For Jeanne--on being naive (I don't think so)

[Guest guest]

Hi--I lurk on this list, but don't post often. I pick up SO much

important info and usually don't have much to add. But your post

caught my eye and I had to reply, since my experience a few months

back was SO similar.

When Ben (now 3.8) was diagnosed last year, we wanted to see everyone

in our local area that works with ASD kids. Luckily we have a very

good parent support network where I live, and I got the names of

everyone. We have 3 traditional develop. peds--they are the guys that

diagnose and they are not too up on DAN but they are aware of the

biomed issues (they are the ones who are experts in meds, when and if

you decide to go down that road--and I know many parents who have and

it is has been immensely helpful for their kids. But usually the kids

are older and the meds treat a specific problem, such as continuing

anxiety).

Then there are a a couple of DAN Drs in our area. These are the guys

that go to the conferences, know all about the gut issues,

autoimmune and heavy metal problems and test and treat via the DAN

protocol. It seems to me that this is the Dr. you are looking for.

Then, there is a large group of doctors who practice alternative

medicine and who claim that their therapies can help our kids. Now, I

know lots of parents who swear by them. These are the Drs. who do

NAET, brain mapping, etc. But they don't follow the DAN protocol per

se. They have a different agenda. I am not saying these methods are

unhelpful, but it just was not for us. We have seen so much progress

in Ben from following DAN, that that is where we want to stay. So, we

stick with the traditionalists and the DAN Drs. The two groups balance

each other off.

Our experience with one alternative med doctor was like yours. My DH

and I are both traditionalists, and we need testing (blood, urine,

hair, etc) prior to treatment, and to guide treatment. Holding the

metal wand and putting little vials on a metal scale seemed hokey to

us--just our opinion, but I did say we were traditionalists.

We also like following the DAN protocol for testing and treatment,

since this is being followed by practitioners all over the world with

excellent results. You can purchase the DAN protocol from ARI. Any

doctor, even your regular pediatrician can order the tests from a lab

that they like (Great Plains is not the only one). We brought the DAN

protocol and other downloaded protocols from Bradstreet's website,

Megson's website and the Great Plains booklet to our pediatrician when

we first got Ben's diagnosis. He was the one who wrote scripts for ALL

the tests: organic acid, hair analysis, blood work, etc. We simply

followed the Great Plains brochure of tests. THEN we needed the

develop. peds and the DAN doctors to interpret the results for us.

I hope this helps. There are LOTS of professionals who are treating

our kids these days. You need to decide what philosophy you agree with

and what treatments you think will best help your child.

Unfortunately, this is not a doctor-directed disorder. I see a dr.

with my son every three months, and I am the one who decides (with the

dr.) what treatment to do next. There is lots of info to keep you up

to speed, and consider ALSO going to one of the DAN conferences. Then,

armed with info, even your local ped. can help you out.

Ben's Mom