Sandi's grandson recovers from autism
Author Jenny McCarthy with Steven, age 8, Jacob, age 5Hi Stan,
My grandson, Steven, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He just turned 8, and has recovered. He no longer meets the criteria for autism, per extensive testing and evaluation by child psychologists. He has had two of these evaluations, the first prior to kindergarten, and entrance to the public school system. He is now in 2nd grade and reading at the 4th grade level. He loves the"Captain Underpants" series. He loves the computer and play station, loves to write stories and draw the captions. He's very active and has lots of friends. He’s a different boy!
Everyone’s case is different but my daughter believes Steven's was vaccine related, as he was developing normally and had started talking around one year of age. Around the time of his 15-18 mo. checkups and getting several vaccines and a flu shot, he regressed. By age 3, he was not speaking at all, and acted like he was deaf and zoned out.
My daughter was concerned but was reassured by the pediatrician who felt he was a late bloomer. But by age two, we were all getting concerned. He was sent to speech therapy, and that did nothing for him. Neither the pediatrician nor speech therapist picked up on the diagnosis at the time. As a pediatric nurse, I had seen only one autistic child, who was profoundly affected, and not like Steven, so I too had missed it.
As he was approaching 3, we needed answers. By then we'd been researching the internet, and were all supsecting autism.
At the time of diagnosis, the developmental pediatrician told them that there was no hope, as he was beyond the age of "early intervention" and not to bother with all the alternative treatments, as it was a waste of time and money. (figures, coming from an M.D.) Luckily, they chose not to believe him. By coincidence, there was an autism conference going on that weekend at ASU, and there they learned about the condition and the various treatments and found a support group with other parents.
They left no stone unturned. The first thing they tried was the gluten free/casein free diet, and he responded within 3 weeks, and began talking again. He was coming out of that brain fog from the gluten and dairy foods. He was then more receptive to the therapies (ABA, speech, PT, OT) and we saw rapid progress every week He had an ABA tutor 16 hours a week (until he started kindergarten), and also went to a preschool for kids in the autism spectrum. He is on various supplements, and has had chelation therapy. And of course, no more vaccines. All of these things have helped, but we doubt he would have made much progress without the gluten free/casein free diet.
Many classmates may be aware of Jenny McCarthy’s book about her son Evan’s recovery from autism. His was a similar story to Steven's, as the diet helped him. Jenny has appeared on Larry King, Oprah, Ellen, and in People magazine discussing her book, and has become a crusader for autism. She is now working on another book, about other children who have recovered, and was asking other parents for their children’s stories.
My daughter found out about this through one of their support groups and responded. She was first contacted by Jenny’s publicist, and had a phone interview and filled out questionnaires. Then they got the call that Jenny wanted to interview them in person. She and her crew (publicist, and boyfriend Jim Carrey’s driver and bodyguard!) flew into Scottsdale Dec.18th, rented a car, and met the kids at a restaurant for lunch, and then spent a few hours with them at their home, hearing their story, meeting Steven, and viewing home videos of Steven’s progress, as well as one they had done for the Phoenix PBS station.
Jenny said she had gotten over 2000 responses, and is still screening, but assured them that Steven’s story will be in her book.
My grandson, Steven, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He just turned 8, and has recovered. He no longer meets the criteria for autism, per extensive testing and evaluation by child psychologists. He has had two of these evaluations, the first prior to kindergarten, and entrance to the public school system. He is now in 2nd grade and reading at the 4th grade level. He loves the"Captain Underpants" series. He loves the computer and play station, loves to write stories and draw the captions. He's very active and has lots of friends. He’s a different boy!
Everyone’s case is different but my daughter believes Steven's was vaccine related, as he was developing normally and had started talking around one year of age. Around the time of his 15-18 mo. checkups and getting several vaccines and a flu shot, he regressed. By age 3, he was not speaking at all, and acted like he was deaf and zoned out.
My daughter was concerned but was reassured by the pediatrician who felt he was a late bloomer. But by age two, we were all getting concerned. He was sent to speech therapy, and that did nothing for him. Neither the pediatrician nor speech therapist picked up on the diagnosis at the time. As a pediatric nurse, I had seen only one autistic child, who was profoundly affected, and not like Steven, so I too had missed it.
As he was approaching 3, we needed answers. By then we'd been researching the internet, and were all supsecting autism.
At the time of diagnosis, the developmental pediatrician told them that there was no hope, as he was beyond the age of "early intervention" and not to bother with all the alternative treatments, as it was a waste of time and money. (figures, coming from an M.D.) Luckily, they chose not to believe him. By coincidence, there was an autism conference going on that weekend at ASU, and there they learned about the condition and the various treatments and found a support group with other parents.
They left no stone unturned. The first thing they tried was the gluten free/casein free diet, and he responded within 3 weeks, and began talking again. He was coming out of that brain fog from the gluten and dairy foods. He was then more receptive to the therapies (ABA, speech, PT, OT) and we saw rapid progress every week He had an ABA tutor 16 hours a week (until he started kindergarten), and also went to a preschool for kids in the autism spectrum. He is on various supplements, and has had chelation therapy. And of course, no more vaccines. All of these things have helped, but we doubt he would have made much progress without the gluten free/casein free diet.
Many classmates may be aware of Jenny McCarthy’s book about her son Evan’s recovery from autism. His was a similar story to Steven's, as the diet helped him. Jenny has appeared on Larry King, Oprah, Ellen, and in People magazine discussing her book, and has become a crusader for autism. She is now working on another book, about other children who have recovered, and was asking other parents for their children’s stories.My daughter found out about this through one of their support groups and responded. She was first contacted by Jenny’s publicist, and had a phone interview and filled out questionnaires. Then they got the call that Jenny wanted to interview them in person. She and her crew (publicist, and boyfriend Jim Carrey’s driver and bodyguard!) flew into Scottsdale Dec.18th, rented a car, and met the kids at a restaurant for lunch, and then spent a few hours with them at their home, hearing their story, meeting Steven, and viewing home videos of Steven’s progress, as well as one they had done for the Phoenix PBS station.
Jenny said she had gotten over 2000 responses, and is still screening, but assured them that Steven’s story will be in her book.
She asked the kids if they were willing to do the talk show circuit when that book is published. Maybe I will get to be in the audience if he’s on Oprah! Jenny is also interested in returning in May, as there is another conference at ASU, and she would like to be a speaker. I plan on going to that if she comes.I am enclosing some pictures from her visit earlier this week. She is with Steven, age 8, Jacob, age 5, both hamming it up. Then she is posing with my daughter Krista, and son-in-law Steve.
Merry Christmas to everyone!!
Sandi Bonesteel
