Customer Reviews

Healing Our Autistic Children

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

People are going to be royally ticked off by this book. There is no question about it. The people who are already convinced that Autism is an incurable condition are going to find this book infuriating for being a 'quack cure' and for giving false hope to desperate parents.

Is this book a cure all? No.
Does every child on the spectrum have all the symptoms described? no
Is it easy or cheap to follow the recommendation for treatment? NO

However, I've found that talking to people about a biomedical treatment for autism is seriously dangerous since they either believe in it passionately and try to convert you instantly or they think the whole thing is a load of bunkum and think you are an idiot for even wanting to learn about it. At least this book is an intelligent explanation of what biomedical treatment is and what it hopes to do.

The author's basic premise is this : Autism is a condition caused by a physical imbalance/disorder that is caused by environmental factors and that CAN be reversed with biomedical treatment.

Dr Buckley has divided up the book into six chapters describing six visits to the doctor and what would occur at each step in the treatment. Months of work would have to take place between visits but the goals and steps are laid out clearly.

What I especially liked about this book was that it lists the tests that can be done to detect whether a physical problem does or does not exist. You don't need an Autism specialist to perform the testing - you just need an open minded and willing doctor. If issues do pop up on the blood tests (Vitamin D3 levels, SED rates, Lipid panel, Thyroid stimulating hormone levels, Red blood counts, etc) wouldn't any doctor -autism specialist or otherwise- want to treat it? How many pediatricians order thorough blood tests on children who they may think are physically healthy and suffering only from a psychological diorder? Armed with the knowledge in just this chapter you can politely request the tests and then deal with the evil glare of the poor nurse who has to draw blood from your screaming kid :) In my mind, it is a small price to pay to rule out the possibility of a physical problem. At the very least, running the blood tests and getting positive results may give some peace of mind to parents who may wonder if they are shortchanging their child by not using or believing in the biomedical method.

The steps for treatment are difficult to be sure. A gluten free casein free diet would make me weep!! But if one has a child who might possibly have these issues and if the diet actually causes a change for the better, I doubt any parent would hesitate to plunge in and restock their pantry with these foods.

The supplements are expensive but if the blood tests show that a need for physical intervention exists, and if the supplements show improvements, then I doubt that most parents are going to balk at the cost. And I doubt that insurance companies will refuse to cover the cost of medications if they are doctor prescribed for a nutritional deficiency.

Some of the supplements are fairly uncomplicated - specific combinations of multivitamins that avoid copper and increase zinc, Aloe vera Juice, Milk thistle, minerals, Probiotics, Vitamins B, D, C, Cod liver oil, etc. Then come the more expensive and more complicated ones that are probably not on the non prescription shelf of your local CVS.

The section I balk at is the shots and infusions. However the author explains simply and clearly how the process works. If the parents have seen progress until this point and want to proceed to this step then the explanations of what to expect are presented well.

If you are looking for medical research to back all of this up then the author has included abstracts of published articles as well. These are not mumbo jumbo journals that are being cited. They include the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Neurology, Neurochemical research, Journal of Neuroimmunology and many others.

In sum, I think this is an excellent book. It is well written in a manner that makes the information easily accessible to anyone and the medical plan is backed up by research. If you are one half of a couple that wants to try the treatment for your child, then this book may help convince your partner. If you are parents who are trying to help an autistic child in a community where biomedical treatment is not accessible, this book at least gives you a starting point and information to share with your doctor.

I am the father of a child on the Autism Spectrum. I am also a scientist.

The author presents material from the perspective of the "Defeat Autism Now" (DAN) physicians: Autism is medical in nature (not psychological) and can be treated, like most other ailments.

The structure of the book is nice, and the material is well-presented. It's structured after the manner of a series of office visits: the first few chapters cover what she'd tell a child's parents in their first visit, the next chapters cover the second visit, etc. In each chapter is a reasonably clear explanation of background material, and then an explanation of an aspect of treatment. She explains what is going on, what needs to be done to treat it, and why it works. I think most people will probably understand it.

