Recovery

[Guest guest]

Recovery is very possible. My son is recovered!!! The number of children

treated and recovered with Dr. Goldberg's protocol probably would surprise many.

Although these kids are not cured, because most (not all) still need medication

to maintain normalcy. The following is a story I hope to have published in a

mainstream magazine. It is my son's story. I want it published so people will

realize that recovery is possible for many kids afflicted with Autism. We have

to keep kids who can be helped from ending up in group homes or institutions.

Sorry for the length, but it took some time to tell our story. If anyone has

any connections and can help me get this published, it would help all our

children.

Thanks,

Marcia

What Our Pediatrician Never Told Us

My son's recovery from Autism

By Marcia

pulled into the driveway totally clueless about the mailbox he almost

demolished and the two parked cars that had nearly lost their side mirrors. The

only thing that saved us from the woman who turned left in front of us was me

frantically yelling, " STOP! " Nonetheless, at the conclusion of yet another

white-knuckle driving session, had a huge smile on his face. My blood

pressure slowly returned to normal when he stopped the car and unfastened his

seatbelt. The " click " of the seatbelt sent me back to a day thirteen years

earlier.

I was doing thirty when I heard that same " click. " I glanced in the rearview

mirror to see my three-year-old missing from the seat behind me. When I turned

around, there stood in front of the open sliding door of our minivan. I

reached across the car and grabbed 's jacket just in time to keep him from

jumping out the moving van. wasn't ready to leave my friend's house, so he

decided to go back. And it didn't matter that the car was moving at a speed

that would probably kill him. .

From birth to four months, cried most of the time. There was little his

dad or I could do to calm him. Most of our day was spent trying to figure out

what he wanted or needed. It was like we were contestants on a game show where

only knew the rules and the answers.

Our older child, , had been different. She smiled when I fed her, cuddled

with stuffed animals, and gazed at me with eyes that absorbed everything I said

or did. Occasionally, would cuddle and smile, but most of the time I was

not sure he was aware of me at all.

seemed to prefer things to people. He would pick out an object in the

house - - a hook in his closet, for example, and spend ten minutes cooing to it.

Some of his other best friends were the living room clock and the shower nozzle.

We laughed because it was cute, and he was cute.

When we took out of the familiar surroundings of our home, he would either

scream or stare blankly. When we went to places like the grocery store, he did

not smile, make eye contact, or indicate that he cared one way or another about

the world around him. People in the store did not talk to or smile at him

because he did not respond. They either acted as if he did not exist, or they

expressed their disapproval of a child they knew was spoiled and out of control.

When these things occurred, I worried that something might be wrong with .

He confused me. At two, he would spend hours playing math computer games. He

knew all his letters and numbers, and could operate any piece of electronics in

our house. His level of concentration and ability to figure things out was

phenomenal. To alleviate our concerns, we convinced ourselves that he was going

to grow up to be another Albert Einstein or Edison. We wanted to believe

that the reason he behaved differently was that he was a genius.

Another sign we ignored was 's need for sameness. One particular

fascination he had was with a small portable radio. loved to go around

the house plugging it in and out each of the electrical outlets. He would have

been content to do this all day long if we let him. easily removed the

safety covers, and after awhile I just gave up trying to replace them...

We could not leave with a babysitter. If we did, he screamed inconsolably

the entire time we were gone. Needless to say, his babysitters never returned

for a second attempt. To make matters worse, didn't want to go anywhere

without me; not even with his dad. My only respite from was when my

husband asked, " Hey, , do you want to go to the hardware store? " loved

the electrical department! Before the boys went to do errands, they would stop

at the local store to check out all the outlets, extension cords and plugs.

was certainly difficult at home, but was worse when we went out. We used

to pick our restaurants by how loud we could be. One of our favorites was a

local buffet, not because we loved the food, but because we rated it as a

" Five-Screamer. " When had an outburst there, it wasn't so bad. Who could

hear it? But we were almost always embarrassed by his behavior. He made loud

noises and was hard to control in busy surroundings.

When was three, he went to preschool. At conference time, his teacher told

us she thought something was wrong; he was neither interested in, nor

interacting with other kids. The preschool conference was our wake-up call. We

asked our pediatrician for a referral to an expert. To our surprise, he sent us

to a psychiatrist. Our doctor didn't tell us that the psychiatrist was the

leading local authority on Autism in the Twin Cities area.

