DIY biomedical intervention

[Neveradullday]

My ds (3) has recently been dx as asd. It is considered mild and we have therapy lined up. I have looked into the biomedical intervention and recently started him on a gfcf diet. Problem is we live in a place where we do not have access to the right practitioners to assist us with this. I noticed the gfcf diet seem to be having some kind of effect (he is more with it, less echolalia and less hyperactivity) so I am thinking of doing this properly. He is already on vitamins, omega 3-6, and calcium supplements. I am looking to introduce probiotics and enzymes (unfortunately I am still trying to navigate the whole birthday party/playdate treats). Has anyone started a similar intervention with their toddler on a self starter basis, and if so what worked for you? I don't want to screw this up or give him the wrong supplements. Many many thanks.

[Randonnc]

No, I meant England in particular... There are people in Ireland who are willing to "treat" Autism and other comorbid conditions....

[Randonnc]

We have to agree to disagree... This board is not welcoming to any discussions about biomedical therapies.

you are very welcome to look at the links I posted and make your own mind about treatments but I don't want to get involved in a debate about the merits of biomedical intervention, because quite frankly I am not smart enough to convince you.( and I don't mean that in a snarky way)

[Neveradullday]

I thought I should write an update on how my DIY biomedical intervention has been going. Thank you so much Ranndonc for pointing me to the tacanow website. I learnt so much through it and eventually managed to find a practitioner who could help me with the relevant investigations. Once we identified my ds underlying health issues, we were able to put a plan in place (mainly organic, non GMO SCD diet, medications and a few supps) and my son has been doing tremendously well since. In the space of 4 months, his sensory issues are pretty much gone, his speech has gone from one word to 5-6 word sentences, and his hyperactivity is much improved. It is not the end of the road yet. We still have problem areas, but I know we are on the right track. I realise MN is not a biomed forum, but if anyone is willing to look into it, I would very much recommend tacanow, along with the Recovering Kids FB page, and the unblindmymind.org pages. Autism can be treated. No there isn't a single cure, but through the right interventions, people do achieve varying degrees of recovery. I know there is a lot of scepticism out there. All I would say is if you don't give biomed a try, you will never know.

[Neveradullday]

I actually do know because with diet infractions (e.g. Birthday parties, sneaking food at school), the old problems come back straight away. It is a straight and narrow.

[Bilberry]

Hmmm... Recover from autism? I suppose my ds can recover from dyspraxia? I'm sorry but I completely disagree with that terminology. Autism or dyspraxia are part of someone, it makes them who they are. It is not to be 'recovered from'. Of course they present difficulties and these may be overcome either through natural development or learning not 'recovery'.

[adrianna22]

I don't know nothing about this gcfc diet. But DS cannot eat anything that contains wheat, egg, dairy and soya, due to allergies...

[Neveradullday]

A lot autistic kids have serious gastro intestinal issues (google autism and leaky gut) which may trigger food sensitivities. Mine has an overgrowth of candida and c diff which are now being treated. He is also on a diet which eliminates his food triggers as well as dairy, gluten and all processed foods. This leaves us with organic meat/fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. In addition I am adding veggie smoothies and fermented foods to help restore his gut flora. It is a lot of work as everything has to be cooked from scratch (including snacks) but well worth it. Supplements are fish oil, and some digestive enzymes to help with food absorption. His therapists are baffled by his progress and admit he is a different child to the one they started with, and we are obviously thrilled.
My aim is not to change the kind of child he is, just to allow him to function optimally and achieve his potential. His symptoms are slowly vanishing, which is proof to me that he was not meant to be this way. I just wanted to share my experience as this may help some families who are struggling. It doesn't involve snake oils or quacks, just making lifestyle changes and dealing with underlying health problems. I too was cautious when I started, so I trialled the gfcf diet 1st (how hard can this be?). Only when my husband and I started seeing noticeable improvements did we take it one level further. Anyone can do this.

