AUTISM: My view

Donald L. Fitzgerald, D.C.

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AUTISM:
What do I know about Autism?

Below you see a photo of two children who, look normal. They are doing things normal children might do given the situation. That's right, it's a sibling birthday party. They were born two years and one day apart. One of the children in this photo was described or diagnosed as being autistic when they were 30 months old. Can you tell which one? This is a photo of them at 18 and 16 years old. Still can't tell? That's a very good point.

Many times you just can't tell what's going on with a person just by looking at them. You would need some kind of history (his-story) to better understand the situation and give a tentative diagnosis wouldn't you? And, just because a person is given a diagnoses it doesn't mean the person has that disease. It's more like Oliver Sachs would say, and I am paraphrasing here; "Don't look for the disease the person has. Look for the person the disease has." Or as Marcus Arellius ( Roman Emperor ) "What is it in itself ? What is its nature?" I intend to take you beyond the main stream "traditional" diagnoses of exclusion where since we don't know exactly what it is, we'll call it XYZ. "We set the standard of care. We call the shots". Makes you wonder just who is this "we" everyone refers to doesn't it? You'll come to your own conclusion in due time. Let's hope it's in time enough to change things for the better

Autism: A Parent's and Doctor's View
My views on autism are based on personal observations and exhaustive research on autism over the last 15 years as a clinician and a parent. I view parents of children with autism as the experts in their particular cases. I know, in a very personal way, the challenges that those of us involved with the care of an autistic child or adult face on a daily basis. There's help!

So Tell me: What does it mean to be normal ?
Normal is what I call having the ability to display traits that are common to most people. So what do human beings do?

        We make eye contact - Not doing so causes suspicion in most societies but not all.

        We communicate verbally - Exceptions exist of course, but unless there's deafness we speak.

        We are creative - Art, dance and music are uniquely human. Bunny Rabbit Orchestra? NOT !

        We are conceptual - Using time, making goals,designing and building things.

        We thrive - Rising up to meet a challenge mentally and physically is how we grow and develop.

By observing your child's development through the months and years leading up to school every parent can tell if something is not quite right or if everything is fine. We knew and as parents so will you! Promise!

In Erin's case being normal means being able to function among her fellow classmates in particular and her fellow human beings in general. She can't do that. Why? To find that answer I had to ask, "Why can I and she cannot"? It sounds like the same question but it's a very different question with very different answers and approaches to the answers.

So what did you see that tipped you off doc? What should we look for?
I noticed Erin was responding quite differently to similar stimulation than her brother and other children. By interacting with her and observing her response I was able to figure out what she was and was not responding to appropriately. This wasn't easy because she's not able to tell me what's wrong. I had to see how she acted. She would watch TV with one eye closed. She would play with toys inappropriately for hours ie. spinning the wheels of a toy car instead of rolling the car on its wheels. When she developed speech I'd ask if she would like a spider sandwich; she'd say yes, and then no. She had no concept. We labled everything in the house with 3 X 5 index cards from family photos with smiley faces to the stove with a frown meaning to stay away. Every activity was hand drawn out on paper with large words to explain it like a story in a book. Going to school, going to the store, going to the park were all in storybook form and put in a three ring note book. Soon she began to ask for things by using the note book and gradually she would voice her wants without using the book. It took some prompting but eventually she did it.

Erin's mother and I retrained her nervous system to recognize that if she wanted something she would have to "use her words". She would have to communicate verbally because barring a disability, that's what we (humans) do. Sometimes it worked better than others. This was probably the biggest breakthough for us and our entire family. Oh wait...diaper training was also a pretty big breakthough. Whew! It ranks right up there

Erin can focus on tasks for hours. (picking toe nails)

Hey Doc;
You got any idea how your daughter got to be autistic? Any hints at all?

Many say it's impossible to determine what causes this behavior. At the same time the "experts" are more than ready to give this behavior a name and "they/we" call it autism. Here's the problem with labels. Once you label something (or someone if you're talking about humans) you take yourself out of any further creative thinking in your approach to understand it and eventually cure it. Yes I used the cure word when talking about a condition. It works like this. "Oh you have XYZ disease and this is the standard treatment for XYZ disease. Any alternative treatment for XYZ disease other than what "we" prescribe is not covered by insurance; it's even considered dangerous by the people who won't cover the cost" (but you still pay the premiums right?).

We observed Erin's change soon after she was given her vaccination within the first year of birth. She was not even done breast feeding. That means she did not have a fully working immune system when the animal protein, virus antigen and heavy metal preservatives were injected into her little body. She became dehydrated with projectile vomiting. Her skin could be pulled and it would not stretch back. Our pediatrician put her in the hospital immediately where she was given anti-biotics and fluids intraveneously overnite for a diagnosed bowel virus. Since we now had a name for the disease or sickness we now had a standard treatment. Anti-biotics for a virus? "I thought they were for bacteria?" "It's the standard treatment trust us."

These proteins, virus antigens and heavy metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, CADMIUM, nickel, antimony just to name a few) stay in the body and are difficult to remove later in life.Not impossible but difficult. How do I know these are the substances in the vaccines? First of all, I later read the label. You have to ask, be persistent and know what you're looking for. Secondly, all of these items showed up in Erins profile of hair, blood and urine tests. None of these items showed up in any other family member and we all tested at the same time. Now we can't absolutely conclude these chemicals came from the vaccine but they are in Erin's blood, hair and urine and they are ingredients in the vaccine. No one else in the family has these toxins. What would you think if you were us? Exactly! Doesn't take a rocket scientist or a court full of jurors does it?

I want you to do yourself a favor. Use your browser to look up mercury poisoning and compare the symptoms to the symptoms of what is being called autism. Make your own conclusions. If you can't find the comparison email me at the address below and I will send you a copy. It will astound you to see the similarities.

We have a child with autism is there anything (beyond the traditional) we can do?

Of course there is. You just have to know what you're dealing with.Get a blood, urine and hair analysis by an alternative health care practicioner. I have nothing against the "traditional" standard of care except for the fact they are looking at the human gene (genome) as the culprit. I disagree with that approach because of the recent prevalence of autism. When I was a child no one knew anyone with autism. Today we all know someone who knows someone with an autistic child don't we. Did the genes suddenly go haywire from my generation to my daughter's? NOT !

If you discover your child's blood tests are rife with chemicals, get them out and stop putting them in. Watch the foods you eat if you are breast feeding and read the labels of the food you feed your children whether they are autistic or not. These chemical in the vaccines are suspected of being linked to Asthma, Allergies, ADD and ADDHD, Arthritis and that's just the A's folks and these are just in children. I didn't even mention childhood diabetis, rhuematoid arthritis, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies. Need I go on?

There are a multitude of options once you know what you're looking for.You may not know how to start even with the information I give you. Call the office and ask for me Dr. Donald Fitzgerald. Most people around town know me as "Dr. Don". That's right it's a little informal but why be so politically correct about this when it was political correctness that got us into this mess in the first place. That's a subject for another time. I'll be happy to relate the gov't strategy that started many of our present diseases in person only if you have the stomach for such history.

Remember, the human body has tremendous recuperating powers. You can learn to use those powers to your best advantage. Take advantage of our in office allergy testing and treatment (using painless lasers) for heavy metals and other toxins that could be effecting you and/or your child by contacting our office by phone or me personally at the email address below. I will be happy to help any way I can. Check this web site in a few days/ weeks for detailed information about this very new and exciting alternative procedure.

I've written a short paper with some ideas of how you can approach the decreased function of autism in a directed, purposeful way.

For more information on Autism, click this link for the National Institute on Mental Health

Or click HERE to e-mail me.

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