Autism recovered?

Medical experts say it's not possible to recover autism. We have living proof in the form of three children, that it IS possible. In my blog you will find recovery stories, along with information regarding health that I have learned over the years. And sometimes just snippets of life to give hope that yes, life can be normal after the hard work is done.

Sit back, enjoy, and be hopeful! RECOVERY HAPPENS!

**Kids names have been changed to protect the innocent and naughty alike. ;)



Monday, January 31, 2011

AutismOne conference is free this year!!

If you can get there, get there!!!  They will even have free childcare by the SonRise people!!  You just can't beat that.  Please pass this along .  What a great gift from AutismOne to make this information available to everyone.  While I'm no fan of Jenny McCarthy, the line up of speakers is something you don't want to miss.  :)

From the site:

A Gift from Our Family to Your Family

FREE Registration to the

AutismOne/Generation Rescue 2011

CONFERENCE


The Largest and Most Comprehensive International Autism Conference is now FREE

Keynote Address Jenny McCarthy & Byron Katie


150 Autism Experts
5 Jam-Packed Days of Presentations
6+ Specialized Content Tracks
May 25 – 29, 2011, The Westin Hotel, Lombard, Illinois

The future of autism recovery begins now! 


We are thrilled to bring you the, “Autism Recovery on a Budget: Empowering Parents,” conference registration for FREE.
Recovery depends on education, not on how thick your wallet is. But first you need to know how to help your child. You need to know the most effective treatments and therapies. You need to know when certain interventions are appropriate and when they are not. You need to know hope is real.

It’s time to open not only our hearts, but our home. And so it is with open arms we invite you to come and share with the AutismOne family what we have learned collectively over the past decade. It’s time to embrace every family affected.

Currently constructed autism costs too much. One of the biggest obstacles to recovering children has always been the cost of educating parents. We believe answers need to be free.

Each year we learn how to do more with less and each year the conference is a reflection of the ever-growing body of accumulated knowledge.

Each year we learn more about how to prevent autism or minimize its effect. Each year we learn more about dealing with autism in adolescence and adulthood. Each year we learn more about the underlying biomedical issues at work.

This year we will have the chance to share with you what we have learned whether you are a woman thinking about having a child or a parent with a child aging out of the school system or a mom facing autism for the first time.

This year we will help you learn about taking care of yourself. For the first time, this year, we will train practitioners to implement the biomedical mission of care.

This year we will train more attorneys to fight for you and first responders to help protect your family. This year we will train more students to assist your child, advocates to challenge the system, teachers to educate your child, and professionals to embrace recovery.

This year we welcome parents who have not had the opportunity to learn what they must to help the ones they love the most.

We will teach you, we will guide you and provide you with the tools and education and together we will begin the journey of recovery.
- Ed and Teri Arranga, conference directors and parents to Jarad and Ian.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Our interview with Innate Motherhood

Here is a link to the interview.  I met this mom at an autism recovery conference probably 2 or 3 years ago.  She does not have a child with autism herself but is very in tuned with the autism community as her husband and extended family work heavily in this community.  The site is based on the premise that the body has an inborn ability to heal itself and keep itself healthy as long as there are no interferences.   Stay and look around for a while.  The information on her site is very informative!

I hope you enjoy!


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Innate Motherhood:    “After being disappointed with the mainstream approach to healthcare, more and more people nowadays are learning and turning to natural options to deal with their health challenges.  What was the first “light bulb moment”, so to speak, into the natural philosophy that led you to recovering your children from Autism?”
 
Wyndie: “Hmm, my lightbulb moment is pretty amazing actually.  It was right after the doc ever so casually applied the autism label to my oldest.  I remember just sitting there in a daze while he finished talking.  When he left the room and I was gathering my belongings to leave, his nutritional coach looked me in the eye and quietly said “It doesn’t have to be permanent; it can be reversed.”

WHAT????

That was the moment I realized mainstream was not the only option.

 Innate Motherhood:    “We are starting to see parents question the safety and effectiveness of so many mainstream interventions, and have a growing interest and want for more natural information, not only for themselves but for their children.   With so many types of health challenges that children with Autism face, we understand that parents like you are trying to give their children optimal recovery by utilizing multiple approaches to regain nuerological, brain, immune function, and overall body function. Could you summarize the different types of natural help you have done for your children and how each has been vital in your childrens’ recoveries.

