Healing Our Autistic Children

One of the things we have missed the most in our GFCF diet home is parmesan cheese. And we've missed macaroni and cheese too. There are some pretty good substitutes, they just haven't been quite the same. We haven't had lasagna- the cheeses wouldn't melt properly. And pizza was ok, but not that same gooey delight that it was in the gluten and casein laden days.

Until last week.

One of my patients told me about a new discovery of hers- Daiya Cheese alternative. Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free. Delicious. They make a Cheddar cheese, and an Italian cheese. I followed her advice and ordered a small bag of each for the first order to make sure we liked it in our house.

My son made macaroni and cheese for four straight meals.

I was going to make the kids pizza for dinner tonight, but they've consumed it all already. I guess they'll have to wait until the next order comes in.

www.daiyafoods.com/where.html lists where you can buy the cheese. It looks as though Whole Foods is beginning to carry it, and there are several online vegan stores carrying it as well. Shipping is expensive because you have to purchase a cold brick and it has to ship at the beginning of the week, second day delivery. It was worth it to see the delighted smiles on my kids' faces- almost like Christmas morning!

Cheese Glorious Cheese! With this addition to our pantries, gluten-free casein-free diets are easier than ever- enjoy!

When we think of “service dogs,” most of us think first of guide dogs for the blind. That’s probably natural as these working dogs have been part of our streetscape for the longest time - since 1929, when the Seeing Eye Guide Dog organization was founded. It took nearly fifty years for the role of the working dog to begin to grow; in the mid-1970’s, hearing dog training programs began to be established. But since 1990, when the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law, these canine caregivers have cheerfully taken on an ever-expanding role in human health and well-being and proven themselves to be invaluable in enhancing the lives of people with a much broader range of disabilities. The high level of independence these animals can help their owners achieve might be unattainable either physically and/or financially without their service. In 1996, the organization National Service Dogs (NSD) began training service dogs to assist people with autism. Two years ago Project Chance began training dogs for this purpose in Northern Florida. Six months ago an intelligent, motivated, cheerful Golden Retriever named Flux joined our household as my daughter Dani’s service dog. I wanted to share with you some of the reasons that I now advise my patients to consider getting a service dog of their very own.



Because a service dog makes people smile at your daughter, and you overhear mommies telling their children “Look, Sarah, that dog is helping that little girl!”

Because everyone wants to talk to your daughter and meet her dog. No one is looking at her strangely anymore.

Because when she has a seizure, the dog will help and be there to comfort her.

Because she will learn how to love another being in ways you can’t teach her just because the dog is there.

Because she’ll go into the theater with the dog and watch a full-length film and say “That was a good movie!” afterward.

Because she’ll be so busy taking care of the dog on the airplane that she forgets she’s a little nervous, and when you land she’ll say, “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be!”

Because “I want my puppy,” may be the most wonderful sentence you’ve heard since your child regressed into autism. The social isolation is going away.

Because the dog brings so much joy into the home that everything seems easier.

Because there’s someone else available full time to keep an eye on your daughter and you can actually get something done.

Because they can be mutual pillows for each other driving home at the end of a long day.

HEAL Film Camp 2009 from FilmLab on Vimeo.

A Walk in Our Shoes

Twas the Night Before Christmas
And all through the house
The creatures were stirring
Yes, even the mouse

We tried melatonin
And gave a hot bath
Asleep early for Christmas?
...an unlikely path

The children were finally
All nestled in bed
When visions of Christmas
Ran through my OWN head

Did I get the right gift?
The right color and style?
Would there be a blank stare
Or even, maybe, a smile?

Friends & family come
But they don't understand
The pleasure he gets
Just from bending his hands.

"Just make him stop it," some say
"Just tell him "no",
You must learn to be tough.."
On, and on they do go...

We smile and nod
Because we know deep inside
The debate is moot
Let them all take a side

We know what it's like
To live with the spectrum
The struggles and triumphs
Achievements, regressions….

But what some don't know
And what some don't see
Is the joy that we feel
Over simplicity.

He said "hello"!
He ate something green!
He looked me in my eyes
He did not cause a scene!

He peed on the potty!
Who cares if he's ten;
He stopped saying the same thing
Again and again!"

Some others don't realize
Just how we can cope
How we bravely hang on
At the end of our rope

But what they don't see
Is the joy we can't hide
When our children with autism
Make the tiniest stride

We may look at others
Without the problems we face
With envy, with wonder,
Or even distaste,

What we want them to know
What's important to see
Is that children with autism
Bring simplicity.

We don't get excited
Over expensive things
We jump for joy
With the progress work brings

Children with autism
Try so hard every day
That they make us proud
More than words can say.

They work even harder
Than you or I
To achieve something small
To reach a star in the sky

So to those who don't get it
Or can't get a clue
Take a walk in our shoes
And I'll assure you…

That even 10 minutes
Into the walk
You'll look at us all
With respect, even shock.

You will realize
What it is we go through
And the next time you see us
I can assure you

That you won't say a thing
You'll be quiet and learn,
Like the years I learned too
When the tables were turned.

C. Waeltermann, 2007

Acknowledging that his comments might fly in the face of current medical opinion during a recent Age of Autism interview with David Kirby, Tom Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said "It’s quite believable to me that there are many children who develop autism in the context of having severe gut pathology, of having autoimmune problems, of having lots of other problems. And some of these kids really do recover."

Addressing the question of whether or not the explosion of children diagnosed with autism is reflective of real, new cases or simply a change in diagnosis, Insel points out that the numbers cannot be explained away by a simple change in diagnosis: “… as far as I can tell, the burden of proof is upon anybody who feels that there is NOT a real increase here in the number of kids affected.”

As to the question of genetics versus environmental triggers for autism, Insel said “There is no question that there has got to be an environmental component here.”

This is a monumental shift away from what the medical establishment has been saying for years and toward what parents of children with autism have been saying for years. And it could leave pediatricians hamstrung. Faced with parents who have educated themselves about the medical approach to healing autism, and a tremendous lack of cohesive, effective information from the establishment on how to care for these children, communication gaps between patient and practitioner have grown to huge chasms. The doctors lose. The children lose. Society loses.

As a pediatrician and mother of a child with autism, Julie Buckley experienced this communication chasm personally and professionally. Determined to bridge these communication gaps, she wrote Healing Our Autistic Children. Reader friendly, the science of the medical disease Insel acknowledges is interwoven with patient stories and visits to Dr. Buckley’s office. Introducing the medical approach being used by many physicians with great success, she also shows physician readers the science they demand with published medical literature abstracts at the conclusion of the book.

If families and physicians can bridge their communication gaps with Healing Our Autistic Children, then Insel’s acknowledgement of autism as a complex, multisystem medical disease that is at least partially environmentally triggered, that will be a starting point for hope and action. Efficiently implemented, the monumental costs to care for these children as they mature can be mitigated. Their health can be restored.

Autism is a treatable medical disease. Recovery is possible.