Hi, Im Pregnant and I need some advice about Autism and Folic Acid.....

[Tinybump]

Hello
I already have a son with Autism and Ive found out Im expecting again!

I havent taken Folic Acid yet but I realise I need to.
Im just scared of having another child with Autism and I wish I knew of any ways to prevent this.

I dont know what I should or should not be doing. I would really appreatiate if anyone has any advice of anything they did differently when they were in my situation.

I have four fillings to replace. I am thinking about having another child but I have no idea how long to leave it after removing fillings-do you have any info on that?

Have been looking at Vit D3 research it looks good.

staryeyed, go to the yahoogroup autism-mercury and they will tell you all

thanks

no- but depends on the genetics. The expression of many genes is affected by the environment. I suspect in our family's case the dodgy gene is actually for some sort of leaky membrane protein, which means avoiding potential problems that might cross leaky membranes can make a huge difference (like PKU- if you avoid phenylalanine you're fine- but the problem is still genetic).

AS/HFA does seem to have a higher heritability for the actual condition than low funtioning autism with LD's - which seems to have a higher heritability for autoimmune conditions (as in our case- makes sense I guess - ds1 isn't going to pass on his genes).

There are many paths to autism imo so its worth trying to understand what is going on in your own family- but isn't necessarily going to apply to everyone else you meet.

Yurt Id love some more info on that if you have any links?

I am quite sure if i had vaccinated my child he would have been much "worse" than he is in his autism.

further, it makes sense to be as healthy as u possibly can whilst pregnant, and avoiding what we already know may be a contributing factor to autism/disease.

the existence of one child in the family who has an ASD should be a warning sign to all other relatives that the potential is there for another child to develop ASD.

If you read Jacqlyn McCandless' book on biomedical interventions, study the effect of mercury not only in your mouth, but in the environment, together with the disastrous effects of pesticides and other toxins, you will start to get an idea of just how much crap we eat, breathe in, and live with on a daily basis. From your television, to your coal fire, to your mattress, its chemicals chemicals chemicals.

there was a study 2 years ago which showed that the average feotus is growing in at least 250 different toxins in the mother's womb.

Where my son developed the inability to detoxify the nasty mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium, is something I don't yet know. What I do know is that he has a problem in this area, and after years of studying not only him and autism, but the detox process and the effects of autism, I now know how to keep him and our entire family as "clean" as is humanly possible from unecessary toxins.

For my boy, this has proved hugely successful and he is not the boy he was 2 years ago, at all.

When i see children lining up at the corner shop to get their "breakfast", consisting of blue pop and crisps and chocolate, my hair stands on end, wondering what will become of their bodies in 10 years time eating that crap.

You can only do what you can do, and with the knowledge that healthy living is better for you, its obviously better to go with what you know and educate yourself about what you dont know. The information is out there in spades.

staryeyed there isn't a single source of information.In the case of our family we know that

1. ds1 and ds3 have leaky guts
2. there is no autism in the family- including extended, and nothing like it- including extended over several generations
3. there is lots of autoimmnity- including type 1 diabetes in several close relatives (dh's sister and nephew)
4. I then found an article in Gut journal (end of 2006) which proposed that type 1 diabetes (and other autoimmune conditions) could develop from a combination of leaky gut and the passage of some currently unidentified molecules. Two suspects mentioned in the paper were cows milk proteins and gluten. This model was very similar (more detailed, it went on in detail about what was happening to the gut wall and what happened once a suspect molecule got through) but the basics were the same) for the model I'd come up with for what was going on ASD wise in our family- so the link to diabetes was interesting.

Thanks yurt - my family are very much the same as yours. with autoimmune problems both sides but no autism although I suspect my Dad may have a mild case aspergers.

Sorry if I am being dense but what did you mean by DS1 is not going to pass on his genes?

Yurt1, have you researched the Yasko protocol? or done the snp test at IWDL for genetics?

We just received our results back for our boy and i did one for myself as well.

My son has a number of variations and has a problem with vitamin D and mthfr and a whole host of probs with methylation (no methionine, and organic acid probs.

what was really interesting was the vitamin D receptor being virtually turned off.

my friend's dh has been singing the vitamin D praises to me. I have looked at Yasko etc but I don't follow it because it is impossible to get ds1 to take anything (and I mean impossible). I wanted to understand what went on with him for ds2 and ds3's sake more than anything- and they are both fine. DS3 has IAG in urine and betacaseiomorphine (when he has cows milk) and I think would have been autistic if we hadn't been careful.

DS1 is gluten free but tbh he is so severe that after a few years of various biomedical battles I decided we had to look at quality of life as well. Biomed is not going to 'cure' him now- maybe it would have 6 years ago. He is not going to be cured, he is not going to speak, so if something is too difficult to do or potentially dangerous I don't do it with him. Off gluten he doesn't bang his head - so he stays off gluten.

It's also bloody expensive- his gut is largely healed now and we spend our money on therapies instead, which have really helped.

