Tag Archive for 'autism'

Vaccine injury case wins & offers clues to autism mystery

Published
by
Pam
on May 13, 2008
in General
. 1 Comment

Hannah Poling Jon Poling
Hannah Poling, pictured above with her father Jon PHOTO/W.A.HAREWOOD

My son sent me a link to a most interesting article from The Scientific American. It is an amazing story of triumph for the Poling family. They won the case for their daughter Hannah in a federal vaccine court. I for one had no idea that there was one! “Mitochondrial disorder, a little known condition, effecting the parts of cells that convert sugar to energy, can be triggered by the MMR Vaccine. This is the finding of the case. Parents have been screaming that this vaccine was potentially harmful for over 10 years, but these parents happen to be a practicing neurologist, and an attorney who is also a nurse.

The rest of us have been brushed off by the scientific/medical community at large even though the numbers of similar complaints are staggering. It is if those do not happen to have a science degree are too dumb to see what they are looking at and figure it out. Does the Scientific community think that we should believe everything that they say no matter what is in front of our faces? Just look at this headline and I did not make this up!!!

Scientists Know Better Than You–Even When They’re Wrong

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When they are wrong and won’t admit it while your family is being effected why should you not seek answers? It is insanity to see that something does not work or causes harm or even has the potential to cause harm and and take the stance of…. If the experts say it, I might as well go along, after all, I am just one everyday person how could I be right? I hear stuff like this every day.

I applaud the Polings they are champions for many of us. For more information on this case click here
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=vaccine-injury-case-offer

To read more

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/health/stories/2008/03/06/autism_0306.html

The findings here are amazing. In my earlier post Vitamins and Autism, there is a list of supplements that I have found to be so helpful with autism and these findings from Scientific American tell me why. If you check this post, you may find this list to be helpful.

Autism And Food Allergies

Published
by
Pam
on April 27, 2008
in General
. 14 Comments

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Picky picky picky!!!!

The transition to table food is such a battle ! Every once in a great while a child is born that never complains about any food stuffs, if that’s your child, rejoice and skip this article… this is for the rest of us . In many cases the picky food war is more than just personality, taste buds, or (gulp)mom’s cooking……it is often the sign of food allergies. If your child is in the process of overcoming autism, this is very likely the case.

Early in my daycare career, I had a little girl who had a sudden change in her behavior. Her sleep patterns changed; she became moody, and she had sudden outbursts of anger. Her parents took her to the doctor and the sleep disorder center but had no results. I knew that she was dealing with some form of pain because she would sit down, bend over, and hit her forehead on the floor, or beat on her own leg with hard toys… like blocks. One day as her mom carried her out to the car, she pulled out a handful of hair and handed it to her mom like a bouquet of flowers. Her mom drove straight to the doctor to check for an ear infection but could find nothing wrong; it was so frustrating.

I had a 4yr.old boy in my class at church who had similar behavior; he would get a deep frown, hit the other children randomly, and throw himself in the floor and roll back and forth kicking his legs over and over. I asked this boy why he was kicking like that..his answer was, that he just had to, because his legs hurt. Several of us prayed for answers and soon found out, thanks to a P.B.S. special that my mom just happened across, that both these children were allergic to milk. The parents who had them tested were so relieved . Had these allergies gone undetected they could have turned into asthma as well.

My youngest son was a picky eater. I could not reason with him when trying to introduce foods. My mother-in -law lived with us for a time. She gave him what he liked to see him smile, and handed him to me when the smile changed to excitable behavior. All the while telling me, that it was my imagination that this behavior existed, for behavior could not be effected by diet. This was not only hard at home, it made going out to eat anywhere almost impossible. Autistic children do not speak quietly in public when told no. Half the people look as if to say “spank that kid and shut him up” and the other half look at you like ” if you do, we’re calling the authorities!” We skipped a few things temporarily as I had to come to the realization that my son was different in how he reacted to life than his brothers, which meant I had to learn new methods in working with him.

In the popular blog, Red Monkey, authored by Ender, who is a published writer, designer, cartoonist, and professor, describes learning to understand how others process information so well..

http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2008/03/hang_on_lemme_p.html

and concludes….

