Listen to Your Gut

Listen to Your GutIn the fall of 2013, I attended “An Evening of Inspiration“, a fabulous benefit put on my non-profit, Epidemic Answers, to benefit our Canary Kids Film Project, a film in which we’ll be documenting the potential recovery of 14 children from autism, ADHD, asthma, atopic dermatitis, juvenile RA, mood disorders and type 2 diabetes as they receive free healing and recovery services for 18 months.

My fellow board member and friend, Patty Lemer, the Executive Director of Developmental Delay Resources, was interviewing people on film at the event about how they got involved in the project.

I told Patty my story of how I originally started blogging for Epidemic Answers four years ago after I heard our Executive Director, Beth Lambert, give a presentation about her just-published book, “A Compromised Generation:  The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children” at the Wilton library.

I found myself finishing Beth’s sentences and was astounded that someone else was on the same page as me and had also recovered her children.  Of course, I immediately asked to volunteer for them, which is how I started blogging for them.

If you don’t know my story, I’ve recovered my sons from sensory processing disorder (I call it “autism light”), asthma, acid reflux and eczema, and they also have had or continue to have developmental delays, hypotonia, hypothyroidism, mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, methylation defects and failure to thrive.

It has been a long row to hoe, but it has very much been worth it.  Along the way, I discovered that many of my own health problems were related to and/or contributed to the health problems of my children.

I would not have achieved this level of success in our health if I had listened to what my western, allopathic doctors were telling me.

I would say, “My son barely eats; he eats 2 spoonfuls of yogurt and 5 Cheerios, and it takes him an hour to eat, and then he throws it all back up”.  They would say, “He’s fine, don’t worry about it”.  They said that all the way from his beginning at the 40th percentile for weight until he fell all the way down to the 3rd percentile at 18 months, when he lost weight.  THEN they said, “There’s a problem.”  Really!?!

I would say, “He has poor motor skills.  His first crawling happened when he was 8 months old, and he slithered backwards.  Then, he army-crawled until he was 19 months old.  He cross-crawled for only a couple of weeks before he began to walk at 20 months.”  All along, they were saying, “He’s fine; don’t worry about it”.  Until he hit 18 months, THEN all of a sudden they said, “There’s a problem.”

I would say, “He projectile vomits, and my clothes, his clothes, his car seat, chairs and rugs are covered with it constantly.  He throws up after every meal.”  They said, “He’s got a weak gag reflex; he’ll grow out of it.”  They said this until he was 2-1/2 years old, and THEN they said, “He has acid reflux.  Give him some Prevacid.”

I would say, “He’s hypersensitive to sounds, lights and motions.  He cries all the time.  Something is wrong.”  They would say, “He’s fine; he’ll grow out of it.”  By this point, my son was 3 years old, and I had had enough of being told that, “He’s fine.  There’s nothing to worry about.  He’ll grow out of it.”

The truth is, there was a gnawing feeling inside of me that “something’s not right, something’s not right”.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  So, even though my then pediatrician du jour said, “Don’t worry about it; he’ll grow out of it”, I had grown a pair by then and learned to put my foot down for my child.

I badgered her with questions until finally she gave up and said that maybe we should see a developmental psychologist.  We did, and voila, we got the diagnosis (even though it’s not a DSM diagnosis) that my son had sensory processing disorder.

From then on, nothing could stop us.  I began to research WHY he was like this.  Therapy obviously helped, but there was more to it.

Why was he sick all the time?  Why had he had so many ear infections?  Why did he develop asthma?  Why did he have developmental delays and acid reflux?  Why was he so sensitive?

Nobody that I knew really knew, so I had to keep digging and digging until I got to the point where I figured it out.  It’s toxicity, gut dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances.

Try getting THAT answer from your pediatrician.  Unless you’re one of the lucky few with an integrative pediatrician, you’ll never hear that answer, despite a multitude of peer-reviewed medical research journal studies out there that they just don’t have the time to read.

The system is broken.  If you want health and recovery for yourself and/or your children, you will need to take your health back into your own hands and stop giving away your power to the religion of worshiping men and women in white coats as if they know everything.  They probably don’t.

You need to listen to your gut instinct when it tells you that something is wrong.

It’s so easy to push that knowing down and stuff it aside and listen to the authorities who tell you that nothing is wrong and don’t worry about it.  I’m telling you don’t do it; you’ll regret it if you do.

I teach my clients to become their own and their children’s own advocates.  If you don’t do it, who will?  You can’t expect that someone else will care more about you and your children than you do.

