Helping Your Autistic Toddler to Recover

    Silas was our fourth child and from very early on we knew something was different about him. Much to our dismay he did not want to cuddle, he cried constantly, broke things, and at 23 months still could not talk. We had him observed and were not surprised with the diagnosis of autism. We enrolled him in an early childhood intervention program but he was not progressing and was still tantrumming many, many times a day. We decided to look further for some help for him.

Here are some of the therapies/treatments that have been successful many times over in recovering autistic children and they have helped Silas wonders! Methyl b12 supplementation - By far the most successful in treating autism. I know it sounds scary but the "methyl" part just means that it has already been processed for their body. Typical bodies methylate b12 from vitamins and food, for some reason autistic children are unable to do this process. B12 is necessary in aiding the body in toxin removal. We started with a dissolvable pill and gave it everyday. We now give him a b-12 shot every three days. The shots have been shown to be far superior to the pills. Silas responded quickly. Within ten days he finally mimicked two of my words and he was making eye contact with us.

As the days went by, he noticed his brothers and sister and he began to enjoy us in little bits. He is now turning 3 and talks almost non-stop. He laughs when something funny happens and he can now be in a crowd with minimal fear. He is counting down the days until his birthday party. Of course we will have a big one this year since he has been terrified of his party in the past! Liquid Multivitamin with borage and fish oils - I found a liquid multivitamin on-line that included trace minerals and borage oil. It also includes enzymes to aid in digestion. Fish oils and borage oils have also been reported to be in short supply in autistic children. They help with language and learning skills. Find a multivitamin that is food derived, not mechanically formed. Get rid of toxins! - Autistic children have been shown to be in toxic overload. For some reason, they are not able to get rid of their toxins at the rate of a typical person.

This causes all kinds of behavioral and immune problems. Install a reverse osmosis water filtration system in your home. Chlorine, fluoride, and the other elements present in water are toxic to your child! Replace home cleaning supplies with naturally derived cleaning supplies. If you need a "clean smell", use essential oils. Use natural bath soaps and for detox, add 1 cup of epsom salts to every bath. Read food labels; if they contain words that you cannot pronounce, put the food back on the shelf. Eat fresh vegetables and meats whenever possible, food preservatives are toxins! Melatonin supplementation - A large number of children on the spectrum do not sleep much. Silas happens to be one of these. He stays up late, finally goes to sleep only for a few hours, and is up around two in the morning ready to start the day. Melatonin not only helps him to sleep but is required for the brain to produce glutathione (helps rid body of toxins).

This is a two-fold benefit for autistic children. I give Silas 6 mg of Melatonin every night. Gluten/Dairy free diet - Because of their sensitive and weakened immune systems, autistic children cannot tolerate gluten and many times cannot tolerate the dairy protein casein. Some children have been reported to start talking only after dairy was removed from their diet. This diet can be very difficult at first, it requires some creativity. As long as you stick with mostly fresh meat, fruits, and vegetables, you will be gluten free. Gluten is found in wheat, barley (malt), and rye and some oats. There are so many options these days for other types of flour, even ways to make your own. Some examples of substitute flours are sorghum, bean, rice, corn, flax, almond, etc.

There are even gluten free sections in most grocery stores and superstores. Even harder for us was the dairy free. We drink and cook with almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, or soy milk. What Silas misses the most is cheese. The health food stores carry some cheese substitutions and some grocery stores carry soy or vegetable cheese. This diet is very important for Silas's immune system. Gluten and dairy cause inflammation in his digestive system which then triggers an immune response. Silas is then highly susceptible to strep and other viral infections. The immune response can also cause swelling in the brain. The swelling in the brain causes the autistic behaviors.

Those are scary words and are the reason we have decided it is worth the inconvenience of the diet! Raising an autistic child has proven to be the most difficult task of my life. It is a long bumpy road and sometimes it seemed there was no reward for our efforts. It is stressful controlling everything that enters his body and dealing with his behaviors but he is now making progress that astounds medical doctors. For additional information on recovering autistic children, check out the resources below: TACA - Talk About Curing Autism AutismOne -

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10 Tips for Fun and Easy School Lunches That Fit Your Autism and ADHD Diet

School lunches can be overwhelming and difficult if you are new to the dietary changes that help ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). It's not just about rethinking the standard lunch with GFCF, additive-free, allergen-free food. It's also about providing a lunch your child will enjoy! You will most likely not have anything available for your child from the school lunch menu. It's good to make connections with the cafeteria staff and find out what items can be purchased, if any at all. With the poor quality of foods in our schools, this is not necessarily a bad thing! Packing a lunch for your child to bring to school is probably your only option.

