Messages posted by: DKRox

Every child with ASD are obviously different and respond to different treatments. I would like to share what has helped my son who was once considered "severe" and now is "high functioning".

1) I never allow him to use autism as an excuse and expect him to behave the same as his siblings. I tell him autism is not an excuse to do less, but a reason he has to try harder.

2) I let him know I BELIEVE in him and his abilities and will NEVER loose faith in him.

3) I discovered through research that many neurological disorders including ADD and ADHD do not get enough quality sleep. We started my son at an early age on half a tablet of Melatonin at bedtime. This is a natural chemical the brain produces in REM sleep. He is now on a full tablet at the age of 11 and I'm sure we will need to increase it again when he gets into puberty.

4) We have found B Vitamins very helpful. The ones I think work best also contain folic acid - another thing that helps with concentration. We give him one a day with food.

5) L-Tyrosine is a natural amino acid that helps with concentration that we have found helpful.

6) Any natural treatment should be added one at a time and allow at least a month before adding or subtracting something else so that you can judge how effective it has or has not been.

We tried glueten and cassin (sp?) free diet and didn't notice any improvement after six months. Exercise first thing in the morning (50 jumping jacks) also seems to keep our son on track.

As I said in the beginning of this post. I don't know if any of this may be helpful to someone else and certainly wouldn't direct any treatment plan for someone else, but if these tips can help anyone I feel obligated to share.