Do you have a child who has been diagnosed with Autism, ADD, ADHD, or behavioral problems? Or one who struggles with transitioning between events, is a picky eater, has digestive issues, struggles with reading, or seems smarter than they perform at school?
Yesterday while making dinner, I flipped on Oprah and saw Henry Winkler (”Fonzie” from Happy Days) talking about learning disabilities. This morning I woke up to Ty Pennington (Extreme Makeover Home Edition) on the radio talking about ADHD. I decided it was time to get this post out and I’m very excited about it - I think Amy has a lot of information here that could help many people!
photo by Legendary Classic
HOPE
Following is some information that just might be new to you and could give you a glimmer of hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is a powerful force, I pray that the information you find here (and elsewhere) leads you to some real help and answers.
A REAL EXPERT
Since this isn’t something I’ve had to deal with personally, I went to the best source there is: a Mom who has done research to help her child - is there any better expert? I asked my friend, Amy Kelley, to pass along any information that she has found to help her son. I had heard that kids are sometimes put on gluten free/casein free diets in these cases, and originally asked her specifically about that…
INFORMATION FROM AMY:
If you want any more info about what we are doing or know anyone that could use the information - I am always willing to share what has helped us. I have attached a quick summary that I put together (someone else had asked me for it), listing the steps we took.
SUMMARY WITH STEPS THEY TOOK:
Who could benefit from this information?
I have listed the general steps we took in our family to help our children improve their ability to function at home and school. If you have any questions or want more information regarding any of these items, please feel free to contact me at any time. My email is kelleyamy@att.net
(Please note – this list is in the order we took the steps – not in order recommended for you – please choose any that you feel will help your children best.)
May God bless all of you on your journey and give you the strength and courage to help your child be who God created them to be – Amazing kids.
Sincerely,
Amy Kelley
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1) Book - Maverick Mind: A Mother’s Story of Solving the Mystery of her Unreachable, Unteachable, Silent, by Dr. Cheri Florance
Dr. Florance’s son was called deaf, mute, severely mentally retarded, autistic and recommended for being placed in an institution. Dr. Florance developed a therapy and cured her son. He is now in college with 150 IQ and doing very well. Her brain theory is that many people have a high visual ability and a low auditory ability. She reengineers the brain, using the visual strengths to enhance the auditory ability. We learned how our children’s brains naturally work and how to train and accommodate their needs to help them succeed. (This program is costly, but we found the information priceless.)
2) Natural Diet and Enzymes –
Books –
- The Maker’s Diet, by Jordan Rubin – getting back to the foods that God (our maker) intended us to eat.
- Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Conditions (Updated Third Edition), by Karen DeFelice
Website - http://www.houstonni.com/ This is where we get the enzymes that we use.
3) Other diet related items:
- Added cod liver oil to their diet – orange flavor works for my kids.
- Magnesium supplement – helped with the following issues: calmed my children, better sleeping, aching muscles, and constipation issues. I found a powder form (Baby Calm) that can be put into liquid form (this is website that I order from: http://www.vitacost.com/)
- Probiotics – good bacteria that your body needs – very important to maintaining balance in the body (especially important to offset the side effects of antibiotic treatments). GAPS DIET RESOURCES/Probiotics - 10% discount if you enter the coupon code “KitchenKop” when checking out online!
4) AIT – Auditory Integrated Training
Books –
- The Sound Of A Miracle, The Inspiring True Story of a Mother’s Fight to Free Her Child from Autism, by Annabel Stehli (mother of a daughter who was cured from Autism by Dr. Berard in France 30 years ago).
Local training we received was by Kay Cleary, OT of Integrative Therapeutic Services, LLC (email itskayOT@yahoo.com)
Quick summary: training is based on a theory from Dr. Guy Berard, M.D. (ENT from France) – his theory is that some people receive certain frequencies too high and it overloads their auditory system. Using music, with special filters, the therapy helps the brain to change how it is receiving the frequencies. After this therapy, we saw an increase in social / verbal skills, an increase in reading level and better coordination (the auditory and vestibular systems are linked). We are looking to repeat this therapy this summer. Other books on stories related to AIT:
- Dancing In The Rain: Stories Of Exceptional Progress
Stories of Exceptional Progress by Parents of Children with Special Needs, by Parents of Children with Special Needs edited by Annabel Stehli
- Sound Of Falling Snow: Stories of Recovery from Autism and Related Conditions
edited by Annabel Stehli
5) Other books
- Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism by Jenny McCarthy
- Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Learner
by Linda Silverman
- Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child
by Alexandra Shires Golon and Linda Silverman
- Healing and Preventing Autism: A Complete Guide
by Jenny McCarthy and Dr Jerry Kartzinel
By the way, maybe I can get Amy to comment below with more updated information, but I do know that her son is now in a regular classroom at school and doing very well!
Do you have more information that could help others? If so, please comment below and share your knowledge.
- MORE INFO ON HEALING YOUR KIDS - the GAPS diet gives you even more tools to heal your child
- Watch a video that will give you hope for healing! This is Amy’s sister, Joanne, talking about how their son was healed of Autism.
- Scroll down at this post for a couple related articles about vaccinations. One tells how the FDA finally admits a link between vaccines and autism!
- 10 Healthy Breakfast Ideas
- School lunches - healthy alternatives
- Do you still use your microwave?
- FAQ’s about this site
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Christi 07.23.08 at 8:22 pm
Thank you, Amy and Kelly, for this helpful article and sharing the list of resources.
I would like to add a resource that may be of interest, as well:
http://www.DianneCraft.org
At her website, Dianne Craft has many informative articles and resources to help with learning and behavior struggles. Quoted from her site “Are you working with a struggling learner? Dianne has developed a unique diagnostic program that will reveal where the learning process is breaking down for your child and will train the parent in using the corrective steps that will help overcome the child’s processing “glitch”.
Dianne also offers educational and nutritional counseling that will dramatically improve your child’s learning and behavior…My goal is to show teachers and parents how to easily teach children with the latest brain research to create successful students with greater retention of material. I also teach parents how to help their struggling learner at home through the use of nutritional interventions.”
Blessings!
Christi
Kelly the Kitchen Kop 07.24.08 at 7:26 pm
Thanks for the info, Christi!
Amy Kelley 07.28.08 at 8:09 pm
Kelly - thanks for the posting - She has asked me to update on how my son is doing now. He is doing very well. Most people that meet him do not know that he was diagnosed with Autism. He presents as a sweat, sometimes shy boy - very smart and athletic. He just completed first grade in a general ed. classroom and had a great year both socially and academically. The only extra help he receives are some small accommodations in the classroom and speech pull-out, to continue to work on his receptive/expressive language (auditory processing). He still has a few minor struggles, but for the most part they are things that we just help him with at home. We continue to work on the auditory processing, to help him improve his language skills, maintain a structured environment and keep the diet as natural as possible, along with the enzymes and supplements that help keep his body functioning well. God has blessed us with our son who has taught us so much and I know will continue to teach us more as we continue on this journey. I know that we have made it over some big hurdles and God will be there to help us over the hurdles that are yet to come.
If I can help anyone with more information or support, please contact me at kelleyamy@att.net. God Bless!!