Living with Autism: The Consequences of a Healthy Lifestyle
So pleased to have been approached by For The Ageless to guest feature on their website!
My article focusses on the reality of living with Autism and how a healthy lifestyle has been beneficial.
FTA is an online store specialising in sourcing the UK’s best CBD oil & nutritional supplements and remedies for natural health.
The Ageless Buzz blog invites avid bloggers & writers to discuss healthy living, wellness, and natural rejuvenation topics from a first hand perspective!
I’m so thrilled to have made my first guest blog with For The Ageless & I hope this will be the beginning of many more to come!
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to grow up with a sibling with special needs? And how family life has become increasingly normal after making healthy choices?
Here’s a preview of the article,
My brother Cameron, could be described as having a classic form of Autism. As a baby he reached all his milestones ahead, or on time, in his development. He did start to have speech but only ever had about 12 words, which he finally lost. He became increasingly withdrawn and would spend much of his time sitting amongst his toys, gathered up around him, not making contact or communicating with us. He would not respond if you called his name and would tantrum and scream if anything was asked of him. He was diagnosed at 2 years and 10 months old. We were not given any information on what to do or what would happen next, we were left to manage.
Living with a family member that has Autism, or any disability for that matter, can prove very challenging. Over the years, I have learnt a lot about it and so to respond to the disorder in the best way possible in order to create equally happy and stable lives for us all.
Article below:
As it is Autism awareness month, I want to write about my 18-year-old brother who has Autism.
But what is Autism? A few years ago, Autism was virtually unheard of but now we hear a lot about it on the news and more and more people are finding they may know of someone with the condition.
Autism Spectrum disorder is complex and, in the U.K., currently affects 1 in 100 people and known to affect 5 males to 1 female. Autism literally means “aloneness” or living in one’s own world and is defined as having a triad of impairments: social interaction, communication and imagination, together with a repetitive stereotyped pattern of activities. Many affected have little or no speech but those with high functioning Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, typically have speech but have many social and behavioural problems.
My brother Cameron, could be described as having a classic form of Autism. As a baby he reached all his milestones ahead, or on time, in his development. He did start to have speech but only ever had about 12 words, which he finally lost. He became increasingly withdrawn and would spend much of his time sitting amongst his toys, gathered up around him, not making contact or communicating with us. He would not respond if you called his name and would tantrum and scream if anything was asked of him. He was diagnosed at 2 years and 10 months old. We were not given any information on what to do or what would happen next, we were left to manage.
Living with a family member that has Autism, or any disability for that matter, can prove very challenging. Over the years, I have learnt a lot about it and so to respond to the disorder in the best way possible in order to create equally happy and stable lives for us all.
It is commonly found that people with Autism suffer with gastrointestinal disorders that can account for the behaviours seen in autistic children. It has been found for some time that they can be treated by following diets free of gluten, dairy and sugar. Treating intestinal bacterial overgrowth and an enrichment of nutritional supplements. Families who embark on this course of action find an improvement in their child’s behaviours, improving their health and finding ways to make improved contact with their child. Some children make greater improvement than others, but if followed consistently over a long period of time, there will be some improvement. The child will feel healthier and hopefully happier.
People are realising how destructive processed sugars are to the body, not just physically, but psychologically too.
A healthy intestinal microbiome balance actually boosts our mental well-being as the good bacteria produce dopamine and serotonin, also known as the happy hormones, which in turn links through the nervous system.
Every single Autistic person that has been tested for gluten intolerance has one. Shortly after Cam was diagnosed, we put him on a strict gluten, dairy, and sugar free diet. Over the next two months we learned about things we could do to help him and that was the introduction of a dairy and gluten free diet. Therapy was also needed, and we learned about Applied Behaviour Analysis or ABA.
Around this time, his behaviour was extremely withdrawn. He would sit and spin the wheels on his bumper truck toy or hold up a car and play with it back and forth along the ground. He wouldn’t show any interest in playing with us at all and if you called his name he would either not respond or throw himself on the floor and scream. It was virtually impossible to engage with him in any way whatsoever.
As well as the constantly agitated behaviour and endless crying, Cameron’s stomach appeared constantly swollen and had very large stools.
“You are what you eat” was a major takeaway from what we were learning around this time. It was a thrilling feeling to anticipate cutting out all the processed stodge and refined junk. We could expect to see major improvements in Cameron’s behaviour, attitude, and our ability to connect with him.
Cameron’s eating habits were typical of children with Autism, all he wanted was wheat and dairy, it was difficult to feed him anything else. Removing dairy was not easy. We stopped giving him his milk and the sweet yoghurts that he loved. It took three days to remove that from his system, he screamed constantly day and night, but we persevered. The outcome was very noticeable, he had improved. It was as if a fog had lifted and he was more present than he had been. However, he was still very much withdrawn, and it would take a long time before we could communicate and find the Cameron that we know now.