My children and I would not have recovered from our health problems if I had not listened to my intuition, that little voice that said, “Something’s wrong.”

 

Vision Therapy for Autism, ADHD and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Vision Therapy for Autism, ADHD and Other Neurodevelopmental DisordersI am fortunate to have Dr. Randy Schulman, MS, OD, FCOVD, as my sons’ behavioral optometrist.  Dr. Schulman wrote the chapters on the role of vision therapy and optometry in Patty Lemer’s book, “Envisioning a Bright Future:  Interventions that Work for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders“, which I reviewed earlier.  Patty was the one who recommended Dr. Schulman to me, and she practices in my area.

Patty has always talked about the importance of vision therapy for people with autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder (SPD), learning disabilities and other neurological disorders.  Now I know why.  In fact, Patty’s book was published by the Optometric Extension Program Foundation, which should give you a clue as to the importance of vision in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Vision Problems a Cause of Many ASD Symptoms

I was astounded to learn that vision problems are a CAUSE of, not a by-product of, many ASD symptoms.  “Poor eye contact, repetitive stimulatory behaviors and practically every other behavioral symptom (such as staring at lights or spinning objects, side viewing and head tilting) could be caused by poor fixation, accommodation, or eye teaming abilities.”

Vision Therapy Can Bring Gains in Social and/or Language Ability

Dr. Schulman writes that, “visual problems affect cognitive, speech-language, social-emotional and perpetual development”, and she relates many cases in these chapters of children who showed great gains in social or language ability after beginning vision therapy.  One child made eye contact for the first time, another spoke (in full sentences) for the first time.

However, only about a third of patients see immediate gains on the first visit, but many more see big gains after weekly vision therapy sessions.  Dr. Schulman points out that, “Most children do not outgrow delays in visual development without intervention”.

Understanding the Development of the Sensory System

To understand why children can see gains in these seemingly unrelated areas, you need to understand how the sensory system develops and how it is affected by primitive reflexes.  Dr. Schulman does an excellent job of laying this out, while revealing, to me at least, some surprising findings.

I had known that gross-motor delays are common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, especially if they skip or move too quickly through a developmental phase.  I experienced this with my own two sons:  my older son didn’t walk until he was 20 months old, my younger son when he was 16 months.  My older son never cross-crawled, which is imperative for wiring the brain for correct vision as it is the same ratio as an older child looking at his desk.  Remember that vision is not seeing.  Vision is what happens inside the brain once the eyes have seen.

I’ve recovered them from sensory processing disorder, but there are still residual issues that remain.  In fact, my older son just got bifocals from Dr. Schulman; the top part is for distance because he’s nearsighted and the bottom part is blank.  I’m betting that 99% of most optometrists would’ve given him regular glasses to correct for his nearsightedness and left it at that.  Having bifocals gives his eyes a chance to develop further without completely relying on corrective lenses.

Vision at the Top of the Hierarchy of Senses

In any case, there is a hierarchy of senses, and vision is at the top, meaning that other senses must develop first before proper vision occurs.  As babies get older, a neurotypical child inhibits primitive reflexes that are necessary to integrate the senses and provide the ability to sit up straight, cross crawl, walk, etc.  Dr. Schulman writes, “Vision develops according to a hierarchy, and vision development will be delayed by immature oral and motor development”.

Retention of these reflexes is common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, which is why they may appear, to the unknowing person, to be more clumsy and/or to have poor gross- and fine-motor skills, which can ultimately lead to poor social skills.

She writes that, “Postural warps can mirror visual dysfunctions and asymmetries – either caused by or causing them.”  The timing of reading this could not be more coincidental to me, as I just posted a blog written by an OT, Sonia Story, for Epidemic Answers called, “Children Thrive with Neurodevelopmental Movement“.  In the blog, Ms. Story shows us that it’s fairly easy to spot a child, even a baby, with a developmental delay:  they’re typically the ones with poor posture.

Dr. Schulman also points out that, “Children who have poor oral motor skills such as sucking, blowing or swallowing abiltity often have convergence problems that can improve once the oral concerns have been addressed”.  This is due to a poor rooting reflex, which causes a baby to turn its head and open its mouth in preparation for nursing.  And what does a baby do when she’s nursing?  She looks at her mom!  This is how babies learn to focus their eyes.

Children with vision problems typically also have hypersensitive hearing, and now I know why.  Dr. Schulman writes that, “Many patients rely heavily on their auditory systems because the visual systems are so inefficient and unreliable”.  Huh.  So, correcting vision would reduce the stress load on the hearing system.  Interesting!

