Autism, Aspergers, PDD/NOS, ADD/ADHD

[AHappychick]

Congratulations on everything you all have accomplished. You have a beautiful son. Sadly and happily yours is not the first story I have heard about a child overcoming Autism through various treatments, the problem is that no one hears about it. I am gonna forward this to many women in your situation to show that there is hope.

I am so happy for your family and that you never gave up I have for a long time felt that a lot of the autism diagnosed these days is being cause by outside environmental factors and would love a complete list of treatments you provided your son that helped to counter act the effects of autism. Wow you are great parents!!!!

 

[Wifezilla]

Chelation therapy is a tough subject. While there are some people it has helped, other autistic children have died because of it.

 

[BeardedChick]

Quote:
I happens. Even my low-functioning autistic son makes progress all the time (he is 19 now)

Here is a theory on autism I find the most logical. It would point to the cod liver oil as a possible source of your son's turn around....

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/

Really, really interesting link. God bless him, Mr. BeardedChick is high functioning Aspergers. Favorite winter activity - basking in the warm glow of the TV in the basement. Can't get him outside, while I do the outside chores, walk the dogs, snowshoe, etc.

He definitely falls into being an absolute light-avoiding potato mid winter, and his AS traits are 'worse'. I hate to put a value judgement on it, but it's hard to explain it otherwise so forgive me. In summer when I can encourage him to get out and walk every day, symptoms are much 'better'. I always thought it was the walking, but maybe there's a vit. D component going on, too. Our best years were the ones where we were out doing things - hiking, biking, rollerblading, etc. and the hardest have been the ones where he's slowly retreated into a virtual world.

Vit. D is easily worth a try.

 

[crazy hen quartet]

Quote:
This is a touchy subject, and I am well aware of the concerns out there. This is why it is SO important for parents to thoroughly research treatment options BEFORE they begin anything.

In the last four years, I have heard of one death in a child due to chelation. It is a very sad story, but more importantly it was a medication error. The child was given the wrong form of EDTA - one that binds to Calcium and causes irregular heart rhythms rather than binding to heavy metals.

There are medication error related deaths in this country mounting in the hundreds of thousands every year. To have only one from chelation is actually quite low.

We have chelated on and off for three years and I would do it again in a heart beat. I am hesitant to use IV chelation, and have instead used the FDA approved oral chelator for Lead toxicity.. so we used it on label for it's approved use in the suggested dose and with doctor supervision. I know many many parents who have used IV and unapproved/off label chelators and they have seen much benefit, some have recovered completely.. and I have no criticism of their choices. I just did what I thought was best for us.

At the end of the day all I can say is... research, research, research. and if you aren't comfortable with it, then don't do it!

 

[crazy hen quartet]

Quote:
I happens. Even my low-functioning autistic son makes progress all the time (he is 19 now)

Here is a theory on autism I find the most logical. It would point to the cod liver oil as a possible source of your son's turn around....

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/

Really, really interesting link. God bless him, Mr. BeardedChick is high functioning Aspergers. Favorite winter activity - basking in the warm glow of the TV in the basement. Can't get him outside, while I do the outside chores, walk the dogs, snowshoe, etc.

He definitely falls into being an absolute light-avoiding potato mid winter, and his AS traits are 'worse'. I hate to put a value judgement on it, but it's hard to explain it otherwise so forgive me. In summer when I can encourage him to get out and walk every day, symptoms are much 'better'. I always thought it was the walking, but maybe there's a vit. D component going on, too. Our best years were the ones where we were out doing things - hiking, biking, rollerblading, etc. and the hardest have been the ones where he's slowly retreated into a virtual world.

Vit. D is easily worth a try.

Thats funny... my son likes to lay on the floor in the sunny spots from the windows. I used to think it was cause he likes to be near the cat, maybe it is just for the Vit D!! My son also does much better when he spends time outdoors.

There is actually a Yahoo group for autism and Vitamin D.

 

[rooster0209]

Im not sure what to say, except WOW to you and your family for doing what you thought was best for your son. I hope this inspires others who are also in your situation and gives them hope.

