Here's the story of an autistic child that came to my office recently from Kentucky. William was brought to me because my Autism program has provided kids just like him with a new life of mainstream classes, age appropriate behaviors, social skills (the list goes on)
And what I’m going to share with you is something that I believe is very, very common cause of autistic spectrum conditions. I’ll be honest with you, it may be a little tough for you to listen to this today, but it’s the truth and you need to hear it because the bottom line is I’m not really worried about your feelings. I’m here to help these kids get better. So it’s time some of the truth came out.
William displays the typcial Autistic Spectrum symptoms. He’s on some pretty heavy duty medication just to keep him manageable. Basically, he just walks around like a robot. He can’t suppress his impulses.
When he was here in the office he didn't talk unless he wanted to and he’s eating food the entire time he’s here. (very animal-like)
When I dig into his health history,I find out very quickly is that he’s got a twin brother. He’s got a fraternal twin brother and his brother is normal. His brother was born 45 minutes before and his twin brother is totally neurotypical.
William has a sister. An older sister who is also on the autistic spectrum.
When I see something like that; my mind has to go to one thing – autoimmune.
An autoimmune condition is when your army (the immune system), mistakenly turns on your and attacks your tissues and organs.
A scary high number of kids on the autistic spectrum have autoimmune disease. Many of these kids have autoimmune attack against their own brain. And that’s what is causing all those "autistic" symptoms you see: the stimming, the hyperactivity, the compulsivity.The sad part is, most of these kids are un-diagosed and un-treated for their autoimmune problem.
Now where did this come from?
Well, when I’m sitting here doing the family history I ask,
“Say, is there a family history of any type of autoimmune disease in either one of your families?”
Dad’s got a sister with scleroderma.
Mom’s got an aunt with MS.
On both sides of the family there's a history of autoimmune disease.
This case of this family perfectly, perfectly replicates a study I read,
In this study the researcher took a mother that had three kids--two that had developmental delays (language disorder and autistic spectrum) and one child that was neurotypical.
The researchers took antibodies out of this mom and--check this ou--they actually injected the antibodies into a female rat who gave birth to some rat babies.
And they discovered that the antibodies from the human mom that were given to the rat mom actually attacked the cerebellum of the rat babies.
(The cerebellum is in the back of the brain.)
I read that study about 3 months ago. When William walked in and I saw this history---CLICK!--- I thought immediately that the same thing is what’s happening with this family. This kid’s got an autoimmune disease against his own brain.
I am waiting on test results right now to confirm if he has this autoimmune problem (and it's not antibody tests)
Good thing for William, I know what to do about this autoimmune problem.
There are some very specific diet things, some lifestyle things, and some specific supplementation that we can do to help calm down this attack on his brain. And reduce his "autistic' behaviors and get him on the fast track to looking and acting and being a child "typical" for his age.
How do I do that?
What we’re going to do as part of his treatment plan is very simple.
- Diet modification--There’s going to be diet changes, which are too numerous to go into now, but some very specific things that he has to do.
- Lifestyle --I'll guide his parents on sleep hygiene, and appropriate exercise.
- Specific Supplementation-to help control and manage this immune system problem.
- Clark Brain-Based Rehab®. Now this is where I identify areas in William's brain that are not working correctly (usually on the right side of the brain). Just think of the brain as a muscle. I developed specific exercises and stimulations to wake up and strengthen those weak areas so they perform normally and William's autistic behaviors and symptoms go away.
Now without all four components of this plan, this kid is going to suffer and his family is gonna suffer forever--He'll never be independent.
I asked his parents..
"Who’s going to take care of him when you’re gone?"
If you haven’t thought about, you need to think about it.
Autoimmune disease needs to be tested for, must be considered in any child that’s on the autistic spectrum. I think it’s terribly under diagnosed.
Most doctors don’t have any idea how to test for it. Antibody tests – not that great.
What you have to do is test the immune system and dissect it. You’ve got to look at cytokines and T & B lymphocytes...you have to start there to get the answers to the autoimmune question.
I’m very excited for William because whatever comes back from his testing, I’m going to be able to help him.
Just remember, autoimmune disease ABSOLUTELY must be considered, must be investigated in any child on the Autistic Spectrum.
If you don't, you can waste precious time paying attention to chelation, B vitamins, magnesium, digestive enzymes, and other biomedical interventions that will not help.
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Hidden Cause of Autism-One Family's Surprising Story
© 2010 Dr. David Clark
THE PLACE FOR ANSWERS™
Dr. David Clark
Functional Neurologist
Diplomate College of Clinical Nutrition
Functional Endocrinologist
Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist
Vestibular Rehab Specialist
214-341-3737
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