|
|
|
|
|
| Autism
Posted: 9/14/2006 1:12:54 PM | This may be an off the wall question, but I need to know. Has anyone been diagnosed with autism and grown out of it, or been able to describe for another human being what it is like to be autistic?
My grandchild has a form of autism brought on by a vaccination she got when she was 3 months old...the DPT shot babies get. She got the first shot and she started having seizures, but the shot was not seen as the culpret. Time for the second shot, the baby again goes into full blow siezures and then all progression stops. She is 15 years old and she is still a 6 month old baby. She has to be spoon fed baby food, cannot talk, has to be diapered.
I feel that she knows what is going on around her, but she cannot relate or participate in the family interaction. She can only walk with assistance. I know she has a mind, when I sing or her mother sings she gets happy and starts squealing, and sometimes she claps her hands.
She seems to be trapped within her own body and brain, and I would like to know if anyone has ever grown out of autism or can they shed light on what they feel. I would like to get a handle on if my granddaughter is aware that she is not like the other kids in her family. We love her as she is, but it would be so wonderful if she could speak and make her needs known to us...if she is sad, or lonely, or cold or too warm....but she cannot tell us...we just have to take care of her and hope that we are doing everything the way she would want us to.
If anyone has any first hand knowledge of what being trapped in your own mind and body...please share it here. Thank you in advance. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 9/14/2006 1:36:57 PM | | There are millions of websites relating to autism & quite a few forum & chat sites with specifically autism parents/grandparents sharing information. That would probably be your best support system rather than this one...they specifically share your situation & are further along the road you are traveling on. A strong support system is what anyone with a chronic type diagnosis needs. There was concern many years ago that the mercury preservative in vaccines may increase the possibility of autism...but it was removed 7 years ago. I suggest you search for the autism support groups for more information. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 2/14/2007 3:46:46 PM | | Latest News: to my son with autism,so sweet and unique. i pray some day you will speak. i watch you grow and smile at me trying to figure out ,how life would be. you have autism,which you struggle with every day but mommy is trying and will continue to pray. you look so happy with smiles on your face. if i could take away the confusion ,i would take your place. i love you son more than i can say. your love is so so real in every way. your progress is slow,and sometimes very hard to understand. but no matter what i will hold your hand. i reach for the stars every second i breath in a day. my dear boy,i am so proud of you in every way. you look at everything so pure and real. i wish i could undertand how you feel. please talk to me sweetie,just let me know. it will happen even if its slow. god bless my angel ,be with him today. as i will continue to pray... melissa | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 2:29:44 PM | Hello. I did a search on Autism to put some information on Autism Treatments on. I think that of the dozens here, this thread fits since it is in the Health/Wellness Forum.
To answer your question, I have some experience in this area from several different angles. If you are still interested in this subject, you can e-mail me and I can give you more references. I have a degree in Psychology, specializing in behavior and communications. I am a trained Advocate for parents of children with disabilities. I consult on Autism issues, and I do grassroots organizing and political action in disability and environmental issues. I also have a son with Autism. He was non-verbal when we started treatment with him at age 3. He also had problems with vaccinations. However, he was not quite as severe as your grandchild before treatment.
Nobody thought he would ever talk at first. He used to never look at anyone, sat spinning things, and wouldn't even respond to his own name being called. We thought he might be deaf. He is now 14 and in a regular school, working at grade level. He speaks, and is nearly normal now. He still needs some help but it isn't to the point that I can't imagine that someday he will be able to achieve in his area of interest.
I want to say to you that there is hope, and there are many things you can try, even though nobody knows what truly causes Autism yet. But with all the new funding at the government level for research I hope that will change soon.
I am going to start a thread soon about one part of the treatments that we have used with my son called the GF/CF diet. I will put more on this thread later.
I will put things that have actually worked for my son or the children I have known personally who have made significant improvements.
My approach has two parts; treat the physical disability, and use therapy to help them adapt. I think it is unfair to the child to do one without the other.
I did each biological treatment separately to be able to determine if it was working/helping before going to the next. Some things can be done together, because you can always do the therapy at the same time as the biological treatments. It helps to take notes so that you know what is working. This helps you to stay motivated in providing the intervention over the long-haul.
For now, I would like to suggest the simplest thing your Daughter/Son can try even tonight with her. I think it is best to try the least invasive treatments first, particularly with children, because you don't want to cause any harm to them.
Epsom Salts.
Pour 2-3 cups Epsom Salts into the warm bathwater. Have the child/adult soak for about 20 minutes before washing up or adding soap. If you add bubble bath or something to the water, this can get irritating if you soak in it for that long. We do this about 3 - 4 times per week, but I suppose you could do it every night if you wanted to.
Epsom Salts helps in several ways; the magnesium helps them with a type of incomplete digestion that many people with Autism suffer from (yes, small amounts are absorbed into the skin.) The magnesium also helps tone down leg cramps, and numbs the skin slightly so they can sleep better. It is very helpful to take the bath just before bedtime. Autistic persons have very sensitive skin, so the mild numbing is perfect for them.
Autistic persons often have trouble settling down to sleep, and this affects their caregivers tremendously. I personally almost went crazy from lack of sleep, because my Autistic son would wander the house at night, climbing into the refrigerator or on top of it, going into the basement, wandering outside, doing all manner of dangerous things he wasn't even aware were dangerous. I spent years worrying if he would even live to age 8.
More to come......
Please respond by posting here if anyone tries this and it also works for them. I have never had a parent say that it didn't help the very first night. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 3:05:14 PM | Autism is due to murcery poisioning which came from the vaccines there's countless cases cofirming this. You should go to a natropathic doctor to get proper advice. That being said chlorella will pull out the murcery out of the body. Chlorealla is a natural food source so you can't over dose on it. The question for your grandson how much is enough and how much is too much.
I also suggest Reiki, it is energy healing. Many people don't believe in it but it does work, or at least up to a point. You can find local reiki healers in your local area or you can request one on the internet (obviously they do distant healing, and yes it is possible to do distant healing. The healing treatment is every 3 weeks I believe for 3 treatments then you can ask for more. It cost nothing so you have nothing to lose but you go to local healer they will charge anywhere from $40 to $70 I believe)
http://freehealing.org/
http://freehealing.org/about.html | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 3:34:59 PM | There are several accounts of persons with Autism "speaking" at some point after being silent for most of their lives.
The most recent one that I have read was written by someone with Asperger's syndrome who is a consultant on Autism. Asperger's is the mildest form of Autism, (some think ADD is also on the "spectrum.)