Be aware that this is not a "how-to" book. That is to say, this isn't a book that you'd use to treat your child yourself, should you choose this course of treatment. Rather, it is a guide to use with your care provider to treat your child. As the treatments presented in the book are generally considered to be on the fringes of accepted treatments for Autism, be aware that your insurance may not cover them. If you choose this route for treatment it may get expensive--be prepared.

Before starting on any course of therapy or treatment presented in a book, there are several questions you should ask yourself. One of those should be "why should I listen to or believe this author"? Any presentation of a proposed medical treatment needs to be backed up by a solid explanation and foundation of supporting research, preferably published in a reputable source where it has been reviewed. The author presents a fairly long list of references to the medical literature. Do your due diligence: read some of the references presented, and also look at some of the research journals centering on Autism. You can likely get access to them at a college or university library. The author herself is apparently only a practitioner, and not a researcher.

Unfortunately, the author's attitude undermines the book. She's way too assertive and sure of herself. This may turn off readers. Let me illustrate with a quote: "I am going to tell you enough about the chemistry involved so that when you hand this book to your to your physician and tell him, 'Read this. This is the way we're going to help my kid,' you can point him to the appropriate scientific research that backs it up."

I ask you: just how productive is your meeting with someone going to be when you walk in and tell them how to do their job?

Am I saying that what the author presents is false science, quackery, or some such thing? Absolutely not--I believe that what the author presents will help some (perhaps many) Autistic kids. My wife and I will likely try some of this with our daughter. But I do not believe that enough is known about Autism to say in essence "this is what causes it, and this is how you need to treat it, and if your physician doesn't want to do it this way, get another". But this is what the author asserts.

This review is based on a pre-release copy, so the final published copy may differ from the copy I used.

This book is extremely tough for me to review. I am crying tears of frustration after reading it, and I want to try hard not to let my emotions get the better of me. So I will set myself a few guidelines. I won't presume to question the science or medicine here. I am not a doctor, and not equipped to do so. I won't ever, ever, ever criticize parents who choose to treat their child's autism as a medical condition. I don't criticize parents of autistic children for much of anything. I am one of them. I have a daughter, the most wonderful daughter in the world, who is 5 and autistic. I have a son, a remarkable son, who is 15 and was originally diagnosed as autistic, later as having Aspergers Syndrome, and, for the past 4 years, as having nothing at all. I also have a son, age 12, who has no signs of being on the spectrum. So I have a bit of experience with the autism world.

This book sets down, quite clearly, a plan for dealing with autism in a medical way. I credit it for spelling out very plainly the first 6 visits you might encounter when taking your child to a doctor who believe autism is a medical disorder, caused by a variety of factors but most especially dietary issues and heavy metal poisoning, and how that doctor will try to help your child get better.

There are three things that bother me about this book the most. The first is the assumptions made about autistic children. The book lists, as do many, the medical issues my children are assumed to have. High on the list is always consistent diarrhea. My children have never had diarrhea in their life. They have rarely been constipated. They have iron stomachs--I don't recall EITHER of them really EVER having a stomach bug. In contrast, my "typical" son often does. I am told my children are prone to constant infections, especially ear infections. Neither of them has EVER had an ear infection. Again, my typical son often does. My pediatrician often remarks the two spectrum kids are some of the healthiest he's ever seen. They don't have bright red ears, skin problems or picky diets. They both eat most anything. So I start out thinking "why would I be treating my children for symptoms they are assumed to have, which they have never had?"

The second issue is the assumption that one would have the money to carry out the treatments told about here. There is brief mention that parts of the treatment might be covered by insurance. Vast parts of it would not be. Just the list of supplements needed would wipe out our budget badly. I don't mean going without a vacation. I mean not eating wiped out. Like most parents, I would do ANYTHING for my children. But I will start with the basics--providing them with shelter and food. And providing their typical brother with the asthma medication he quite literally needs to stay alive. I am not going to be able to afford an oxygen chamber, not now, probably not ever.

