Posted by Eleni Prokopeas on Oct.08, 2008

I was like all mothers when first told my 2-year-old had autism: scared and lost. I had no idea what to do and whom to turn to for help. Mainstream medicine did not seem to offer any hope. All the “specialists” seemed to give the same response: every child is different and different things work for different kids. Knowing this, we tried a lot of things for the next two years.

For a mother that knew nothing about autism, my life became all about autism. I would care for my child during the day and spend nights researching available treatments for my son. For the next two years, we saw five “specialists” and more than 10 therapists, and made a lot of diet changes which included a lot of supplements. We were on a Gluten Free/Casein Free Diet, then on the SCD Diet and then on a restrictive-rotating diet. During this time, we saw some improvements, but not much. The process was expensive, exhausting, overwhelming and difficult all at the same time. For other parents, doing this is enough to see big gains. Even with all this, though, my son was 4 years old and still non-verbal. He spoke only 30 words with very little eye contact. He would not respond to his name and was in a world of his own. He would have at least 3 major temper tantrums a day. We needed to go in deeper and fine tune what we were doing.

The turning point for me was when I started to take charge and put all the pieces together. I decided to fight back and take control of my son’s health. Up until then, I was just taking orders and following what “specialists” would tell me. I decided to start from the basics and work toward healing him completely. I was fortunate enough to find a doctor who was able to run the proper lab test and discovered the core of his health problems, not just the symptoms. He found that my son was toxic, under-nourished and had weakened immune  and metabolic systems. We focused on all four issues for the next 12 months and slowly started to see improvements.

With a whole-body approach to healing, my son’s body naturally reactivated it’s magnificent ability to heal itself. I found a diet that his body responded to, which included fresh juices daily.  We removed the toxins through chelation. By restoring his metabolic and immune systems, his body was able to heal. Today, my son is fully recovered. At 6 years old, he is in a mainstream first grade classroom and involved in baseball, swimming, and tennis. Today, he is indistinguishable from his peers. People are often surprised to hear of him ever having an autism spectrum disorder.

This experience has taught me the importance of what you do and in what order you do them.   Had I known the order sooner, I would have saved time, money, and frustration, while seeing results sooner.

This is simply an outline that worked for us. Please consult with a doctor before making any changes to your child’s care. For further details, you are welcome to contact us at autism@greendivamom.com

This protocol is designed to be followed in order at 100% effort with no exceptions. Follow this protocol in this order and you will see improvement within a short period of time. This will help motivate you to stick with it! It took me two years to heal my son once I started this protocol, but he was starting at a better place, meaning he was already making slow progress and we were already doing parts of it so the transition was easier. Here is the protocol:

10 step Protocol to Healing Autism Naturally

1. Mentally Prepare. Get organized, make lists of what you need and set a timeline to start and implement changes. If it’s too much to do all at once, then do one new change per week.
2. Clean Out. Clean out your kitchen, food, environment, appliances, products and lifestyle. This step purges your old habits.
3. Clean In. Bring in clean water, kitchen, food, environment, appliances, products, lifestyle. This step is about creating new habits.
4. Implement Dietary Changes. No fluoride in drinking water; drink filter water only. Eat 80% alkaline, 20%acidic food. Eat superfoods daily, and organic food only. Nothing in a box; fresh or frozen only. Follow the Feingold Program. Include lots of high-potassium foods and RAW fruits and vegetables. Eliminate salt/sodium and red meat. Avoid fat, sugar and allergic foods such as wheat, dairy, soy, corn,  peanuts. Learn to eat fruits for desert.
5. Learn the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” About Autism. Refer to good books & websites for the basic checklist. Find a DAN doctor. Run lab tests, and use supplements free of allergens.
6. Juice and Smoothie. The more fresh juices and smoothies, the better. Tip: Juice what they won’t eat. The daily regimen includes one to two Green Juices, which are nutrient rich with little time needed for digestion;  one to two Carrot-Apple juices, which are full of vitamins; and one 10-ounce smoothie made with fresh greens, superfoods and organic fruits.
7. Make Lifestyle Changes for Green Living. Organic is best. Don’t dine out. Play and talk to your child daily. Use sports as therapy  for hand-eye coordination, interaction and following directions. Kids learn best when having fun and laughing, so make a game of everything and let them be silly kids.
8. Chelation. Chelation should be done only under the care of a Doctor. Lab tests will show the results. If your child is toxic, a chelator such as DMSA is used to move toxins out of body. Saunas, foods and juices are also used to remove toxins.
   
9. Therapies. Quantity and quality matter. Sit in during therapy and repeat at home. Helpful therapies for autism include ABA, OT, Speech, Floor time and Sensory.
10. Live Fearlessly. Take control of your life and your families. Incorporate these changes into your lives and stick to them. Don’t go back to your old habits once your child is healed. They are still rebuilding their bodies and are not fully healed. Be cautious of toxins and chemicals.

Educated health consumers, including informed parents, are taking matters into their own hands. They are choosing healthy lifestyles and wise health care alternatives that do not rely on constant pharmaceutical product use, including an alternative vaccine schedule.

You may feel you are already doing this, but look closely. Are you consistent? Are you making any exceptions? For example, taking your child for speech every week and eating packaged foods or fast food will not produce the same results as a child on an organic, home made diet free of allergenic foods, eating superfoods and drinking healthy fresh juices daily while taking speech. The results are significantly different. Now this example goes back to the protocol, food is #4, and speech would be #9.

You need to work in order, spend the time you need to fully understand and perfect each step, then go down this list. If you work in this order, you will also need fewer therapies because as the body starts to heal, everything starts working spontaneously on its own. This will avoid your child being robotic, which sometimes happens during therapy.

My favorite quote is by Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food.”

As for me, I was desperate and determined to heal my son. Keep working and don’t loose your focus on your long term goal which is…healing your child. If you need a motivator, start saving for college! It may take you more than 2 years but it will happen if you’re completely dedicated and consistent. Remember, every step forward is a step closer to your goal of healing your child.

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Posted under Alternative Treatments, Autism, Diet: Eating to Heal.