Our Son’s Autism–The Best Therapy of All
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Autism can turn a person's life and their family's lives upside down. Thankfully, there are some autism therapies that can help smooth things out so that life can be more manageable.
Following are some things that have helped us, including the best autism support of all.
Our oldest son has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and we have been on the road of supporting him using therapies, diet changes, and more for some 5 years now. We've put him on a gluten-free diet, a candida diet, we use only non-toxic personal care products and we drink only filtered water.
In short, we've tried a lot of things to get him healthier, and while we've seen progress, it's been a long road.
A long “are we getting anywhere yet?” road.
The start of the road was a fast and furious one. Well–actually, I take that back.
It 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 things others had tried, wondering if what other parents had helped children —might.just.help.mine.
I do not want to insinuate that what we 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 not sharing 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 path with autism. Some successes. Some “failures”. What we have done and what we are doing now. And what I think is perhaps the best supportive technique of all.
Natural Supports for Autism
1. Occupational Therapy
We did quite a bit of OT at the beginning of our journey with autism–both in-house and in various clinics. Sensory Integration, massage, touch, and brushing were all part of what we worked on. It was time consuming to keep going to clinics, so eventually we pulled most of it in-house and did various therapies with balls, etc.
I have to say that we enjoyed it and I think our son did improve with this therapy.
One of the books that we found to be helpful that touches on Occupational Therapy is 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 upfront and quickly moved on.
Luckily, I still had all my hair :-).
Update 4/17: After trying out several different practitioners, we are going back to this and moving much more slowly. It's based on MTHFR and other genetic testing. I've seen some improvement and am thinking we'll be checking this out more.
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 support them having healthier guts and overall health.
Putting “junk” food into a broken body will just continue to muck up the mechanisms and create all kinds of problems and prevent many health gains from happening.
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. Simply gorgeous, in fact. 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.
And while it can be tough to keep your child (or yourself) on a special diet, here are some tips to help you do just that.
4. Nutritional Balancing / Hair Analysis
For awhile, we tried this approach, but frankly, we didn't see much benefit. I know that a lot of people think that Hair Mineral Analysis is great, I don't personally know how much weight should be put on it. So many things can skew it, and the relationship between what is in one's hair and what is in one's body seems complicated to me at best.
We spent a lot of money on the evaluations and supplements with very little improvement.
5. Essential Oils
As I mentioned in my post on Natural Sleeping Tips, I have begun gradually experimenting with essential oils. One way that I have been using these with our son is when his anxiety gets out of control.
Every night my son asks me to use lavender oil to prevent bad dreams. Seems to work :). Sometimes younger brother asks for it too. (You can read Which Essential Oils Company is Best for more information on how I chose which essential oils company to go with.)
The oils 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 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 it's crucial to whole wellness.
Basically, the more stressed out one is, the fewer toxins are filtered out of the body, digestion 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 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).
Have you had any natural supports help your child?
Hello, my name is Elaine and i have a 27 year old severely autistic son we found out when he was 3 years old its been a very long hard road for my family and i but mostly for Evan ( that’s his name) he is non-verbal however he can communicate and interact with people somewhat. he is presently taking 5 prescription medications that has him so off balance its killing me to see him suffer i’m ready to do something natural to help my baby this is something ive wanted to try foe a while now but i was frowned upon by medical professionals not to. Going against his doctors im ready to try a different and healthy approach.
Hello Elaine. I’m sorry you are having such a hard time. Can we help? I have a new Healthy Living Community on Facebook that you are welcome to join if you’d like. Very helpful people there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
Hi
Yes Diet is an important part of autism recovery but what you really need to do is get the heavy metals out of the brain, that’s the true cause of autism, the GI system issues are a knock on effect, if you just focus on GI you will see some improvement but usually won’t achieve recovery. I have to post this because it sadness me to hear that good parents are throwing so much energy at the things that aren’t going to make much impact and completely neglect the things that do. Natural chelation using products like Hawaiian spirulina, wild blueberries from Maine, cilantro, and products like NDF by bioray are the way to go, and then the diet should support the child’s ability to detox and repair. A diet loaded with fat only slows the detox process it thickens the blood and lymph, overburdens the liver, adrenals etc and doesn’t allow the glucose that the brain and liver thrive on to get too these organs. These kids need a whole foods plant based low fat diet, filled with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, potatoes, some beans and healthy grains like quinoa or millet and healthy fats like avocado, hemp seeds and some nuts.
Hi Kate – thanks for this. We actually have done a lot more than what is in the post. I am pretty knowledgable about spirulina but I have heard it can cause the onset of autoimmune issues. What are your thoughts on that? I have heard about NDF. And potatoes are nightshades so isn’t that a concern? I have heard many people saying that grains are not good. There are so many schools of thought! Can you tell me where you got this info especially the fat part? Our son loves fat.
When you say Wild Blueberries from Maine is that the name brand? Please clarify. Thanks so much! 😉
Hello there, I just stumbled upon this blog entry and I was wondering if you have read the book Gut and Psychologie Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell Mcbride. You probably did but I was thinking I should still ask just in case you haven’t. I would wholeheartedly recommend to start with the introduction Gaps diet. She has healed her own 2 year old son from autism and so many other kids as well with that diet. Wish you all the best. Much love
Hi there. Yes, we have tried a basic GAPS for awhile and it didn’t do anything. But thank you!! We are working w/ a new practitioner now. Hopeful for more changes but things are better. CBD-rich hemp oil really helped. You can read about our experience here: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/cbd-experience/
Hey Adrienne, thank you for the quick response. I’m curious…by basic gaps diet do you mean the introduction diet or the full gaps diet? My 2 year old daughter has eczema for about 6 months now. The first 3 months it was just a small red patch on her tummy but we didn’t know it was eczema back then. Then after getting the hand foot mouth disease and therefore eating nothing but toast bread, cream cheese, butter, banana and chocolates it escalated and spread all over her tummy, thighs and behind knees. We tried eliminating grains, dairy, eggs and nightshades..it got better but the eczema on her legs are still remaining. We started doing the gaps introduction diet 2 weeks ago and her eczema was completely cleared within 1 week, but unfortunately before we could continue and gradually introduce more foods slowly we had to stop, because she just was so over it and was crying to eat fruits, eggs, yogurt and to juice vegetables. Just within a day her eczema on the legs returned as her gut obviously could not heal yet during that short period of time. Now I am not sure what to do. I still give her meat stocks and bone broth and fermented foods daily and I just hope that her gut will heal eventually with time and by eating whole foods. I have heard of CBD oil before. Can it help with gut healing and Is it safe to give to a 2 year old?