"Autism and the God Connection, Redefining the Autistic Experience Through Extraordinary Accounts of Spiritual Giftedness" by William Stillman
I agree with his opinion, that we should always ASSUME intelligence with people with Autism. More than likely you'd be correct. Although sometimes retardation and other problems exist in combination with Autism, this is generally a result of inadequately accessing the intelligence, not that there isn't any to find.
There very likely is a part of your grandchild's brain that is unaffected by the cause of her Autism. This part might just need assistance making itself known.
There is a controversial technique to assist non-verbal persons with Autism to communicate. It utilizes Assistive Technology such as a computer or a specialized keyboard, and a trained person who knows the technique to help guide the Autistic person's hands so they stay on the keyboard. With this help, many Autistics have been able to communicate for the very first time. Often, it is discovered that they have taught themselves how to read, to write and to spell, through observation alone.
I think this technique is worth a try, even though it is controversial, (whether it really is the Autistic typing and not the assistant) because it doesn't involve drugs, surgery or intensive therapy. And if it works, it can make all the difference in the quality of life of the non-verbal child and their family.
The experience the Autistics describe varies. Some felt that they were "asleep" and weren't even aware that they were like this. It might be a sign that the brain is partially in a type of coma. Others were aware, but as one boy put it, "I thought I WAS talking to you, Mommy, I just wondered why nobody ever heard what I was saying."
The first book I read on this subject was called, "Son Rise, The Miracle Continues" by Barry Neil Kaufman, his non-verbal Autistic son writes a chapter in the book, and now helps to run the treatment program his parents invented/developed to help him, as a verbal, normal, adult. I love their gentle, child-centered approach, and the book itself gave me hope, and the desire to persist as hard as they did in helping their son, who the Doctors all thought was severely retarded. However, their treatment center is expensive, and there are other places to receive a similar type of treatment. (Although not with such love and joy as a major component.) | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 3:49:46 PM | I agree with sihdaeruoynac about the mercury poisoning. Lead, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals can also be a problem for people with Autism.
Chelation has also helped many people with this aspect. There is some evidence that even "normal"* exposures to these heavy metals are problematic for people with Autism because their livers have been either damaged, or they have other metabolic reasons that they cannot remove them from their systems.
Chelation is available in a pill form now, but must be administered by a Physician. It works well given through IV, though the child might have problems with this. It is extremely important to montior liver function during this treatment.
Alar has also been said to help with heavy metal poisoning, as well as Pectin, which is found in apples.
The main thing is to avoid all exposure to heavy metals (arsenic was used as a wood preservative in making wood playground equipment for many years), the child's home and water should be tested for lead, and all mercury fillings should be replaced with non-mercury alternatives. Even very tiny amounts of exposure can be toxic.
The symptoms of lead poisoning are almost the same symptoms observed in many Autistic persons. (The old term for this used to be, "painter's colic.")
An excellent book on this subject was written my a nurse and mother of an autistic daughter from Canada:
"Turning Lead into Gold: How Heavy Metal Poisoning Can Affect Your Child and How to Prevent and Treat It"
by Nancy Hallaway R.N., Zigurts Strauts, M.D.
*There is NO safe level of exposure to these heavy metals. There is considerable reasearch showing that ANY exposure at all is toxic, and has worse consequences to the nervous system the younger the person is at the time of the exposure. The most critical period being before age 3, when the brain is doubling in size.
As a side note:
There is quite a bit of evidence that heavy metal poisoning is a problem for people with heart disease, so any of the treatments mentioned above can also help those with heart disease. One book on this subject is, "Forty Something Forever, a Consumer's Guide to Chelation Therapy and other Heart-Savers" by Harold and Arline Brecher. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 9:12:56 PM | Ok, here is another simple remedy for sleeplessness in persons with Autism;
Melatonin
Melatonin is very safe, and actually has some health benefits. The children tolerate it well with few side effects. It sometimes causes grogginess the next morning, but this can be remedied by cutting the usual dose in half.
The tablets generally come in 3 mg doses, which is more than enough for an adult. You can also purchase 1.5 mg doses, but it is a little harder to find this package. Cutting the pill or using half a capsule works fine.
Extended release Melatonin is available, and works well, but is usually a little more expensive.
Give the child the dose 20 - 30 minutes before the desired bedtime. It is non-narcotic, (not habit-forming--non addictive) and is available over the counter without a prescription at most regular pharmacies.
This will not be like a regular sedative, it doesn't work the same way. It does not prevent the child from awakening to use the bathroom (if he/she is toilet trained.)
My son is very picky about what he will eat or put into his mouth--(well at least food anyway!) and I was worried that he would refuse to take the Melatonin. But after coaxing the first pill into him and a good night's sleep, he accepted the next night's pill easily and now just puts it in his mouth and chews it. As a teen, he sometimes even reminds me that he needs to take one!
He used to have dark circles under his eyes all the time, and with a regular good night's sleep he doesn't have this anymore.
So what is Melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone made by a part of the brain called the pineal gland. Melatonin may help our bodies know when it's time to go to sleep and when it's time to wake up.
There are two types of melatonin that may be used in the pills: natural and synthetic (man-made). Natural melatonin is made from the pineal gland of animals. This form could be contaminated with a virus and is therefore not recommended. The synthetic form of melatonin does not carry this risk. If you are not sure if your melatonin is natural or synthetic, ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking it.
Research has shown the effectiveness of Melatonin for this use, and also for use in treating jet lag. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/3/2008 10:04:21 PM | For very young children, Sensory Integration Therapy works well.
There are entire courses on this type of treatment for people who are training to become Occupational Therapists.
But there is a simple technique you can use almost right away with a very young child and it does seem to work. You can get very soft surgical brushes online for about one dollar each. Some therapy catalogues have them for sale. If you e-mail me I can send you the address for one.
You can use any very, very soft brush (any brush that won't scratch the skin or be abrasive would work, but soft is the key word here.)
(A surgical brush is so soft to actually rub over open wounds to remove dirt without causing further damage.)
Take the brush and stroke or rub the skin of the arms, legs, back and head of the child like you would rub down a horse after a run. It works for the horses! It should only take a few minutes--like about 3 minutes. It should not tickle. It should not scratch or leave a mark. It should not be so light of a touch that it isn't really felt at all. You can apply firm pressure.
It works to reduce the sensitivity to touch in the child, and also seems to help them feel less "lost in space." In other words, it helps their senses feel more grounded in reality.
After the brushing--which the child can do themselves if you are able to teach them--put pressure on each major joint in the body. You do this by holding the forearm, and the upper arm, for instance, and then firmly, but not too hard (never cause pain) press toward the elbow with each hand a couple of times. You can do this with every joint, shoulders, knees, toes, fingers, etc. This also should only take about 3-4 minutes tops. You can repeat this twice or even more often per day. Every 3 - 4 hours if they benefit a lot from it. Some schools have therapists do this with the child at school a few times a day.
