Autism 101

It used to be that there was no hope for an autistic child, but that is no longer the case, thanks to countless parents who have shared their stories of triumph and recovery. The most important thing for parents to keep in mind is that autism is treatable, even curable. Like any other illness, the key is to recognize the signs early and to start treatment as soon as possible in the form of biomedical interventions as well as educational instruction.

It is really unfortunate for our kids that autism has become this huge controversy. No one wants to accept fault for the toxic state in which we live and mainstream medicine will not deviate from standard practices to confront this illness head-on. The future of our kids is at risk, while people are arguing and taking sides. There is no side; recovering our children should be the only priority.

As for the vaccine debate, in my view, it’s illogical to state that injecting neurotoxins into a developing child does not result in any neurological impairment. To say that vaccines are the one and only cause of autism would overlook other sources of toxins and pollutants that are prevalent in the environment. However, given the fact that the causes of autism are still in dispute, it is irresponsible and premature to completely dismiss the role of vaccines.

Those who fiercely defend the vaccine industry need to back off until there is solid evidence that the current vaccine schedule, as a whole, is safe and effective for all children. To date, no double-blind placebo study, conventional medicine’s gold standard, has ever been conducted on the current vaccine schedule in its entirety. What follows below are statements from experts in the field on vaccination- and these are mainstream docs. Bernadine Healy’s comment is right on target and there are many other doctors and scientists who side with Healy, or are even more staunchly opposed to vaccination.

Dr. Bernadine Healy, M.D. former director of the National Institutes of Health states: “There are unanswered questions about vaccine safety. We need studies on vaccinated populations based on various schedules and doses as well as individual patient susceptibilities that we are continuing to learn about. No one should be threatened by the pursuit of this knowledge. Vaccine policy should be the subject of frank and open debate, with no tolerance for bullying. There are no sides—only people concerned for the well-being of our children.”

"There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunization of children does more harm than good." - Dr. J. Anthony Morris, former Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the US Federal Drug Admin.

 "There's been grossly insufficient investment in research on the safety of immunization." - former head of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Louis Cooper.

"The only safe vaccine is one that is never used." - Dr. James R. Shannon, former director of the NIH.

Besides vaccines the list of contributing factors goes something like this: mercury dental amalgams, prenatal vaccines and contaminated food and water supplies. Not only are our children subjected to environmental toxins on a daily basis, they must also deal with toxins they were subjected to in-utero. Then they have to deal with toxins injected into their bloodstream right after they are born. It’s amazing to me that more kids aren’t autistic when you consider all they have to endure.

Read labels, eat organic; you never know what is in the food you eat and it may be jeopardizing your health. We are living in a time where arsenic, in the form of Roxarsone, is commonly used in feed in the poultry and pork industries and our air and water quality is questionable at best. There is no such thing as an autoimmune disease; the immune system is not going haywire for no reason. There is a reason; it is reacting to being overwhelmed with toxins. Autism has a lot in common with other dysautonomias like Parkinson’s, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS and Fibromyalgia.

Once you have an official diagnosis, take all the limitations the so-called experts predicted for your child’s future and throw them out the window. Make an appointment with a doctor, well versed in autism treatments. A doctor who deals only with autistic children will be a great source of information and will get you started on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, there are doctors out there who are looking to take advantage of parents desperate to heal their child. Be wary of doctors who charge exorbitant fees and run if they want to start with the most expensive therapies available. Doctors are only the starting point. You have to be your child’s advocate in biomedical treatments. Read all you can and understand the value of each option as it applies to your child. Start by evaluating the therapies that have the highest success rates and research why they are successful.

I would never presume to tell another parent what to do; I only wish to share my experience with biomedical treatments. From what I have seen and read, the key to recovering from autism is getting your child's ability to produce proteins and enzymes back on line. Proteins like metallothionein and glutathione are crucial for detoxification. With impaired enzyme activity, biochemical processes do not happen fast enough and everything slows down. Some kids get better with just vitamin and mineral supplementation alone, some with just methyl B12 shots. However, if your child is overloaded with toxins, as was the case with my son, you have to remove the toxins and chelation is the only way to do that.

Toxic metals like mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium sit on the active sites of enzymes and inhibit the production of proteins, making them useless. The good stuff you want to replace these toxins with are things like amino acids, vitamins and minerals. When that happens, these proteins will get back on line and the kids will get better. Also of note is that amino acids are the building blocks not only to metabolic enzymes, but also hormones and neurotransmitters. Toxic metals have a profound effect on many different metabolic pathways and can explain both the neurological and metabolic impairment that autistic kids endure.

Over the course of the last year and a half, I have tried methyl B12 shots, GFCF diet, vitamin, mineral and amino supplementation. The most valuable therapy for my son has been following Cutler’s low/frequent dose oral chelation protocol. This had the "WOW" factor we needed for our son. We started this protocol when my son was 3.3 years old and we have been following it for over 9 months and the results are astounding.

At first we attributed our son starting to speak to the start of the school year and the work he continued with his autism teacher. Then, my son really took off and was speaking in nice sentences and his progress just keeps snowballing. We keep wondering if his progress can continue at such a fast pace. Prior to chelation, I had to prompt him just to label things he already knew and teaching him new words was a long process. Now, he talks all the time, he even jokes and laughs. He is happy; it's wonderful to see. I feel like I am seeing this personality emerge when only a year ago, I felt hopeless.

At the time of this writing, my son just turned 4 years old. He still has a way to go to catch up to his peers and a lot of lost time to make up, but it’s happening. He is on the path to recovery, hitting the milestones he missed along the way. I don’t think there is any hard and fast rule about which kids are able to recover and which kids can’t. I believe that given a chance, most kids can get better, even recover.