Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

help--vitamins and suppliments

My three year old son as regressive autism and is completelynon-verbal. We have tried teh GFCF diet, with no noticable difference, we also had a large number of labs performed, all of which coma back completely normal. The labs that were drawn included stool samples for parasites and fungi, heavy metals, TSH, urine porphryn, CBC, a test that measures the levels of differnt vitamins in the blood. This is the only test that came back slightly abnormal stating that my some had a slightly higher than average level of B12. From all that I have read, I understand that a large number of autisic children lack suffficient amounts of this vitamin. I am clueless as to what to do and extremely discouraged that the test results did not come back with something abnormal that is fixible. Are ther any investigational therapies that may help my son that I can discuss with his doctor? Any advise you can give me is greatly appreciated.

13 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
325405 tn?1262290178
I wish I could give you advice.  I don't know much about regressive autism.  Did you try posting on the expert forum for autism/aspergers?  

I have been told the GFCF diet takes awhile to see if it works.  I have also been told by my daughter's pediatrician not to put her on it because she has no allergies to wheat or milk and because she has so many sensory issues putting her on that diet would limit severely what she does eat that it would harm her more than do her good.  Some people have had a lot of success doing that diet though.  

Is your son receiving any therapy or going to developmental preschool?  He should be able to qualify if you live in the U.S.  Not sure on other countries.   Also checking to see if there is an autistic support group in your area might help you be able to talk to other parents who are goign through the same issues that you are right now.
Helpful - 0
470168 tn?1237471245
I don't know about vitamin B12.  
You could try the omega oils.  If his vitamin levels came back okay then I think there is no point pursuing that avenue.  
Unfortunately you cannot fix autism.  If that were possible we would all be doing that.  I also tried the GFCF diet on my son with very limited success.  I am on it and it works for me, but does't seem to show the same improvements in my son.  
Now I would advise that you start concentrating on some of the other approaches that can also work, but which may take along time.
So I am talking about the TEACH approach to learning, using symbols such as PECS and signing etc.
You say your son is non-verbal.  Was he verbal before he regressed?  Have you started with symbols or signing?  What does the Speech and Language Therapist advise?
Does he have any sensory issues eg. does he cover his ears, or rock, or play with his hands infront of his eyes, avoid certain tastes/textures/smells, do all the tags have to be removed from his clothes etc.
My son is also on the autistic spectrum.  He developed practically normally (although there were a couple of indicators pre-MMR vaccination that he was different, so I can't blame that vaccine either), then he just didn't seem to progress from 3+ and started using echolalic speech etc.  He is doing brilliantly now.  He is 7.  He went to play with an old school friend yesterday (I've recently moved him to a school that has experience in teaching children with autism).  He played with the boy for 4 hours without going off on his own.  Infact he appeared perfectly 'normal', until it was time to leave and then he threw an almighty (typically autistic) tantrum because he wanted to stay!  
The things that I have noticed that really worked with my son were finding out how autism affected him especially his sensory issues.  Once they were addressed alot of his autistic behaviour went away eg. covering ears, appearing deaf is less frequent etc.  I also put him into anything he was interested in on a one to one situation.  Eg. trampoline lessons, drum lessons etc.  They find anything in groups very difficult.  But one to one they can cope with especially if they are motivated through something they like.  Use whatever they are interested in.  My son is interested in 'safes' at the moment.  He wants one for christmas.  I am going to get him one because you can set the number combination and I think that that will help him be motivated to learn his numbers.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for you responses. This is my second child ont he spectrum, My 12 yo is also in the spsectrum. My 3 yo developed perfectly until he was 16 months old and receieved his MMR. It was like someone turned off a light switch. He had great language and was even starting to potty train. Other than the speech and avoidance of peers, it is difficult for others to notice his autism. He has no sensory issues, fairly decent eye contact, a great appetite-will eat just about anything, and he's extremely healthy. He will communicate non-verbally with gestures and by point and pulling us to what he wants us to see if it is too big for him to bring it to us. Tantrums are far and few because he doesn't really get frustrated. The only time he throws fits are when transitioning-which he has a very hard time doing. His fits usually only last about 1 minute. He is currently in an Autistic pre-school program that uses TEEACH/DT therapies. In addition to that we are in the process of adding 12 additional hours of ABA at home with the behaviorist. Witht he ABA, he will receieve a total of 40 hours a week. He was just recenttly evevaluated by a SLP, and was thought to possibly have Speech Apraxia. He will be starting Speech tharpy for that as well as soon as the report is complete. I'mnot sure what else we should be doing. I just feel like nothing is working and i want so badly to get my baby boy back.
Helpful - 0
365714 tn?1292199108
It would be interesting if there was such things as a "miracle cure" to every problem. That said one has to take some of those bio-med approaches with a grain of salt.  From the sounds of it B-12 shots probably won't do good if one has an excess.  But at the same time there are some gift that I believe came from autism that can be further developed to help the individual overcome some of the difficult things.  You can read some of my journals about dealing with sensory stuff and relating to people.