The third issue---the assumptions that ALL cases of autism have the same cause. I think autism has MANY causes. I am sure there ARE cases caused by some of the factors discussed here. I am sure those cases are helped by these treatments. But I think there are many, many, many other causes. In my children, I am quite certain my extremely difficult pregnancies and births with the two of them caused the minimal brain damage that shows itself as autism in them. My pregnancy with my typical son, by some miracle, was completely normal. I think also there is a genetic factor at work in my family---for generations back on either side, there are people that probably would be diagnosed as being on the spectrum.

I always look for a case mentioned in books like this where the treatment DIDN'T work. Since these are supposedly scientific treatments, and I don't think there is ANY medical treatment that is effective for 100% of people, there must be cases like that. We aren't told about them.

I don't want to put down the author of this book. I respect anyone who is raising an autistic child, and I respect doctors. I just can't be comfortable with a book that makes so many assumptions about my children and my finances. Label this treatment regiment an option, not a plan for ALL families affected by autism to follow.

If your child has been diagnosed with Autism and you're curious about the promise and potential of various bio-medical and dietary treatments, then this book is an excellent place to start. Many books of this kind are overwhelming in size and too dense for the layman that wants the bottom line, while others tend to promise the earth, moon and stars to parents, if only they try "Treatment X".

This book makes it clear that not every treatment will work with every child, and that unfortunately, while no child is beyond treatment, the "right" treatment can be elusive. HOWEVER, they do an excellent job in laying out the particulars of most of the major, and many of the minor treatments for Autism. The author of this book wants to believe that you'll find the right treatment. We've been trying for years ourselves, and while our son has improved, he hasn't "fully recovered" - not yet anyway.

However, I do endorse this book. It's a great place to start, and you may very well find the treatment that is effective within for your child. However, you'll probably find yourself buying more books that offer greater detail after you complete this one.

My experience with autism is not in a medical capacity. A lot of the terms and descriptions took me some time to read and understand in the context she explained them. Where my experience lies is in understanding the stories, the emotions, the research, the overwhelming hopelessness that you feel when you first learn your child suffers from it. My oldest daughter was officially diagnosed this summer. She is almost 6 yrs old now. I suspected something was off when she was about 14 months old. She went from eating a variety of foods to very little and ate only purees until almost 18 mths. Our pediatrician said not to worry, she was on track for everything else, she was growing and she had an amazing vocabulary and was starting to string words into sentences. Then she began to have intense fixations on very limited topics - penguins, one TV show and often the same episode. Again I was told it was just a phase. Finally at age 3 her preschool teacher consulted with me about her difficulty transitioning, her lack of interaction, her intense tantrums and referred us to Early Intervention. Even there they did not want to label her autistic and instead said she had a communication disorder. She started having speech therapy. It didn't help and I was summarily ignored when I asked for occupational therapy and a re-evaluation. When she was 4 we moved to another state for 3 months. There were so many changes I watched my child go from at least communicating with me to complete non-verbal. There were tantrums that lasted 4 hours. I was called out of work several times b/c the daycare she was at did not want or could not deal with her. We were referred to a local psychologist who said she was not autistic but probably had high anxiety and possible ADD. This was the point at which I swore at all of them and started doing my own research. I did exactly what everyone else medically told me not to do. I googled and read and paged through books until my head hurt and I still felt lost. There are so many studies and so many opinions and it is hard to choose which approach is best. At this point we moved back to our old town and I saw some easing of her symptoms as she recognized familiar places and people. I also decided to try the only approach I found that had several positive reviews - the gluten free casein free diet. We went through 5 weeks of withdrawal hell but at the end of it my child came out of this fog and has been making strides ever since.

I have not tried the other approaches described in the book. For now, the diet and the occupational/behavioral therapies are working well for us. We've never had an issue with yeast but I have always limited her sugar intake anyway. I think the underlying message in this book is that you, the parent, have to be your child's strongest advocate. It's ok to not write your kid off. It is ok to not listen to your dr who may have a conventional view of autism spectrum. It is ok to try these methods to see if there is improvement. THey may work or they may not. This book though provides a thorough explanation of what those methods are and gives resources for helping to find the doctors who support them. I only wish this had been available 3 years ago!

