Joshua's Story

Posted on Chelating Kids 2 Yahoo Group and

included here with permission

I enjoy reading progress posts here, as it is important to monitor
progress, so I decided to post one of my own, along with a touching
experience that I had this week.  Scroll to the bottom for detailed
TD DMSA results after 3 ½ months.  This is long, but worth the
read.

A couple of days ago, I took my (just turned) 6 year old son Jacob
to his flag football practice.  I usually bring his (almost) 3 ½
year old little brother Joshua with me, and he sometimes gets to run
around with the other kids before practice.  I was speaking with
another parent that was there, and I looked up to see the coach
putting a flag belt on Joshua.  We laughed thinking that he was
putting a belt on him by mistake, and he just did not notice that it
was my younger son.  Joshua is very tall and stocky for his age and
is commonly mistaken for being older.  He is bigger than the
smallest 5 year old on the team.  The league has kids ages 5-7.

After the coach was done putting the belt on him, I called Josh over
to me and showed him how the flags worked.  I was worried that now
that he was wearing a flag belt, he would disrupt the practice by
not wanting to leave the field while the team practiced, so I was
trying to distract him.

I was somewhat surprised when the coach yelled over to us, "C'mon,
Joshua, let's go!"  Joshua looked over at the coach, and then at me
with these big beaming blue eyes. 

I said, "Well go on".  I was not sure what was going to
happen.  He ran out onto the field and kneeled on the ground with
the other kids with a smile from ear to ear as the coach spoke to
them all as a team.  A few minutes later, I was astonished as he got
up and ran a few laps around the field hanging with the others as if
he had done it several times before.

From there, he stood next to his 6 year old brother in a circle with
the others as they proceeded to do jumping jacks and other
calisthenics.  He needed no direction or help.  He watched the
others and imitated them.  He was one of them.

He practiced with the other kids for a full hour, doing everything
that the coach had asked him to do.   He would get into a football
stance and line up with the rest of the kids and move when the
others did.  Sure, he struggled with the concept of football and
what to do when he got the ball or when to grab the flags off of the
guy with the ball, but most 3 1/2 year olds are the same way.  He
was having the time of his life.  He was a football player.

At the end of the practice, I thanked the coach for letting Joshua
be a part of practice.  I told him that what he did really meant a
lot to me and both of my sons. 

He said, "Actually he did great out there.  He did everything I
asked him to.  The other kids had a lot of fun with him today."

I then proceeded to tell the coach Joshua's "little secret".  I
said, "Coach, I do not think you realize the impact of what you did
today.  You see, Josh was diagnosed with autism 7 months ago, and
was barely able to communicate with us until we started treating him
for toxic metal poisoning 3 months ago."

The coach seemed a little shocked and taken back at first.  He told
me that he had not even the slightest clue that there was anything
wrong with him.  He asked me how old he was.  I told him that he was
almost 3 ½.  He looked at me in amazement, saying that he had a 3
½ year old son at home that had no interest in going out onto the
field with the older kids. 

I further explained that this was the same little boy who (until
only a few months ago) had days that he would spin himself around in
circles all day with his eyes rolled back into his head for
entertainment, and had little interest in other children. Back then,
he would not even turn his head to look at me when I came home from
work if he was preoccupied, not even if I screamed his name a dozen
times at the top of my lungs and stood next to him in his peripheral
vision.

The coach was shocked and really did not know what to say.  He
realized that what he did meant a lot to me, and saw how it had
impacted me.  The fact that he did not know that there was anything
wrong with him was also something I was not used to.

The moral of this story?

There are so many times that we do little things that make an impact
and touch the lives of others and do not realize it (like the
coach).  Today, I sent this story to a girl whose 2 year old stopped
talking after a flu shot in December.  The boy was later diagnosed
with autism.  The girl forwarded it to some of her friends and
family.  One girl that she forwarded it to (who does not have any
affected children) emailed me and said that she cried when she read
it, and thanked me for sharing it.  She is the one who pointed out
the fact that I, myself, had touched someone else simply by writing
this story and probably did not realize it.  That is why I edited it
and posted it here.

My message?

For the parents out there that are reading this and considering
chelation therapy for their "autistic" child and are trying
to decide whether it is worth it, let me just say this.  Do not
listen to the people that tell you that this is BS and that the
parents doing this are stupid.  Remember one thing.  The vast
majority of these people telling you NOT to do it HAVE NO EXPERIENCE
WITH IT!  Instead, listen to the thousands of parents that are doing
it now.  They do not lie.  Get several opinions.  Listen to the
other parents that are not doing it also and compare the results of
the two sets of children.  That is why I decided to proceed with
this treatment.  Out of the dozens of parents of "autistic" children
that I spoke to before I started my son's treatment, all of the ones
that were seeing drastic improvements in their children had one
thing in common - Chelation Therapy. 

Also, listen to the doctor's who have risked their careers and
are sometimes ridiculed by others in the medical field for taking a
stance on something that they believe in, and are seeing results. 
Many of them have done the research themselves unlike the doctors
who quickly discount it because that is what they learned they
should do in medical school.  Look at some of the urine, stool, and
hair tests of the children of some of these "crazy" parents
that are doing this.  You want some?  I got`em.