If you provide a whole foods lunch with a variety of options, it will be packed with nutrition unlike the nutrient-void processed and packaged foods.

Here are my top 10 tips to help you think outside the brown bag: 

1. To begin, brainstorm about all the foods you know your child loves to eat. What fits your new diet, what can be substituted and what needs to be replaced entirely? Create a list of favorites to fall back on when feeling stuck for good ideas. Depending on your children's ages, have them help you with ideas. The more input your older child has, the more willing they are to eat what you give them. You want to make sure they actually eat the food once they get to school!

2. Create a school lunch menu plan for the week. This is as helpful as planning your dinner menu. Once you have a few meal and snack ideas that work for your child, you can easily rotate them throughout the week. This will help with shopping lists, budgeting, time and prep work. Keep the menu handy in the kitchen just in case someone else has to step in and do the lunch packing for you.
 
3. Plan wisely. Make the food as ready to eat as possible and easy to handle, especially for younger children. Their lunch time is limited and we all know how they would rather be playing, so keep it simple! Pre-peel and cut fruit and don't require special tools to eat. Use easy open containers. Make sure the little ones can close it again to prevent spills on the way home. Buying in bulk and using reusable containers not only saves you lots of money, but it helps the environment, too.

4. Prepare the night before. Put together all parts of the lunch that can be done ahead of time to eliminate morning stress before school. Save the cutting of fruits and vegetables that wilt or oxidize until the morning and dip into fresh lemon juice mixed with water to prevent browning.

5. Keep it cool. Freeze fruit purees or juice overnight and add to the lunchbag in the morning. They will thaw and be ready to eat midday while keeping the other food cool and fresh. Frozen fruit puree becomes a fruit pudding and frozen juice turns into a slush or juice again depending on how long it has to thaw.

6. Get creative and think fun! It is amazing what special shape cutouts, skewers and/or party toothpicks will do for appeal. Instead of just putting cut fruit into a bowl, make a fruit kabob. Depending on age, include stickers, a personal note from Mom or Dad, or (if using a brown paper bag) have them decorate the bag as a puppet before filling it. Once the food is gone, they can play! For older kids, occasionally start a treasure hunt where you send them looking for the next clues somewhere in their school supplies or at home for a reward, special treat (not food related) or privilege.

7. Talk to your child's teacher. Be sure the teacher, principal and any other staff who may care for your child are all aware of your child's dietary requirements. Let them know that your child has food allergies or sensitivities. Communication is key to dietary success at school and written instructions are always the best resource to prevent misunderstandings.

8. Focus on what your child DOES get to eat, not what he doesn't. Have your child bring home the leftovers in their lunch containers so that you can tell what is being eaten. You'll get to know how much you need to be sending each day and whether the usual favorites are still well-liked. Offer variety and choices so your child doesn't feel like the new diet is limited and boring.

9. Substitute creatively. Use rice cakes or GFCF waffles instead of bread, or better yet, use sliced, cored apple rings as a substitute for a bagel with a nut butter spread. Warm dinner leftovers in a thermos can be given on a day with a similar offering provided by the cafeteria. Have them provide a clean plate for your child to use.

10. Finally, some meal/snack ideas to get going: Trail mix (nuts, seeds, dried fruits) Pre-cut fruit (fruit salad, sticks, or kebabs) Homemade granola bars or cups of granola cereal Veggie kebabs with dip (carrots, cucumber, cherry tomato, red/yellow bell pepper, etc) Dinner leftovers in a thermos (GFCF spaghetti, soup, rice dish) Guacamole, mild salsa, olives, and baked corn chips Dip options: hummus, black bean dip, avocado spread, nut butters, honey Shredded beet, carrot, and apple salad with raisins. Fruit pudding or smoothie Water should be the drink of choice, but for variety try homemade lemonade or an almond or rice milk This should be a springboard for getting your creativity flowing and thinking positively about the school year menu ahead. It's easy once you get past the transition and create a simple routine.

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Autism Isn't Fair to Me! Promoting Positive Feelings Among Siblings

     If you have more than one child, do they compete for your attention? Do you detect jealousy that you would rather not see? Does the amount of bickering among your children and lobbying for
No. 1 position concern you as a parent? Welcome to the world of parenting! In addition to that, if you have a child with special needs that requires extra time, money and attention, you unfortunately increase the risk that normal sibling resentment will impact your household.