This reminds me of an article I read in Newsweek about 'labeling our kids' and medicating the 'individuality' out of them. The article was full of stories about children like yours. I think sometimes the medical group tries too hard to pin a label on an individual, give them a pill so they conform to what is perceived "normal".

A daughter who wore her clothes inside out cause they were scratchy and could hear spiders crawling on the wall. The dr's labelled her autistic and wanted to medicate her. The mother said NO and worked with her child, in some of the same ways you did. She even stated that sometimes, there were actually spiders on the wall, when the little girl heard them.

A 5 yr old boy was always engrossed in architecture. All he wanted to do was read books on it and talk about it and build with his building sets. In school the teachers were not amused and dr's wanted to medicate him so he could concentrate on other things. Again, this mother said No. She was working with her son, so he could at least try to relate to kids his age.

The article posed the question, "Are we medicating the genius out of our children?" What if these drugs were used on Van Gough, Einstein, Mozart?

 

[Wifezilla]

Vit. D is easily worth a try.

Mr BeardedChick can just put this in his favorite beverage.

I take anywhere from 6000IU/day to 10,000/day. As we age, our ability to properly utilize vitamin D goes down....being overweight also effects vitamin D. Since I am both over 45 and overweight...LOL

The stuff that is added to food is such a small amount is it practically useless. Sun exposure without burning is the best way to get your D, but if you live up north or work in doors all day, getting the required amount is almost impossible. That is where a D3 supplement comes in. Fears on overdosing are WAY overblown. It takes an INFANT several MONTHS on a dosage of 40,000IU/day to start showing signs of overdose.

The best way to know if you need D is to get your blood levels tested.

One more thing....vitamin D is a FAT SOLUBLE vitamin. You need to have fat for your body to use it.​

 

[crazy hen quartet]

Quote:
I feel the same way, I have heard it said that Einstein, Mozart, Van Gough, Newton.. many great thinkers were clearly on the spectrum.. and many consider Bill Gates a poster boy for Aspergers.

I was worried with my son at first, that these treatments would not just change the negative stuff (no eye contact, no emotional reciprocity, no friends, no social language etc) but maybe get rid of the stuff I considered good (incredible ability to absorb and retain tons of information, a drive to know how things work, ability to concentrate very intensely) and to my delight the treatments we have used have not only rid him of the negative but enhanced his ability to utilize the positive. Now he can read about his interests and spends hours on the internet or nose in books researching, then he sits down and draws schematics, catalogs.. all sorts of crazy stuff. He can clearly ask questions, state opinions and thoughts and shares his interests with others in a more social way. Its incredible. I can't wait to see what he does with his life.

Drugs... they are thrown around all to easily. Sometimes they are needed, but for the most part I feel this society takes a pill as a band aid for a symptom rather than figuring out what the root cause of the symptom is and fixing that. I heard an analogy once that our western medical practices are akin to cutting the wire when your oil light comes on instead of checking your oil.

 

[Msbear]

Thanks so much for sharing your story. Your son is beautiful and very fortunate to have a mother like you.

I want you to know that I forwarded your story to everyone on my contact list and asked them to forward to anyone who has a child suffering from one of these developmental disorders. Good Luck to you and your family.

 

[coloradochick]

Hey all, my son has a seizure disorder, uncontrolled seizures, is on 3 meds, has had the Vegus Nerve stimulator implanted (no change, want to take it out), had a Corpus Callusotomy (sp) a year ago August (no change, can't reverse) and severe delays in all areas, and was diagnosed with Autism last summer and she put him on Abilify (no change). He's 9.

My 7 year old daughter has been diagnosed ADHD, my husband had it when he was that age and they say it's hereditary (?). She's taking Vyvanse which has been a blessing for her at school and at home on the weekends but wears off by the time she hits the door home from school and it's downhill from there.

So, I have talked to several people about diet change and wholeheartedly believe that this would make a huge difference. Is there somewhere that has a list of the foods and brands that I could copy and go from there? The GFCF foods?

Zilla, do you get your vitamin D from Vitamin Cottage or somewhere else?

Cara