To do the whole body, you can put the child between the mattress and the boxspring! This sounds very weird, but after we did this with our son, he kept wanting to do it over and over.
Light touch can startle or irritate an Autistic person, to the point that they often give up on wanting any touch at all. But if you don't startle them, and use firm pressure, like a big, firm hug, or like when you swaddle a baby, they relax and calm down almost immediately.
Don't brush the face or stomach, as it can sometimes cause nausea. Occasionally we brushed our son's mouth with a special bumpy thing that looks like a toothbrush, just before speech therapy or before eating.
Never entrap a child, by forcing this on them. Never do this as a form of punishment. Never use it during a tantrum. You don't need to remove clothing. Often brushing is done right over the clothing, although on the skin is good, too.
Both of you should be calm when you start this. Most children enjoy it. If a child doesn't, don't push it on them. Perhaps start gradually, by letting them play with the brush a little, or use it to "brush" their hair first.
I like this technique because it is free, takes very little time and energy, and often works well. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/6/2008 7:55:28 PM | There are some supplements that have used with children with Autism for over 12 years now, and have had enough success as to be consistently recommended by parents to other parents, and have had some limited research to back them up.
A supplement is not a cure. It is not really a drug, since it is not regulated as a drug.
A supplement is generally a natural substance, like a vitamin, that at some point was shown that some Autistic persons' were low in, or improved with taking them.
The three main ones that appear are:
DMG
Vitamin B6
Magnesium
(DMG = N, N-Dimethylglycine)
I recommend purchasing one package, taking notes on behavior, amount and severity of tantrums and other measures of progress, like progress notes from therapists and school. Provide a single supplement, and give it about 2 weeks to work. A child might act differently at first-sometimes an improvment causes them to be a little more active, but then they settle down. After the package is used, go off the supplement for a week before buying another, and observe if the child gets worse without it. If he/she does, then you have some evidence that this helps them and you can justify the continued expense and trouble of giving it to them.
DMG is generally in a foil packet, as the tablets dissolve very easily in the open air. This makes them easy to give to the child, as they practically dissolve right on the tongue. My son as always seemed to like them and doesn't need to swallow them like a pill--he just chews them.
The dose is about 3 per day to start, for a very young child, age 3, and can be up to 6 per day. As they grow, you can add another tablet gradually.
B6 is given as a separate tablet. We cut them in half at first, and ground them up in a mortar and pestle and added the powder to baby food or honey. As the child gets older a larger dose can be given, but don't give a dose larger than an adult dose without consulting a physician.
Magnesium is given the same way. Start with half the adult dose. I use chelated Magnesium.
Don't consider a multivitamin to be sufficient with these last.
An additional multivitamin is also a great idea, and there are some great tasting chewables out there that have no gluten, casein, or dyes in them.
I have heard of some Autistic children improving greatly--going from not speaking at all to speaking in sentences--on these supplements alone. I personally met one family who claimed this was true with their son, whom I also met. This was the deciding factor in getting me to go out and actually purchase them and try them, even though I had heard about them before that. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/7/2008 5:58:38 PM | The things I am offering here are the simplest and least costly first, so at this point, I would like to go into diet.
I know Autistic person's often are very picky eaters, sometimes to the point of it being like an eating disorder. It has been speculated that a small percentage of Anorexics have a form of Autism. However, given this, certain things aggravate the Autism, and if you eliminate them and their brain function improves, it is much easier to get them to stick with the changes because they themselves feel better and think clearer. So give any dietary change some time to work, at least 2 weeks. You can try making any changes gradually over a period of time, so that it doesn't become an "issue" (i.e., the focus of a tantrum.)
People hate diets, I know. And the thought of putting someone already suffering onto any kind of further restriction sounds horrible at first. But if you consider that these suggestions have worked for others, when nothing else has, this might help. Also, eliminating something is cost-free. And if that something is possibly poisonous to your child, even when others can tolerate it, then you are only removing an irritant to their system, like removing an allergen from someone who is allergic. If your child is allergic to cats, it is an easy (but sad) choice to find the cat another home, and it costs nothing to you.
Try eliminating one of these things at a time, waiting two weeks, then eliminating another, and keep notes to see how things are going. Don't forget to notify the school or day-care, and enlist your extended family in helping you "test" this, so everyone is on the same page when you start.
List of things to eliminate that might be making the Autistic symptoms worse:
Aspartame;
an artificial sweetener in sodas and diet foods. This is a neurotransmitter that exictes the brain and that is why it tastes sweet. It has been shown to cause brain swelling in pilots, migrane headaches and, paradoxically, weight gain.
Nitrates;
a preservative which is essentially Salt Peter. Salt peter is a chemical that once was used to keep soldiers from doing you-know-what. Of course it didn't seem to really work, but has been mythologized as some kind of conspiracy additive that soldiers discuss even now. Nitrate is found in almost all processed meats. It keeps the meat pink and changes the flavor. You can find nitrate-free meats in organic food stores.
Yeast and yeast by-products;
yeast today is not the same as yeast 100 years ago. Now we have Super Yeast (fast-acting yeast) that has been bread to grow extremely rapidly and virulently. Even though it is baked and cooked, this yeast can proliferate if even a tiny amount remains uncooked. And if the child reacts to the yeast, the yeast by-products (the yeast "poop" and the yeast gas) can irritate the child's digestive tract and make it harder for the child to absorb the vitamins from foods he/she eats. Some people have switched to naturaly made soda breads, and sour dough breads. However, find out how they are made. You don't want a fake sourdough bread made with fast-acting yeast but with a little vinegar or some other additive to add a sour taste.
Things to avoid include anything with yeast, but also most fermented things, like vinegar, pickles, etc.
High Fructose Corn Syrup;
This sweetener is hard to get rid of since it is in just about everything that comes packaged. It is much sweeter than plain sugar. Try finding things that have plain sugar in them. There are some locally made sodas that do this still. The sugar feeds the yeast and can cause cravings and nutritional deficiencies because of this. Its a vicious circle--the sugar feeds the yeast, and the yeast grows extremely fast, causing sugar cravings. At this point, regular sugar is better because it is less sweet, and is less likely to be allergenic (corn is a very common allergen.)
