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Avoiding allergies and immune reactions such as IgG food sensitivities can be a big part of helping children on the autism spectrum improve. As always, this assumes that you have found a problem in this area. We all know how varied not only are the children but are the triggers to their conditions. In any event, I have been asked by several parents who do have children with issues relating mostly to IgG food sensitivities about food labels and how to really interpret them. What they really mean. We all know that many times gluten-free may not necessarily be truly gluten free. So here is the page from the FDA explaining what they mean with regard to food allergies and labels. It is also a nice place to begin and further navigate the site if you have other interests.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079311.htm
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One of the major findings with biomedical interventions and functional medicine as applied to autism spectrum disorders is gluten sensitivity. I found a nice video series Children’s Hospital in Boston that explains how to create a gluten-free home. In addition, this is only one of a series of videos which relates to things such as gluten-free cooking and gluten-free shopping. So check out this video and feel free to check out the entire series. I think the series will be very informative even to those of you who are experienced with the gluten-free diet. For those who are brand-new to the diet this is a wealth of information in a nice concise and easy to learn format. Just watch and learn.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ChildrensHospital#p/u/48/neqJJy-2INg
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It is common in the office to test patients with autism spectrum disorder for a leaky gut syndrome. Part of the protocol to address leaky gut syndrome is to eliminate irritants such as food sensitivities. Acquiring this information regarding which foods you are sensitive to can be determined by the elimination diet and/or IgG food sensitivity testing. The most famous foods for IgG/food sensitivity is our gluten and casein. This however does not mean that other food sensitivities may be present and affecting the patient who is on the spectrum. IgG testing can be relatively inexpensive especially when the benefit of eliminating foods causing an IgG reaction can be identified and eliminated from the diet. Most of the specialty labs will test for approximately 90 foods in categories such as dairy, fish, fruits, nuts, grains, meat, and vegetables. The amount of foods tested can be expanded for a greater expense. Just as important as finding out what the person with autism spectrum disorder is reacting to is adapting the diet in order to avoid those foods. Below is a link to a website in which you can look up a particular food and see what are good substitutes in your recipes for that food. This is in hopes of course that the recipes taste is not altered and therefore life is not altered too much. The website has many many foods on it, not just gluten and casein substitutes. I hope it helps especially with your holiday recipes. Happy holidays!
http://www.switcheroo.com/
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One of the major concepts in functional neurology and hemispheric integration therapy is the concept of neuroplasticity. Thus, whenever I find some information relating to plasticity I like to share it with you. Once again, the video is not related to the treatment of a child with an autism spectrum disorder but is a good example of plasticity and how the brain can rewire based on the circumstances presented to it. In this video the girl has a surgery where half of her brain is removed. Whenever I find examples such as this I like to remind parents of children with autism that if the child in this video can function as well as she does with half a brain then certainly there is great potential for your child with autism who has their entire brain. Here’s the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSu9HGnlMV0&feature=related
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We are currently treating a six-year-old child whose chief complaint upon his first visit was lack of muscle tone, poor vision difficulty processing language. He also has some issues with focus and impulse control. Not all, but many of the techniques and treatments used in functional neurology and hemispheric integration therapy require patient cooperation. That is, many times the patient must mimic movements or patterns. Eye movements and exercises are also frequently used. That is to say that some of the techniques can be done to the patient or for the patient while others have to be done by the patient. This mom clearly loves her child and is trying to get the most out of the treatment sessions each and every time. Originally, the child was fascinated with fish. Therefore mom brought it stickers with fish on them and even created colorful fish drawings and cut outs in order to increase the child’s focus on the particular task at hand. After about an month of treatment the child suddenly switched from fish to dogs. The next day, mom came in with dog stickers as well as home made stickers of the child’s pet dog. This has made a great difference with this child attention and focus. The child is happier, I am happier, and mom is happier. I always say that no one knows your child as well as you do. No one knows when to be firm with the child and how firm to be like you do. And no one knows what will motivate the child like you do. These insider tips from mom and this collaborative effort only benefit the child and increase the chances of a better end result. This is something that as a doctor treating children with autism spectrum disorders is tremendously appreciated. From my point of view, nothing is more valuable than an involved and in tune parent.
