Supplements
In our case, our son had completely eliminated fruit and vegetables from his diet - which is a definite concern. We searched and tried almost every multi-vitamin and super juice on the market.

Thousands of dollars later, we discovered that not all vitamins and nutritional products are created equal. If your supplements aren't being absorbed, you may as well flush them down the toilet. We found 2 products that have enabled us to get some much needed supplements into his body:

Amigo Health Labs has a nice tasting juice powder that provides the nutrients from the 3 super berries: gogi, mangosteen and acai. I must confess that although our son was taking Amigo juice, I neglected to mix it well enough for him and he found a tiny lump in it. He will no longer drink it, much to my dismay. My husband, daughter and I however, are addicted to product Charge. It is an energy drink that really does what it claims.

Xooma x2o is a product that you simply add to your water to increase alkaline levels in the body. Body pH is an often ignored element of nutrition, but one that is critical to good health. This one is easy to get Kory to take since it comes with a cool water bottle, and it doesn't effect the taste or texture of the water. It's just a little tasteless odorless sachet of essential minerals.

The Autism Diet
Much has been written about nutrition and the relationship of diet to autism. Many parents have reported significant improvements in their children's behavior by eliminating gluten and caesin from the diet.

Why Gluten and Caesin and what are Gluten & Caesin?

The theory is that some people with autism and PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) cannot properly digest gluten and casein, which form substances that act like opiates in their bodies. This "drug" substance alters the person's behavior, perceptions, and responses to his environment, according to this theory. Research in the U.S. and Europe has found substances with opiate activity in the urine of a significant number of children with autism. A doctor can order a urinary peptide test that can tell if proteins are not being digested properly.

Gluten (from Wikipedia)
"Gluten is a mixture of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. These exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some grass-related grains, notably wheat, rye, and barley. Gliadin and glutenin comprise about 80% of the protein contained in wheat seed. Being insoluble in water, they can be purified by washing away the associated starch. Worldwide, gluten is an important source of nutritional protein, both in foods prepared directly from foods containing it, and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein.

The seeds of most flowering plants have endosperms with stored protein to nourish embryonic plants during germination, but true gluten, with gliadin and glutenin, is limited to certain members of the grass family. The stored proteins of corn and rice are sometimes called glutens, but their proteins differ importantly from wheat gluten by lacking glutenin. The glutenin in wheat flour gives kneaded dough its elasticity, allowing leavening and contributing chewiness to baked products like bagels.

Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein, a small percentage of the population, including those with coeliac disease, is gluten-intolerant and cannot consume it safely"

Caesin
Casein is a protein found in milk and products containing milk, such as cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, whey and even some brands of margarine. It also may be added to non-milk products such as soy cheese and hot dogs in the form of caseinate.

Leaky Gut Syndrome
When our son was 7, we took him to a naturopath doctor. We did not tell her that we suspect Aspergers Syndrome, we simply took both our children in for an assessment. She diagnosed Kory with Leaky Gut Syndrome, and suggested that we attempt to eliminate gluten and cow dairy from his diet. She told us that his many allergies, and allergy induced asthma, was a result of this very common and under diagnosed problem.

We began a gradual program to eliminate these staples. At the naturopath's suggestion we took it slow, and replaced cow's milk with goat milk, and gradually experimented with gluten free bread, muffin and cookie recipes.

We definately saw a decrease in Kory's allergic symptoms. His congestion decreased immensely. I have discovered a great resource online for gluten free recipes - and I'm sure there are many others too, including the very popular book "Special Diet for Special Kids", promoted by Jenny McArthy in her book "Louder than Words".

Gluten Free Club is free to join the newsletter to receive recipes by email. You may also choose to join the club to receive other benefits and more recipes.

Public School, Private, or Home Schooling?
Our son was doing great in public school from Kindergarten up to third grade. He was thriving! Loved going to school, was an eager student, and managed to cope with his sensory issues in his own way. I believe the reason he was thriving was in part because of the lower expectations in lower grades - from teachers and peers, and in part because the discrepencies between Kory and his peers became more evident as they matured, and he didn't.

If I could go back... and I say this only because there may be a parent reading who can benefit from our hindsight... I would have explained more to Kory, and I would have encouraged him to tell his classmates. I would have been a stronger advocate, especially when it came to physical education and unsupervised playground time. In my defense, we did not have an accurate diagnosis, and I was hesitant to tell my son he has Aspergers without one. Today, that wouldn't matter to me, but that's where I was then.

With regard to telling his peers, again... it never occurred to us. With regard to physical education - we saw the indicators in our son's behavior, we did speak to the gym teacher once and discussed modifying certain aspects so that Kory's physical clumsiness and lack of athletic ability would not be so blatant (like running laps and always being last, playing competitive games and always losing), and for a couple of months things seemed to be going ok... but it didn't last.

Long story short, our son developed social anxiety beginning in 3rd grade, and growing to the extent of him being unable to cope. There were other factors, including some incidents with other children on the playground during recess. He withdrew from all activities and became very depressed.

We saw a definite regression in terms of behavior, and an increase in his Aspergers symptoms. We have been told by at least one professional that our fear of increased symptoms is unfounded - that he has never heard of it happening. Hmmmm... well, we witnessed it happening with our own child!

During the last month of school, unless he was accompanied by a family member, Kory was in the school office calling home. Over the summer, he relaxed some, but he refused to participate in any of his favorite physical activities.

As the new school year approached, he became increasingly anxious again. After much deliberation, we decided to do home schooling. It was either home schooling or me attending school with him. Since we weren't convinced that the school was able to meet his needs, we decided on home schooling. There was some hesitance - because of his previous positive experience, and the relationships he had developed, and because he was in a French Immersion program (and we don't speak French).

He was relieved to be home schooled, but also concerned about not being able to learn in French. It was a very difficult decision, and since we weren't firm on it, we were easily convinced to try harder to get him back to his regular classroom. We agreed on a blended program where I would take him to school for some classes and he would bring his class work home to complete.

If you are ever in this position, please take my advice, and DON'T DO IT! A blended program without structure, lesson plans etc is nothing more than trying to get your child to do homework. It was a disaster. I stopped even trying to get Kory to do his "worksheets" from school and did other activities to teach him similar topics that his classmates were learning. The goal of our "blended" program was to transition back to full time school.

Were it not for his positive relationships, and the fact that he enjoys being in a French Immersion program, I would have opted for home schooling. Yes, socialization is important, critical even, but public school is not the only place to socialize! We were ever mindful as well, that school is the place that caused Kory's extreme anxiety. We are adament that we will not allow that to happen again.

There have been some bumps in the road, but Kory is back at school, and almost back to his old self. He requires some additional support, and has the benefit of a full time aide at school. Unfortunately, the aide that was hired for him is truly a poor match. She lacks confidence and training and seems to believe that because Kory is happy at school, everything is fine. While we had hoped for a skilled aide who could help Kory to develop and improve his social skills, he does at least have supervision that he didn't have before.

We continue to monitor Kory closely and to follow his cues. We are not convinced that the school really "gets" him, and it appears that they believe we are overprotective or somehow deficient in our parenting. Perhaps we are overprotective, in the sense that we are more protective of him than we are of his younger sister who doesn't need the same level of protection.

To summarize, each child is different and the child's individual needs must be taken into consideration in choosing a school program. As the child's needs change, so must the school program.

All circumstances must be taken into consideration, and parents need to explore all the options to make the best choice for their particular child. These decisions should not be made in isolation however. It has been said that it takes a community to raise a child, and parents of children on the autism spectrum need to seek out support.