Wyndie: Well this could get wordy!  (Lol)

We started almost immediately with the multi-faceted testing available through Great Plains Laboratory (www.gpl4u.com).  This was so important because with this, we saw mitochondrial dysfunction in one child, we saw high blood ammonia, we saw parasites, yeast, pathogenic bacteria, we could basically get a snap shot of many of their body systems that were in great distress.  These tests showed me things we would never have seen with traditional testing.  Regular docs don’t even know what some of this stuff is but it was vital to have this information so we could treat them effectively.

 We loaded everyone up on multiple supplements (www.nbnus.com) to make up for deficiencies that were too drastic to overcome with food.  It’s different for these damaged kids… their body burden is sooo heavy with toxins that they cannot get real nutrition from their foods.  Most of them won’t even eat real food.  When we first started recovery, two of my kids were living off of chicken nuggets, pop tarts and oreos.  It’s completely impossible to build up a body’s immune system on that diet!!  These supplements were vital and the testing showed me exactly what supplements could target what problem.  These two things are so important to start with.

 Having a health coach who was fluent in autism was a life-saver for me.  She gave me books to read and guided without being intrusive.  She was there for me at every turn and answered questions that were probably incredibly juvenile, yet she never made me feel like I was inferior.  She became my partner in health who shared the same goal I had… getting my kids back!

Then we worked hard on diet.  I am a military wife so the military approach in this house works just fine.  I know many parents are too guilt-ridden to force their children to eat well.  A friend told me that if she had waited for her child to cooperate in his recovery, he would not be recovered.  We felt the same way, we didn’t give the kids choices in their foods.  I now saw food in a completely different light… it was killing my children’s brains.  We went through our pantry and locked up everything that had gluten or sugar in it. 

Seriously, we have a locked portable pantry b/c my husband, being a grownup, eats what he wants and while I will not try to control his intake of gluten or sugar, I insisted that these items not be where the kids could get to them.  Kids going through withdrawal will do crazy things to get their drug fix (gluten/sugar) and I wanted to be able to control their food intake 100%.  Diet is absolutely crucial in recovery.

 We hunted around through the various autism diets before we found one that I could fit pieces into our lives without making me crazy.  As we learned how to eat the Body Ecology Diet (www.bodyecology.com) way, my kids made huge improvements!  This diet controls yeast much better than anti-fungals and yeast protocols do.  Food is sooo very important.  There are no free bites of food.  If you put something in your mouth, it will either hurt or harm you.  Up to this point I had only given the kids harming foods (b/c I didn’t know better) but when I learned how deficient their bodies were in basic nutrients, we drastically changed their diets.  I will freely admit that my son went on a food strike b/c he could not have his gluteny chicken nuggets.  I bribed him to eat a bite of veggies with promise of a bite of nugget.  It took him three days to agree.  During that time, I would offer him food, explaining if he would take just ONE bite, he would get his nugget.  On day three, he agreed to gag down a bite (with much drama).  Once we established that pattern, he would have to eat more and more veggies to get a bite of nugget.  Then I switched to gluten-free nuggets.  This took some time but he and my daughter both made great progress.  My son actually didn’t have asthma any more once he was gluten-free.  That was a biggie b/c up to that point, he had to take 5 meds daily to be able to breathe!!!  Everyone’s eczema went away and we started getting eye contact.

 We also chose to use chiropractic therapy.  Since I was still very new to this alternative way of thinking, I needed a lot of help.  My regular doctors abandoned up and refused to help.  So a chiropractor was the easiest person to turn to.  Our chiro knew everything about how the body worked and how to keep the CFS in line, how important it was to detoxification.  We went 2 x a week for about 2 years.  This was especially critical while we were chelating.

 Next up, we did chelation.  We had spent the first year loading up the kids with minerals and taking care of deficiencies as best we could.  But those metals had to be moved out of their bodies.  I spent months researching methods.  I had already been told that I could not count on the military docs to help in any way so I sought out an integrated doctor.  These doctors are useful b/c they had an MD and can write scripts and oversee things as necessary but they are versed in alternative medicine so when I proposed chelation, he didn’t squawk, he just agreed to help with testing and checkups.  During chelation it is supremely important that minerals intake be kept optimal.  Chelation does remove metals but it also removes minerals.  We gave copious amount of minerals daily and our doc ran blood tests every 3 months to make sure we were still on track in that area.

