Key Steps to Autism Recovery

Recovery from Autism is Possible, begin now

If you are looking for complete autism treatment and recovery of your loved one the very first thing one need to understand is that any successful treatment for autism is multidimensional.

Our children, if by luck, have been diagnosed on time as having any development disorder,  they will already have some deficit in terms of communication. Most children will need this gap to be filled by intensive therapy.

Only a very small percentage will pick up language by themselves after only biomedical therapy.

Do not underestimate the importance of functional language, it is the foundation of future knowledge, social development, and independence, pretty much a shot at normal life in the future.

Hence whether you do biomedical, homeopathy, Ayurvedic, NAET*, detoxification, or nutritional therapy, a speech and language program and an ABA program focusing on speech MUST run concurrently.
The gap must be bridged.

Key steps to Autism Recovery

Please understand this is only an overview, in-depth reasoning, references to journals, articles and books will be given as we touch on each topic individually in later posts.

STEP 1: ABA Program for Autism Recovery

Get the kid into speech therapy and or ABA program that focuses on speech. ABA is preferable, but at least start on a speech and language therapy class. If you have not been able to find a good speech therapist or if it is simply un-affordable, get in touch with us. We will help you to start an ABA programs at home.

Any program is only as good as the therapist. Find a therapist who listens to you and has a positive attitude. Someone who will build on your child’s strengths.
Remember that this is the focus of your autism treatment and recovery.

STEP 2: Nutritional Therapy for Autism Recovery

This is the backbone of your treatment. You will achieve success with a speech program, but it may be limited unless nutritional therapy is implemented to correct the mind and body functions. Nutritional therapy increases your chances of  recovery with a speech and academic program manifold. The basics of these changes are as follows:

1. Introduce Digestive Enzymes:

After taking your doctor in confidence, start digestive enzymes right away. Will help your child to assimilate nutrients from whatever he is eating.

Digestive enzymes can cause hyperactivity once food starts getting digested. Do not stop, just reduce the amount. Or change the brand. You can also go for fermented vegetables. These are homemade using cabbage as a base. Look up “sauerkraut” on Google and learn how to make it. It is rich in natural digestive enzymes and probiotics.

2. Start Probiotics

These are an extremely important part of autism treatment and recovery. Without these there will be no complete recovery.

Nobody stresses on this. You will not read this anywhere else.

Correcting the gut flora will put you miles ahead in your loved ones autism treatment and recovery. It takes a minimum of six months to alter the gut flora.

Go for colony forming units in the range of 100 billion +.

Word of advice: Sugar kills these friendly bacteria. Any amount of probiotics will not change your gut flora if you keep eating any sugar in any amount. Even overdosing on fresh fruits and sweet dry fruits may delay flora correction.

3. Go GFCFSF (Gluten free casein free soy free)

This is one of the most difficult part. Gluten = wheat. Casein = milk & milk products.

Soy is a goitrogen with a high phytic acid content which is an anti-nutrient.

In layman terms that basically means that it can interfere with your thyroid hormone production, make you hypothyroid, which will make you tired, and stupid. I know because I am hypothyroid. Remember that quite a few kids with autism suffer from hypothyroidism and hence consequently issues with attention and learning.

If your doctor agrees check him for thyroid function. So, keep your kid away from all types of soy. It is only partially useful, that too only for menopausal women, thanks to its high level of the female hormone estrogen.

Another thing about casein free. If you know for certain that your kid does not have casein allergy lets say by food allergy tests. You can eliminate the possible lactose problem with giving him 24hr yoghurt instead of milk. Go for unpasteurized organic milk. Yoghurt means digestive enzymes, probiotics and calcium.

Minerals from food always beats the capsules.

A word of advice: You cannot do all three (GFCFSF) together. You don’t want to starve the kid. Eliminate one by one. You will eliminate and then fail quite a few times as you experiment with the replacement diet. Don’t let that bother you. It may take up to 6 months to be really GFCFSF. Just keep trying. And learn to read and understand contents on food packets from the market.