I wish there was a surefire way to preserve strengths and remove the negatives, but tis life... We have to take the good with the bad and learn to work from there.  I'm not sure exactly what "regressive" autism is.  With things like PDD NOS, a bably usually starts off fairly "normal" and then goes through a regression or does not develop at the same pace as their peers.  That doesn't mean that it won't come. It will come at it's own pace.  It's good to get involved with different early intervention programs.
Helpful - 0
470168 tn?1237471245
If he is gesturing and pointing and bringing things to show you that is really good.  It shows a willingness to interact, and also shows that he gets some enjoyment out of interacting.  As you will know, for some autistic children that desire or ability is not there.  So it does sound plausible that there maybe a reason for the non-verbal aspect and your SALT may well be right about Apraxia.  You could also look into Central Auditory Processing Disorder.  He might have that, but it would be hard to assess if he is non-verbal, although the SALT maybe able to find a way of testing for this.  He may also have delays in processing auditory information and I am sure that those in contact with him are probably already aware of that.
I know it's awful having to wait and see how your child develops because we don't get that information.  We are only told that they are either 'behind' or 'infront' of their peers in certain areas.  We don't know what the autistic 'norm' is, and I don't think there is one.  They develop skills at different ages to other children and sometimes learn higher skills before they have properly learnt more basic skills so they can tend to excel in certain areas, and then be totally incapable of doing a much simplier task in a slightly different developmental area.
It sounds like you are doing everything you can at the moment.  So my only advise would be to get him doing the things he likes in one to one situations.  And just be aware at each stage of what the difficulties might be.  I have been pushing for a couple of years now for it to be recognised that my son may have dyslexia and dyscalculia.  The authorities were reluctant to test or give him that diagnosis, and were also not supporting him in school and appeared to me to just accept his difficulties as being 'normal of autism' and just seemed to lower the bar of expectation.
I have since had a couple of private reports done and now know that my son is of at least high average intelligence.  But that he has a number of disorders that all impact on his ability to learn and demonstrate learning.  But now that I know his potential it is a great argument for me to prove that he should be capable of much more than he is presently able to do.  My son can talk with me about gravity, the orbits of the planets, life after death etc, but he cannot write any word from memory other than his name.  
So as parents we advocates, and we have to do that because no-one does it for us.
But for now it might be a case of waiting for a while.  If he shows absolutely no improvement/progress over a year then you should be asking questions again about whether they fully understand his needs and how they are meeting them.
Helpful - 0
584252 tn?1218223686
Hi Sally i was just reading your post when you mentioned about your son only being able to write his name from memory now my daughter is the same but she is a year younger i think than your son she tends to write lists but from what she has copied from all over the room she is in, if she wrote a list herself it is gobbeldy gook. I was speaking to a lady i know and she was surprised about Melissa and her speech as she had never noticed and that she actually thought she sounded intelligent, but she speaks quite fast and i must admit up until she turned 6 i didn't really notice it started off with the odd word and then the more i noticed the more i was picking up, the list of words is now nearing 30 and i am still finding different words she is saying. Only 3 days to seeing the salt on Thursday morning, i am writing down all about her behaviour and growing up, will they ask about her growing up and behaviour or will it just be about her speech? She also can go on about all sorts she loves dinosaurs and can talk about them and all weird kind of things, she likes bats and rats and loves sinbad the sailor the old movie with the woman with snake heads, she loves cat in the hat and was repeating what this guy said and it is the first time i have actually noticed she as done that, she said it perfectly. She obviously loves the jurassic park she will watch that over and over as it as dinosaurs in it, it is the only time she isn't hyper. I took her to specsavers the other day well we all went i wanted to cry as i was at my wits end, her behaviour was terrible, she was jumping on chairs, touching equipment and when i told her no she tantrumed i ended up going outside when we were waiting where she decided to slide up and down the tiled floors it was in a shopping centre, jumping over benches and paddying if i said no. I was due to go to a friends party later that evening i just felt like crying, once home she calmed down until i said that we weren't going to the party as i was feeling poorly because of her behaviour then she proceeded to tantrum again, then i said i felt poorly because of how she had been and she said sorry, we ended up going and it wasn't too bad as there was a girl there who she had met before and are similar age and played by placing all the serviettes all over the dance floor but i was more relaxed, and she wasn't