My son has autism and like many autistic individuals his diet had been a major issue.
It is getting better though.

Until he developed autism after his MMR vaccine my son would eat anything. He was a delight to feed.

However, things changed and for years he literally lived on Hoola Hoops. They are small round potato rings with very little nutritional value what so ever.

They come in packs and are ideal for transportation as they don’t crush like packets of crisps. I should know as I have often carried suitcases full of them when we have travelled. The only consolation for that is they are light!

Hoola Hoops are convenience foods and ideal to put as an extra in a lunch box. They are better than crisps because they contain less salt, colourings and flavourings than most brands and now, according to the packet, contain 55% less saturated fat than they did in 2006!

Since they were the only things my son would eat he used to take four packets to school with him every day. As desert he would have a packet of Polos. These are round mints with holes in them.

Notice the similarities? Clue - both round with holes in them.

He would eat the same at home, so his staple diet was Hoola Hoops and Polos washed down with fruit juice, never water. We gave him various vitamins and minerals to supplement .

Not any more!

Over the years we have tried all sorts of things with him but by far the most important intervention was to de-tox him for mercury. From then on his diet improved and since we introduced an amazing probiotic he now eats sandwiches, amongst other things which make life a whole lot easier.

I am so grateful to John Montagu.

I’m not sure if you realised but it ’s 245 years since the sandwich was first conceived, and it ’s thanks to good old John who was the 4th Earl of Sandwich, hence the name.

John was a bit of a gambler and the sandwich was developed in order to allow him to eat his meal whilst still holding his cards. He requested his servants to place cooked meats between two slices of bread so things haven’t changed much since 1762 have they?

Of course in Victorian times people used to cut off the crusts, at least high society did. The poorer working class were just glad of the crusts and that is where the expression “I’d be grateful for the crusts” originates.

I wonder whether my autistic son has ideas of grandeur as he won’t eat the crusts either which is really strange as he will eat crusty rolls and baguettes. What do you think? Have I given birth to an aspiring aristocrat?

The idea of the perfect sandwich differs for everyone and certainly in Western life they are an everyday feature. As a snack their popularity is only matched by crisps.

Apparently chicken sandwiches come top of the list with the British and that is certainly one of my son ’s favourites. He also likes ham, pork and beef so he ’s a bit like John Montagu really.

However, unlike the late Earl he insists on taking the meat out and eating that first before eating the bread. He examines every bit before putting it in his mouth and this appears to be quite a common trait for people with autism.

It has been explained to me that it is because autistics do not like different textures in their mouths at the same time. That would explain why my son will always eat his things separately and won’t eat things like fruit buns.

Sausages are also a nightmare because he will eat the outer skin and then examine every single bit of the inside before he’ll eat them although I suspect that has more to do with the fact at some stage he may well have experienced a bit of gristle in his mouth and is playing safe!

He also squeezes chips before he’ll eat them. That ’s fries to my friends across the water and I suspect that ’s also because occasionally potatoes can be a bit hard in places. Who knows?

Anyway, thanks to John Montagu and probiotics my autistic son has a much better
diet, so long live the sandwich, that ’s what I say!

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 5, 2008

VALRICO - Ten years ago, when Aaron VanCleve was a little guy, he rarely spoke. Trips to Disney World or fairs were out of the question. He had no social skills and little awareness of the world around him.

Today, a 17-year-old with great grades and a love for animals, the high school sophomore’s life has changed immensely, said his mother, Linda VanCleve.

She credits his doctor, who views and treats his autism as a disease rather than a developmental disorder, and his involvement with FFA and 4-H.

Aaron VanCleve chatted recently about the care and work that went in to preparing his 270-pound pig, Rizzo, for the Florida Strawberry Festival, which opened Thursday in Plant City.

“I’ve been showing for a couple of years now at Zephyrhills shows,” he said, using equine shampoo to bathe his large pink-and-black pig. “She does bite me sometimes.”

Working with 4-H and FFA at Durant High School, VanCleve’s social skills and sense of responsibility have skyrocketed, his mom said.

“These programs have been wonderful for him,” Linda VanCleve said. “He’s learned social skills, responsibility and routine, and the kids in FFA have really taken to him.”

Aaron VanCleve’s rooster, ducks and brown eggs won numerous awards at the Florida State Fair last month. But it all started with goats that have played a role in his physical and mental progress over the years.

