I just attended a continuing education over the weekend that was about Biomedical and nutrition approaches for intervention. Taught by a nutritionist and a physician, they presented much eye-opening information about immune systems, biochemical processes, effects of toxins on our body and the balance of nutrients necessary for optimum function. I was truly enlightened!
The most interesting things were these:
The presenters use a continuum to view the following disorders, from mild to severe: allergies/asthma; learning disabilities; ADD/ADHD; Aspergers; Pervasive Developmental Disorder; Autism. Interesting to think that all this issues are on the same continuum.
The other thing was the doctor's response to my question as to whether she noticed any patterns in her practice (1500 clients on this spectrum I just listed) regarding higher intelligence/creativity associated with greater levels of sensitivity, autoimmune symptoms or reactions to environmental toxins and nutritional imbalance. Her response was, without hesitation, "yes." She said that some of her most sensitive individuals (ie: reactions to toxins, reactions/allergies to foods, sensory issues, etc) have amazing creativity and/or intellect, even if in just one specific area.
I'm going to start referring EVERYONE to specialists who do this - I even think my own son presents signs of potentially having a yeast overgrowth that might be causing some of his symptoms (irritability, spaciness/distractibility, craving carbs, itchiness).
The presenters said that this approach isn't right for everyone, but it works amazingly well for 1/3 of people, makes small changes for another 1/3 and does nothing for the other 1/3. Seems like a reasonable thing to try with those odds. They even presented info about management of "mental health disorders" such as bipolar and post-partum depression with nutrition and supplements.
Anyone on this board have any experience with this stuff? I have a couple of kids on the spectrum who are benefitting, but just didn't realize how many areas could be impacted by this approach.
