Posted on 08/04/2014 12:42:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
At first, everything about L.'s baby boy seemed normal. He met every developmental milestone and delighted in every discovery. But at around 12 months, B. seemed to regress, and by age 2, he had fully retreated into his own world. He no longer made eye contact, no longer seemed to hear, no longer seemed to understand the random words he sometimes spoke. His easygoing manner gave way to tantrums and head-banging. “He had been this happy, happy little guy,” L. said. “All of a sudden, he was just fading away, falling apart. I can’t even describe my sadness. It was unbearable.” More than anything in the world, L. wanted her warm and exuberant boy back.
A few months later, B. received a diagnosis of autism. His parents were devastated. Soon after, L. attended a conference in Newport, R.I., filled with autism clinicians, researchers and a few desperate parents. At lunch, L. (who asked me to use initials to protect her son’s privacy) sat across from a woman named Jackie, who recounted the disappearance of her own boy. She said the speech therapist had waved it off, blaming ear infections and predicting that Jackie’s son, Matthew, would be fine. She was wrong. Within months, Matthew acknowledged no one, not even his parents. The last word he had was “Mama,” and by the time Jackie met L., even that was gone.
In the months and years that followed, the two women spent hours on the phone and at each other’s homes on the East Coast, sharing their fears and frustrations and swapping treatment ideas, comforted to be going through each step with someone who experienced the same terror and confusion. When I met with them in February, they told me about all the treatments they had tried in the 1990s: sensory integration,
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Fascinating article. Thank you for posting.
My daughter just finished her master’s degree in ABA from Baylor.
My grandson was diagnosed as having autism. I then became sick with Lyme Disease. Since my grandson had many symptoms the same as mine, we had him tested (western blot). He had Lyme disease. With antibiotic treatment, his symptoms went away. Just be aware many autistic symptoms are the same as Lyme. :)
Very interesting.
Someone I know discovered their infant’s behavior changing drastically. They saw a specialist, and he told them it appeared their baby seemed to be regressing, and might develop autism.
They chose to chelate their little boy. Today he is fine. They are absolutely certain that it prevented the damage caused by metal poisoning.
Spectrum ping
Interesting that at least of the kids did the ‘diet’. I’ve seen that make a difference in some kids.
Too bad most insurance won’t cover ABA at all. And most school systems don’t offer it due to expense.
bump
Which diet is that?
This one was originally created to treat autism (in the doctor's own child).
Any special diet really.
I’ve seen the elimination diet work wonders as long as the eliminated foods weren’t replaced with ones that also caused problems.
I haven’t seen the GAPS diet effects up close though personally. One of the biggest changes I saw was a kid who did gluten/casein/soy/corn free. Before the kid was a total zombie with the receptive language of a 3m (yes, month) old. After a 4 or 5 months the kid responded to their name, made eye contact and pointed to what they wanted. No other intervention was happening at that time though, as the expense is massive for some of the behavioral stuff.
The biggest change I saw was in a kid who was chelated. Went from a little zombie to asking their mom to fix a particular thing for dinner. Over about a six month period. YMMV, maybe the kid didn’t really have autism.
Long read but well worth it.
This clown, however, needs to be slapped:
Autism isn’t an illness in need of a cure,” says Ari Ne’eman, the president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network....
bttt
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