These children typically also have acute senses of taste and smell, which makes them picky eaters.  They “often prefer less typically used senses of taste and smell to gain information.  They smell or taste inedible objects, and use touch instead of vision to gain information”.  I wonder if the same logic holds true:  that if vision were corrected, these children might become less picky in their eating?

Factors Affecting Vision Development

Even though I’ve read a lot about developmental delays, primitive reflexes and neurodevelopmental disorders, Dr. Schulman pointed out some things that were interesting to me, and of which I’d never heard or read, especially as it relates to vision.  The most outstanding point is that, “Inadequate or inappropriate sensory stimulation and health problems, ranging from food allergies to ear infections and asthma can all disrupt vision development”.

She also writes that, “Risk factors for visual problems include frequent illness, particularly ear and strep infections, and their treatment with antibiotics.”  I betcha very few pediatricians know about this risk, despite the fact that they hand out antibiotic prescriptions as if they were candy.  Ugh.

Strabismus

Many children on the spectrum have an eye turn, called a “strabismus”.  An opthamologist would typically recommend surgery, but Dr. Schulman points out that, in many cases, this condition can be corrected with vision therapy.  Besides, fixing the eye with surgery is only a cosmetic patch and does nothing to fix the incorrect vision that causes the strabismus.  “It’s not …an ‘eyeball’ problem, but rather… a brain dysfunction”.

Vision Therapy

If your child has a neurodevelopmental disorder, I urge you to seek out care from a behavioral optometrist as one of your first choices for therapy, as the vision correction he or she provides can head off some of the other sensory issues that these children have and potentially lead to better social interaction.

Reading Patty’s book and Dr. Schulman’s chapters in it will give you a very clear understanding of how these practitioners use prisms, yoked prisms, visual arousal activities and more to improve vision.  You can also check out the website of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development to find a practitioner near you as well as to learn more.

 

I’M NOW OFFERING KLAIRE LABS PROBIOTICS AND PROTHERA SUPPLEMENTS

Klaire Labs probiotic_groupI’d like to let everyone know that I am now offering my clients world-class probiotics from Klaire Labs and supplements from their parent company, ProThera.

Klaire Labs’ probiotics are a known and trusted entity, especially in the autism-recovery world, and the application of their probiotics extends far beyond autism to those with allergies, asthma, ADHD, OCD, SPD and other autoimmune, digestive and neurological disorders.

The ProThera line includes minerals, vitamins, fatty acids and supplements designed to improve the function of the immune system, liver and adrenals, as well as antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes.  They even carry non-denatured whey protein!

To learn more about how I can help improve your symptoms of these conditions, you can read more about me here.

WHAT WORKS FOR POISON IVY?

poison ivyI was outside gardening today, pulling out strings of poison ivy vines, and I thought about how I had a nasty rash of poison ivy a few years ago.

It was all over me, and it was spreading.  I was also going through a very stressful time dealing with my son’s worsening Sensory Processing Disorder, and I believe the stress was making it worse.  [Read more…]

ADRENAL FATIGUE

exhaustionI became severely stressed when I began taking care of my two boys without any help because that’s when my older son’s sensory issues and “fight, fright or flight” issues really kicked in.  [Read more…]

HOW MY SON’S SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER CAUSED MY SEVERE HEALTH DECLINE

tired womanHaving a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me.  He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.

This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.

I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby.  [Read more…]

WHAT IS GUT DYSBIOSIS?

fungal myceliaGut dysbiosis — this topic is the motherlode.  It’s one of the two core (in my opinion) reasons for the explosion of chronic childhood illnesses we see today.

Gut Dysbiosis:  A Common Link Among the Epidemic of Children’s Chronic Illnesses

First, let’s discuss the numbers behind this epidemic:  How many kids did you know when you were growing up that had autism, ADHD, acid reflux, allergies, asthma, developmental delays and/or mental health issues?  [Read more…]

RETAINED REFLEXES, LEARNING AND HAPPINESS

baby crawling on a floorMy older son with sensory processing disorder (SPD) benefited greatly from going to a land-based occupational therapist (OT) for six months.  I asked her what we should do about him learning to swim, given that he had such a bad experience with it when he was 2 years old.