My wife works with children with varying disablilities. I thought the book was ok but I asked her to review it for a more "expert" opinion:

I have to admit - I'm ambivalent about this book in many ways. On one hand, it positively demonstrates that the scientific world hasn't given up on this very misunderstood, mysterious disorder. On the other hand, the book presents itself as a sort of cure for the autistic child.

I so badly want to believe that these are breakthroughs that will ultimately lead to the total understanding of autism, but I can't help but have reservations of a book titled "Healing Our Autistic Children". My gut tells me it's just too early to make a claim that the author, physicians, researchers, etc. involved with this project have globally discovered a way to reverse the effects of autism. I am not a scientist- I'm certainly not qualified to discuss the science of it all. My concern is the effect it will have on families searching for hope who think that their child will be "healed" if they follow the advice of the author (some treatments of which are monetarily unrealistic for the average family dealing with this disorder). I do believe that the treatments that are described in great detail in the book could be life-changing for some, but I'm not ready to say that they're going to heal every child with autism.

Ultimately, I hope that the author is correct, and that she has opened the door to new possibilities of treating autism.
I give the book three stars because I'm hopeful about its ideas but have some personal reservations about its claims.

This book seems to me at first impression like all the multitude of books published that claim miracle cures for ever-present problems like obesity, depression, migraines, etc. And when you open the book to find find the cure, it turns out the problem is toxicity. Disappointed to be offered another cliche answer to a real problem, I'm tempted to put the book back on the shelf and walk away.

I would have given up on this book the first time I saw the word "toxicity," but something prevented me from doing so--a very real something. In the first two chapters, the author explains the functions of diet and vitamins for treating autism. I have tried my kids on these same diets and supplements, thanks to my internet research education, and have found them to be tremendously effective.* Dr. Buckley explains in understandable terms why these methods are so effective.

A few months ago I told a pediatrician that my kids were on a GFCF diet, and asked his opinion of that. He said it wasn't a diet he recommends. Why? Because it's too difficult, he said. Too difficult. As if it's easier and preferable to raise a child with full-blown, unmitigated autism. I then told him that my four-year-old daughter started talking within days after I started her on the diet. He responded, "Mmm-hmmm," and changed the subject. So I was overjoyed to find in this book a real medical doctor who not only recommends the diet, but has medical reasons for it and goes many steps beyond just diet. What a relief to find a doctor who believes in and works toward a cure!

So as I said, the first chapter is about the GFCF diet and the author's opinion of what autism is--she defines it as toxicity, and avoids being cliche by giving specifics of what sorts of toxins are found in the urine and blood of autistic children and explaining real medical symptoms of various identified toxins. The second chapter outlines the use and intention of dietary supplements and antifungals. The third chapter explains methylation, sulfation, and glutathione in words that are almost understandable, offering treatments that seem reasonable (haven't yet tried those methods myself). The next chapter is about hyperbarics--high-pressure oxygen chambers--not sure of my opinion of that as I have never tried it, but the author offers some medical history and support for it including MRI results etc. Chapter 5 is all about chelation, the elimination of heavy metal poisons. Dr. Buckley seems to have a balanced perspective here, too, saying that many children's bodies will naturally start chelating once they are healthy, but that sometimes prescription drugs are necessary, and she explains the various drugs that might be used. In the final two chapters, the author steps away from her medical discussion and instead turns to more personal experiences and struggles she has had as a doctor and a mother. These two chapters really lend credibility to the whole book; the reader sees that this medical approach has been a battle that has ostracized her from other medical professionals, but that she really believes in what she is doing.

I still feel unsure of the techniques described in this book. And since this is a pioneering approach, what are the possible side effects? But having seen what the mainstream medical community is doing for autism (nothing, at best), I am willing and even tenuously eager to look into this biomedical approach to autism.


