Dr. Van Dyke - TACA 9/27/2013

I am going to use the blog to post notes about treating autism.  I am currently at the TACA conference in Wisconsin.

Here are notes from Friday night.

TACA Conference

9/27/2013

Dr. Van Dyke - Introduction to the Biomedical Treatments

Was a family practice doctor.  His son was autistic.  In the standard medical textbooks there really is no treatment.  The first step was taking milk away from his sons diet.  His son is one the way to recovery.

New view - Autism is treatable.

Do not fully understand the cause of Autism.  Old view was that autism was a genetic disorder and a brain disorder - untreatable except by behavioral techniques or symptom suppression

New view - Genetic predisposition with environmental trigger.  Multi-system disorder with effects on the brain.

Medical Problems with Autism

• Gastrointestinal
• Methylation abnormalities
• Oxidative stress / mitochondrial dysfunction
• Sleep disorders
• Chronic inflammation
• Immune dysfunction / cerebral folate deficiency
• Auditory / visual / Motor dysfunction
• Detoxification problems
• These problems are treatable

Address the fundamentals

Education intervention and biomedical interventions should be conducted simultaneously.

Wait at least 3 days before adding in a new intervention

Keep a food/behavioral diary to watch for patterns

Keep video diary at least once a month to record changes both positive and negative

Where to start … the gut

THE GUT AND BRAIN CONNECTION

One of the beiggest bangs for your buck

Parents can do it on their own

Even if the child doesn

t have gastrointestinal symptoms

Gastrointestinal Symptoms

• Colic/vomiting/reflux
• Chronic diarrhea, constipation or both
• Bloated abdomen
• Red Cheeks and ears

Gluten is the protein in wheat

Most kids will test negative for celiac.  There is a study that there are more issues with gluten then thought of.

Be aware of opioid effects of gluten and casein

• Withdrawal symptoms
• Return of normal pain tolerance

Give activated charcoal in situation when you are see bad behavior.  Can be used as a test to see if the issue is gut related.

Check all supplements to make sure they are “clean” do not have dairy or wheat in them.

______________________________________________________________________________

Wrapping Your Estate Plan Around Your Child’s Special Needs Trust

Iris M. Christenson

Special Needs Trust

• Must conform to state and federal law
• Can not have a trust that automatically pays out money
• Has to have statement that it is irrevocable (can not be changed)
• No statement that says it is for general support
• Has to have a spend thrift clause
• The child has no control over the trust
• A typical child’s trust does not work