The Bottom Line, and some final thoughts

If chelation therapy is quackery, then I will be a quack all day if
my son is clearly benefiting from it.  If it is a "placebo",
as some say, then I can attest that it is the most effective placebo
around, and I want more of it for my son.  Maybe somebody could
explain to my 3 year old who does not know what a placebo is.  This
therapy is working for us.  I have the evidence running around my
home playing with his brother and sister and other children, and now
he smiles at me every day when I come home from work as he runs up
to give me a big hug when I walk in the door. Three and a half
months ago, he would not have even turned around.

Scott

Notes on Joshua's Progress after 3 ½ months of chelation

We have been chelating with TD DMSA from the Lee Silsby clinic in
Cleveland for a total of 9 rounds, or just over 16 weeks, in a 3
days on 11 days off protocol.  He also gets TD glutathione and a
slew of supplements on a daily basis.

When he was tested 5 months ago around his 3rd birthday, his
comprehension level was that of a 13 month old.  He was considered
22 months behind.  Two months after he was tested, he had made
little progress.  That is when we started chelating him.  Since
then, his progress has exploded.  The results that we have seen with
him are amazing.  He was just retested, and he is now considered
only 10 months behind in speech and comprehension (31 months - he
is 41 months old).  If these tests were accurate, that means that my
son's comprehension level jumped ahead 15 months in only a 3 month
period of time!

Here is an outline of progress that he has made in the last 3 months.

Before we started, Joshua was afraid of his little sister and would
not go near her or take an interest in her. After 3 days of
chelation, he started playing with her, giving her toys, her binky
and laughing and interacting with her. Now that is all he wants to
do! He also gave her a hug and a kiss that same day on his own. It
was astounding. (Update --  Now he looks out for her, telling
her "no, sissy" when she is doing something she is not supposed to
and he walks behind her holding her hands to help her walk.  He also
tries to have conversations with her.)  Besides chelation, she has
been the best thing for him.

He stopped spinning himself immediately after his first 3 day
treatment, and has not done it since. Keep in mind that this was an
every day occurrence.

He learned how to wave hello and good bye, and now understands that
when I leave for work in the morning that I am coming back, and he
no longer screams when I walk out the door (he gives me a smile and
a hug, says good-bye, waves and sometimes says I love you Daddy!). 
I get choked up every time I leave the house.

His eye contact is EXCELLENT compared to before. It is not even as
issue now.  Before I would have rated it slightly above average for
someone with his condition.

He learned to take off and put on his own shoes and he lets us brush
his teeth.

He used to want to watch the same movies over and over again ALL THE
TIME. Now, he hardly watches the TV, and when he does, it is usually
something that his older brother would watch that is for older kids
that would have never interested him before.

He will now turn around immediately if I (or others) call his name
at a normal tone on the first try instead of having to stand next to
him and scream progressively louder a dozen times.

He no longer has tantrums of any sort.

His comprehension has gone through the roof. I can literally tell
him to do anything for me and he understands. He previously only
understood a few phrases. I am constantly testing him with tasks,
and 9 times out of 10 he will understand and do what I tell him.

His interaction with other children has also improved drastically. 
He seeks out other kids and tries to play with them on the
playground we take him to.  He used to just watch them or sit by
himself and play with the toy du jour.

He is speaking in longer phrases and picking up more words every
day. We are starting to have conversations with him.  He maintains
excellent eye contact and uses proper facial expressions and voice
inflection during these talks.

He has just started pointing, asking questions, and commenting on
things that he would have never noticed before.  (Example:  He
walked up to me today and pointed to a cut on my ankle when I was
lying on the couch and said, "Oh, No!  What happened?  Are you
alright?  You have a BooBoo."  I told him that I fell down and
got hurt.  He walked over to a cedar chest and got a blanket.  He
then covered up my ankle very gently and said, "There!  All better
now".)  Three months ago, he would have not even noticed it and
would have said nothing.  He probably would not have even interacted
with me unless I tried to initiate something with him first, and
that is a stretch.

His stimming has decreased. He still does the hand flapping thing
occasionally, but not as pronounced or as much (I suspect that he
either has yeast or the measles virus in his gut like a lot of these
kids have).

He attempts to (and sometimes does) get himself dressed.

He washes his own hands.

Please keep in mind that all of this progress has been in the last 3
½ months.  His speech therapist has told us that he has progressed
faster in the shortest amount of time than any other child that she
has ever worked with (she has been doing this since 1988).  She has
also told us that he is the only child that she has worked with that
has been going through this treatment that she knows of.  We
originally did not tell her, because we wanted to see if she noticed
a difference (she did immediately).  She has since sent other
parents to us.

One other note.  This child has never had any other behavioral
therapies other than one hour of speech and OT a week.  He is not on
a GF/CF diet because he is not g & c intolerant.  There is nothing
else that I can attribute his progress to.  My wife and I make it a
habit to constantly challenge him and test him, and he never ceases
to amaze us.

Hopefully, someone will be able to get something from this post.