“It’s just that sometimes, we need to remember that the other guy’s way of processing may not be wrong, merely different.”

I was invited to a vitamin meeting in the home of a friend of mine which I attended reluctantly. The lady speaking began to describe children’s allergies to synthetic vitamins and food dyes and their symptoms. She was describing a great deal of what was happening in my house! I had no idea that children will crave what they are allergic to until it is completely out of their system. I also had no idea that red and yellow dye are made from coal tar. I also did not know that milk and wheat allergies caused migraine headaches and pain in the legs or joints.

My son craved the vitamins we bought him at the grocery store We had to hide them to keep him from going after them like candy. He craved American cheese slices, Star Crunches, and store-bought chocolate milk. He was allergic to all of it. We had to all agree to keep it out of the house, and not to cave in and give it to him while out. He didn’t have the will power, so we loved him enough to have it for him.

According to the Sage Laboratory in Florida, food allergies are always present in children with autism and each situation seems to be with a unique combinations of foods. This Lab has been studying this since the ’70’s. Finding the foods that are toxic to your child is well worth the effort because it will effect their behavior dramatically. If a food can affect a child’s mood, it is hard to say what else it could be doing to the over all health and well being of that same child.

This is a link to Sagelab’s list of symptoms of food allergies

http://www.foodallergytest.com/symptoms.html

When combining the vitamin therapy with this information we saw the most wonderful results. One way I found to introduce green foods to my son was with a product called Juice Plus.

http://www.childrenshealthstudy.com/

We removed the green food concentrate from the capsule, mixed it on a spoon with applesauce and a day’s nutrition from green foods was down the hatch!!

It was amazing to see that when there was nutrition in his body from green foods he did not fuss as much about eating them. Many children have an allergy to eggs but in my son’s case eggs had a very positive effect on his ability to concentrate in school. High protein, super green foods, and fresh fruit for us was the answer.

How can your child be tested? Doctors who specialize in allergies usually can test for food allergies.

The Sage Laboratory has a comprehensive test

http://www.foodallergytest.com/programTest.html

My son is now 21yrs. old and has very little trace of food allergies left. He is also very social, works hard, is planning a bright future, and I am very proud of him. One would never guess today that we had the hurtles of yesterday. That to me is worth every book and article I had to read, along with every ingredient label. It is worth all the mockery I had to endure from those who think nutrition is folly. If telling the story helps any other families, it is worth it all the more.

Do you have stories to tell about being in or overcoming the food allergy battle? If so, I would love to hear them and combine our strengths in a future post.

You can learn more about food allergies and alternative treatments with Dr.Nicole Sundene

http://www.blogcatalog.com/user/DocNicole

You can also learn some wonderful whole food nutrition information with Robin Plan

http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/whole-food-and-more.html

Both of these blogs are well worth following, I am sure you will agree.

Music, Vitamins, And Autism; Part Two

Published
by
Pam
on April 15, 2008
in General
. 5 Comments

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It is said that there is more than one way to solve a problem, for us, this was true with autism.The following story is our shift from prescription medication, to alternative vitamin therapy. The results were amazing!

When the child that I had mentioned in my last post began to show signs of autism, I both recognized it and had great compassion as I had fought to find answers for the youngest of my three sons years before. When my son was 18 mos. old, we bought a house and moved to a new part of town. Up until that point, my son was the most easy going of my three children. I thought that I was becoming an accomplished parent as my other children were bright and athletic. I had many great years working with children in my daycare and at church.

In the business of moving, changing schools, updating shots and dental work, getting settled and meeting new neighbors, my youngest son began to change. At first we thought that he was just unsettled with his new surroundings. My older boys were having their own adjustments as well, but as they grew more settled, my youngest grew worse. My calm happy child was now fearful, picky, and would throw tantrums over nothing.We could not reason with him. My friends told me that he was in the “terrible two” stage but I had taken care of so many two year old children by that time, I knew better.

One Sunday, we went to pick up my son from his class, which had a new couple as teachers. The wife took me aside and told me that I should take my son to a specialist because he had signs of autism. I politely told her that I didn’t think so and kept as straight a face as possible. I was furious!! How dare she put a label like that on my child! Denial was one of my biggest roadblocks. In my mind, I thought of complaining to the pastor, finding a way to prove her wrong or just never going back. This was nearly 20 years ago, there was little information or support at that time.

