Allthough both of my kids have been diagnosed as Autistic I am beginning to wonder whether they have in fact Learning Disability as I have tried and tried most treatments/diets etc etc with no results.I constantly read others who have used/tried similar things with at least some joy.Any thoughts on this? Anyone feel the same way?I feel I have been kidding myself.

Best wishec Christine

Have you tried Applied Behavior Analysis? I feel that this is the only thing that I have tried with my son who is mildly affected in behavior but moderately affected in language. CF/GF did not really make a significant change nor did secretin drops, fatty acids, or SuperNu Thera.

Christine,
What have you tried with them? I have twins who are Autistic and have Fragile X and have tried so many diffenert things and found some worked and some didn't. Each of these children are different and it is a matter of trial and error to find out what works. What makes you feel the dx is just learning disability? IS there anyway you can get a second dx? If you give us some of the different things you are focusing on, maybe I or someone else can be more specific as to what has worked for us.Take care,
Diane

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"Act mindfully. Accept entirely. Move strongly. Think softly. Speak beautifully. Live simply. Love completely." Anon


[This message has been edited by Diane2boys (edited 12-05-2000).]

Hi, if meds don't help, it doesn't deny autism. The thing is that underlying pathology of autism is not clear and a lot of meds is just trial-and-error. Very few things work well with autism.

LD might be related to autism. LD just includes many different conditions that affect learning, it is not just one thing. So some of it might be autism-related.

Autism is heterogeneous too, bu the way. This makes it difficult to treat.

All Autistic children have learning dissorders, so if you use some technics for both you may find a happy balance. My son who has just been diagnosed as not autistic but so close they are using similar things to intergrate the sensory, language and behaviour problems. (By the way He has a server language dissorder, and this presents very simmilar to autism.)
Key word sighning has helped a great deal and so has the use of compics. So has his Psychologist, ocupational therapist, speech pathologist, physio and the numerous special early intervention teachers he has had over the last 18mths.
Don't give up there are lots of places to get help and support, remember you are not. alone and if no help comes keep pushing it is the only way some times.

Hi,
My little girl diagnosed approx ayear ago have similarly tried Supa Nu,GF/CF,Nystatin.The only thing that seems to have made a difference is the ABA therapy that she has been recieving for last 5 mths .Although possibly on initial diagnoses going Caesin free appeared to make her less withdrawn. Samantha to all concerned appeared to develop normally up until 2yr old and then slipped slowly into a world of her own and lost all her language skills.The only thing we have not really tried is Secretin, but I am hoping Repligen will come out with some creditable data on this subject.Samantha does not currently stim or tantrum (fingers crossed)so often appears just delayed but the lack of imaginative play and difficulty copying are evident.
I think there are lots of parents out there with similar stories it's just that the success stories with biological approaches get most postings/messages
All the best
Gary

Have your read at the Autism Research Institute website?? They have dozens and dozens of symptoms of mercury paired with the identical symptom of autism. One of the hypothesis is that autism is mercury poisoning. Since mercury binds itself to tissues of organs, once it is in, it never leaves. And it is one of the top 3 toxins on this planet. This theory would explain all the pieces of the puzzle. The mercury binds in the GI tract to the organs--the kidney, liver, etc. or in the brain. This would explain why our kids cannot process foods. (the secretin and malabsorption and special diets) And why their behavior is so affected. (the brain)

I urge you to look into it. There is an autism-mercury onelist group. A new message board on chelating mercury at http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb1325053
and the autism channel board. These are all places that have also been helpful.

Dr. Amy Holmes has a paper written about treating mercury. I think you can get to it from the Autism Research Institute website.

I now think that the degree and symptoms of autism are based on where the mercury has binded itself to. If the mercury has binded more in the stomach, the special diets and supplements will help the child more. If the child has more mercury in the brain, then drugs such as the new one out Quetiapine would be more beneficial.

Good luck

Hi,
i'm from Notts too our kids have asd and
ld its hard to know where one ends and the other begins, as for treatments we're still looking, tell us more about your kids.
Jo.

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