I'd always say that biomed is worth looking at and I keep my eye on it but we just can't do it properly with ds1 because of his severity and particular problems.

staryeyed- I meant he's not going to be having babies- so his genes will stop with him Of course his brothers share half of his - but if ds1 had a gene for 'severe autism' (rather than say a gene for leaky gut, which ds3 presumably shares) then it isn't going anywhere.

Genetics is complicated though, but I suspect the gut stuff is important in our family.

Sorry yurt I was being dense.

I have heard a few stories about people taking up biomedical stuff later in life and it being quite successful.

It can be- but depends on the starting point I suspect

Yurt1, yes biomed is certainly expensive. And we have wasted a lot of money and time trying to find the right path through it.

I dont mean to sound patronising in any way, just wanted to share a story with you about a friend of mine whose child at 9 started talking. She had some very severe difficulties with her ASD and did not speak, nor was potty trained until the last year or so.

She also had a very bad time with epilepsy. Anyway, this mum tried everything and somehow found the combination for her daughter that has enabled her to find verbal communication. From there, in the last six months, her daughter has made amazing gains. I can't say it was easy for the mum, it sure isnt for us either. It's a maze trying to find supps that might help, and of course getting a medical degree on google, etc takes so much time.

Anyway, this is a story i recount a lot to other parents I know just because this woman is my hero, as is her daughter.

For others interested, the Caudwell Trust (UK) funds biomedical interventions for children under the age of 18 who have autism and other difficulties.

By the same token, i have another friend whose son has no medical issues at all, his tests come back clear, he has regular bowel movements, his organics and aminos are perfect, his porphyrins showed very little toxicity.

It shows in this boy, as he is very "high functioning" and attempts by the mum to use biomed actually made the boy regress, he became detached and frustrated and appeared to be in a flux with his gut and his disposition. So, go figure.

Every parent must make their choice, with the scads of information out there.

we have felt ready to pack biomedical in a couple of times due to financial ruin but then something good happened and we started up again.

DS1 certainly needs some biomed- on gluten he is a headbanging loon for example. But it is so hard when I can't even try something because I just can't get it into him. The last lot of biomed was costing 50 quid a phonecall or something, then more for the supplements then I couldn't get anything into him at all. Don't get me wrong, if I could get the stuff in him I would be trying still probably, but I haven't been able to for 3 years now.

Actually I've just re-read tonight some stuff by Donna Williams regarding biomed and compulsive behaviour and I think mega B might be worth trying if I can get it in liquid from. I'd like to give him omegas as well, but just cannot get him to take them anymore.

Oh the reason I think ds1 won't talk is because he already tries all the time- he isn't 'locked away' as such he's very communicative, - he'll point and comment and show me things with an "uh uh uh uh' and he has enough language to speak. I think he can't speak because of severe verbal dyspraxia or motor planning/executive function type difficulties. I'm not sure biomed can help that so much iyswim.

Yurt1, sorry didnt know about your child's difficulties in taking supps. This is a real problem that i think a lot of practitioners dont give enough credit to.

Its alright in theory to say give them this or that, but if they wont swallow or deal with the sometimes awful taste or texture, what do you do?

Our boy starting talking after using transfer factor, i have no idea why, also he spoke better after mb12 shots. He had about 2 words then he had an explosion. Something in him clicked on I think.

I take your comments about dyspraxia, we still have that a lot and i dont know that supps are going to "change" magically, a neuro/physical pathway like that, at least not overnight. for us, that is where OT comes in with oral exercises, brushing, etc.

Its great your boy has communication though, even though frustrating for him and you that he is not speaking yet.

We were the opposite, we started with meaningless words and no eye contact and a "dreamworld" from our point of view, looking at him.

getting a bit better in that department though.

I love Donna Williams and especially her articles on visual agnosia.
Have you ever had a consult with her?

I've had a few consultations with Donna Williams- she is excellent (and so refreshing not to be charged a mini fortune just to speak to to someone). Very very good on the sensory stuff. She also seems to understand ds1 despite him (now) being at a different end of the spectrum from her. She's written some great stuff about the fundamental difference between high and low functioning autism as well that I thought was totally spot on.

His communication is excellent. At the moment we're trying to teach 'writing' (by pointing to a letterboard). This was something that thinking about it Donna Williams first suggested although its taken me a while to find the right sort of help to get going.

My friend's son sounds quite like yours and he responded well to mb12 shots as well.

In ds1's case its not even the nasty supplements he won't take. It's now even the non-offensive ones - stuff like saccromyces or melatonin- no chance. He has a very strong sense of smell that he uses to understand much of his world. If I try to hide something in food therefore he sniffs it out and eats round it. Even stuff I can't smell he can find..... He doesn't have the functioning to learn to take capsules (it would be like trying to teach a hyperactive 18 month old). He would take an inoffensive something that looked like a homeopathic pill, and I could probably get a syrup in him or something but in the past people have shoved capsules and horse pills at us- no chance.