After she did some tests, the psychiatrist diagnosed with PDD (Pervasive

Development Disorder). She told us that not much had been written about PDD.

It took us several months to figure out that PDD was the same as Autism. I

think doctors probably use this label because they know the " A-Word " (Autism) is

more than parents can deal with emotionally. Most people's knowledge of Autism

comes from the movie Rain Man, but Autism includes a whole spectrum of kids,

from very severe to mildly affected.

was officially diagnosed when he was four. The psychiatrist told us he

would never be okay; the best prognosis we could hope for would be that one day

he would be running a computer in the basement of some company and never have to

deal with people. This psychiatrist went on to tell us that most of these kids

end up in prison or mental institutions, and we would just have to wait and see

how he turned out.

On the way home from the psychiatrists office, I started screaming and cursing

at the top of my lungs. This doctor confirmed our worst fears. We could no

longer pretend that our child was just eccentric. My husband and I decided that

we could not accept the life sentence the doctor had handed . We were not

about to wait and see.

We began looking elsewhere for a doctor who could help him. But most of the

time we knew more about Autism than the so-called " experts " we went to see.

The only thing doctors agreed upon was that Autism was on the rise. What was

once a very rare disease was becoming quite common; virtually everyone knew a

family who had been affected by Autism. Instead of the previous statistics of

one in ten thousand births, Autism now affected one in two hundred and fifty

children. Although things were rapidly changing, most psychiatrists and

doctors still saw Autism as a bizarre and incurable mental disorder. Today,

doctors have started looking into other possibilities: genetic predisposition,

neurological damage, environmental factors and vaccine side effects. The common

thread still is that these are disorders, meaning they are untreatable.

After a long frustrating search that caused us to be severely disappointed in

most of the medical profession, we found a pediatrician who believed Autism is

the result of a dysregulated immune system. In other words, the immune system

is sometimes not reacting enough and other times is working overtime, reacting

when it is not supposed to.

The first thing he did for was run comprehensive blood tests. The blood

tests indicated that had a viral infection and some type of immune-related

problem. was also quite deficient in iron. His food allergy tests while

significant for more common allergies like dairy products included some odd

allergies like garlic.

Next, our doctor sent for a Neurospect. This test measures the blood flow

to different areas of the brain. The spect revealed a decreased blood flow to

the temporal (and parietal) areas of the brain. These areas of the brain are

responsible for cognition, speech, and social skills. By reading Neurospects,

doctors can tell whether a child will have a learning disability in math or

reading. They can also tell if a child has an immune-related disease like

ADD/ADHD or Autism.

The first goal was to cool down 's immune system. Our doctor was very

scientific in his approach and used only definitive lab results to determine his

course of action with . He tried only one medical treatment at a time so he

could judge what was working. This was done by the selective use of antiviral,

anti-fungal, and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's). Eliminating

foods that put stress on 's immune system were a factor too.

It took time for 's body to repair and regulate itself. But by following

the doctor's recommendations, we saw major changes in 's lab results and

behavior. When we repeated the Neurospect a few years after regulating 's

immune system, it showed increased blood flow to the affected brain areas.

His second allergy tests indicated that was non-reactive to almost

everything. My husband and I were happy, yet confused by the improvements. It

was hard to understand how eliminating foods that caused allergic reactions and

improving the blood flow to different areas of his brain could change 's

behavior.

His doctor explained that increased blood flow means increased function in those

areas of the brain that were previously not working properly. As for the

improvement in allergies, he said most Autistic kids appear to be allergic to a

large number of things. Kids with Autism or other auto-immune related diseases

have immune systems that react to everything. It is like standing on one foot.

It is easy to knock over someone who doesn't have both feet firmly on the ground

or an immune system that is not working properly.

Although we always had people working with , after medical treatment he was

actually able to learn. , like all children, learns best when he is

healthy. Almost immediately after we began treatment, his teachers noticed the

improvements, even though we had not told them what we were doing for

medically. His eye contact improved. He was able to do things that had not

been possible before, such as riding a bike, socializing in a group, and

answering questions from his teachers. He started to notice more of the world

around him. He even said " Hi " to the librarian and other school staff as he

passed them in the hall. The noises he made and his inappropriate behaviors

decreased substantially and in time were eliminated.

