Re: Is this right for us?

[Guest guest]

,

The good part of your situation (if any of us in the A-Club can say anything

is good about this horrible disease) is that your son is only three. That

way when he starts to get better, you won't have as much to teach him to

catch up. Please know your son can get better with proper medical treatment

and then rehabilitation.

My son, 's recovery resulted from a doctor who believes autism is a

treatable disease and not a developmental or a psychiatric disorder. Dr.

Goldberg is right when he says autism is a medical condition where those

affected have immune systems that are not working properly. No parent

should accept that their child cannot be helped. is living proof that

kids can get better.

was diagnosed when he was four years old. A psychiatrist who was the

leading authority on autism said my child would never be okay. According to

this expert, was going to end up in an institution or group home. Now

at 22, the only institution attends is Santa Clara University where he

studies mechanical engineering on a merit scholarship. excels

academically and is in the Engineering Honor Society (top 10% GPA). He's a

member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and was president of the Jewish Student

Association. But more importantly, is a typical college student who

drinks an occasional beer, goes on dates, stays out too late with friends

and then sleeps through eight o'clock classes. I couldn't be more proud!

Unbelievable as it seems, this is the same child who wanted to spend all

day, every day, plugging in a portable radio into each outlet in the house.

Back then, I wasn't sure if I had the strength to be more stubborn than my

son. There were mornings I didn't want to get out of bed to face another

day filled with autism. The worst times were when I didn't have a direction

or a plan. I was hanging onto my sanity by my fingernails. But, at the end

of the day, I was faced with a choice: let drift off forever into his

own world, or drag him kicking and screaming into ours.

After we helped medically, it was possible for him to learn.

Behavioral and educational interventions were used in conjunction with the

medical treatment to catch up on everything he missed. Initially, we

used Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for his rehabilitation and when he was

ready we moved towards more natural ways of teaching. It took years to

correct 's deficits in speech and social skills. It was almost like

taking a stroke victim and bringing them back. Our story is not about

coping with autism, but rather fighting back and not accepting the

misconceptions associated with this diagnosis. This process is definitely

not for sissies or parents looking for that magic cure.

Please email me privately if you want me to forward you info on the medical

and how to get in touch with Dr. Goldberg, Dr. , or the Northern New

York Autism Clinic.

Best,

Marcia Hinds

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

We began with our son, Boone, back in April of this year. I thought I'd

chime in so you have both ends of it, Marcia's inspiring success story, and

ours, which is closer to the beginning of treatment.

Our son is 7 going on 8. Like your son, he was fine until 18 months, when he

started to regress, He is now very much like Marcia describes as a young

boy. We have been in autism recovery mode for more than 7 years because his

older brother has a very mild case (he's pretty much recovered now). But Boone

has been a much tougher challenge. We did a lot of DAN stuff over the years, and

did not see anything meaningful for Boone. We were sure that our son's problem

was a medical one, but none of the treatments were working. We were at a point

of needing to make a radical change and we heard about Dr. G and . When we

read more about it and talked to other parents it just made sense to us, like

nothing else had before. We booked our flights from Michigan to go see him.

What we like about it is that it is so methodical. With DAN, it felt like they

just shoved a pile of supplements across the table, said give him this, this and

this, and see ya! No real follow-up, no systematic introduction of things so you

would know what was working or not. And I was beginning to wonder about the mega

doses of some vitamins and supplements, asking myself, how do we really know

this is safe?

, for not yet being in the mainstream, is actually a very conventional

medical approach. No mega supplements or treatments (like chelation or HBOT)

whose efficacy and safety for children are unproven. I think of Dr. G as an old

school pediatrician with an open mind. He bases all his treatment on good

medical practices. And definitely adheres to the " first do no harm " oath.

Because he prescribes medications, he follows up regularly (in our case, every 8

weeks) with blood work. I believe this is to first, ensure that there are no

negative effects from meds, and second, to keep a continuous read on the

effectiveness of treatment. Believe it or not, he can get a lot of very specific

information from this blood work to guide treatment decisions. The logic of it

is very clear.

So how is Boone doing? To us he is doing great. But he is far from the finish

line. It is not a miracle cure and we will be at it for years to come. BUT, he

has made more improvement in the past 7 months than he did in the previous 4

years. He is talking and singing, his reports from school get better by the

week. Higher focus, engagement and awareness of his surroundings. Medically, we

haven't seen a mystery rash in months, and he seems like a healthy, happy kid.

His OCD symptoms, which were getting progressively more debilitating, are pretty

much gone! He is no longer distracted by them at school so he is actually

learning to read and do basic math! Because he is in such a better place

functionally, we are now looking at the full court press on behavior mod. and

academics so he will be ready to transition out of his special ed. room ASAP.

We feel that we are on the right path now, that all the effort and expense are

actually producing! It is hard to speak to the cost of it, not knowing what your

situation is with insurance. Our insurance covers his blood work and

prescriptions, which is a huge benefit. But it does not cover office visits.

After the initial, in-person office visit, Dr. G does phone consults for

out-of-towners once a month to strategize about treatment direction. That is a

built-in part of the process.

Dr. G is a taskmaster, which works for us! He is passionate about healing our

kids and expects parents to toe the line with diet, following instructions and

follow-up testing.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any other questions, please feel free to

write me directly. Marcia is also the best resource!

All the best,

Tammy

Is this right for us?

I have been looking into and Dr. Goldberg, but really want the feelings of

other parents before going forward.

My son, now 3, regressed at 18 months. He now has crohns, absence seizures,

allergies to pretty much everything, horrible yeast, clostridia, mitochondrial

problems, and who knows what else!

We have been patients of Dr. Krigsman for 6 months, I don't think his protocol

is helping. We have been SCD for 18 months, helped in the begining and not so

much now. We are now doing LOD as well, and saw great things the first week, but

that leveled out. We have done mHBOT, but that doesn't seem to be as effective

as it once was. We have also been seeing a naturopath that has been helpful, but

not lifechanging.

I want to try something new, but of course I am scared. I am trying to figure

out what Dr. Goldberg's protocol is. I am a little confused. Is it similar for

most?

Also, how much? I know that is a horrible question. But the truth is that we

have tried many things already and have ran out of money! Just wondering how

much the average costs are. Also, do they do phone consults?

Thanks so much, so desperate for help for my baby. But trying so many things

with little help just hurts. Thanks for your help,

[Guest guest]

<p>Marcia, tears running down my face as I read about dragging your son " kicking

and screaming " . I feel the exact same way. I'm having a particularly rough day

and your response has moved and encouraged me. Thank you! </p>

<p>, it is not for the weak hearted, absolutely. We are at the beginning of

this with our now <br>

4 year old girl and I can't even Think about " yesterday " because we have come so

far in the past 6 months it hurts to think of where we started.... and I only

can imagine those who are worse off than our girl. But I will tell anyone who

asks me why I do biomed the same thing I told her pediatrician when we started

this road- if I thought digging up mount everest with a spoon will give her a

fighting chance I am sure as heck going to give it a try. Luckily for us that

small spoon has turned into a bulldozer and our girl gets better every day. If

you have the capacity to take one brick off of the load your child is carrying -

I say to go for it. What do you have to lose? </p>

<p>Jen<br><br><br></p>

<p>Sent from on Android</p>