Food Dyes and Preservatives;
My son can actually taste the preservatives that the manufacturers claim to be tasteless. (He was tested in a college research program.) I guess about 10% of people can taste them. Artificial food colorings and preservatives (nitrates are one of them, so you have a good start already) can affect a child's behavior. Preservatives can be fine in very small amounts, but if you eat them with every meal for years at a time, they become irritants to the system, and become allergenic. The allergic response (histamines) can affect the brain of autistic persons.
If this sounds difficult, here is a way to think of it to help motivate you:
Preserved food is OLD FOOD. With packaged, preserved food, you are paying extra for old food. Part of the food might look fine, but many vitamins, enzymes and other parts of the food have evaporated, degraded, or been purposely removed to keep the food from looking old when it really is old. With food colorings to "air-brush" the food to make it look like it is new, you don't really even know what it is you are really eating--chemically altered food that would have spoiled long ago. *
Sometimes there is a "withdrawal" effect from eliminating things cold-turkey, and this can happen particularly with Aspartame. So if your child is drinking 5 diet sodas per day, reduce it to 4 diet and offer one regular soda for a few days, then 3 diet and 2 regular, etc. Although, the added sugar might be a problem, the sugar is not your biggest concern at the moment. You can try substituting seltzer water mixed with juice as one of the drinks.
*I am not saying here that all forms of preservation are "bad." I feel refrigeration, freezing, canning (without vinegar), heating, salting, and root-cellar type storage don't pose the same problems. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/7/2008 8:58:33 PM | Some more about diet.
The things in the last post are not exactly foods themselves, but things added to foods to change them in some way. You are not really eliminating any true foods if all of these are gone from your child's diet. It may seem like there is "nothing left to eat" when you go to the store. But really everything "left" is the actual food itself.
You still have all the foods your Grandparents ate and enjoyed and thrived on. All of civilization before 100 years ago, lived just fine on foods that contained no preservatives (other than salt, vinegar and some spices), no high-fructose corn syrup, no artificial dyes (they had beet juice, turmeric, blueberry and some others), and no nitrates.
They had "slow-acting" yeast, which worked just fine for making breads and beers. They had refrigeration, freezing, canning, root cellars, drying and heating. All non-chemical ways to keep foods safe to eat.
They had fermentation as a preservative, which is the only thing that is not available on this diet at this point. Fermentation often produced alcohol, which works to preserve the food, or creates acidity which also inhibits bacteria. For a good replacement for vinegar, substitute lemon or lime juice. Alcohol is actually ok on this diet, of course not for youngsters.
So what to eat, and how? Just shop around the outside of the grocery. Buy produce, fresh meats that aren't processed, canned, frozen and dried goods that have no artificial preservatives or dyes. Shop more often, buy smaller amounts and cook them fresher, and more often from scratch. You don't have to cook "fancy" recipes to cook from scratch. In fact, some meals are great without any cooking at all. Try serving a fresh fruit, like grapes, with a bowl of mixed nuts, and some celery, carrot and red pepper sticks on a plate. A baked potato with olive oil and salt is a nice filler.
Good preservative substitutes are:
citric acid, available as a powder in bulk form,
vitamin E. (Buy as a liquid or empty a capsule into a preparation.)
Alcohol is fine, although not for children, or if used let the alcohol cook off or evaporate.*
Salt is fine.
As are garlic and herbs that inhibit bacterial growth.
Also, as mentioned above, freezing, refrigeration, canning, drying, boiling.
*Avoid using rubbing alcohol for external things (obviously not to drink) use Vodka instead. Rubbing alcohol has been seen by some as a cancer-causing agent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, on to what to try to eliminate, as part of an elimination diet that works for Autism about 30% - 50% of the time.
The diet most often recommended for persons with Autism to try is the GF/CF diet. This is where we actually eliminate foods that can cause problems for specific types of people. It is not a weight loss diet, although some current weight loss diets have this as a component. Oprah's current 21-Day Cleanse eliminates both gluten and casein, but also eliminates meat.
GF/CF stands for gluten-free/casein-free. Gluten is a protein in wheat and some other grains. Casein comes from milk and milk products. (Eggs are ok.)
The gluten-free part of the diet is almost exactly like the diet recommended for celiac patients. Even extremely tiny amounts of gluten can cause a problem, so following a celiac-type diet is going to cover this.
The casein-free part of the diet is similar to what you might do if you are lactose-intolerant, but it is not the lactose that is the real problem here (although lactose might be an additional problem--its not what causes the Autistic-like symptoms.)
In other words, choosing lactose-free milk means that you still will have all the casein in the milk. And adding Lactaid to a dairy product only "fixes" the lactose-intolerance, not the casein problem.
So you have to eliminate all milk, and milk products, like cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, ice cream made from milk or cream, butter (unless it is clarified butter, sometimes called "Ghee".)* In addition, casein is a very common food additive. So you have to read all the labels on the foods that are processed to look for anything that uses casein.
You also might have to check your personal care products like shampoo, and makeup for wheat and casein additives. And sometimes, even the gluten-free candies have been made using flour on the preparation boards to keep them from sticking together. So at this point you will have to call manufacturers to be sure they aren't using either gluten or casein in the preparation, even though it is not a listed ingredient.
This is where buying whole unprocessed foods comes in very handy. A sack of potatoes is just a sack of potatoes (hopefully) unless, of course it has been sprayed with a chemical at the farm or in the warehouse. This is where organic foods are helpful, but not essential to this diet.
Many people start by eliminating the dairy products first. There are now many good substitutes for milk. Not-so for cheese. Many vegetarian cheeses have casein added to them. Substitute non-hydrogenated oils, nuts and nut-butters for cheeses. Butter can be clarified, but I highly recommend substituting it with organic, extra-virgin olive oil.
Gluten-free products are available now more than ever. There are many places you can find them, and many regular grocery stores carry a line of gluten-free products. Generally, for starches, we use potatoes and rice. Corn starch can be used to thicken things, instead of flour. Tapioca is OK. Oatmeal is ok, but check to see that it is certified gluten-free (oats are often grown in fields next to wheat and can be combined accidentally.) Popcorn is OK, Corn chips are OK. Salza is OK.
Give this diet about 6 months to see results. Nobody is going to starve. I have my whole family on this diet and after an initial adjustment there is no problem finding things to eat and enough to eat. It is more a mind adjustment than a body adjustment. And if you do a little cooking, you don't have to spend any more money than you already do.
Entire cultures of our world live practically gluten free and casein free (until recently if they have become "Westernized".) For example, your local Chinese restaurant has many gluten free, casein free dishes--almost all of the traditional ones are.** Traditional Mexican food was based mostly on corn flours, and had very little cheese and dairy. Cheese is almost an afterthought, added as a topping, and so it is easy to request dishes to be served without it.
