Treating Autism with an Open Mind

While working with a parent yesterday, I became quite frustrated (internally) upon realizing this person was absolutely against any dietary or biomedical interventions.

What frustrated me was her unwillingness to educate herself about these treatments; not the fact that she would choose to not implement them, as treatment of autism is a very personal decision.

In the end I made sure she took reading materials about biomedical interventions, but she declared while walking out the door, "Thanks but these are gonna' end up in the recycling bin."
Grrr!

Like I said, I know many parents, including myself, that have chosen to not use biomedical treatments or have selectively chosen a few.  When my son was diagnosed in 1998, ABA was all anyone could recommend with any degree of confidence.  Floor-time and other modalities were near infancy and dietary changes were considered way, way, way out in left field.

At the time of diagnosis, I didn't understand the immune-neuro connection, leaky gut, Candida yeast or toxicity.  All I knew was my child has a disorder diagnosed out of a psychiatric manual... lends the connotation we're dealing with mental illness or cognitive issues alone.

However, I have to say that I never stopped looking, reading and asking questions to follow up on any tidbit of information I thought may help both my sons, as I have a teenage son with Asperger Syndrome also.

It took some time, a lot of researching and a lot of watching to see the results others experienced from certain treatments before I was willing to try them, so I understand my parent's initial resistance to implement, but I don't understand resistance to learning more.

Look at all of us here on Epilepsy Moms - what are we doing here? Educating ourselves, asking Arlene, and others before us, questions and for advice.  Why? Because we want to learn more about treatment options we have.  Ultimately, some of us will decide to move forward and others will not.  But, it will be because we've taken the time to make an educated, supported and realisitc decision as a parent.  Not because we were too closed-minded to consider there is another way.

So, in conclusion, I hope the parent I met with yesterday reads the literature I gave her and visits us here, at Epilepsy Moms, as I recommended.  In the mean-time, I applaud all of you (ok, us) for remaining open-minded and motivated to continually seek answers and treatment.  No matter the topic, biomedical or otherwise, educating ourselves is simply necessary to make the best decisions.

And, just for the record, to avoid any posts or offline emails blasting me for being a rigid, self-righteous, shameless promoter of one treatment, I want to share that I have not implemented most biomedical interventions available - we've slowly made changes one by one with optimum health and nutrition in mind first.  We've continued to "upgrade" our treatments as we go, in a way that fits for us.  I hope you are all able to do the same!

Have you ever immediately debunked an idea for treatment without learning more? What do you think about parents who do this?  Any ideas on how we can best help?