Steps to Take

Tips for beginning the journey after your child is diagnosed

1. Begin the education process -- internet, conferences, seminars, other parents, etc.

2. Find a doctor who specializes in the biological conditions associated with autism, not just on treating the symptoms with medications. You will need to seek out a doctor trained in DAN protocol, at least initially. DAN stands for Defeat Autism Now.

3. Recommend reading these books as a basic beginning:

4. Join a Yahoo Group -- There are a myriad of autism related groups on yahoo. The trick is finding one that suits your purpose. I looked for groups that were like-minded in their approach to diet, biomedical treatments and behavior therapies. It was the approach I had chosen to pursue recovery for Daniel and I wanted to learn from other parents what worked in their child too.

5. Start the GFCF diet -- My approach to starting any kind of dietary intervention is to go slow and easy for the parents' sake. I created the 10 week GFCF calendar in response to the angst parents had at even starting the diet. This is a much easier method than trying to eliminate one grain at a time or trying to do "cold turkey" on diet for your child with autism. The link to the 10 week calendar can be found on several websites. Here is one of them:

6. Attend a conference on autism -- Seek input from every imaginable kind of specialist on autism. My personal favorite conference forum is DAN conference, which can be found on www.autismresearchinstitute.org. Click on the Defeat Autism Now section for a list of upcoming conferences. There is also www.autismone.org which by far has the most comprehensive list of speakers on every given topic related to autism. And then you will see many of the same topics and physicians speak at the National Autism Association conference as well www.nationalautismassociation.org. There are potentially other venues and organizations running conferences on autism. It is worth googling to find the one that suits your immediate needs.

7. Start a behavior therapy program -- There are many versions of behavior therapies so look into not only what is in your area, but what your child needs. If your child is not progressing on a particular therapy program then do not be afraid to switch another. Parents often get hung up with their personal relationship with therapists when they should be focusing on the progress opportunities for their child. Like the diet and biomedical component to autism, behavior therapies need to be constantly fine-tuned and re-evaluated on a regular basis for effectiveness.

8. Look into alternative treatments and therapies, as well as traditional, and start the ones that make sense for your child. There is much to be said for the diligent parent who continuously is seeking out answers for their child. What is seen as controversial today may be standard practice tomorrow. If it makes sense for your child's well-being then consider doing that particular therapy. Who knows? It might be the magic bullet for your child, or at least the beginning of the road toward recovery.

9. Supplement, supplement, supplement -- So much can be written on this subject. First you will need to supplement nutritionally a child whose brain is starving (See Dr. McCandless' book recommendation). The trial and error on what and how much to give your child cannot be understated. I highly recommend a go slow approach to any kind of supplementation, followed by a DAN physician lead regimen. It is too easy to give a child too much or too little and not see the desired results. Also consider you may need to supplement educational and behavioral therapy above and beyond what a school district can offer. If budget allows seek out the additional resources that may benefit your child, and don't waste time waiting for school district approval if it makes sense that it would benefit your child today.

10. Educate all those in contact with your child -- I used to meet with teachers, therapists, family members and give them a rundown on Daniel 101. This fostered greater communication and allowed for a cohesive method of handling him and meeting his therapy needs. It provided a consistency between therapists, educators and home in our universal approach.  It also allowed for greater credence when the effects of our efforts began to show with improvement from Daniel.

In summary, you are about to begin an odyssey that will change your life in ways you never dreamed of (not all of it good). There will be days when you cry in frustration over the setbacks, and days when you dance for joy on the successes. Especially in the beginning stages, expect to take one step back for every two steps forward. This is still progress, however slow.

None of these therapies come with a predictable rate of improvement. Many believe that you need three months to a year before you can accurately monitor the success of your efforts. You might feel that real progress has been made when one day your child passes some important developmental milestone – or simply when you have the overall feeling that your daily family life now has an element of normalcy.