Okay – we might as well just get to the heart of it – you want to know what works. So today’s Expert Panel is about treatment, and what our experts found to be the most effective autism interventions. When my son Christopher was first diagnosed, all I wanted was to find the magic bullet that would get him better, do it quickly, and get on with our lives (ha!). In the beginning, I spent a lot of money on treatments that didn’t have that much of an impact for us. It’s not that they weren’t good interventions; it’s just that his body was too compromised and toxic to be able to respond.
Of course, I’ve learned a lot since then. As the saying goes, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Actually, it’s more like a mountain climb, if the mountain is Everest and you have no map or guide… but, you get the idea. There is no quick fix. And this is not really a “getting back to life before autism,” because you’ve seen the Matrix and there’s no turning back.
But there are effective autism interventions. The Top 5 things that we did – the interventions that had the biggest impact – so far were: Diet, homotoxicology/homeopathy, essential oils, medical cannabis, and the Andy Cutler oral chelation protocol. Of course what works for my kid may not work for yours (and we’ve had many things that did nothing for us that really helped other kids). But there is one common theme you’ll notice – one thing that ALL of the experts agree on. Spoiler alert – it’s diet. This is something that almost all kids see benefits from (and every person should do anyway, just for general health and wellness), without a really significant cost, side effects, or a downside.
So, read below what our experts have to say. (Please see the disclaimer and note that this post is my and their opinions and personal accounts, and not a recommendation or replacement for medical advice.) And if you have personally experienced an effective autism intervention, please share it in the comments below.
ASK THE EXPERTS
What were the most effective autism interventions for your child/children?
“Diet! Heal the gut!.“
“Hands down, a healthy organic gluten-free casein-free diet!”
“It takes many interventions and a team working together just to get one little kid better. Each of us have a piece of the puzzle. And the medical treatment alone is not enough- they still need ABA and educational interventions once they can learn, to catch them up. For Ryan, eliminating dairy had a huge impact. At first I didn’t think his diet made a difference. Then I removed dairy and the change in him was remarkable. The other major change happened when we added antivirals and antifungal medications. At 28, he still takes antivirals and antifungal medication along with a few others to keep his immune system working properly. However, each of our children are different and need medical treatment tailored to them.“
“Diet, stem cells, and cannabis.”
“Diet and medical cannabis.“
“By far, starting gluten/casein/soy free diet. Without doing that first, nothing else would have worked. Because we changed his diet, he was able to attend better and he responded well to other interventions.”
MEET THE EXPERTS
Erica Daniels is the author of Cooking with Leo: An Allergen-Free Autism Family Cookbook, medical cannabis activist, public speaker and is the single mother of Leo who struggles with autism and chronic health issues. Erica’s life changed and gained new purpose after her son was diagnosed with autism in 2007. Erica founded Autism Advisors LLC and #hope4Leo 501c3 after years of struggling to treat her son’s autism using conventional and biomedical treatments with little or no success. Eating a healthy allergen-free diet and using natural medicines such as medicinal cannabis have greatly improved Leo’s health and autism symptoms. In 2016 Erica founded the autism420 Project, an initiative for legal, safe and appropriate access of medicinal cannabis for use in autism.
Honey Rinicella is the coordinator of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism. She is a wife of 20 years and the mother of 3 beautiful children, 2 of whom have autism. Honey has presented on autism locally and nationally, educating parents and professionals. She has been featured on ABC News, NBC News, NBC’s At Issue, and the Today Show. Honey lives in Pennsylvania with her family.
Kim Stagliano is a nationally recognized autism advocate and lively speaker. She has three daughters with autism, ages 21, 19 and 15. She is author of the memoir All I Can Handle I’m Not Mother Teresa: A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism, the novel House of Cards and co-author of 101 Tips for Parents of Girls with Autism. Kim serves as Managing Editor of www.ageofautism.com, the nation’s first daily web newspaper about the autism epidemic. She writes for The Huffington Post, and The Autism File Magazine. She speaks at national autism conferences and has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC News, Fox News, in The Chicago Tribune, The National Catholic Register, and on blogs around the world. A former sales and marketing executive, Stagliano lives in Connecticut with her family.
Kristin Selby Gonzalez is the mother of a child on the Autism spectrum. In 2008 she began serving as the Director of Autism Education at Enzymedica. Since then, she has advised numerous supplement companies with respect to their policies and product formulations for children on the spectrum. Kristin speaks all over the world, having educated tens of thousands of caregivers throughout the years on different strategies to help children on the Autism spectrum. Since September 2012, Kristin has been leading the Autism Hope Alliance where she serves as President and Chairman.
Laura Hirsch is an author and blogger for The Thinking Moms’ Revolution. Her TMR nickname is Oracle, and she wrote chapters for the TEAM TMR book, Evolution of a Revolution and the upcoming TMR puberty book, along with numerous TMR blogs. She has also written three books of her own: Widowed Too Soon, Foundation of Discovery: The Cause of Autism – Channeled, and The Other Side of Autism. She advocates for food safety and has been featured in the documentary Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives. Laura has two incredible children, one of whom has regressive autism and is the inspiration for her advocacy work. She lives in Reno, Nevada.
Marcia Hinds is a motivational speaker and autism parent. Her powerful message has been featured at autism conferences all over the United States. Marcia’s inspirational book about Ryan’s recovery makes you rethink autism. I Know You’re In There shares what her family did to help Ryan and tells their story in a way that is heartbreaking, heartwarming, and sometimes hilarious. Marcia has a B.A. in Psychology/Sociology from UCLA as well as a teaching credential. But Marcia’s most impressive credential is that she is Ryan’s mother and their family survived autism. For more info go to www.autism-and-treatment.com.
Mary Romaniec is a reporter and the mother of a child who recovered from autism by the age of four. In addition to mentoring hundreds of families around the world, her articles about autism have appeared in Mothering Magazine, Autism/Asperger Digest, Autism Today and Journeys Magazine. In her book Victory Over Autism, Mary discusses the stages of grief associated with the diagnosis, followed by the winning attributes parents will either possess or adopt as they strive to the goal of better health or full recovery for their child, as well as a better future.
I’m so grateful to all of the Autism Experts for their input for these posts. Check out the rest of the posts in the Ask The Experts autism series:
The Best Advice For Autism Parents
How To Help Marriage Survive Autism
Successful Single Autism Parenting
The Best Way To Handle ‘Autism Hard’ Days
How Autism Made Your Life Better
What People Need To Know About Autism
What You Wish You Knew (at the time of the autism diagnosis)
My autism journey has changed the way I live and care for my family. I am passionate about nontoxic products, natural remedies, grain-free nutrition, essential oils, and healing the symptoms known as autism. This is a space for anyone aspiring toward cleaner, healthier living.
XO Joanna