too bad until later on in the night. But it is tiring the challenging behaviour, i went to a stay and play with my youngest and she started tantruming and this woman who helps out at the arts and crafts where Melissa goes said you can tell that is Melissas sister, she also started going to a dance class been for the last 3mths and she enjoyed it but there were only 5-6 kids in it but they have recently moved it up to her school and advertised it well there is nearly 40kids going she has been twice the second time she was paddying slightly, but now she is adament that she doesn't want to go saying it is boring, but she was going ok until the change, then i asked is it because there is too many children she said yes, she doesn't like it now as it is the group size and place that as changed. I am really fed up as i know her behaviour isn't normal. Went to a shop in town where i bumped into my mum, Melissa was looking at toys i shouted to Melissa she looked over i said look Melissa it is grandma, she smiled shyly and then went back to playing with the toys as if my mum was a stranger then after a talk and saying i will see her tomorrow she said goodbye, Melissa said bye quietly then after my mum had gone she came over and asked where had grandma gone i said she has gone to catch her bus home she then said i want to go with grandma.....She would barely even register she was there when she was there but then next minuite wants to go with her??????? Took her to her other grandparents her dads side she was just so hyper they said they are tired after less than an hour or a couple of hours on weekend they said they feel for me looking after her all the week. I am going to bed shortly the longest i stay up these days is half nine. Sorry for rambling, Sharon x
Helpful - 0
470168 tn?1237471245
Typically the SALT will ask for some history.
I would write down all examples of speech difficulties eg.
Does she pronounce words correctly.
Does she appear to understand what you say or does she appear deaf.
Does she answer your questions with something totally unrelated to what you asked.
Does she repeat things you say or phrases/dialogue from TV or films
Does she appear to take a long time to process language eg. answers after 10 seconds.
Does she appear to not understand sayings such as 'its raining buckets', or 'pull your socks up'.
Write down about her tantrums
Write down examples of any repetitive behaviours or rigid routines.
Mention the hyper activity.
Mention how she socialises with peers.
Mention any sensory issues she appears to have.
The SALT is usually the first person to assess a child.  From her assessments she will then make recommendations regarding speech therapy and any social interaction or communication difficulties.  But MAKE SURE YOU ASK ABOUT THEM, otherwise they may try to get away with just speech therapy.
If they have other concerns they will ask for your permission to refer her to an Educational or Clinical Psychologist.  Don't worry.  This isn't about being mentally ill or anything.  It is about how the brain is functioning and there are many conditions and disorders that need to be assessed by a psychologist.
Let us know how you get on.
Helpful - 0
470168 tn?1237471245
Also mention about any difficulties she has with reading, numeracy and writing.  
Tell them about any unusual interests she has.
Helpful - 0
584252 tn?1218223686
Hi Sally thanks for that info just jotted it all down, i can't believe what as just happened i go to a meeting once a week like a support group, and one of the ladies there asked about my daughter and i told her she asked when this was the specsaver moment because i said where it was and i said Friday she said oh my god i think i saw her, she said she was making a right commotion and everyone was looking baring in mind a big shopping centre, she said she didn't realise it was me but remembers a girl sliding across the floor and then jumping over a bench and talking to strangers. It is horrible, no wander i am tired with her and my youger daughter they are both continuously on the go, pair of them were up at 1.00am this morning i am shattered AGAIN!!!! Thanks again Sally i just want a miracle to happen and for Melissa to be normal and i just hope Zoe doesn't follow in her footsteps. Sharon x
Helpful - 0
584252 tn?1218223686
Hi had a word with Melissa's teacher as to why she didn't want to go to dance class she said funny you should say that she didn't want to go to recorder club which is on a Monday dinnertime and she did say that is quite a large group she said she was crying but she said she forced her to go because i had gone to the expense of buying her a book and recorder, but she said she felt awful so i said not to force her to go if she doesn't want to. I think she wants to go with her friends but then finds the whole ordeal overwhelming. My friends daughter as been to see a peadiatrician today and got the diagnosis odd because she is too young to be labeled autistic, she is 4yrs old and she and Melissa are very similar apart from she is very clever, she could speak and count etc toileted including nightime quite young, but she tip toes where as Melissa doesn't tip toe in fact she is very flat footed i think she finds it hard to tip toe even when trying to reach something she would rather just get buffet and anything else to climb on. My friends daughter and Melissa get on like a house on fire literally, it is Leahs 4th birthday today and Melissa wants to see her. Sharon x
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have just looked at this sight today and I could not help but look at the autistic sight.

