Autism Recovery, hear from 11 moms who have recovered their children from autism

Autism recovery. Such a loaded term, I am not exactly sure why. Would you say "What do you mean you are treating your child's diabetes with insulin, can't you just ACCEPT them as they are?" That is how I feel about the disorder called autism. I never presume to know anything about anyone else's child and their medical history unless I am looking at their lab results or speaking with a knowledgeable caregiver about their health history. But, I know my own child's story quite well. I have volumes of files, psychological evals, school evals, laboratory tests, supplement logs, etc. It is another full time job staying on top of what he needs to keep improving his health.

Low and behold, as I treated some of these underlying MEDICAL issues, the behaviors we associate with autism began to lessen. ATEC and ADOS scores began to fall. IEP's were no longer filled with talk of autism, as a matter of fact his school records note specific learning disability in certain areas now, not autism. Some may debate that because our diet is still not your "Standard American Diet" (which it will never be again regardless of my son's health status) that he is not "recovered". Some say because we still give him supplements that he is not "recovered". I couldn't care less what anyone's definition of recovery is as long as my child is happy, healthy, thriving and able to navigate this world with less roadblocks. That is how I see my son's diagnosis of autism. He is not autistic, autism is not who he is. Clearly not if he can make so many changes in a relatively short period of time. I know this is touchy and why we need two "camps" is beyond me. I can still love and accept my child despite wanting to optimize his health the best I can. And if that succeeds in a reduction of behaviors that result in a diagnosis of autism, why not?!?

I got to sit up on stage at the recent Autism One conference in Chicago beside my Thinking Moms Revolution sisters. I am a member of TEAM TMR, the non profit side of The Thinking Moms Revolution. My son's story was in the 2nd book. I was told that we were the first panel dedicated to autism recovery. Times are changing. Parents are sharing what is working to heal their children. We are the revolution. No longer will we sit and watch more and more children be diagnosed with autism without providing some measure of hope.

On this panel we shared our stories and took questions from the audience. There were some similar stories but each child is unique and so our stories also varied. I was so proud to be up there with these brilliant ladies, spreading the word that there is something you can do to help your child with autism.