On my son’s next check-up at our pediatrician’s office, I was given the news that I had dreaded. The doctor began to talk with me while my son was all over the room. I would tell him to sit down and he would. As soon as I would turn to listen to the doctor, he would spring up again. Finally the doctor told me, you can quit telling him to sit down now, he can’t. My son, who was now 4yrs. old, not only couldn’t sit down if others were talking, he could not bounce a ball, could not balance on a bike, could not color, could not sit to be read to, could not play back and forth outdoor games like catch or frisbee, could not swallow cold cereal with milk on it, and was full of the strangest fears.

My heart sank as the doctor wrote out a prescription, I walked out of his office determined to find some answers. I got on my knees and cried out to God because I didn’t want my son to have a lifetime of medication . The first thing that came to me was that if I was dealing with something like diabetes, I would have no problem giving medication, which broke the stigma that I was dealing with. I decided that I would give the medication a try while still looking for answers.

I just so happened to have a friend who was opening a health food and vitamin store. She allowed me to pour through her books. I searched out information from Europe, where more nutrition was used rather than medication for many things. In the meantime, my son began to balance on a bike for the first time. After three weeks on medication, he had a short window of time where his handwriting appeared, he could reason when he did not get his way, his fears lessoned and he could eat cereal with milk.

The medication was working, but it had some unacceptable side effects. His appetite dwindled to almost nothing, he lost too much weight, and had deep dark circles under his eyes. When his medication entered his system, he would cry and his heart would race. When the medication was wearing off, he was very agitated. Having seen the positive effects of the medication, I now knew what results to look for from alternative treatments.

I began to decrease my son’s medication while introducing vitamins and herbs instead. The vitamins and herbs had the same positive effects as far as battling the symptoms, but they did not cause the side effects, such as loss of appetite and increased heart rate. For us, this was the way to go. I have since shared this method with others and with wonderful results. The list will be at the end of the story with the proper disclaimer of course.

Returning to the story of the boy in my daycare, the father came in one day and asked me how my day had been. When I described his son’s behavior and shared with him that vitamins may help, he took the list and went shopping that day. Sure enough within two weeks, the boy was far more reasonable, could look at his hands when doing something, began to have normal speech, and enjoyed playing with toys rather than just holding one or throwing one. The mother let me know that her son was fine and he really did not need this but she went along with it since it would not hurt him. I am sure you all can guess what came next.

The 60 day vitamin supply began to run out, no refills came and in about two weeks the old behavior returned. The mother came to pick up her son and could not get him to put on his coat. He would not listen, he hit her, and he took his arms out of his coat as soon as she put them in. It took two of us to get his coat on and he screamed all the way to the car as if he had been wounded, yet neither of us raised our voices or punished him in any way. On the way home she called me and asked for the vitamin list. Now, after two years on vitamins, one would never guess that the old behavior ever existed.

I am not a doctor, I am a determined mom. I can not make any medical claims here. If you consider trying the list I am giving here, I recommend consulting your doctor. Do not take your child off of medication without your doctor’s permission. Some school age children are taken off their medication by their doctor for the summer, this could be a good time to see if this vitamin therapy would work for you. If your child is on additional medication for other conditions, take your list to your doctor. In some cases, though very rare, vitamins may not blend well with a particular medicine.

  1. All natural multi vitamin with selenium - One good brand is Thompson’s check your brand carefully synthetic vitamins can make your child hyper as an allergic reaction selenium is said to attach itself to heavy metals and pull them from the body
  2. Evening primrose oil - can be bought in gel caps has almost no taste and can be put in applesauce, is said to coat raw nerve endings
  3. Choline inositol - B vitamin that is said to increase oxygen to the brain
  4. Huperzine-A - An herb that is said to increase dopamine and improve short term memory the reason for ritalin is to increase dopamine

The amounts are determined by body weight. Most of these will have instructions to take morning and evening. If you can not figure the amount for the weight of your child, ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

This is what worked for us, you may have found even more answers, if so I would love to hear them. The more we share, the more we learn, the stronger together we become.