You might remember that he was so overwhelmed by the lights, sounds, the way the water felt, and his gravitational insecurity in the water that one day after class he came home and wiped down half the kitchen to relieve his stress.  That’s a pretty strong reaction from a toddler.  [Read more…]

Angelfish Therapy: Aquatic Therapy for Developmental Delays

Angelfish Therapy: Aquatic Therapy for Developmental DelaysWARNING:  I am a huge, biased fan of Cindy Freedman and Ailene Tisser of Angelfish Therapy aquatic therapy.

Angelfish Therapy is aquatic occupational therapy for children with developmental delays, gross motor delays and sensory issues, especially those concerning water.  This can include kids with sensory processing disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, PDD-NOS, speech delays, apraxia and dyspraxia.

I began taking my older son to aquatic therapy at Angelfish 4 years ago; Cindy Freedman worked with him for 1-1/2 years.

Retained Reflexes

It was there, sitting on the side of the pool during weekly therapy sessions, that I learned about about retained reflexes.  Retained reflexes are ones that a child has kept rather than integrating as a normal part of development.  They are typically seen in the types of children listed above.

Cindy told me that my son had a retained Moro reflex, which was the reason for his constant state of “fight or flight”, which for him, meant a lot of anxiety and being upset at the drop of a hat, which made swimming difficult for him.

Before my son had any kind of OT at all, I used to take him for Mommy & Me baby swimming classes at the local YMCA.  He would get so upset at being in the water that he wouldn’t be able to learn much at all.  One time he got so upset that he came home and wiped down half the cabinets in the kitchen for half an hour just to soothe himself.

Now that I had learned about his retained Moro reflex, his reactions began making more sense to me.

Is It ADHD or Is It a Retained Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex?

Cindy also told me that he had a retained Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR), which, if it’s not integrated, according to Rhythmic Movement Training International, can lead to:

  • Poor, hunched posture
  • Headaches from muscle tension in the neck
  • Difficulty writing and reading
  • Difficulty sitting still
  • “W” sitting
  • Difficulty copying from blackboard
  • Ape-like walking
  • Vision disorders
  • Find it difficult to stay on task

A lot (75%!) of kids with a retained STNR have ADHD, writes Sally Goddard, author of “Reflexes, Learning & Behavior:  A Window into the Child’s Mind: A Non-Invasive Approach to Solving Learning & Behavior Problems.”

And a lot of times, a retained STNR can look like ADHD simply because of the retained reflex.  In addition, many times Sensory Processing Disorder can look like ADHD.  So don’t put your kids on Ritalin just yet!

The STNR separates the body’s movements from the top half to the bottom half.  It’s used to help a baby push off the floor learning to cross crawl.  If it’s integrated, a baby will uncouple the head’s movement from the movement of the arms and legs.

Sounds like just a minor point, but it’s not.  Many kids, like my son, with a retained STNR never cross-crawled or did so for just a short period of time.  My son slithered backwards for a couple of months when he first started to move, then he army crawled from 8 to 18 months.  He cross-crawled for about a month and only began to walk at 20 months, which is REALLY late.

Cross-crawling helps wire the brain’s visual processing, which in turn affects learning ability.  Think about it:  A cross-crawling baby who can bend his neck to look down at the floor then up at his mom mimics the same motion that a child in school does who bends his neck to look at his schoolwork then up to the blackboard.

Teachers:  How many “ADHD” kids that you see in your classroom have poor posture and lack the ability to sit up straight and focus?  Could it be they have a retained STNR?

Because my son had a retained STNR, swimming was difficult for him because kids (and it seems to be mostly boys) with it can’t uncouple their head movements from the rest of their bodies, so they swim with their heads back and can’t put them down into the water without the back half of their bodies falling down.

So not only does aquatic therapy help with overcoming developmental delays, but it also helps with learning, and, most importantly, helps with water safety for these children.  Do you know that drowning is the leading cause of death for autistic children?

If you’re not fortunate enough to live in Fairfield County, CT, the New York City area, the Boston area, or Asheville, NC, you can purchase their videos for your own education.  If you’re a PT, OT, etc., you can attend their workshops and get certified as an Angelfish instructor.

In closing, you can see Ailene working with a boy to help correct his balance in this YouTube video:

P.S.  My son actually swims now!

 

SCARED TO BE IN HIS OWN BODY

Climbing Up a Fallen TreeWhen my older son was 3-1/2, I finally learned that he had sensory processing disorder (SPD); this realization let me recognize the signs later on that my younger son had it as well.

My older son began seeing an occupational therapist (OT) when he was 3-1/2 years old.  Before his first visit, she had me fill out two questionnaires:  a sensory profile caregiver questionnaire and a foundational listening skills assessment sensory checklist.  [Read more…]