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I just finished treating an adult child of a parent with autism. This mom is very knowledgeable as she has done many treatments and and therapies over the years. She has experience with legal issues, dealing with the state and is just overall an amazing person. She is your classic warrior mom and will do anything and has done many things for her child. She is always a wealth of information at our support group meetings. Today, she enlighten me by telling me about cruises for families with a child with autism. She was telling me about special activities and staffing accommodations for the families. Overall, it sounded great and I wanted to share this with you. Here’s the link.
http://www.alumnicruises.org/Autism/Autism_Home.htm
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Any time I find someone who is offering free resources to the autism community I make those available to you by pointing you in the direction of those kind enough to provide the information and resources. In this case, I came across a a website which offers a lot of general autism information but in addition has some good information regarding PECS picture exchange communication system and their use for children on the autism spectrum. The owner of the site as a nonverbal child with autism and has seen good results PECS. These results motivated her to provide this information and service autism community. Here is the link, I hope this helps someone out there.
http://asdvisualresources.weebly.com/index.html
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I came across this article entitled 10 myths about autism which I thought was interesting and informative and so I pass it along to you. Anytime an article like this is written it helps increase awareness and educate the general public regarding much misinformation and ignorance that commonly passes as autism information. Anytime we can shift the misconceptions toward more factual information it helps all of us whether parent, patient or practitioner. These small steps toward providing more accurate information will eventually change public perception and perhaps influence some legislation and funding for autism spectrum disorders.
http://nursepractitionerschools.org/10-myths-about-autism/
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In the autism community, vaccinations are a huge issue. This is due to potential heavy metal toxicity such as those relating to mercury and/or aluminum. Thus, as a functional medicine practitioner and one who does biomedical interventions for autism spectrum disorders, many times parents present to the office wanting to have their child tested for heavy metals and perhaps even to undergo chelation. In reality, many parents want to have their child undergo chelation many times without even having tested for heavy metals. That is, they assume that since their child worsened after vaccinations, mercury and/or aluminum toxicity is the key. Using this reasoning they want to chelate immediately. However, chelation is not something that can be entered into lightly. Chelation as defined by Wikipedia “is the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. For the most common forms of heavy metal intoxication — those involving lead, arsenic or mercury — the standard of care in the USA dictates the use of dimercaptosuccinic acid DMSA” or other chelating agents depending on which metal you are trying to remove. This article is to point out some preparatory steps and contraindications to chelation. When heavy-metals are chelated from the body many minerals are also removed from the body. Therefore, a period of remineralization has to be implemented. Thus, if the patient has a leaky gut syndrome and therefore possible malabsorption, it will be difficult to remineralize the patient in order to bring him back to optimal health and not cause further damage to the patient. The removal of toxins in the body takes place through the liver, the kidneys and the skin. Therefore, in any type of detoxification procedure including heavy-metal detoxification test involving liver function and kidney function should be performed prior to engaging in chelation. There is also the question of whether the lab work is being interpreted on a functional basis or a normal basis. That is the reference ranges used to interpret some of the testing on a functional basis are usually more stringent in order to verify optimal organ function as opposed to acceptable organ function. Clearly, if you’re going to engage in a detoxification process in which you’re going to strain the organs of detoxification you would want them to be functioning optimally rather than just functioning acceptably prior to engaging in the chelation. Much of the waste and toxins are eliminated through the urine and feces. The feces are eliminated through the colon. If the patient suffers from constipation then he more than likely has an increase in absorption of toxins in the colon. Therefore, it would make little sense to increase that toxic load with chelation in a patient who is constipated. In functional medicine, we are always describing a term called “total load”. That is the total sum of all the stresses on the body. That could be things such as heavy-metals, oxidative stress, dysbiois and yeast infection as well as malabsorption and malnutrition. In the case of a child with autism we know that something decompensated the system or increased that total load beyond capacity. As such, we would not want to do anything to increase the load further by creating a greater release of toxins in the body of which it is not able to process and eliminate. Thus, even if your child has tested positive for heavy metals, chelation is not something that can be rushed into. There are other processes which should be evaluated prior to engaging in chelation. Things such as leaky gut, liver and kidney function as well as general gastrointestinal health should be evaluated. From a parent standpoint, if your child suffers from constipation I would be concerned with proceeding with chelation. If you suspect your child has the leaky gut or has tested positive for leaky gut I would also be concerned with proceeding with chelation. As always this is general information for parents and patients and I always recommend that you seek out a qualified functional medicine practitioner who should be aware of these issues prior to engaging in any type of heavy-metal detoxification and/or chelation.
