Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD

I found this book to go into detail on the basis of some of the biological treatments, specifically why the diet is so important and how problems of yeast overgrowth or other pathogens commonly found in autistic children can affect their development. I am not a biochemist or a doctor, so the start of the book at times was a bit too technical but I really liked that the books goes in depth on the issues and then tries to give some examples to try to make it easier to digest. Towards the end there are several parent testimonials, including one of a psychiatrist who used this approach with his son and now uses it with other children. I found this testimonial very interesting and powerful.When my son was first diagnosed with autism as for most parents it was a roller coaster ride in trying to get the right treatment plan for my son, he has tried some of the traditionally anti-psychotic drugs prescribed to ASD kids and does not do well on them at all. I also feel they only mask symptoms, they are obviously no silver bullet for autism but are probably required for some cases and this is where as a parent we work with our physicians to assess the risks of any treatment plan for our kids.I read about the biological treatment and asked both my son's pediatrician and neurologist about the diet and neither really had any encouraging words about it but said I could try it if I liked.I tried to start by implementing the diet and started by taking out milk, four days after it was removed his eye contact improved and he started to speak more words. I would later find out after allergy testing that my son has a milk allergy so it would make sense that I would see an improvement. I also did get frustrated with his docs because apparently it is very common for ASD kids to have allergies, I didn't know this until I started reading on biological treatments...why didn't his conventional docs tell me this to get him tested earlier!!!He didn't have an allergy to gluten, so I didn't see any reason to take that out but decided to try anyway. It was horrible, his autistic behaviors worsened so I caved and brought it back. I was later to find out that the reason this happened is because some of the GFCF products I was using contained Tapioca or Amaranth which he has an allergy to. Several months later...he caught a stomach virus so he was pretty much on liquids for a couple of days, I decided to try again making sure to only include foods he doesn't have an allergy to. After a week of removing gluten his shadow teacher at school sent me a photo because Daniel was playing with all his classmates for about 45 mins, I was amazed how taking gluten out even though he has no allergy to it made such a big difference. His speach also started to pick up again.This is why I purchased the book, to investigate in more detail these treatments. What I regret is not being more persistent on trying to remove gluten earlier...every time I would read an article claiming there wasn't any real foundation to these treatments made me ease off on trying them. HOW MUCH I REGRET THAT!!!I have no reason to believe that any of the parents who share both their good and bad experiences with the diet would lie. Austim is so complex, some treatments work well for some kids and not so well for others.Obviously it is important as a parent to assess all treatment options both alternative or traditional and do a risk assessment and decide what is best for your son and your family...but the diet is something that can be done without that much risk with the exception of the calcium supplementation which is important. I would highly recommend anyone to try it or at least give it serious thought and discuss with your pediatrician.The reason I found the psychiatrist's testimonial so powerful is because he states something very important which has to do with the importance of trying to retrieve speech before a certain age otherwise later it may be more difficult. This is a hard truth.Why did I choose this rating? Autism is so complex and the subject of biological treatments has been so polarizing, I think this book does a GREAT job of trying to explain the basis of this. It doesn't go in to all of the biological treatments out there, but it covers some of the most critical ones.What did I like or dislike? I liked obviously that it goes in to the biomedical treatment; it obviously doesn't say much of other conventional treatment options because that isn't in the scope of the book..but as a parent obviously it would have been of added value.Who would you recommend this product to? ALL parents of a child on the autism spectrum and even those with ADD/ADHD or schizophrenia as they mention a study there.I just want to reiterate that it is important to work very closely with a doctor that you trust for ANY treatment plan for an ASD child.

Our son has PDD, primarily Speech delay, and we were looking for something that would advise us as to what would be beneficial for him, past his 5 days a week of school, 3 days a week of Speech therapy, and two days of Occupational Therapy. Realise it is early, and That we have not been able to follow the reccomendations of this book for and extensive period of time, so heres hoping that the reccomendations the book makes works for our son. We can tell you the following. Given the reccomendations, we have seen for this book, and how it is written, its very interesting reading and easy to understand for parents like us who are struggling and just searching for some help for our child. We have optimism since reading this book, and actually feel as if some of the suggestions it makes will make a positive outcome for our son, along with some hard work and dedication.

So much useful information in this book! A definite must have for anyone who has a child with many health issues, both neurological and physical!

This was an unusual book because it lists the tests available to diagnose various autism related problems and the labs that do them.The book is reasonably technical and could do with a rewrite to clarify a few concepts.This was written before the new GAPS approach by Natasha Campbell McBride became popular. It would be really interesting to find out how Shaw has integrated this approach into his work.The section right at the end contrasting various approaches to autism is very simple to understand and summarises a lot of information in an easy to understand fashion.The description of the typical autistic symptoms and why they occur is invaluable as knowing the cause is the first step to finding a solution.This is a valuable book full of oodles of information which parents should be reading to learn what they can do to help their children.:-)

My wife is a retired RN. This book was recommended by my neice who used it for her graduate work. My wife is amazed by the research and information in this book. She has been telling all her family what is in the book and is mad the government keeps going after the authors. She loves this book and says it should be a must read. See what our government is forcing on our babies.

I work with autistic children every day and can see the validity of these approaches. I have also witnessed first hand the incredible difference diet can make in behaviorand attention.

A must read for parents of kids with autism on biomedical interventions, I wish I had read it sooner! yes!

great!

Excellent book.. highly recommend this book.... A valuable tool to anyone wanting to know more or working in this area.

Excellent book and excellent seller.thank you

This book is for autism, but I have used it for candida. several chapters are on topics from which candida patients profit. After searching dozens of candida books, I have found this autism book to be the most serious, information loaded and helpful for treating candida problems and generally gut dysbiosis. The problem with the topic of candida & gut dysbiosis is unfortunately handled by most authors in such a non-professional "esoteric" way that it indeed hinders patients from getting healthy: after reading so much b*s*** about candida, I believed that this is an "internet-born" disease, invented and advertised by some people who have no idea what they talk about. This book tells that there are proper ways of diagnosis this. for example, if you have elevated arabinose in the urine, this is the best marker for candida overgrowth. But there are many other markers that can be tested. this book moves candida from the level of quality of astrology & tarot reading to the level of professional medicine. thanks! essentially, this book can be regarded as the "extended interpretation and treatment guide" for the test results for OAT (organic acid test in urine) and other tests offered by great plain labs. - and yes, their approach already helped, I am feeling better, I have more energy, do tolerate more foods and I am looking for my urine markers to get better with the next test.to the author: you should publish a book entitled "Candida", because serious information in that domain is urgently needed, but not found by many! and, though the book is really good as it is, pls describe in addition to secreatory IgA also defensins, which (at least beta defensin 2) can be tested as of today by a few commercial labs and has huge effect on the body's ability to defend itself against dysbiosis in the gut.

Excelente libro, con información super importante para la gente que este interesada en conocer más a fondo el autismo y el sindrome dislógico.