4. Stop buying food/snacks/junk food from outside.

This is the easier part but can be tough for those parents whose kids are addicted to MSG laden McDonald burgers, pizzas, KFC chicken and all types of french fries.

This will eliminate all food additives such as food colors, MSG*, preservatives etc. All the above foods contain these food additives, artificial colors and most importantly MSG. MSG comes so cheap that your local paanipoori-wala adds it to his chutneys! Beware!

5. Use only good fats for cooking. Use organic GHEE/ Coconut Oil/ lard

Organic is the keyword here. Ghee is casein free. All vegetable oils loose their health giving properties on being heated. ALL, with no exceptions, even olive oil. What if you want to deep fry? Use coconut oil. It does not change its structure at high temperatures just like ghee and lard. All three are excellent for deep frying.

Do not believe advertisements or silly health reports in the newspapers, all these are usually funded by huge corporations invested in these products.

We will devote a whole post to why cooking in oil is an everyday toxic burden for you soon. Meanwhile the right way to get the benefits of oils is to use them as dressings on your chutneys, salads any other way you can imagine, where you do not need to heat them.

Use cold pressed organic oils, raw, as salad dressings – for real benefits.

6. Go organic with vegetables, fruits and grains if possible

Grow you own herbs, that’s even better than organic.

All green vegetables, besides tomatoes, potatoes, apples, strawberries and grapes are heavily drenched in pesticides.

If you cannot arrange this for the whole household, arrange in small quantities for your child. Cook separately for him. Remember he is very ill, so ill, that his development has stopped.

If even that is not possible then wash – wash – wash and then wash once more. Go paranoid, by all means.

7. Start supplements

A good multivitamin formula. Magnesium, zinc, vitamin C and Iodine. Amino Acid mix. A good cod liver oil for natural vitamin A and D. Make sure it has low heavy metal content (thanks to our polluted seas and lakes). Local & small brands may not check extensively for heavy metals.

8. Stay away from pharmaceuticals

Remember to keen a knowledgeable doctor in the loop while you try out all these things.

• No syrup can cure colds and throat infection. But all have side effects & a lot of sugar!
• When a child is ill, stop all sweets, including fruits. Sugar lowers your immunity instantly.
• Do a lot of soups, chicken soup is excellent.
• For vegetarians do vegetable soups and broths.  Do vegetable khichdi with lots of ghee.
• If you want to give fruit juice, stick to coconut water, it is full of minerals. Use as much as you want.
• Use echinaecia and colostrum to boost immunity.
• Unless fever goes above 100 degrees, do NOT use crocin(paracetamol). Paracetamol strips the liver of all important antioxidants within 20 minutes! Paracetamol overuse is the 2nd leading cause of liver transplant in the world!
• Do not use antacids (digene etc). They mess up your digestive system further. And they contain the neurotoxin aluminium.

9. Cook Healthy food in a Healthy way

• Stay away from microwaves. The radiation emitted by microwaves is similar to nuclear radiation. It strips away your body store of minerals if you stand in its vicinity. The food cooked in a microwave is reduced in nutrition by a good whooping 60%! and is like nuclear waste. Don’t even stand near a microwave.
• Do NOT cook in plastics, aluminum utensils. Safest cooking medium is steel, iron and glass. For aged people though,  iron is toxic. For kids it is of utmost important in their growth.
• Cook at low heat to preserve minerals and vitamins. High heat decomposes these.

*
MSG = monosodium glutamate, also called aginimoto, a brain neurotoxin.
NAET = Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique (Registered Trademark)
ABA = Applied Behaviour Analysis

Lots of other changes are required for success but these are the most important and common for all..
Mail me for any detailed info on the mail id given above, though we will touch on all aspects in detail sooner or later. Wishing you very best for Complete Autism Recovery of your loved one.

Note: The above does not constitute medical advice. It is the authors opinion based on books and research articles on autism, toxicity and the brain – gut connection. The doctors advice must be taken for all major illnesses.