No matter how secure your other children are their individual temperaments and personalities can make them more susceptible to feelings of envy when their sibling has Autism. Warding off feelings of jealousy or rivalry when one child may need more attention than another can be emotionally draining for parents of autistic children. Every child, regardless of ability or disability unconsciously competes with their siblings to define who they are as individuals. On their path toward self-discovery, all children want to show they are separate from their brothers and sisters and want to be recognized for their specific talents. If children feel they are getting unequal amounts of attention or acknowledgement from their parents they often start to compete to prove their worth or withdraw into themselves.

Thoughts such as, "What about me?" or "It's not fair!" can rattle around in a child's head to fester and develop into behavior problems. Wondering what you can do to promote more positive feelings?

Here are some tips that will help you promote healthy relationships in your children and reduce jealousy and rivalry among siblings. 

1) Promote connection among siblings yet allow for separateness as well: Finding a good balance between having your children spend time together and away from each other is an important challenge for parents to take on. - Plan family activities that are fun for everyone. When kids have good experiences together, it acts as a buffer when they come into conflict. It's easier to work it out with someone you share warm memories with. - Help your children find their own space. Make sure each child has enough time and space of their own. Kids need chances to do their own thing, play with their own friends without their sibling, and they need to have their space and property protected. - Avoid putting your neuro-typical child in a position of responsibility for their sibling on the Autism spectrum. Short time periods and emergency situations aside, asking a young child to watch over their special needs sibling is too much to ask for and can trigger anxieties in addition to feelings of jealousy or hate.

2) Dole out love on many levels: Young children actually believe there is a finite resource of love. Therefore, young children can seem desperate to keep it all for themselves and they don't understand that love can grow exponentially. Make it clear that there's enough love to go around for everybody. - Label your "alone time" with each child as it occurs. When you spend one-on-one time with any of your children refer to it as "mommy & me time" or "dad time" so they actually realize what is happening. Try to spend at least a few minutes each day. It's amazing how much even just five minutes of uninterrupted time can mean to your child. - Take some time to create unique and meaningful rituals for connecting with each child - different games or activities that speak to your common interests, special pet names, mystery passwords, or secret handshakes.

3) Explore raw feelings: Remember as children voice their opinions they think abstractly but talk in absolutes. They are usually not very subtle. Being slightly annoyed by their autistic brother becomes "I HATE HER! I WISH SHE WAS DEAD!" - When in the heat of the moment: DON'T diminish or dismiss such statements with "You don't really want mean that. You love your sister." Instead, breathe deeply and validate her strong feelings with an empathic stance like "Wow. She really made you angry, huh?" Let the steam blow off and don't rush to make 'nice' immediately. Resolving conflicts should wait until later when tempers have eased. - When things are calm: DO check in during private moments to safely explore how your kids feel about each other. Ask them what they like most and least about each other. Encourage them to say whatever they want, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just notice, don't judge the negatives and focus on the positive things they hopefully express and affirm their ability to recognize them. This is a great way to help them vent and allows you to keep tabs on their feelings about their relationships.

4) Stay away from direct competition: Don't set siblings up to compete with each other directly. If your children are drawn to the same activities allow them to pursue them but be careful not to set them up to be adversaries with each other very often. - Set your kids up to cooperate rather than compete. Have them race the clock together to pick up toys, instead of racing each other. How fast can you do this together? Give them a brief amount of time to plan a strategy - this promotes great teamwork. - When alone OR together with your children, do not use comparisons as compliments to pump up one of your child's egos at the expense of the other (i.e. "Wow, you're so good at math. Joey's nowhere as good at math as you"). This is NEVER a good way to promote bonding among siblings. Remember that tired, hungry or bored kids are more likely to become overly sensitive and perceive degrees of parental attention as unfair. Treating your children impartially is important but it is not the same as treating them equally. As your children "see" you meeting their needs, they will come to realize that you are doing your best but they also need to "feel" it. This is where listening, genuine listening and connecting to each child is important. If each of your children feels heard then they truly know you care and this has the power to reduce or diffuse any negative emotions towards each other.

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Objective Vs Subjective Music Education

    The goal of this piece is not to tout the correctness or incorrectness of either objective or subjective music education teaching styles. Rather, its attempt is to clearly depict their differences and the situations in which each, individually or in conjunction, may be beneficial for the education of students with autism. Music is, of course ultimately, an art form which is driven by a performer's ability to emote and interpret a piece of music. Assessing an artist's performance is, perhaps, the definition of a subjective judgment, but we are not dealing with . We are dealing with students of an art form.