This diet is also covered in more detail in another thread here that I have started. Search for GF/CF.
* To make clarified butter, or Ghee, simply warm it until it melts, and then skim off the milk solids that float to the top. What is left looks "clear," hence the name.
**Watch out for "soy sauce" most soy sauces are made from wheat in this country. Buy some Tamari (soy sauce which is actually made from soy) which is labeled gluten-free and bring it with you. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/8/2008 7:02:46 PM | I've had aspergers all my life and it hasn't effected me much at all , I own a business and have been the lead singer guitar player in a rock band all my life. the important thing to remember about autism is that they need to understand things before they can "come out" . Like the speech thing that I hear about so much. In the mind of an autistic they don't see the relation to speaking socially as something they need to do since they don't view society the same way as regular people.
When so much of what they realize through basic human intercourse is so insulting to them. When someone has an IQ of 170 with a limited social trust due to a basic (to an autistic) disgust of his or her social environment he or she may choose not to become involved in it.
There is a theory among aspergers researchers about autism that states if you want and autistic to fit into society you simply need to make them "dumber". Perhaps large doses of flouridated water would do the trick . You do realize of course that people have been reduced greatly in their intelligence due to one simple marketing farce called flouride don't you ?
Never let your children near the stuff , It is well documented that they gave it to prisoners in the concentration camps in world war 2 to keep them docile and in large doses would can aneurizms and seizures. It is a highly toxic substance that our governments regulated to be served to the unknowing masses. What is their agenda you ask ? try manipulation . why do you think so many people have no idea what's going on in the world ? the IQ levels have been diminished through toxic water for 50 or 60 years.
Have a wonderful day . | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/9/2008 6:45:13 PM |
"...Never let your children near the stuff ...It is a highly toxic substance..."
Could you clarify how you avoid/remove flouride?
Is filtration enough?
And if you use filtration, what kind?
Is flouride in soda, reconstituted juices, and canned goods that have water in them?
"There is a theory among aspergers researchers about autism that states if you want and autistic to fit into society you simply need to make them "dumber". "
As far as making an Autistic person dumber, I agree that most have intelligence, and some are brilliant. However, the OP was posting about a child who as a teenager has to be spoonfed pureed food and requires diapers. In this case, any further neurological damage might be unhelpful. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/9/2008 7:45:21 PM | I recommend taking a further step with regard to yeast problems with Autism. We implemented this for several years with our son who improved remarkably during this time, while also receiving other therapy.
Yeast is also called Candida Albicans. Autistic persons can have an impaired immune response to yeast as mentioned in an earlier posting.
Enormous amounts of yeast can be in a child's system at a given time. And the threadlike hyphae of the mycelium from the yeast can penetrate the mucous membranes and the lining of the intestine and cause permeability there, which causes further problems with immunity.
Besides simply eliminating yeast from the child's diet, a Doctor can prescribe an ingestible anti-fungal called Nystatin, in a powder form, a drinkable liquid, and a cream for topical application. Keep Nystatin in the refrigerator but do not freeze it.
Nystatin is a polyene antifungal drug to which many molds and yeast infections are sensitive, including Candida spp. Nystatin has some toxicity associated with it when given intravenously, but it is not absorbed across intact skin or mucous membranes. It is considered a relatively safe drug for treating oral or gastrointestinal fungal infections.
Skin, vaginal, mucosal and esophageal Candida infections usually respond well to treatment with nystatin. Cryptococcus is also sensitive to nystatin. It is used for treating oral thrush. Nystatin is often used as prophylaxis in patients who are at risk for fungal infections, such as AIDS patients with a low CD4+ count and patients receiving chemotherapy. It is prescribed in units, with doses varying from 100,000 (for oral infections) to 1 million (for intestinal ones). As it is not absorbed from the gut, it is safe for oral use and does not have problems of drug interactions.
The lotion can be applied to the skin, and the powder can be mixed with honey in very small doses at first, and given to the child. The taste is quite bitter, but many Autistic persons like a bitter taste, or don't seem to mind it. Perhaps because it helps them to feel better. It is important to begin with very tiny amounts of the powder, as small as 1/16th of a teaspoon, and work gradually up to a theraputic dose. This is because the yeast will have a "die-off" and the dead yeast and yeast by-products are toxic to the system if all of it dies off at once.
A guide to the diets recommended for Autism is found in this book and several others:
"Feast Without Yeast: 4 Stages to Better Health:
A Complete Guide to Implementing Yeast Free, Wheat (Gluten) Free and Milk (Casein) Free Living"
-- by Bruce Semon, Lori Kornblum, and Bernard Rimland (Paperback - Nov 1999)
To go this further step sounds like more work, but I think that killing off a yeast infection that might be irritating the entire sensitive digestive tract of an Autistic child can only help them. Nystatin does not work like an antibiotic. It doesn't kill off the "good bactiera" in the GI tract, only the fungal infection. Nystatin doesn't get absorbed into the bloodstream of the child, so it causes no side effects other than that caused by the dead yeast itself passing out of the child's system.
Its a non-invasive treatment, the drug is not habit-forming, causes no harm to the child, and even if the yeast isn't a very big problem for a particular child, you have nothing to loose by trying this, and everything to gain. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/10/2008 6:37:03 PM | The Anti-Yeast Diet
*Eliminate all yeast, and all foods that contain yeast or are made from yeast.
**Limit or eliminate foods that stimulate the growth of yeast.
***Eliminate foods that have other types of molds or fungus (fermented and aged foods.)
Foods to avoid that contain yeast:
FOODS THAT CONTAIN YEAST
------------------------------------
Breads
Bagels
Pastries
Pretzels
Crackers
Pizza Dough
Cake
Rolls
Alcohol, especially beer
Cereal
FOODS THAT STIMULATE THE GROWTH OF YEAST &
FOODS THAT CONTAIN MOLDS AND FUNGUS
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sugar and other sweets
Honey
Syrup
Corn Syrup
Raisins
Fruit Juices
Cheese
Vinegar
Ketchup
Sauerkraut
Vinegar-based salad dressing
Some barbecue sauces
Sour Cream
Olives
Mustard
Capers
Tempeh
Cider
Brown Tea (made from fermented leaves)
Mushrooms
Pickles | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/10/2008 7:32:17 PM | | I have pretty much mastered autism inside and out from the polymorphism to the altered digestion, to the alteration in liver methylation issues, by passing metabolic blockades to balancing neurotransmitters. Clinic I help run deals with orthomolecular medicine as well as lastest testing to identify these altered pathways to give people with metabolic imbalnaces a better quality of life. Feel free to Pm me. i ahve some of them traits of aspergers as well as metabolic blue print of autistic child to verify this. I am actually looking to get a genetic polymoprphism test for testing alterations in genes which I know I have mainly the 5 mthf reductase, and also the methione synthase pathway. I just know need to confirm it. I am probably one of the few people in the US that under stands these genetic mutations and how to circumvent them. I highly recommend researhcing amy yasko and genetic nutronmic testing to help answer alot of unexplained questions. My email is hardasnails1973@comcast.net | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/10/2008 8:18:02 PM | Hello Natural Doc,
I am aware of alterations in liver methylation and orthomolecular medicine, and I am also a person with mild Asperger's traits. Thank you for the reference to Amy Yasko and genetic nutronmic testing, however your post might be in violation of one of the POF rules about not posting an e-mail address (you will be spammed by spam-bots!)