The gluten removal was a much lengthier process as it can stay in your system for up to 18 months. This made the most difference physically. Cameron was skinny, but his stomach was extended and looked abnormal. We were now realising this was due to the gastrointestinal disorder that he had. We were able to visit a naturopathic doctor. With testing we discovered he had a leaky gut. The intestinal tract had become holy in parts due to the gluten intolerance. An x-ray taken by a radiologist affirmed that he had a completely impacted bowel, which meant chronic constipation.
Along with beginning Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy, we were able to introduce a healthy diet, plenty of lean meats, fruit, and vegetables. Cameron resisted all new foods and it took many months to establish a healthy diet that he follows today.
I’ve watched many documentaries and TV shows over the years which look into the lives of families living with Autism which analyse the diagnosed child’s progression over a time period. There are many individuals who do well in life and are able to take care of themselves, these are on the lower end of the spectrum and most of the time have the milder form of Autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. For example, getting through school, obtaining their diploma and perhaps entering the job market.
What I’ve seen time and time again on these programmes which has been very poignant, is the environments surrounding the kids who have the worst behaviour. When they don’t get what they want or if their routine is disrupted, they’ll lash out and physically abuse those in their surroundings as well as themselves. Almost every child is usually overweight and when kicking off a tantrum, their parents will shut them up by feeding them cookies or pulling into a fast food drive thru.
Cameron has been to 3 special need schools populated by majorly autistic children. We learnt that all of them had bowel disorders, chronic diarrhoea, and sore stomachs.
The most unfortunate part is that when these children aren’t able to express how they really feel, many of them are probably subject to horrific stomach cramps as their intestines struggle to process the constant junk attempting to pass through their systems. Many families don’t realise that what they think is making the child happy is in reality, continuing a vicious cycle.
Up to this day, I take my hat off to my Mum who has devoted so much of her time and energy to learn in depth, everything surrounding and relating to Autism. Furthermore, that she has such an open mind, and willingness to consider a whole range of potential solutions to ensure the best possible outcome for my brother.
We learnt about alternative, homeopathic medicine three years after Cameron was diagnosed. The idea of optimising well-being through gentle but powerful remedies was very alluring, and above all, natural and kind to the body.
As I’ve discussed, autistics have difficulty in breaking down some larger nutrients as a result of weak metabolic efficiency, some equally struggle to absorb the smaller but vital micronutrients as well. Many studies have been carried out observing the nutritional status of autistic vs neuro typical children, of which the findings are always similar; insufficient vitamin and mineral levels.
The next step was to ensure Cam was getting enough of the good stuff. We’d already been seeing a naturopathic doctor and so began investigating herbal supplements.
To this day, as well as Cameron, we all follow nourishing, healthy, and whole diets and use homeopathic methods whenever in the face of illness. Experiencing and reaping the healing powers of herbal and natural medicine myself has been one of life’s greatest joys.
There have been many other treatments along the way for Cameron. Detoxing was of great importance as it has been found that autistics do not have the mechanism to rid their bodies of heavy metal build up. We simply used the coriander concentrate cilantro in dropper form for 5 days, and nothing else. The combination of cilantro with chlorella act as an antioxidant support to deeply cleanse the body. He followed this process of removal with success.
My Mum said at the time it was as if he had several veils in front of him and each one had just fallen away. Cameron began to blossom in the wake of his predominantly purified body. His language began to improve, if you asked him about his day he would be able to speak a few words of things he had done. He was more engaged, more interested in what we were doing and what was going on around him.
It was a miracle.
We were able to finally breathe a sigh of relief after a very challenging journey and battling beyond disheartening thoughts and loss of hope. This was a significant benchmark in all of our lives.
It has been a long road for Cameron, he developed seizures at age 15 and we are still trying to find solutions to help him and find their root cause. He still has little language, but he is communicative and present with us in our lives. He is happy and healthy! He still has therapy and with his good nutrition we are hopeful we can keep making a difference to his life. He loves music, drawing and painting, jigsaw puzzles, swimming, gymnastics, cycling and going for long, very fast walks! He is still much of a solitary figure, but we and others can communicate easily with him. He enjoys going to restaurants and being around others.
In reflection, alongside the nutritious diet, holistic medicine, and exercise, the most effective cure ultimately for me was the belief, faith, and mental toughness shared by us all on this journey.
What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve!
There will always be bumps in the road of life. I feel blessed that we learnt everything as early we did, for now we’ll always have the healthy, physical foundation as well as sheer mental determination and compassion to overcome any future obstacle!
Some children whose families follow the same road as we have been on have made great strides and many children have recovered and are leading relatively normal lives. But Autism spectrum is complex and there is no one size fits all definition. We can do our best to make these children healthy and importantly, happy.
Autism Resources:
- For more informed and detailed information on biomedical intervention in autism visit – autism.com
- ABA Therapy – http://www.appliedbehavioralstrategies.com/basics-of-aba.html
References:
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. (2015) Nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism vs. neuro typical children, and the association with autism severity. From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3135510/
Written by Tori Macdonald
If you liked this post,
Sign up to my mailing list on the homepage! ➡️😃
Keep up to date with all things mind body soul on my social media channels!