 I chose an oral method of chelation.  Obviously I could not do IV since the ped would not help and oral is easier anyway.  There is a wide range of information about forms of chelation and we chose to go with the safest method.  In fact the way we did ours was less harmful than the way the FDA recommends for lead poisoning.  Andy Cutler (www.noamalgam.com) has detailed out a practical way to use oral chelation on children and he gave us much help during the preparation phase.  We started at 3 mg of DMSA every 4 hours around the clock for 3 days.  This way, when the DMSA grabs the metals, it gets reinforcement to carry it all the way out.  When a person gets a bolus dose of DMSA and no follow up, it only moves the metal but doesn’t remove it from the body.  With continual dosage, the DMSA is given enough time to escort whatever it grabbed and leave the body.  We saw improvements almost immediately and within 3 rounds of chelation, my son became typical.  It was amazing to see!  He could function out in public.  My older daughter gained speech and cognitive reasoning.  My younger daughter absolutely reeked of lead during chelation.  For her, chelation resolved the posturing problem she had lived with all her life.  Her wrists and ankles had always turned in, and with chelation they straightened out.  She also started absorbing food and stopped looking like a starvation victim.

 We were able to finally get to Occupation Therapy (OT).  When a child is so ill, it’s almost cruel to have them do therapy.  As another good friend said, it’s like asking a child to run a mile with a broken leg.  But since we had cleaned up their brains a bit, we felt it was good to help them catch up on all the things they had missed.  My son could not even rotate his trunk (at the age of 7), had no balance and still had sensory defensiveness/seeking.  My older daughter had missed SO many milestones, she just needed basic skills but she also had major sensory issues so OT helped them with all of these issues.  It was important that they be able to catch up with all the things they had been too sick to do.  My poor son told me later that while he had autism, he always felt like his body was floating off in space and he couldn’t be grounded.  That explained so many of his odd behaviors!  I cannot imagine living well if I felt like I was not grounded to the Earth.   My younger daughter did not need OT b/c we had started her recovery so young and she had not missed more milestones than I could help her get back at home.

 We also chose to use neurofeedback.  This really helped with anxiety and focus.  My son was always very VERY anxious and this completely removed that anxiety.  For my older daughter it helped with language and attention.  We did this therapy for about 3 years, taking a break in the middle.

 Whew!  That’s a lot of stuff!  lol

Innate Motherhood:   “As chiropractic patients and wives of chiropractors, Erica and I strongly advocate for and recommend chiropractic care for family wellness.  We provide much information on our website that show the benefits, success, and need for pregnant mothers, infants, children, and anyone suffering from health challenges.  There are so many misconceptions about chiropractic, but what we found is a wonderful success story can transend and debunk these claims, and inspire those seeking great help to be open to it. Can you tell us your personal chiropractic success story and how you came across it for your children and yourself?”

Wyndie: Well as I studied about recovery, I had heard from many others that chiropractic care was important, but like all things money is a factor.  We put it off for a bit while trying to figure out what things took precedence for our bank account.  The more I learned, the more I realized that it was more than important, it was vital b/c the kids were SO toxic and that detoxification process would not be easy, but it could be made worse if their CNS was not in line.  I could clearly see in my mind, a kink in the detox process if I did not allow chiropractic.  So with this on my mind, I went to the health food store and low and behold, there was a chiropractor there that day!!  He was so friendly and even though my son was very afraid of him (remember anxiety and selective mutism were major factors for him), he had kid-friendly toys there.  He was so gentle with the kids and respected my sons fear, not getting in his space and tolerating the mess my daughter was making of his stuff.  J  We talked and I just blurted out that I wanted to chelate and what did he think of that.  Interestingly, his wife works with kids with autism in the school system so he was not new to the subject and he explained in English why it would benefit them to have chiro care and that he WANTED to help.  Now remember I talked about my pocketbook?  Recovering children is excessively expensive.  Just one child can bankrupt you… we have three.  So the first visit in his office, we discussed finances.  He lowered his price to barely anything so we could afford him.  That won me over right there because he was choosing their health over his bank account.  I have found this to be the case across the board with chiropractors.  We have had more than one chiropractor through the years but always the important thing to them is to align the body and restore the software that God put in our bodies and we had messed up.