I have been helping do some grassroots organizing in our inner city for many years and have found dozens of un-diagnosed autistic children who may never get the treatments they need because the parents have no insurance. I have decided to put here the things that I have tried personally on both myself and my Autistic son, that have definitely worked for us in reducing the symptoms, and also do not require a Doctor or many lab tests. If a parent here is a single parent, struggling to make ends meet, these suggestions can be done with little cost, few side effects, and yet can make a difference in a child's (and their caregiver's) life.
Also, I often list these things for people I meet waiting in clinics with an Autistic child in tow, who have never been told that there are alternatives to the prescription drugs and "psychotherapy" type techniques. These were tried for many years before parents began searching for other answers, because these weren't a cure.
I decided that here in this public forum, I would put the simplest things to try first, and then get into more detail at the end of the thread, for those who want more references, and other more advanced explanations and ideas to try out with the help of a sympathetic and informed Doctor.
Also, I think that some of the more advanced treatments should be done after the child is already healing with some of these basics in place, such as an extremely healthy/healing diet and lifestyle, so the child is stronger and more able to benefit from the targeted treatments developed from the results of lab tests.
I encourage you to take some of the things a lay person might be able to do on their own, and post them here if you are interested. For the more advanced medicine, I am thinking of starting another thread in perhaps the Science and Technology area for those who are willing to wade through the technical terms and have the resources to pay for the extensive testing, most of which our insurance doesn't cover.
On second thought, I think that if you would be willing to do this, you might be a better candidate to start such a thread than I. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/12/2008 10:45:01 AM | In addition to the supplement, DMG, mentioned earlier, a similar supplement called TMG can also be used for the same purpose. Both of these nutrients have the effect of helping the body to detoxify heavy metals through the urine.
TMG is trimethylglycine.
Both nutrients increase methylation.
They work best when taken with folinic acid and methyl-B-12.
Take 125 to 1,000 mg of DMG per day.
Take 175 to 2,000 mg of TMG per day.
Begin with the smaller dose and work up to the larger doses.
We have also used Octocosonol with our son.
Source: "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies; The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders" by Kenneth Bock, M.D., and Cameron Stauth | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/12/2008 11:05:44 AM | In a previous post, I suggest using Epsom Salts baths. Here is the current rationale for why this helps people with Autism:
Sulfate is used for many functions in the body, including detoxification, maintaining the lining of the gut, and hormone production. Some children with autism have a low level of sulfate in their bodies, due to a variety of reasons including poor absorption in the gut, excess loss in the urine, poor recycling of sulfate by the kidney, or oxidant stress and inflammation can shut down cysteine dioxygenase, which throttles the cysteine -> sulfate route.
Testing:
Blood testing can be used to check for levels of free and total plasma sulfate, and this is probably the more reliable test. Plasma cysteine can also be informative. (Urine testing of free and total sulfate may be useful to look for excessive loss of sulfate, but this is only one of several possible causes of low sulfate in the body, and should not be solely relied on to assess sulfate status).
Alternatively, since Epsom salt baths are very safe, one could simply try them for up to several weeks and look for improvements in behavior and functioning (see below).
Treatment:
Tapan Audhya evaluated many different ways to increase plasma sulfate levels in children with autism who had low levels. The two most effective methods were oral MSM (500-2000 mg depending on size and sulfate level) and Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) baths – 2 cups of Epsom salts in warm/hot water, soak for 20 minutes, 2-3x/week. A few children did not tolerate MSM, but Epsom salt baths are generally very well tolerated. (T. Audhya, Role of Sulfation, presentation at Autism/Asperger’s Conference in Anaheim, CA, February 2007.)
Many parents and physicians have anecdotally reported that Epsom salt baths were beneficial to their children. However, there is less experience with MSM for children with autism, and more research is needed.
--Source: "Summary of Biomedical Treatments for Autism" by James B. Adams, Ph.D. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/13/2008 10:54:00 AM | Autism is multi-factoral in nature, in other words, it has more than one cause. Each Autistic person is unique in how they aquired the Autism symptoms that they have. And the only thing they truly share is the list of symptoms that commonly appear together, such as, no or very little language, poor motor skills, extreme social delays, tantrums, stimming, extreme innattentiveness, insomnia, lack of fear in dangerous situations, poor judgement, impulsivity, low awareness of pain, etc.
There are some symptoms that also appear, but are overshadowed by the more extreme symptoms like lack of communication and tantrums, so that few have paid a lot of attention to the fact that many Autistics have lots of GI problems, inflammatory problems, circles under the eyes, are pale, and have wrist drop and ankle drop (symptoms of lead poisoning.) Because an Autistic person has poor communication combined with a low body awareness, and is often late in toilet training, these symptoms can go under the radar even though they might be red flags in a non-Autistic person.
Its easy to think that they are pale, underweight or uncoordinated because they are such picky eaters that often they limit their food choices to five or fewer foods. And these foods can have "bizzare" patterns to them, for instance, one child will only eat foods that are beige in color. But more Doctors are thinking that it is the GI symptoms, allergic symptoms and thrush-like symptoms that are causing the child to eat less variety of foods to begin with. They have sumrised that healing the childs body and brain will help them to tolerate more foods more easily.
The child is trying to limit foods to those he feels better eating, but he/she has no idea which foods those are, because of the opiates produced by the toxins in the foods, they are not able to be as aware of their body as a normal child is. Some foods increase the opiates, so the pain of GI symptoms appear to lessen, when really this is part of the original problem. Some foods are bland and have an easy texture to tolerate, because the child has a very sensitive mouth and GI tract due to a candida infection, but the same bland foods, like breads and cheeses, have more of the candida in them that is causing the problem. So the problem, if left to the child's tastes alone, may only get worse and worse.