* (My kids have never actually been diagnosed with autism, mainly because I don't like the medical community's approach to the disease. My son used to flap, have frequent meltdowns, struggle with articulation, feel that hairbrushes were instruments of torture, and have no interest in social situations. One of my daughters seems quite "normal." My second daughter showed no interest in communication, constantly did a monotone hum, had very limited facial expressions, and had poor muscle tone (couldn't open doors). Almost all of these symptoms in both my son and daughter have normalized such that now most people think I'm nuts if I mention my kids and autism in the same sentence--I attribute this change to the GFCF diet and supplements.)

"Healing Our Autistic Children" is unique in that the author, Julie Buckley, is a pediatrician. She writes with the expertise, skill and knowledge of a medical practitioner with the passion of a mother's heart. She reveals her own emotions of anger, sorrow, and guilt when her own daughter, Dani, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disease (ASDs) after being an active, growing, normal, happy child during her first four years. She shares how successful treatment of ASDs becomes a way of life.

Buckley's writing is both technical and heartfelt. Her case studies, examples, and stories of actual patients are poignant and helpful. Her colorful analogies help the reader more easily grasp the treatment processes throughout the recovery of their autistic child and a resulting behavior modification.

Dr. Buckley is an advocate of biomedical intervention and explains the new developments in the diagnosis of autism. Researchers are finding that chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and toxicity are the cause of autism as in many diseases and that behavioral abnormalities socialization and communication problems are the signs or symptoms of the disease.

The book is arranged around a progression of treatment which involves six visits or steps in process. Each visit explains the progression of treatment and includes an action list to be completed before proceeding to the next level.

"Healing Our Autistic Children" is must reading for parents of victims diagnosed with autism spectrum disease. It is a valuable resource for pediatricians, health care providers, and educators. Dr. Julie A. Buckley is top in her field and offers parents a tool to help them implement a medical plan to restore their child's health.

Dr. Julie Buckley has written a brief medical plan for the treatment of austistic children. While she refuses to debate the causes of autism, she clearly believes that it can be treated medically. She believes it so much that she has treated her own autistic daughter in this fashion. The book can be easily read in one sitting, and the science is clear and straight forward. She addresses the side effects of the medication she is advocating for and acknowledges that her approach is not considered to be mainstream by the medical establishment. From my limited work with autistic children, I can see no harm in following her plan of action -- provided that the family has a pediatrician as knowledgeable as Dr. Buckley.

Dr. Julie Buckley is a pediatrician who became part of the Defeat Autism Now! movement after her daughter was diagnosed with regressive autism. She has written one of the most easy-to-read books explaining the biomedical approach. I wish that I had started with this book rather than with Children with Starving Brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder and Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders. Don't get me wrong, I think the other two books are good- they just aren't as user-friendly to a parent new to the autism community. Dr. Buckley's book is a lot more understandable to me as a layperson rather than a physician or scientist.

One thing that the reader must do is to not accept Dr. Buckley's recommendations blindly. Do your own homework to see whether you are comfortable with the possible risks of the specific treatment. For example, there is troubling research to suggest that using chelation in the absence of heavy metal poisoning can cause brain damage. Given the controversy about the role (if any) of heavy metals in autism, parents need to be aware of the risks to trying chelation. Another example is hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT). Again, there is troubling research suggesting that HBOT can cause brain damage. Dr. Michael Goldberg in The Myth of Autism: How a Misunderstood Epidemic Is Destroying Our Children talks about brain damage he has seen in brain scans of his autism patients who had previously been treated with HBOT. So again, parents need to be cautious. Finally, and most egregiously IMHO, Dr. Buckley promotes Dr. Boyd Haley's notorious OSR industrial chemical/"antioxidant" that was withdrawn under pressure from the FDA but not before numerous autistic children suffered nasty side effects.

"Healing Our Autistic Children" is best viewed as a primer on the biomedical approach, a jumping-off point for parents seeking ways to help their children improve. Definitely take the time to research Dr. Buckley's recommendations before deciding whether or not to follow them. Recommended!