After 's diagnosis, therapists worked with him to teach him what other kids

learn on their own. We began to fill in gaps in 's speech and social

skills. However, recovery would not have been possible if 's medical

treatment had not been combined with an intensive learning program to teach him

what he missed when he was ill.

had been in the third percentile for speech and language when he started

Kindergarten. When he was tested again in the third grade, he was in the

eighty-fifth percentile. When entered middle school, I was terrified, but

on his sixth grade report card he got all " A's. " And more importantly, had

friends. For someone who had to be taught almost every social skill, hung

with a great group of guys. He wasn't the most popular kid in the school and

was a little nerdy, but he was virtually indistinguishable from his peers.

finally got his driver's license shortly after we moved to California,

although I still hold my breath every time he takes the car. On the night

passed his driver's test, my husband went into his room to yell at him for

talking on the phone after the lights should have been out. When his dad came

back to our room he asked me, " Would you ever had believed we would be yelling

at our son to get off the phone with his friends and he would get his driver's

license all in one day? " is a pretty typical high school kid now. He

stays up too late, plays too many computer games, likes to instant message with

his friends, but still works hard and gets mostly " A's. "

When we first received 's diagnosis, we never believed would ever be

" normal. " But 's successful treatment and the treatment of others like him

have shown that the physicians trying to correct the immune systems of autistic

children are correct in their theories. These doctors are working to give

children with Autism, ADHD, and neuro-immune diseases a future. I know they

will be successful, but we're running out of time. Kids are not getting better

every day.

Sidebar--The Epidemic and New Hope for Children

Autism is far more prevalent today than it was in the early 1980s when one in

10,000 children were afflicted with the disorder. Today, the National Institutes

of Health (NIH) estimates that one in 250 children is diagnosed as autistic.

Treatment of these children and others with similar disorders cost more than

$60,000 per child, per year, according to parents whose children have the

disorder. The number of children with ADD and ADHD disorder has increased

dramatically in the past two decades, with estimates now topping two million,

according to the NIH.

" Autism has migrated from a rare disorder to one that is now 10 to 20 times more

likely to be diagnosed. " according to Dr. Goldberg of Tarzana,

California. " Without a doubt, this is a disease process masquerading, or being

misinterpreted, as a " developmental " disorder. We need to stop assuming that

the symptoms are a result of

birth or genetic defects or psychological problems and start looking at the

immune connection. "

Dr. Bruce of Corpus Christi, Texas agrees that not only are these

disease states treatable, but also over time, children's symptoms are reduced

and they recover significant cognitive function. According to Dr. ,

" There are medical treatments available for Autistic children that will help

them learn better and increase their quality of life. Parents shouldn't be

paralyzed into inaction by the lack of consensus in the medical community. They

know their children have great potential and with medical and educational

intervention, it is within their grasp. Currently, we are spending millions of

dollars on education. That investment will yield much larger returns if we can,

through medical intervention, improve their ability to learn. "

SIDE BAR-Common Symptoms of Autism

Autism is no longer a rare disease. The current estimate is it affects 1/150

children. Boys are affected at a 3:1 ratio to girls. Some children appear

normal in the first 15-18 months. Others display symptoms right away. Some of

the symptoms are:

a.. Disturbances in the progress of physical, social and language skills

b.. Abnormal response to sensations (increased sensitivity to noise, smell,

taste or touch)

c.. Abnormal ways to relate to people, objects, and events

d.. Delay in or absence of speech and language

e.. Abnormal speech patterns like echolalia* can be present

f.. Poor non-verbal communication skills

g.. Abnormal social play or inability to make friends

h.. Lack of empathy

i.. Repetitive body movements (arm flapping, toe walking, etc.)

j.. A marked need for sameness

k.. Change of hand or becomes ambidextrous

l.. Very narrow interests (frequently music, science, math, or art related)

m.. Many children suffer from sleep disturbances

*Echolalia is when a child copies what is said, but does not use language for

communication. For example: If asked the question, " How are you ny? " the

child would repeat, " How are you, ny? " instead of answering.