There are some very good books out now about the problem of chronic inflammation in causing everything from heart disease to mental illness. So the next thing I will discuss is doing a different kind of dietary intervention (this is also something the lay person can do--parents or caregivers.)
This would be an elimination diet, specific to the individual. The elimination of wheat, dairy, yeast, and food additives are things that any person can do for many different health reasons, and many non-Autistic people have GI and inflammatory symptoms from eating these foods. However, when a person or child has an irritated GI tract, or their immune system is over-reactive due to various reasons, they can become allergic to a specific food.
It is our immune system that constantly monitors the foods we injest, the air we breathe and everything we come into contact with, and decides if it is "me" or "not me." Self, or not self? It says, "Do I let this in, or do I reject it?" And if it decides the substance is "not self" the immune system can destroy anything--any part of the body, (in type 1 diabetes, it is the pancreas) even itself (as in AIDS.)
In my opinion, an allergy begins when the immune system is activated in a way that is dysfunctional. If a tissue in the body becomes irritated by something over a long period of time, that tissue, be it the lungs, or the mucous membranes of the mouth or eyes, or the skin, can over-react to that something, even if it is beneficial, like food. For instance, the lining tissue of the lungs can become inflammed from exposure to cigarette smoke, but often it requires the addition of preservatives in cigarettes, to create the immune response that leads to emphazema. It is not the nicotine alone, usually, or the nicotine patches would cause an allergy to nicotine.
Another way is from the mother's immune system. The child inherits some of the mother's immune responses, good or bad, to foods and other things in the environment.
The third way is triggered by a toxin interfering with the normal development of the immune system's vocabulary. We are born with only a partially developed immune system, part of which is inherited, part of which has been learned in the womb from the mother, and part of which needs "training" by exposure to various things after birth, and by continued training via the mother's colostrum (the immune factors in mother's milk.) This process isn't complete for many years after birth.
Sometimes a peanut allergy is genetically inherited and sometimes it is learned from exposure to the mother's immune response, and sometimes it is caused by toxins suppplied with peanuts in the form of pesticides sprayed on the crops, which cause the developing immune system to go haywire as it is fine-tuning its response to various substances.
Most pesticides work to derail the nervous system of the insects it is designed to thwart. These chemicals often do not pose a problem for adults who have a fully functioning immune system, and to whom the exposure is relatively small due to body size. However, they might be a signal to an immature human nervous system that this food, containing a tiny amount of poison, is actually a poison itself, and should be rejected. The very young child will reject bitter-tasting foods because the bitter taste often is the signal of a toxin or substance that their immature GI system is unable to handle yet. With many presentations of a particular food (up to 20-40 times) by a trusted adult, a child's immune system will begin to accept a new food as safe. This is much better of a system, than having all children being born with an openness to just about any food--since toddlers are almost impossible to follow around and limit every second of every day. Perhaps years ago, this tendency prevented many accidental food poisonings (not all, but certainly the child would be less likely to eat spoiled food, left out, or toxic plants, for instance.)
The body sends many uncomfortable signals and responses to indicate to a child to reject a food. For one thing, the child has about 100 times as many taste buds as an adult. And the uncomfortable inflammation of mucous membranes, headaches, runny eyes and nose, nausea, even vomiting, can cause the infant or young child to limit the foods he/she eats drastically.
A common problem that seems to have occured with Autism, is that a heavy metal was used to preserve a weakened or killed deadly disease organism and was injected into very young babies during the time before weaning when normally a baby is using their mother's clostrum to fine-tune its very premature immune system. The baby's immune system over-reacts at the same time it has been exposed to a neuro-toxin (mercury), and so is partially impaired.
This is very sad, because the same reason mercury works to hurt bacteria in the immunization vials, is the same reason it hurts the child's nervous system. Mercury is a neuro toxin. That's why it was used to begin with. It kills cells--any living cells--human or otherwise, particularly growing and dividing cells. (Like the kind in a growing child--and before age 4 -- a time the brain is doubling in size!) If it was any less toxic, it could be used similarly to kill cancer cells.
This is further complicated by the fact that the baby is being exposed to more than one weakened disease at one time--up to three in one exposure. This would normally never happen in real life-- a quadruple threat to the immune system at a very immature age--a heavy metal toxin exposure, a viral exposure, and a bacterial exposure at once. Infant human bodies were simply never designed to have to deal with this type of intense threat at once.*
Somehow the finely tuned immune response (it has to be finely tuned in order to "learn" what is food, what is not food, what is "safe" and what is not safe, and what is part of its own body--and what is not) gets its wires crossed.
*In real life, this combination would surely kill a child. Where any single bacterium or virus might only kill some percentage (say, 50%) of babies before the advent of immunizations, and so pass on some kind of genetic advantage to future generations. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/15/2008 11:04:51 AM | The Elimination Diet
This is where you eliminate the most common allergenic foods from a child's diet, then wait a while, and add them back one at a time to see if they get an obvious reaction to them. This "catches" food allergies, mainly, but won't be the definitive answer if more than one food combined together causes the problem. When I tried to do an elimination diet, it didn't demonstrate to me the gluten/casein problem.
The most allergenic foods are:
Wheat, Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts, Corn, Soy
The next most allergenic foods are:
Chocolate, Yeast, Tree Nuts
After that, are:
Citrus, Tomatoes, Aspartame and MSG, Vinegar, Shellfish
And these are occasionally reactive:
Bacon and pork, Cinnamon, Mustard, Bananas, Grapes/raisins, Coconut, Onions, Berries (Strawberries mainly), Peas, Celery, Spices like turmeric, cloves, curry, Kidney beans, Melon, Pineapple, Mushrooms, Peppers, Plums, Barley, Beef, Chicken.
To begin this process, sometimes Doctors recommend the "Lamb and Pears" diet, where you only eat the least reactive foods for a week or two (not easy, but doable), then add back the ones from the above lists one at a time, to see how you react to them, spacing this out by going back to the non-reactive list for a few days in-between.
Least Reactive Foods (Generally), or "Lamb and Pears" Diet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lamb, Pears, Rice, Carrots, Beets, Cauliflower, Kale, Squash, Salmon, Halibut, Sole, Cranberries, Trout, Apricots, Turkey, Broccoli, Olives, Olive Oil, Rabbit, Cabbage, Sweet Potatoes, Tapioca.
Don't take any anti-histamines during this process, since you are looking for allergic reactions. (An allergic reaction is most often a histamine response.)
Don't eat any processed foods during this time, since they often mix foods together and some have traces of foods not on your list (if its a small enough amount, they don't have to put it on the label.)
Also, you might be reacting to a preservative or food additive. If you include the preservatives as part of the re-introduction of foods, you might be able to isolate the one which is giving you problems.