Thank you so much in advance
Sure!
My son has a big aversion to broth and is deathly allergic to egg white so we went w/ the full GAPS. We have tried so many things. I have a lot of thoughts. We are looking at methylation issues and the gut, of course. CBD-rich hemp oil is basically from hemp. There are some who say it’s great for gut healing. I met 1 practitioner who said it’s key. I don’t know but you could do an internet search to see about it. My husband feels it has helped his digestion as I mentioned in the post. I have seen the oil used for many children–it’s used for kids w/ brain issues. Did you see the preclinical study on the gut supplement in that post? I will link to it here. It’s very interesting. https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.soundconcepts.com/webroot_purium/assets/pdf/BiomeMedicResearchResults-PressRelease-Oct2620171-6667d2bc.pdf
I with this was easier but it seems there are so many things going on and detox is for sure one of them so I think liver work is important. I think I should do a more concise post but this one has a ton of information: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxins-liver-detox-liver-cleanse-liver-health/
How long did your son stay on the Nutritional Balancing Program?
I would have to look but at least a year and we didn’t see much progress if any. Other things that we have done since then have helped. This post tells more of the story and I will be writing more. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/cbd-experience/
We have heard and read good things about NAET therapy. I myself have done 4 treatments for ulcerative colitis and have already noticed improvement. I hope to atart my daughters soon. It is therapy to rid yourself of food allergies and intolerances. Google NAET and autism, depression etc. You need to find a well trained practioner. There are many classes one can take in this therapy and I think experience is important too.
I am looking into this – thanks. We have gone to 2 visits, actually. Really not sure what to think right now. I have a few concerns. She is very highly regarded but she has said a few things that didn’t make sense and when I pointed them out she seemed upset about it. That doesn’t mean her work doesn’t work, but it bothered me. I am not giving up yet….but we are also talking to a new practitioner and I’m very enthused about her. Please do stay in touch about this.
Have you tried MMS? as I have heard of many cures by MMS that miracle mineral solution. I mean if there have been numerous cures by using a certain method why not give it a try? after all they use nitroglycerin for incredible things and they use rat poison as a great blood thinner. God bless you all.
As we have lack of comprehensive studies on use of cannabis for autism treatment but still saw some cases where parents used CBD rich oils for their autistic children and got positive response.
Hey Adrienne,
I just spent a bunch of time reading about essential oils, largely on your site, as I have done in the past. As someone who’s done extensive internet research on numerous topics, I really appreciate your rare attention to detail and exhaustive effort in leaving no stone unturned. 90+% of what I find online is poorly researched and often just repeated. Your work is a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
While I was browsing your site, I read that your son has autism. I was reminded of another subject I recently researched extensively – MMS. MMS is a controversial remedy which has been used to treat everything from autism to cancer, and which proponents call the most powerful pathogen killer known to man.
Having gone deep into the rabbit hole on the subject, I believe there is much validity to it, despite a lack of agreement on the science from both critics and proponents alike. I was curious as to whether you’ve heard of it (a search of your site yields only two visitor comments on it), and if it’s something that you find of interest. Having developed a respect for your research capabilities, I would be very interested to hear your take.
Here are some links you can check out:
https://cdautism.org/
https://archive.org/details/Understanding_MMS_Jim_Humble
In your article above, you mention CBD oil and a gift card for those who would like to try it. I have heard a lot about it and am indeed interested. (I have emailed you as well.)
Thanks.
Hi there. Thanks for reading. Got your email and responded – look forward to hearing from you.
The biggest problem with CBD oils is most are FAKE. Recall the investigative news journalist with an autistic son with epilepsy? He discovered the CBD oils pawned by mostly greedy pot pushers is fake. Thus, he went for Epidiolex, which is much more reputable.
Hi there. Thanks for commenting. You think that most are fake? I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a lot of monkey business going on in the industry, but please do tell. What program are you talking about?
Why not go with a company that has tests to back up their purity? I would rather not support Big Pharma – you think they aren’t greedy? Please do share.
I could not add to my last comment because it was too long. I notice that one commenter said her child was healing with living foods. Absolutely! Fruit is a living food. Do not be afraid of candida with fruit. Fat is the culprit. If you are eating a lot of fat, the fruit sugar cannot get to the cells and stays in the blood which raises blood sugar and feeds candida. A predominantly low fat fruit diet will detoxify the body. Be aware that symptoms may get worse for a few weeks/months before you will see a remarkable change. The toxins will cause these symptoms as they are moving.
Hi Debbie. I’m sorry but I don’t agree. I have seen this theory but candida is a yeast and sugar feeds yeast. I don’t see how this can be true scientifically. If you have proof please do share it but I just don’t believe it. Thank you.
Also, veggies are a living food and so are raw nuts and seeds. And raw milk. So I don’t see how making the argument that one needs to have raw fruit to heal makes sense either. Thoughts?