Autism - Watching Your Child Slip Away, Part 3

In part 2 of "Autism - Watching Your Child Slip Away" we explored a typical time frame of 12 to 15 months for a child showing patterns of regression into autism. The use of biomedical treatments for autism could be extremely beneficial at this stage. Now we continue with the 15 months stage and beyond and the final autism regression that is commonly experienced by families.

• More ear infections go unresolved by antibiotics.


• The parents are told that most kids go through a transition period in their toddler years, and that boys will many times have delays in language.


• This cycle continues until it is evident that child is not developing cognitively, but instead is losing ground compared to other children their age with respect to speech, socialization, etc.


• The child is eventually diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorder and provided various services to help with education, speech and behavioral therapies. One program that ALL parents should be aware of (but unfortunately are not) is biomedical treatment for autism.


• No significant medical therapies are investigated or implemented, except for basic genetic screening for Fragile X or cursory blood work.


• Parents' concerns regarding the child's health, diarrhea, vaccines, etc. are disregarded.

I realize this may seem like a simplistic outline of a child's regression into autism. Some children regress much more quickly even before their first birthday. Some never develop language or only partially lose it. Some parents describe their children as never developing normally, or always appearing delayed. There are a wide variety of scenarios, but with respect to the regressive pattern (which makes up approximately 70 to 80 percent of the kids in my practice) the general pattern is the same - normal development, good socialization skills appropriate for their age, language development on target and then - BANG!!

Something happens.

What was gained is lost. What never developed is never seen. The typical child regresses into a world of isolation. Unfortunately, most parents do not find out about biomedical treatments for autism early on as well. If they could, the implementation of biomedical treatments for autism such as the gluten and casein-free diet, supplement therapy and more could possibly help to prevent their child's regression.

I have seen this pattern over and over for years now. Many biomedical physicians such as myself can predict, based on a brief history of the child, what are likely the contributing factors to the child's underlying health issues. As an example, I have seen kids regress into autism days after a series of vaccines - one in particular is the combined Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR), which in my opinion is a significant culprit in regressive autism - not the only culprit, but a major one. If a child can be assessed early on, and begin the process of receiving biomedical treatments for autism many children can recover quickly, or never fully regress. This will not happen 100% all the time, but the biomedical treatments for autism that are available can make a huge difference in early intervention.