Music,Vitamins and Autism First In A Series

Published
by
Pam
on April 9, 2008
in General
. 13 Comments

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Recently, in my home daycare, I watched a situation unfold that was very difficult, to some of you, it will sound so familiar.

A family brought to me a beautiful baby boy. He was sweet, healthy and had an easy going personality, that is… until he was given the m.m.r. vaccine. After that point I watched this child change. He was totally unpredictable in his temperament, he could not concentrate to play, his speech came very late, and he spoke as if he had a hearing problem which, when tested did not exist.

The mother whose heart was breaking, was determined to convince herself and the rest of us that nothing was wrong, but as he grew, it became more and more apparent.

Fortunately, this was not my first experience with this and as a Christian I began to pray for wisdom and strength for this family.

There is a list of vitamins and supplements that I found while praying for a situation in my own family years before that I have shared with many parents and with amazing results. I tried to tell this mom about it but she promised me that her son was fine and would not need it. I thought of quitting as things became more difficult, but worried what would happen to him if he were placed possibly in the hands of someone who might not care about his future.

As I pondered quit or don’t quit, a horrible event was reported in our local news.

A foster family was arrested for the tragic death of a boy in their care who was not much older than the one I was working with and whose temperament sounded so similar. Quitting was no longer an option and I will address that situation in another post later this month.

I needed answers and quickly

as this child would have sudden unprovoked outbursts of rage that could not be reasoned with and now he was getting old enough to hurt himself and others. When in a rage, which could happen even as a result of getting his way, he would sit in time out, but would scream seemingly forever. He would be playing one minute and out of nowhere just pick up a toy (and usually a large one like an entire play kitchen) and fire it across the room at the other children who were not fighting with him, ignoring him, or using anything that he deemed to be his and his alone.

Let me take a minute to say that if you are reading this and have never dealt with this, don’t even try to make assumptions. One of the most unfortunate things for the parents that are working to help their children through this, is the critisicizm and uninformed suggestions of those who don’t have a clue!

This story has a great outcome, it was worked through with many break-throughs. The first one came with music, it didn’t fix everything, but it did take the edge off the situation enough to work for more. I began to play calm music at a fairly loud volume almost all day, not too loud to talk in a calm voice, but almost. I turned the T.V. off completely at all playtime and only used calm programs at limited times. I played music while the children napped and rested and also if we were in the car.

I have found out since that music has been the key in many situations like this both in listening and in participation. Some of what I found is as follows…..

“There are many benefits to using music on an individual lesson. Music provides the structural regularity that children with autism need. Within that structure it is possible to expand that child’s repertoire of functioning.”


http://www.autismtoday.com/musicspectrum.htm

People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties with communication, behavior and/or social interaction. Music therapy uses music and its elements to enable people to communicate and to express their feelings. In this way music therapy addresses some of the core problems of people with ASD.
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004381.html

Willamette University, Salem, Oregon

Music Therapy is the unique application of music to enhance personal lives by creating positive changes in human behavior. It is an allied health profession utilizing music as a tool to encourage development in social/ emotional, cognitive/learning, and perceptual-motor areas. Music Therapy has a wide variety of functions with the exceptional child, adolescent and adult in medical, institutional and educational settings. Music is effective because it is a nonverbal form of communication, it is a natural reinforcer, it is immediate in time and provides motivation for practicing nonmusical skills. Most importantly, it is a successful medium because almost everyone responds positively to at least some kind of music.

http://www.autism.org/music.html

I tried several types of music, but found that all music did not produce the same effect,

even though calm sounding. I found music from one particular artist that had the most amazing results, in fact the parents who came to pick up their children started to ask for it. I contacted the musician who made it and he agreed to make a C.D. for children but the music on it was written for adults, so in using it I found that it helped me keep smiling as well. I am sharing it with you, I hope it helps your day be calm, so you can be at ease to love your family more.

http://hiddenstreamsproductions.com/

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I will share the other things that have worked including the vitamin break through in my upcoming posts this month. My compassion and support is to all who are loving a child through to the victory in this battle.

If I have found things that help. I know that others have too . The point of this blog is for us to share our information. Do you or someone you know have ways that you have found to be effective in coping with Autism? Do you think that the general public really understands this challenge for families?