So, you find out from the doctor the dreaded diagnosis that your child has Autism, Aspergers, or one of the similar related to autism. You want to know…what does it mean to be autistic? You are very overwhelmed, very lost, and ask the questions…What is Autism? Where do I start? Where do I find information on how to help my child get better? Hopefully, I can help. Health, Nutrition and Autism strives to be an important resource for parents of autistic children.
This is dedicated to help parents of children with autism to find some answers. We have a daughter with autism and have been in your shoes as parents. Over the last 6 years we have tried a lot of different approaches and treatments to helping her improve. Click on the tab above to read more about Our Journey Through Autism and continue reading below for more answers on autism.
What Is Autism, Aspergers, Autism Spectrum?
Many have heard the word autism in the news over the last few years, but many are unfamiliar with what autism really is. Autism affects information processing in the brain, how the cells communicate, and how information is organized. How this all occurs and what really goes wrong in people with autism is still a mystery, as there is not a pill or cure-all for autism.
Autism is a range of disorders on the autism spectrum (ASD). Think of autism as a large umbrella with smaller subcategories underneath it. Some subcategories being:
- Asperger syndrome (usually high functioning individuals with lack of social skills, some cognitive difficulties, and trouble “reading” other people like body language, sarchasm, etc)
- Autism with Developmental Delay (delays in cognitive development and lack of language/communication, may have Apraxia)
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS, and often diagnosed when the criteria for autism or asperger syndrome are not met)
- ADD (attention deficit disorder)
- ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder)
You may be a parent of a child with one of these diagnosis or have autism yourself as an adult, and you wish to learn more about nutrition, diet, nutritional supplements, and other treatments that can reverse or at least minimize some of the problems associated with autism.
Autism is said to be a neurological disorder that occurs to varying degrees in individuals who express characteristics of the disorder. Characteristics include difficulties with verbal and nonverbal communication, social interactions including lack of response to others, difficulties with everyday activities, and may demonstrate restricted and repetitive behaviors.
These characteristics appear in early childhood development and are typically diagnosed on average around the age of 2 years. Parents will usually notice signs of Autism in the first year or two of their child’s life when things just don’t seem right. The signs usually develop over a period of time, and many autistic children first will have typical development which then leads to regression in many or all skill areas.
The autism spectrum ranges from severely impaired to fully functioning. Researchers continue to investigate the potential causes of the disorder, including genetic and environmental factors. It is estimated that at least 1 out of every 110 children born today has some form of ASD, and the ratio is nearly 4.5:1 of more males having ASD than females.
There are no two people with the exact same characteristics of autism. With that being said, there are several factors that will determine the severity to which an individual has autism and what autism might look like for them. There will be an underlying genetic predispositions, which is explained by mutations or combinations of common genetic variants. Other factors include environmental causes (such as heavy metal exposure, toxins in everyday household cleaners, pesticides, and vaccinations) to the food they eat and lack of certain nutrition that may be causing harm.
My Child Has Autism…Where Do I Start?
Below are just some of the very basics that will help you understand this mysterious disorder called autism. These are ways to help your child become more independent, function at a higher level, improve your child’s health and nutrition, have a better quality of life, and to help them improve in many skill areas. There are a lot of approaches and I hope you will find my many articles on this information useful.
Many children with autism have made significant improvements, while some have fully recovered using many of these treatment options. Even normal, healthy children and adults will benefit from improving their diets, taking a look at their nutritional intake, and taking high quality nutritional supplements.
A customized nutrition program (like the one you can find by clicking on the tab above) is offering new hope to autistic children and their families. Autism is known to have some biological causes such as high levels of heavy metals, allergies, food sensitivities, environmental toxin overload, nutritional deficiencies, and many more. Autistic children tend to be deficient in minerals such as zinc, magnesium, iodine, potassium, and lithium, where testing can be beneficial to find out what nutrients, enzymes, minerals, etc your body needs.
Autistic individuals tend to have an increased problem with digestion, which then causes food sensitivities. The two big categories of problematic foods for children with autism include gluten, which is in wheat, rye, and other grains; and casein, which is found in dairy products. Yeast overgrowth, also know as candida, along with destructive bacteria, in the digestive tract or intestines is very common in autistic children. This could arise from the excessive use of antibiotics throughout their lives, and can even be passed down from mother to child before birth. Probiotics, also known as the good bacteria, can play a helpful role in restoring your gut flora to normal.
Testing can be performed to determine many problems going on in your body, all the way down to the cellular level. One area of importance is to test for toxic heavy metals. Analysis of the hair, urine, blood, and stools of autistic children often reveal significantly higher levels of toxic heavy metals like aluminum (found as a preservative in vaccinations and in cooking pots), lead, antimony (fire retardant), arsenic, and particularly mercury (which is still present in flu shots and can be passed down from mother to child through fillings in her mouth).
We also look beyond nutrition and diet to examine a wide range of other treatments, therapies, and products that can help autistic children get better and hopefully fully recover. These might include hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), homeopathy, FSM, OT, ST, PT, ABA therapy, and many more.
So stick around to read more about autism here on this site. It can be a painful journey watching your child suffer through autism (like we have with our daughter), but there is hope and resources are available to help you on your journey and to help your child improve. I’d love to connect with you, so click on the contact tab above to leave me a message.
To Your Health! 
Health & Nutrition Advisor
P.S. If you're tired of not getting anywhere with your health issues, it’s time to get on the right path to recovery with a Customized Nutrition Program starting today. Find out why it works and what health issue we can help with!