A student's performance needs to be shaped and more clearly defined, eventually allowing them to relate to the instrument as a conduit for his expression and exploration. To a certain extent this is an ever continuing process since we are all growing and changing as human beings. In respect to the early education of students, though, each response can be objectively measured and analyzed. "But, why do you need to objectively measure their performance?" you may ask. First, let's define what objective and subjective measurements are and how they are used. An objective measurement is one which is independent of the teacher's individual perception of what the answer is. For instance, two separate piano instructors may listen critically to a student's performance and ultimately come to two, very different conclusions in respect to the student's interpretation and adherence to the fundamentals of piano performance.

This is not so much a misunderstanding or radical divergence in the teachers' knowledge of core piano education principles; rather a personal and subjective assessment of the student and what constitutes a correct response. To be clear, all teaching is based on shaping and having teachers accept approximations made by a student. Teaching is very subjective in nature, while assessing the results of these teaching efforts should be objective in nature. The question then arises, "How can teachers objectively assess a student's performance if art is fundamentally a subjective form of expression?" The answer, of course, is that the focus of early music education is much more associated with execution as opposed to interpretation. Therefore, it can be clearly and objectively measured whether or not a student independently depressed a particular key of the piano or identified a musical note correctly.

The reason that objectively measuring and analyzing a student's early performance is so vital is twofold. By not initially being objective, teachers may be inclined to:

 1) Assign unrealistic goals and objectives for a student or 

 2) Create an unchallenging and stagnating teaching environment by withholding more difficult material.

In this discussion, concerning students with autism, both situations are possible but the latter is much more of a likely phenomenon. For many teachers, without prior special education experiences to draw on, it is quite understandably common to base a student's future curriculum on certain challenges that the student has currently. For instance, if a student has not yet learned how to read, exploring the skill of reading musical notation may seem out of reach for them and is then withdrawn. Alternatively, another student may display fine-motor challenges which could inhibit his dexterity at the piano. In both of these scenarios the student very well might not be able to execute the skill in question at first, but this should not effect the teacher's decision to begin instruction on that skill and measure the response.

As previously mentioned, when teaching (as opposed to assessing progress), instructors correctly use a subjective analysis of factors to help the student succeed. This practice is often based on a teacher's intimate knowledge of the student, his environment, his behavioral and comprehension challenges and previously successful teaching methodologies. For instance, after objectively determining that a student has met the criteria for the current phase of instruction, a teacher decides that the next and more difficult phase of instruction should commence. Ten minutes into the lesson, the student presents behavioral challenges and the teacher subjectively determines that this more difficult phase would increase the student's frustration level at this point and delays the introduction until tomorrow. In respect to another student, this inappropriate behavior may be related to task avoidance and the determination to continue with the more difficult phase of instruction would be made.

Both decisions may be appropriate, it simply depends on the student and the situation. Objectively measuring the early performances of a student at the piano is very plausible; it can be clearly determined whether or not the student depressed a certain key of the piano or played a particular note with his left hand for example. As the material systematically becomes more difficult, though and variables such as dynamics, tempo and artistry become more of a factor, it is more and more challenging to objectively assign a numerical value to the performance - which is based on the execution of each variable. This should not be surprising since the student's performance is now (at least in part) approaching an artistic expression.

At this point, a teacher should use their experience and knowledge of the instrument to make a subjective analysis of the performance. Here, the student is guided by the teacher's individual perception of what constitutes a correct response. This determination is not only made based on the factors above, but also on the current skill level of the student, the difficulty of the piece and the environment (is this a music recital or a practice session?). An expectation of absolute perfection from a relative beginner at the piano would, of course, be counterproductive. Therefore, as the pieces increase in difficulty the subjective criteria relaxes. In early piano instruction students are being taught core concepts which are mutually exclusive. For example, the skill of identifying a note on the piano is required before teachers can begin instructing the student to play a song with correct fingering. Because these skills are mandatory and used in every piece they will learn in the future, the criteria can (and should) be set as high as possible. Later, typical music instruction involves the introduction of multiple trials of similar pieces of music.

The goal is not, necessarily, to perform each one perfectly; rather to present similar pieces and develop the student's ability to generalize the concepts which are presented in each song. By initially using the objective performance measuring techniques described above and transitioning to a more subjective analysis at the appropriate point, instructors can effectively introduce the piano to individuals from across the spectrum of autism.