We continue to see a chiropractor two times a week.  For some time we were down to every other week, then once a month, but upon getting a moving x-ray, we saw some really intense spinal issue that needed more frequent care. I will never be without a chiropractor again.  Although autism is gone, our goal is not to just survive but to thrive.  I believe you cannot thrive in this toxic world without having a good diet, clean water and a straight spine.         

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Where is a parent to begin??

The world of autism recovery is truly overwhelming.  Having a child with a diagnosis and an inability to function well makes things difficult enough but then wading through the information available to you is mind-boggling.   BUT today it is so much easier to find the right resources.  Many parents and organizations on the internet today are just waiting there to help you.  One organization I love is TACANOW.org.  TACA is run by parents whose only goal is to help their children and other parents, not to pad their pockets with your misery. 

In the last few years, I have seen many organizations come and go.  Some start out with fire and quickly fizzle out, but parent run places tend to last because, let's face it, there's no shortage of warrior parents with affected children.  I highly recommend this article as a place to start your journey.

I wish you love and God's blessings as you endeavor to bring your child back to health.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tony's home made gift to Kate

Tony recently had some trouble being nice to his littlest sister. Shocking I know. lol So after some discussion about loving those who are smaller and sometimes annoying (she is a little sister after all!!) he decided to make her a Littlest Pet Shop playhouse. If you know Kate, you know she is a serious fan of LPS. So this is what he did with the box he had been saving for a rainy day.

Any excuse to use a pocket knife is a great excuse!

Covered it all in paper bags that our friends at Whole Foods donated to the cause. (Seriously, he told them about his idea and they gave him the bags just for this. lol)

Although Kate is in the room, she thinks he's making something for himself. Sneaky sneaky! ;)

All done!! Yes he drew all the decorations himself. He covered the LPS during the process so she wouldn't catch on until it was over.


Definitely a success!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Hooray for silly string!

One of the kids favorite Christmas stocking stuffer was the silly string. Astonishingly , Daddy got a can under the tree as well. Here they are doing their very best not to explode while waiting for the fight to begin. You see they already have their cans ready to go. lol


Kate decided silly string felt weird so she gave me her can. I was secretly glad b/c I really WANTED to play with the silly string but had not thought to gift myself with it. Silly me.

Here they are trying to convince Kate that it's really NOT that disgusting. She was not convinced. She just watched the entire fracas with this look of complete horror. Clearly we were demented b/c we were playing with the gross stuff. ;)

This is what happens when you are the only NON-moving target.




And there's one of the moving targets. I adore the look on Tony's face!! :) Grace squealed and ran so much I never did capture an action shot of her.

That was fun. :)


Everybody should get silly string for Christmas.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Scrapbooking

Do you like to scrapbook? I do!! Back when money was growing on trees (well not really but I had three paying jobs and Daddyman was always deployed and racking in the dough) I was heavily into scrapping. I have allllll the stuff for it; and I do mean ALL the stuff. It's crazy! I went to every scrap booking party to be had, hosted them, dreamed of them, scrap booking was awesome.

Then autism hit. Life was really busy with recovery. When you're recovering children from autism, there's not really time to do fun things like scrapbook; your entire brain and body are consumed every moment with gathering information and implementing healing. Not to mention we had to carry on some form of homeschooling during all that. I was way too exhausted to think of scrapping. So my stuff has collected dust for the last 5 1/2 years.

The other day I decided Kate deserved a book with her pictures in it. Poor thing, there isn't a book in the house with her in it. She's noticed so it's time to get one together. I dusted all my stuff off, dragged it down the stairs and set it up in the main part of the house - out of the way but where it's easy to do a page here and there as time permits. I sat down and made 7 new pages last night and it was FUN!

Funny thing is we went to a digital camera when Kate was born so I didn't have any pictures of her printed! HA! But fortunately Snapfish has a sale going on right now 99 prints for 99 cents! So I ordered some and am impatiently waiting for them to arrive in my mailbox. Kate is VERY excited that she will be in a book soon!!

Oh and if you're like me and still stuck in paper scrap booking while the rest of the world has gone to digital scrap pages, the code for the deal is 2011PENNY. That is a superb deal, eh?

Happy Scrapping!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Professional photo shoot

Over the summer, a friend mentioned that he had gotten his senior pictures done by a local photographer. They were amazing and then I found out the photographer was running some free promos! I jumped right on that and the end results are here. Take a look, they're stunning. And if you're ever even NEAR the South Carolina's lowcountry, check her out. She is definitely worth traveling to!

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