A Word About the "A" Word

"At this point we must ask ourselves why the medical establishment persists in standing by powerless while millions of children continue to receive this diagnosis, and parents endure the heartbreak of seeing their child isolated from the world and given no hope—all because we are mistakenly calling this epidemic “Autism”? Why is it that we as physicians are ignoring that what we refer to as the “Autism Spectrum” is often accompanied by a various range of food intolerances/allergies, viral markers, encephalopathy-like symptoms, frequent ear infections, GI issues, eczema or hives, sensory and auditory processing difficulties, and abnormalities with fine and gross motor skills?"  - Dr. Michael J. Goldberg, M.D., F.A.A.P.; President, Neuro-Immune Dysfunction Syndromes (NIDS) Research Institute; author, The Myth of Autism 

When my mother first pointed out that 4-year-old Aaron, who had been extremely healthy at birth, was plagued by unusually frequent bouts of illness, I, as a clueless first-time mother, immediately shrugged off her concerns.  After all, Aaron's pediatrician wasn't particularly concerned; he would "grow out of it," she said.  Already reeling from his recent autism diagnosis, I was desperate to believe there was nothing else truly wrong with my precious baby.  Still, at only 3 months old, he'd had one of the worst cases of thrush his pediatrician (a different one) had ever seen ("This actually isn't the worst case I've seen," she'd remarked; implying, of course, that it was pretty close).  Beginning at about 6 months old until about the age of two, he'd embarked on a cycle of recurrent ear infections (treated with rotating rounds of antibiotics)every 6-8 weeks.  There were upper-respiratory infections; flu; a nasty, scary case of strep throat;  there were mysterious fevers with no other symptoms; there was chronic diarrhea and episodes of vomiting. 

I'd read about various diets, supplements, and various therapies helping some children with autism; that many of them had food allergies and "leaky gut" and so forth.  Most of the information was contradictory and confusing, and the consensus among pediatricians and the medical community in general was that all this stuff was bunk. Autism was a genetic, developmental disorder and there was nothing that you could do besides accept reality, love your child, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.  The illnesses were just part of the developmental syndrome; you simply had to accept it.

One morning while Aaron was at pre-school I happened to catch a rather cheaply-produced public-television special called Autism: Out of the Darkness.  Mostly it was a rehash of ideas I'd heard before and had even used, with varying degrees of success: ABA, Floortime, music therapy, the Gluten/Casien-free (GFCF) diet.  But the very last segment, an interview with Tarzana-based pediatrician, Dr. Michael Goldberg...you know that feeling you have when something resonates with you so powerfully that time seems to stop?  That feeling you get when you know, you just know, at the deepest, most organic, molecular core of your being that you have finally found the truth? 

A year after having our world turned on it's head, Dr. Goldberg's words virtually turned it over once again.  He dared to challenge conventional wisdom by saying that the condition being diagnosed today in millions of children is not the same as Kanner's autism of 50 or 60 years ago, and in fact, has many observable differences; that an "epidemic" of a purely genetic disorder or condition is scientifically impossible, and that the autistic symptoms that pediatricians are seeing in their practices in unprecedented numbers can only be the explained by an epidemic of an  underlying disease process.  All of the scientific data he presented pointed over and over again to a serious dysfunction of the immune systems of these children.  The immune system.  Oh. My. God.

I called Dr. Goldberg's office the next day.

That was nine years ago. 

Not every parent will agree with the approach we have taken with Aaron, but for us the proof is clearly in the pudding. While behavioral, educational, and physical interventions have been invaluable and quite necessary, I am convinced beyond a doubt that strengthening his immune system and working to keep him as healthy as possible have been the most important components to Aaron's overall improvement.  "Curing autism" is irrelevant and misleading, in my opinion.  It's about restoring health, hope, and the future to an entire generation of children.

They deserve nothing less.