This is an amazing and inspiring story of autism recovery that we would very much like to share. While most autistic children who adopt the biomedical approach to autism show significant or at least moderate improvement, occasionally we get remarkable cases where the child might be considered fully recovered. This is one of them.
I think a good place to start is to introduce readers to the B family. I am not allowed to disclose their names but I do hope they will come forward to tell us their side of the story one day. This is a typical middle-class single-income family. They brought their only son, 2 year old S, to see us at our clinic in Singapore, in November 2006. During the first consultation, the mother of S told us that her son:
- Had no speech
- Was in a shell
- Had little eye contact
- Ignored people
- Didn’t chew well
- Was a problem eater
- Had stimming behavior
An ATEC Score done at that time was 53, which suggested that S was mildly autistic. As part of the biomedical approach to autism, initial biomedical tests indicated S had:
- Yeast infection
- Oxidative stress
- Mitochondria insufficiency
- Methylation dysfunction
- Mercury exposure
S was placed on a biomedical autism treatment programme that included:
- GFCF Diet
- Anti-fungal medication
- Enzymes and Probiotics
- Vitamins. Minerals and other food supplements
- Essential fatty acids supplements
- Vitamin mB12 injections (for a new months)
- 20 sessions of mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
Note: Chelation was not considered necessary but I would not rule it out just yet.
Below are excerpts from my case notes, which show the progress of S towards autism recovery:
January 2007
- Started CFGF Diet.
- Starting to imitate words.
- Increased eye contact.
- Stools are well-formed.
- Understood 30 words,
- Compliant.
- To start vitamin mB12 injections.
- ATEC Score: 36
February 2007
- Less Stimming
- Increased awareness of people.
- More spontaneous.
- Stools mushy again.
- Family wanted to start Specific Carbohydrates Diet and Low Oxalate Diet.
July 2007
- Able to use 2 words.
- S seemed happy but hungry all the time.
- Mum was concerned about with S’s weight.
- To start RDI.
- ATEC Score: 26
October 2007
- Mum described S as cheeky.
- S is able to read teacher’s face — aware teacher was unhappy.
- Speaks in sentences, although speech is still a little unclear.
- S is confident.
- Very natural facial expression when speaking.
- Cuddles father.
- Stopped Specific Carbohydrates Diet.
- ATEC Score: 9
Observing S at their last visit, I could see the contrast in the faces of S’s parents between a year ago and now. They know their child is well on the road to autism recovery. There are many — especially medical doctors but also parents — who don’t believe that autism recovery from is possible. They will want to put S in an observation room and video him and nit-pick to find some traces of autism. They may well find the traces of autism but really, why are they doing this?
This child has a future. His chances of leading a life independent of his parents are very, very good. Now, I have a few autistic children, aged 2 to 3 years, who are also doing reasonably well. What made S different was the attitude of his parents. While they were concerned, they did not panic.
From experience, I would say that in most cases, dad will deny and mum will panic. The state of panic does not allow us to sit down rationally to consider the options and to think through what treatments work, why they work and if they are suitable for our particular circumstance — can we afford this, can we do this?
What do we do when we panic? We follow the crowd blindly.
There are so many autism treatment options available today and there are even more opinions expressed about what one should do. Many parents jump from therapy to therapy. Not achieving much results, some become disillusioned and start to blame people for giving them false hope. They then become convinced that, in fact, autism recovery is not possible.
The B family is a real exception. Almost from day 1, I had a feeling this family would do well. My guess was that they did not have too much money to throw around at too many therapies. They read up, they listened; they pondered and then made a plan for autism recovery.
They were very single minded — Imagine implementing three diet plans — GFCF, Specific Carbohydrates Diet and Low Oxalates Diet — on a child who was a “problem eater”. I believe this family would have succeeded any way, whatever treatments they had chosen.
The belief that recovery is possible and the will to succeed are the first steps on the Road to Autism Recovery. Please feel free to join Autism Recovery to learn about and discuss other cases of recovery.
John Yeo, MSc RAc