[Neveradullday]

Zzzz, he is having OT and speech to the tune of 1h/week each, + 6 hrs ABA/week. Even his therapists agree this is not sufficient to bring about the significant improvements we have witnessed. He can now go on swings, play with sand, hear blenders without freaking, have small conversations, follow 2 step instructions etc etc

[Neveradullday]

Of course I have been more hands on and have followed closely what the therapists have been doing. The thing is 50% of his issues resolved themselves without even being addressed once in therapy or by myself, which is definitely related to removing sources of discomfort (the same as you would remove E numbers from adhd kids). Diet can have a dramatic impact on behaviour, sensory and speech, more than people realise.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

Jonathan Tommey and his money making, Tin foil hat wearing, Brainwashing follows have a lot to answer for.

[Baddz]

Hi op.
Have you checked out the GAPS diet book?
I know people who have had great results with that but it's not easy...requires major diet changes.
I have done lots of therapies with my ds1 over the years - all of which have helped him greatly.
We have done;
AIT - auditory integration therapy
RRT - retained reflex therapy
And have also followed the tinsley house programme (basically diet changes, supplements and proprioception exercises)
My ds1 is such a happier, more confident boy now :)
As far as I am concerned I did "cure" his issues (bowel issues, hyper noise sensitivity, dyspraxic traits, asd traits, dyslexia) BUT other people who have DC with these issues take great offence at this.
So I now say he is "no longer symptomatic".
I don't know how else to word it tbh.
He had lots of problems.
We did some therapies.
The problems went away.
NB: I Am not saying these approaches will work for everyone. They won't. But they will work for some. As far as I am concerned it was worth the leap of faith.
Good luck op.

[Baddz]

[VioletBumble]

I've only got experience of eliminating dairy (cow's milk protein) in a baby failing to thrive, but the effects of occasional tries with formula milk were dramatic (projectile vomiting and going floppy/pale in a baby that was normally never sick). CMP allergy was diagnosed by paed.

So we stuck to breastfeeding, however I didn't realise that I should have eliminated dairy from my diet, so although the dramatic symptoms like vomiting stopped, long term chronic symptoms remained in the form of lack of weight gain and possibly some neuro stuff. It wasn't till I stopped BFing and she went on to a dairy free diet that she properly gained weight and looked healthy.

We were advised to reintroduce dairy at around age 2 which we did gradually - no apparent reaction so we carried on with it. However although DD seems physically healthy, she now has pretty bad anxiety (apparent since the age of 2) so I'm really wondering about long-term chronic effects again.

This seems a good article if anyone's interested
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-wealth/201307/food-inflammation-and-autism-is-there-link

[Baddz]

Zzzzz....we gave ds1 omega 2 fish oil, zinc and magnesium.
We also cut right down on carbs.
The improvement was quite amazing. Prior to this he was on the NHS list for exploratory surgery.
Interestingly a couple of years ago there was a programme on ch4 about treating things with diet (sorry can't remember the name) and there was a boy with asd and they immediately put on fish oil and magnesium. It made me realise what I was doing wasn't "woo" after all! :)
I think you are right...the links between diet and neuro function are well known...the NHS just doesn't hAve the resources/budget/trained staff to implement it.

[Baddz]

Ds1 had a very limited diet too.
We found as his anxiety decreased so did his willingness to try "new" food.
His diet is pretty good now (for a 12 year old addicted to pizza! :))

[Neveradullday]

other than his restrictions, my son eats everything, huge variety offruit and veg, different meats, fish, eggs, nuts, etc. he even eats home fermented stuff. The diet does not need to be highly restrictive, but it is not an easy one to implement because of our reliance on processed foods (especially for breakfast). Picky eaters will be picky, regardless of the variety on offer. I agree that there isn't enough awareness in the community, despite the reams of scientific papers available, hence my update. Therapy played a role for sure but the diet was instrumental in the speed of progress. Just putting it out there, and not interested in debating quacks and such likes.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

despite the reams of scientific papers available

The person who originally started the get biomedical intervention into the main stream, Dr James R. Laidle, has since debunked his own theory and doesn't belive it played a part in his childs progress.

[Neveradullday]

Good to know Jason. All the best.