your gut ecology is staggering. When it breaks down, YOU break down (psychiatric diseases, vitamin deficiencies, food intolerances, auto-immune diseases, allergies, eczema, autism etc etc etc etc).
Systemic chronic yeast infections, constipation and chronic illness (treated with longterm back to back antibiotics for years on end) in my own life left me with an out of balance gut ecology. Our babies have sterile guts at birth and the intestines are seeded with the mother’s gut flora. We pass on the healthy or unhealthy gut flora to our children – then the modern world continues to assault their internal ecology. I believe autism is nearly always the result of a systemic collapse of gut functionality.
My third ds does some things now and then that remind me of autism. Some people really see it, others not so much. When he took swimming lessons, the instructor told me to have him tested for sure. (He had been-and was not diagnosed)But the sensory stimulation of water sent him into such a “zone” that was almost in another world. Music has been interesting, too. Classical calms, while a recent trip to a mini-golf park completely overwhelmed him. He was racing around and unable to concentrate at all.
We do work with a alternative practitioner and he takes some supplements like probiotics and EFA’s, essential oils, etc. Those things have helped. She had us do GF/CF for a while and he hated it so much. I was relieved to be done, but I wonder if it was long enough. I’ve considered doing GAPS for a while.
He did not have any vax at all-was born at home-no meds. But I did have an emergency appendectomy during my first trimester-lots of morphine, some Lortab(which I cannot handle at all) an epidural for the surgery and an amnesiac when that didn’t work. So, a true mess!
I intend to look up this Nutritional Balancing idea!
Thanks for your website!
Lo and Slow! That is brilliant and so true. Something I struggle with. As my anxiety levels go up, so do my sons. Then he acts out more and I get more frustrated. Still working on this but thanks for the reminder.
We are gluten free/cassin free, about to start OT, speech etc.
Me too. Need to read this every minute of every day.
Saw this…the oil cured my H Pylori…so i thought i would share…U probably already know about this…but here it is http://coconutoil.com/aspergers-disorder-success-with-coconut-oil-and-diet/ may God continue to bless u & ur family
I have autism, I am 18 years old. I like your post because I approve of the therapies you used and it doesn’t talk a lot about a “cure”. My personal opinion is that autism isn’t caused by toxins or anything, it’s genetic, but it comes with being more vulnerable to a lot of toxins. I don’t think vaccines make people autistic, I think they make autistic people very sick. It is very sad about your son’s panic attacks. I’m glad they got better. I really wish people could say that vaccines are no good without bringing up that they cause autism, because that implies that autism is bad, and autistic people face a lot of discrimination anyways. But I do GFCF – gluten gives me horrible stomachaches and dairy makes me depressed and gives me stomachaches. And I try to avoid toxic things
I wish that the subjects of leading a natural, whole foods lifestyle and seeing autism in a more positive light were more compatible.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Bethany. You are right in that there are many things that are positive about autism. There are a lot of things I would not wish to see changed about my son. At the same time, there are issues he still struggles with that I wish would go away. That being said, I agree that there is not one thing that causes autism–but many factors. You might be interested in my post about I Am Thankful For Autism.
my son was diagnosed with PPD NOS. I worked my but off trying to find the cure to his suffering..he was in severe physical pain from his gut as well as severe violent behavior…..
healing is possible….I also am engaged (and madly in love)to a man who is aspergers….and we have had many a discussion about the autism personality verses the many health issues caused by enviromental toxins…
My Boyfriend has Asperger’s he is now 49 yrs old , I met him 7 yrs ago and I believe that my love in God in Jesus has helped me tremendously in dealing with this. He has changed so much bc of my Love towards him, my patience and peace in Loving him. He use to be more socially awkward before not as much now like a 60-70% improvement I would say. He has also been eating healthy for over 2 yrs I believe this has also helped him alot as well. I just keep praying for his salvation and the day he let’s Jesus into his heart and accepts him as his Lord and savior. I believe that day is close and coming soon. thank you Lord Thank You Jesus I believe this with all my heart.
Thanks for sharing. God’s love is miraculous and food choices are important as well.