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Story of Autism About Ashley Clark

    I am Kim Clark from Kentucky and this is the Story of Autism about my dear daughter, Ashley. I married my high school sweetheart David in 1983. We waited awhile to start a family. Our daughter Ashley was born in 1997. She always had good reports from her doctor and it was awhile before we knew something was wrong. She said a few words. like mama and daddy, but then did not say them again for months. She was learning a little bit of language, but quickly fell behind for her age in that area. There were some signs that we totally missed because knew nothing about autism.

Those signs included the lack of eye contact, hand twisting, spinning, tantrums and lack of sleep. We did get concerned about her lack of language and voiced our concerns to her doctor at her checkup. Her doctor said that it was normal for some children to talk very late and that she was fine. I asked when we should bring her back for another checkup and was told to bring her back in one year. We followed the doctor's directions. When we took her back for her annual checkup we again voiced our concerns that she was only saying a couple words and seemed to be very far behind. The doctor said that she did not think there was anything to worry about, but to make us feel better she would give us referrals for a speech and hearing evaluation. Ashley had to go through several hearing tests. She was sedated for an auditory brain response. Her hearing was fine.

The speech therapist was not sure what was wrong and referred us to an evaluation center. At age 3 1/2 Ashley was diagnosed with autism. We began educating ourselves on the Story of Autism and its treatments. The first thing we wanted to do was start speech therapy. Our insurance turned us down and we did not have the money to pay for it. I read that early intensive ABA therapy had recovered some children. However, insurance did not cover that either and it cost more than we made at the time. I was at a loss on how to help her. Our state has a first steps program. But she was already too old for it. We enrolled her in our public school system's Pre-K program when she was 4 years old to get free speech therapy through the special education system. It was not the type of therapy that she needed, but the only thing we could give her. Eventually I was able to get her into a waiver program with Medicaid benefits.

Ashley had some extra speech therapy on and off since then. We had her re-evaluated a few years later to see how much she had improved. We were told that the diagnosis of autism still fits and in addition to that label they added the label of mental retardation. We were told that she must learn slower because she was so far behind for her age. They said that she will never be independent and will always need some type of services. We had heard of the gluten-free casein-free diet and how some children had recovered with it. I found all the information that I needed to start the diet on the Talk About Curing Autism website. We were not successful in implementing it. Ashley was so set in her ways by then. She was pushing other children at school and trying to take their lunch from them. She did not understand why she had to eat only a lunch from home and why she could not eat the pizza that everyone else was eating.

We gave up. I don't know if it would have helped her or not. There have been other challenges along this journey. She had her first seizure at 9 years old, which landed her in the hospital for a few days. The seizure could have been life threatening. It did not stop until she was given medication. By that time she was so unresponsive, she looked like she was in a coma. The doctor said that Ashley had almost completely stopped breathing. She was checked for brain damage. There was none. Ashley has had more seizures since then, but not as bad as the first one. She takes a lot of medication every day for seizures, behavior and sleep.

There are times when we get discouraged when we reflect on Ashley's Story of Autism. I often wonder if it was my fault. Did I use too many household cleaners while I was pregnant? What about the cold medicine I took that one time? I have a really bad cold which caused my asthma to flare up. I had to use the inhaler once. I called the doctor before using it. She did not say it was safe. She did say if I cannot breathe, then the baby could not. I know many children have autism and their mothers did not all use inhalers. I know it not my fault, but cannot help sometimes having thoughts like that. When I see the videos of children that have recovered I am very happy for them, but at the same time it really hurts. I cannot help but feel we have not done enough to help her.

One thing that helped me when I was discouraged, was an article on the Talk About Curing Autism website entitled, "Does The Window Ever Close?" At the time of this article, Ashley is 13 years old. She is very happy. She enjoys art, stuffed animals, the computer, pre-school age shows on TV and You Tube. She is still in the special education class at school and receives in home speech therapy twice a week. She is somewhat verbal. She can ask for things verbally, but cannot carry on a conversation. She does not comment or ask questions. At age 13, she is still not completely potty trained, although she has made a lot of progress in this area.

She has sensory issues which keeps her very limited to which clothes she will wear. It breaks my heart that we were not able to provide the early intensive intervention that she needed. She shows a lot of potential and I believe that ABA therapy would have made a huge difference. She could have been one of the success stories. We certainly need to have more autism awareness and earlier diagnosis, so other families will be able to get the help they need as soon as possible. If autism has touched your life, I would love to connect with you.

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