Renowned pediatrician Michael J. Goldberg of Tarzana, Calif., performed 25 blood tests on Aaron VanCleve, then took him off bovine milk products.

Within 24 hours, he began to speak without prompting - a first.

“I was a believer from that point on,” his mother said, standing a few feet away from her husband, Jim, and Aaron VanCleve’s twin, James, as they helped prepare Rizzo for her bath last week.

The VanCleves put Aaron on goat’s milk and limited his diet in other ways as Goldberg recommended - no whole wheat or gluten, almost no red or yellow dyes.

Today, the family has four milk goats and regularly makes goat cheese and goat-milk ice cream.

Goldberg also has tweaked the medicines the teen takes, shooting for optimum progress.

Goldberg said he believes most children diagnosed as autistic suffer only some of the symptoms of autism but instead have an immune deficiency that childhood immunizations and the mercury in them can trigger.

According to his paper, “The Myth of Autism,” he also believes that children treated for what he calls neuro immune dysfunction can, with proper treatment, make steady progress and become functioning members of society.

“He deals with one problem at a time,” Linda VanCleve said of Goldberg. She said that’s not the route most pediatricians take in treating autism.

“If you try to treat for too many things at once, you don’t know what’s really working. Dr. Goldberg uses simple medicine, and it works. I want to spread the word.”

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or at yhammett@tampatrib.com.

Source: dr michael j goldberg

Summary of Recovery Knowledge

Due to the many requests for information I have been getting, I put this together. Know that your requests actually make me happy. I am happy to know that you care and are seeking to help these children who are totally dependent upon us to help them. When I tell people I recovered my children, and they don’t make requests, I must admit, it bothers me because I feel so passionate about recovery I guess, and wish everyone else did as well. But we each have the right to make our own choices, and I understand that there are other reasons. Love and success to all of you!

My children are recovered, but currently still dependent upon supplements. It took a year for them to be able to do regular school with no modifications. I have 5 (one was adopted). They all had different symptoms/diagnoses. Some were the same. I did it by researching my butt off. This is my current view on autism causes and treatment. Know that these are my beliefs, I am not stating them as fact because I don’t want to be sued, and I may change my mind in the future because this is a learn-as-you-go thing.

I believe that Autism is caused by a starving brain from a damaged GI tract from a damaged immune system from pathogens and toxins.

Getting nutrition into my children was foremost in relieving symptoms, and ridding the pathogens and toxins is where I am concentrating as well. There are so many different ways, products, practitioners, and choices. I believe its best to get them nutrition right away (digestive enzymes, cod liver oil, vitamins, colloidal minerals, organic foods, remove MSG, remove preservatives, remove artificial junk, remove dairy and wheat or casein and gluten, remove sugar substitutes, remove GMO foods, give probiotics to absorb the nutrients, etc.). I then worked on getting the GI tract in working order with mild detoxers, anti-inflammatories (can be gentle herbs like Turmeric), bile-stimulating supplements, probiotics, yeast and bad bacteria inhibitors (can be from mild herbs or various supplements, or alkalizing supplements), and now I am in the process of going after toxins and pathogens. I believe in treating for ALL pathogens (yeast, worms, protozoa, viruses, bad bacteria), in that order.

I believe that most people are lyme carriers. I don’t know the exacts on how its transmitted, but have read that it may be transmitted from any biting insect or animal, including mosquitoes. I also read that it can be transmitted via sex and in pregnancy. I have surmised from what I read that Lyme damages the immune system, allowing pathogens and toxins to stock-pile. I further surmise from what I have read that vaccines, electrosmog, toxins, and other things further this damage, allowing the lyme to flourish. I have read that Lyme is very difficult to test positive for because it lives inside of cells and destroys your body’s ability to make antibodies to it. I further read that these same antibodies are also not killing the other pathogens the person is coming into contact with. I believe from what I read that mercury, vaccines, and other things add to this same damage in the same area of the immune system. This could explain why parents are reporting that they believe the vaccines bring out the autism. I have also read that bad bacteria and viruses may be able to live inside of the worms and protozoa, that’s why I read its recommended to treat the worms and protozoa first.

I used the DAN methods. www.autismresearchinstitute.com and www.lymeinducedautism.com are my favorite websites for knowledge and references. Go to “you tube” as well, and type in subjects like lyme, autism, etc. Please don’t ask me what diagnoses, how severe my kids were, how old they were, etc. because I believe that all things are possible — in that all kids can benefit no matter what. All my children have different symptoms. They all responded to all treatments I implemented. Sometimes the same symptoms would go away with the same treatment, and sometimes different symptoms would go away with the same treatments. One of my children was 14 when I startred treatment.