List of Food Additives to Avoid
-----------------------------------------
Dyes, Nitrites, Nitrates, Sulfites, Sorbic acid, Parabens, Benzoic acid, MSG, EDTA, Aspartame, Propyl Gallate, Alginate, Bromates.
I also try to eliminate:
- Anticaking Agents
- Artificial Sweetening Substances
- Color Retention Agents
- Emulsifiers
- Flavor Enhancers
- Flavorings
- Flour Treatment Agents, dough conditioners
- Food Acids
- Glazing Agents
- Humectants
- Mineral Salts
- Other Preservatives
- Propellants
- Stabilisers
- Thickeners & Vegetable Gums
In particular, I react to dough conditioners. I think that because of the problem I have with gluten, the dough conditioners make it worse, (I wonder if it could be the other way around--the dough conditioners triggered my reaction to wheat gluten.) Anyway, I can eat some breads and not others without a histamine reaction. However, the other brain symptoms are still a problem from the gluten.
Some chemical exposures can make allergies of any kind worse since they can trigger the allergy, or cause someone to react to something they weren't allergic to before.
Petrochemicals like car exhaust, oil furnaces, Formaldehyde, Chlorine, Phenol, Ethanol, Flouride, Benzyl Alcohol, Glycerine
Avoiding exposure to these can reduce the total load on the child's immune system. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/16/2008 9:32:08 AM | My favorite reference on food allergies and for more on how to do an elimination diet:
"The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and Intolerance: Prevention, Identification, and Treatment of Common Illnesses and Allergies Caused by Food" by Dr. Johnathan Brostoff and Linda Gamlin
In my opinion, the part of the immune system, called Peyer's patches (small patches lining the ileum of the intestines) are going to hold the key to some of these mysteries in future research. Peyer's patches sample the contents of the intestines and prepare the body for the arrival of the food molecules into the bloodstream. When they are working correctly, they distinguish between food and disease molecules and direct the body's immune response based on that. Non-functioning Peyer's patches lead to susceptibility to prion diseases (mad cow.)
Peyer's patches include memory cells whose function is to actually "learn" over time, what to direct the larger immune system to do with various molecules entering the bloodstream. | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/16/2008 9:50:28 AM | Here's some of the current rationale for why food colorings cause hyperactivity for some children:
Hyperactive children appear to be deficient in an enzyme known as phenolsulphotransferase-P or PST-P.
This enzyme detoxifies various compounds, including a substance called p-cresol that is produced by bacteria in the gut. P-cresol is a phenol. Phenols can be toxic. Food colorings inhibit this enzyme (make the PST-P enzyme stop working.)
When this is the case, some Autistic persons respond well to a low-phenol diet. This diet eliminates the phenols gallic acid and malvin.
Here is a sample low-phenol diet used by an Autistic person who showed improvment:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grains:
millet, buckwheat, oats, rice 100% rye
Meats:
Pork, Rabbit, Duck, Fish (not tuna, salmon or halibut)
Vegetables:
Broccoli, Turnip, Cauliflower, Asparagus, Artichoke, Sweet Potato
Fruit:
Papaya
Oils:
Sesame, Sunflower, Safflower
Crackers:
Sesame (Ryvitas), Rice Cakes, Oat Cakes, Rice Crackers
Tea:
Nettle, Dandelion, Chamomile
--Diet based on the work of Dr. Abram Ber of Phoenix, AZ | |
|
| Autism
Posted: 7/21/2008 5:01:46 PM | Diction SOS:
When my son was still learning to talk, with only a single word or two, (about age 4) we discovered he was totally fascinated by the alphabet. He couldn't talk, but he did learn the alphabet, and became obsessed with it. Sometimes, we heard, this can be an indication of "Hyperlexia" which is a form of language disorder, but not necessarily Autism, although apparently Autistic persons can have it.
A friend of mine had a son who had lost all his hearing due to an infection. They mortgaged their home to purchase a cochlear implant for him. The cochlear implant people recommended a rehabilitation program for him that included The Association Method for teaching children with language deficiencies. She taught me this method, and I used some of it in teaching my son language. He not only learned to talk better with this, but he also learned to read at the same time. (To this day, he has perfect diction, I think in part because when he was having trouble saying a word we could put it on a card using the phenomes and umlauts and then he would be able to "get it.") He wasn't always understanding what he read, but he at least had learned "the code" of language this way, by memorizing it. To him it was just a puzzle, or a code, not useful for anything yet, but at least we had sort of a "morse code" to start with in reaching him.
Here is a reference to a curriculum that includes this method:
TLDC: Teaching Language-Deficient Children
h t t p : / /w w w.proedinc.com/customer/ProductView.aspix?ID=3921
(remove the spaces to use it)
"Theory and Application of the Association Method for Multisensory Teaching"
The gist of this method was putting the 42 English phonemes onto flash cards (umlauts and all) and having him memorize them. He was delighted to learn this "secret code" and thought it was fun.
Then we taught him to read by using cursive, color, patterns, and visual repetition.
An Autistic person often can't see what a word unit is because they persist in seeing each individual letter as unique, and not a part of a whole. So by using cursive, the letters of each word are connected and only have a space between each word. The cursive style did not take any extra effort to teach him. It seemed easy for him to read the cursive part. He loved knowing where a word began and ended, and this made it much easier for him to sound out the word.
We used different colors to differentiate sounds at first, and then used a different color for each word when doing sentences. When doing words on a page, we let him pick the colors of bright markers, and wrote them in patterns on a plain peice of paper, for instance in a star pattern, or a step pattern, or in some set of circles, with about 4 repetitions to each page. Then we would point to each "step on the ladder" and say the word together. This made reading much more fun, and he loved the "patterns."
We later did the same thing with short sentences, with about 4 - 5 repetitions in different colors on a page. It looked like story diagramming, but with the same sentence repeated instead of different concepts at different positions on the diagram. Each time we did this pointing and saying the sentence.
Each word or sentence took about 15 repetitions, over short periods of a few minutes at a time, and perhaps taking a week to finish for him to learn it.
Sometimes we put a coin, or a tiny sweet down on each word as we were pointing to it, which he could keep.
I also put words for common things around the house onto flash cards and taped them to the object they named. There was the word "Window" on all of our windows, and "Door" on all of our doors, for instance. I didn't do this all at once, a few items at a time, so he wouldn't get overwhelmed. Sometimes we would go on a treasure hunt and find all the window cards, then take them for a "prize" from the prize box. Then I would put up a different set of cards, like "mirror" for all the mirrors, and "phone" for all the phones. | |
|
|
|
Home
login 
