Anyone tried bentonite clay baths for AS?

[popgoestheweezel]

After a mums net recommendation I tried ds (5.5, on the path to a pathological demand avaiodance diagnosis) on DMG behaviour balance and the results have been really impressive. On the same website www.detoxpeople.eu/index.php?l=product_detail&p=10 they have bentonite clay for bathing in as well as kids chelat which look interesting. Has anyone got any experience of using these?

Apologies.

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5508a3.htm

www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/chelationindex.html

www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_516428.html

But these reports aren't about chelation through a mud bath - they're talking about chelation through IV use! Obviously not the same thing at all.

It is absolute scaremongering to point out how intravenous use of chelation stuff has killed someone, when we are discussing something totally different.

ok.....so chelation is used for lead poisioning only. The links are for intravenious chelation which is obviously much more dramatic than a soak in the bath.

Not disputing the story of the poor child as that is awful. However statistically and medical wise if you have lead poisoning then that is serious in itself and your body can shut down and lead to death? It doesnt say how many cases it has successfully been used on where people have survived lead poisoning.

All this is interesting, as we all want the best for our children and we all have our own ways of wishing to persue help and therapy for them. I wouldnt belittle anyone for persuing any particular route as its purely a matter of personal choice.

I have to say though that it is all confusing, as there is information that tells you our children are mineral defficient on one hand but too many metals on another. I dont think I would use this bath soak not purely because of those links as those are nothing to do with what we are talking about, but purely reading that it also removes calcium which is vital for our bodies. You would have to be so careful and perhaps give suppliments to replace the calcium and anything else. To me its like permanently playing a balancing act with a lot of intolerance tests, or test showing what the child is lacking in, which of course is more money on top of the extortionate cost of the mud soak, and I dont think I would like to play around with my sons health in that way. I guess I am all for putting goodness back in but wary of trying to take out iyswim.

I have no axe to grind (if I understand the expression correctly). Just a lifetime as someone who is autistic and a national adviser on autism. Here not as an expert but as a mum to an autistic ds, though.

I'm very much in favour of anything that respects the individual with autism, doesn't cause harm, and doesn't cost parents much-needed money for no good reason in the midst of an economic downturn.

If it turns out that sitting a child in a muddy bath changes their ability to cope with life.... and a parent can afford it.... and/or they reckon that it's safe to change a child's mineral/metal levels in their body in that way without any sort of blood testing before or afterwards or medical supervision, then that is their decision entirely. They're the parent, I'm not.

Me, I prefer to use things that are proven to work safely. It's a personal choice. I'd have a really good look at Research Autism's site for what's been properly researched as effective, for example.

So what things do you prefer to use?

What treatment or therapies ( not coping strategies or environment modifications ) have helped you or your son?

www.researchautism.net/autism_treatments_therapies_interventions.ikml is a starting point.
We've got good results from fish oil supplements, body brushing types of sensory integration, picture-based routine lists and me explaining the NT world to him. And swapping to a school that took his needs very seriously.

He started off as a very aggressive non-verbal stimming whirlwind of escaping child who was more tempted to eat books than read them. He ended up playing national rugby and as prefect of his school with 9 GCSEs and 3 A levels.
Each parent finds their own path with their own child. There are many. For us, that worked.