I did not use ABA. I did use a DAN for one child for a brief moment in time. I feel he was helpful, but not necessary to recover my children.

I know many talk about using a certain supplement to rid a certain symptom, and many just want to do one thing at a time. I like looking at the whole picture. I found that the gluten-free/casein-free diet did not work if they drank a soda or were exposed to gmo and/or processed food. Thus, I feel too many do it incorrectly. Also note that sometimes it takes months to see an improvement for a treatment.

I feel digestive enzymes are the most basic key to getting nutrients in. Know that also, all these supplements and diet making my children live as normals do not work if they are around environmental toxins.

My kids return to symptoms around carpeting, magic-marker smells used at school (when the whole class uses them at the same time), fluorescent lighting, etc. Thus, I also have no carpeting, and use organic/natural hygiene/cleaners in my home. There are so many variables. I think people fail when they don’t understand that die-off reactions come often when something is going to work, and that something like eating chocolate can sabotage gf-cf diet improvements.

Thus, know its not just a matter of doing something, its a matter of doing it correctly. I believe you can only do it correctly if you research it, and understand how it works. I would even research foods and how they correlate with children with autism. Such as eggs are heralded as very beneficial, whereas dioxin used on NON-organic apples, is heralded as very toxic to children with autism.

There is much to learn. I know everyone wants the easy, fast way, and that it is very time-consuming and expensive. I never did any expensive things other than some blood and stool tests. I do admit that giving 5 children supplements everyday is expensive. I also take every thing that my children take. Everything. And I do it for a few days or weeks before I give it to my children, and then I keep taking it as long as my children are. My health also went from very bad to very good. I know some are looking for the one thing to do or matching symptoms to products, but its not about that to me, its about getting the body working well, and ridding pathogens and toxins.

Here is what I am doing:

• diet (as I previously mentioned)
• digestive enzymes, Multi-enzyme by www.kirkmanlabs.com
• cod liver oil by Nordic Naturals
• Vitamin B1 Thiamine
• methyl B12 powder by kirkman’s
• niacin (flush-type only)
• buffered C by Thorne Research
• Turmeric by Rexall
• Ginger Root (only some of my children) by Rexall
• milk thistle by Source Naturals
• multivitamin, Everyday by Kirkman’s
• chewable folic acid by Kirkman’s
• lithium orotate by Ortho Molecular
• magnesium malate
• colloidal minerals
• Mellatonin, sublingual (chewable) by Kirkman
• Pectasol Chelation complex by EcoNugenics
• probiotics by Mindlinx or Culturelle (sometimes)
• Resveratrol by Paradise Herbs
• Burbur by Nutramedix
• Cat’s Claw Raintree or Samento by Nurtramedix

I have used other supplements here and there.

Know that a couple of these aforementioned products are sold only to practioners on some websites, yet on other websites, the same products are sold to anyone. So don’t give up if you get a website that sells only to practioners.

I am now in the process of starting to use herbs to kill lyme. Know that many of the treatments that are being given to children with autism, also kill lyme.

We did have lyme testing. We tested positive for lyme coinfections and have low CD-57 white blood cell count, which is reportedly indicative of lyme disease. Know that I only believed in the lyme theory after several docs started reporting that nearly all of their children with autism were testing positive for it. For further information, see www.lymeinducedautism.com and the Yahoo Group “BorreliaMultipleInfectionsAndAutism”.

I fully believe that when toxins and pathogens are rid and the GI tract is restored that my children will then be able to live as normals without special diets, and having to avoid toxins, or be dependent upon supplements. I have read many stories on this, and this is why I believe. So far, this faith has done very well for me. Know that I also pray for guidance from Jesus.

Its important to study everything you give your child. Such as I read often that buffered C should not be given at the same time as many other supplements. Know also that brand can make a big difference. Thus, study the brand, make sure they don’t use gmo products. Know also that things like Mellatonin can be made from very different sources, some better than others. Also, know that getting the right dose can make all the difference. Thus, take the time to study to know all about everything you do, and of course, ask on forums as well.

I recently added all this up, and it came to about $120.00 per person, including the adults. Thus, that’s not bad. But, for my house of 8, that’s not good, but were managing.

Know that also I have heard reports that many can just use Samento and get good results.

Heidi

Source: health