I know the saddness and stress that all are feeling as I have been there with my son. One does not know when autisim starts with children. It could be any age up to 4 years old. You think you have a normal child and then all hell breaks loose.

It is interesting to see the questions about food and hyperactivity and does it relate to autistic kids. Well of course it does as they are children. These are normal problems with kids and it is possible that kids with autisum have it too and restriction will help with diets but it will not help the autistic problem only the dietry problem.

Also the interesting comment through the site about not listening or maybe he has poor hearing. The truth is that autistic kids do have unusual hearing. Most hearing test do not pick up the hearing problems. These hearing problem can be fix. If they have this hearing problem then it is very hard to learn to speak as they cannot hear other properly. The problem is usually in the middle of the frequenzies that they normally test, so they are never picked up.

My son had a Whooping Cough injection and had a reaction to it and then by accident the doctor fogot to put it on his card and he was given it again. I think that is where his started.

There was a study in England that says that whooping cough vaccination in rare cases can cause Autisum. Interesting!!

To cut a long story short I worked for seven years everyday and seen huge benifits. He is a top golfer represented hockey for his district and reach the last year at high school and graduated.

It has been a real success story that I have never told anybody but the secret is to stimulate the brain that is asleep .  That is what I did and it has worked. He is twenty one now and normal. I still see the difference in some areas but they are so slight you would never pick it. I had no help and had looked for help but those days there was nothing. No information very much and no expert help. At least today people do have some help.

I had heard about the Glen dolan method of brain stimulation and new that the exercise stimulated the brain so I looked into it.

He  received glass at the age of 3yrs 10 mths and had a 10 lense and 16 is blind. So his sight was very bad. Because it was not picked up he was visually impaired as well. So he had a hearing problem a site problem and along way behind his peers at the age of four. No facial response, not much speech, poor co-ordination and heap more. It did not look good.

This is what made me feel there was a chance I could help him. The optometrist was a behavour optometrist and they did eye therapy to stimulate the eye response but what it did was stimulating the brain.

I started observing if anything that my son did made him more aware. I found when I took him swimming lessons that he would speak more but it did not last very long. Not that he spoke much only one word and mix up sentence and not much of that either. So you quess it I put a swimming pool in and made him swim as much as possible. But this be came a problem as winter was too cold.  

I neeeded to do something else to help. It just became my whole life for many years.

When we look at girls we see that they are in most cases better behaved but what the difference is that the most girls brains are english strong and boys are mathematically stronger. Two total different brain makeups.

This is what I have found what needed stimulaing in my son was the girls side of the brain. This is where speech and behaviour skills come from. I believe autisic children have very little natural stimulation into the brain where language is controlled from.

I just want to tell people that there is hope and I will right on the forum what I did over the years and may be it will help one other child or many.

The biggest mistake is to incourage their talent. This is what parent do beause it make them feel good as this make them feel the child has son normal ways. This is the worsed thing you can do.

I will give some tips that might help over the next few weeks. You might not have my success but any development is better than none.

Hope this has helped


Helpful - 0
730414 tn?1403952873
Hi! I have a 9 year old who has Asperger's. We are seeing a DAN doctor (Defeat Autism NOW!) and for a while we did not see anything significant. His doctor uses EFT (Emotional Freedom technique) to see what his body will tolerate and he did not like the b12 either. He is not on the GFCF diet however he is casein sensitive so we pulled him off that. I do know that diets will not work unless the gut is clear of Candida or Yeast. No matter what you eat,,,even if you ate nuts, berries and friuts and veggies all day your body is not going to grab the nutrients from it because of the holes the Candida has drilled in the intestines. This is called Leaky gut. To make a long story short, You may need long term pro-biotics and enzymes at every meal. You may have already tried this...I didn't get a chance to read every ones response. YOU ARE A GREAT MOM! My son is doing very well with the pro biotics, fish oils, and enzymes.
Helpful - 0
730414 tn?1403952873
I forgot to mention that you can test yourself for Candida at home. When you wake up first thing in the morning put some purified water in a small glass and spit in it. Do not eat or drink anything before you do this!! Whirl up a good one and spit it in the purified water. Return to the water in 30 min or so and if you see fog or what looks like legs coming down from your spit then you suffer from Candida. If not,,,then you good for you! Also if your spit sinks...you have Candida.

*90% of Autistic children suffer from candida in their gut* O ur poor little pale faced, dark circled girls and boys are not getting their nutrients because of Candida. GET A PRO_ BIOTIC. Kirkmanlabs is good  place to start.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Community

Top Children's Development Answerers
189897 tn?1441126518
San Pedro, CA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Fearing autism, many parents aren't vaccinating their kids. Can doctors reverse this dangerous trend?
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
What to expect in your growing baby
Is the PS3 the new Prozac … or causing ADHD in your kid?
Autism expert Dr. Richard Graff weighs in on the vaccine-autism media scandal.
Could your home be a haven for toxins that can cause ADHD?