Whole foods, nutritional supplements help family battling autism

COXSACKIE — With the number of children being diagnosed with autism rising at an alarming rate – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say one in every 110 children has the disorder, including one in seventy boys – parents are looking for any way they can help their children deal with or even overcome it.

For one family in Coxsackie whose son has autism, taking a whole foods nutritional approach, including a battalion of nutritional supplements, has made all the difference.

Crystal Palmer-Bull, an outspoken advocate for families and children impacted by autism, says she has seen dramatic results in her six-year-old son, Jackson, after she drastically changed his diet. While the approach may not work for all children on the autism spectrum, she said it might help some, and she wanted to spread the word.

Her son was diagnosed with “pervasive developmental disorder/not otherwise specified”, one of five possible autism diagnoses, after he was evaluated by a speech pathologist, developmental pediatrician and hearing specialist. For years, the family struggled with the challenges children with autism face.

Palmer-Bull said she noticed differences in her son before he was even a year-and-a-half old.

“At 15 months, he started to drop off on his developmental milestones,” Palmer-Bull said. “He had the right amount of words at 12 months – he actually started saying ‘dada’ at five months – but between 15 and 18 months we started noticing that the words turned to grunts, and his speech was regressing. He also started having trouble sustaining eye contact.”

Despite the fact that those are hallmark symptoms for autistic children, Jackson’s first pediatrician failed to diagnose him. But persistent in her search for a diagnosis, Palmer-Bull ultimately saw a pediatrician who immediately knew what was going on.

After years of research and looking for a way to help her son, she decided to look into an organic nutritional approach.

“A lot of people think autism is something in the child’s head, but we know it is something throughout their body,” Palmer-Bull said. “I think it is GI- (gastrointestinal) and immune-related.”

Armed with the knowledge that Jackson was also plagued by a variety of gastrointestinal difficulties, she decided to look into what she could do.

“My theory was that he had tremendous GI problems and tremendous body flora problems,” she said. “He was actually born with a yeast infection. I think his body had an imbalance in his flora, and I believe he had major food allergies.”

Added to these difficulties was the fact that Palmer-Bull’s family has an MTHFR gene variant, a genetic blood clotting disorder that renders the body incapable of properly processing the vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid. MTHFR is fairly common in the Caucasian population.

And if the body can’t process those vitamins, that means there is a huge vitamin deficiency if you rely on synthetic vitamins – like those found in fortified foods - your body can’t handle.

“Logic would tell you if your body can’t process synthetic vitamins and you are eating processed foods, you may think you are getting your daily recommended dose of these vitamins, but your body is not absorbing them,” Palmer-Bull said. “So it makes sense that by eliminating non-synthetic sources of those vitamins, this is a big part of his recovery.”

So the family looked at a whole foods approach – eating foods in as natural a state as possible, without the preservatives and synthetic vitamins prevalent in most store-bought foods. They also added very high doses of probiotics, which are found in high amounts in foods like naturally produced yogurts.

Before starting the new diet, Palmer-Bull said she talked to Jackson’s pediatrician about what she wanted to try. “When I brought the diet to the physician and told her I wanted to try whole foods, vitamins and digestive enzymes – which help break down the food – along with very high doses of probiotics, which are for the microflora, the doctor said they are all natural ingredients so it can hurt. She said it might help, but there was no guarantee.”

So they switched from regular milk to goat’s milk, which she milked herself using a goat “loaned” to her by a woman she met on the Internet. She now has her own mini-goat, as well as chickens so she can prepare her own organic eggs, vegetables she grows in her own garden, and a diet filled with homemade foods using natural ingredients.

“He slowly came back to us,” Palmer-Bull said. “Within months, the words started coming back – he started with one word and pointing, which autistic children have difficulty with. He stopped doing the repetitive actions common to autistic children, and he became more social and active. I knew we were on to something. It was slow, but it was progress.”

One of the most dramatic changes came after Jackson had his first glass of raw goat’s milk.

“To our surprise, after his first glass of goat’s milk he walked up to me, got right in my face – which autistics don’t do - and he said, “mom, mom, mom”. My husband and I looked at each other and said, we need more goats,” she said with a smile.

“I have never seen anything like it,” said Hank Palmer, Jackson’s grandfather.

The dietary changes also helped their daughter, who has ADHD, or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Palmer-Bull said. The changes have not been as dramatic – largely because her disorder was not as marked or noticeable – but there have been improvements in the classroom and even on the sports field.

Recently, because of economic challenges the family was unable to purchase all the expensive nutritional supplements, and they noticed some regression back to autistic behaviors. But once the supplements were resumed, progress began once again.

According to Jackson’s first grade teacher, she, too, has noticed a small difference since Jackson started taking his supplements again. “We are noticing slight changes,” teacher Erin Donlon said. “In the beginning, he was very distractible and he wasn’t able to be independent at all in everyday tasks, like hanging up his coat. But in the last week or so we noticed he is a little more independent, and instead of me prompting him letter by letter to spell out a word, he can write it on his own. They are subtle changes. I don’t know what to attribute it to, but it is progress.”

A student at Coxsackie Elementary School, Jackson was even selected to receive a Super Kid certificate – several times, in fact, over the past few months.

In addition to the nutritional changes, Palmer-Bull said a big component of Jackson’s recovery has been the entire family working together. Jackson’s sister works with him on his social skills – even letting him tag along when she goes out with her friends – and his grandfather takes a more demanding approach. Hank Palmer said he pushes Jackson to achieve the most that he can.

Once, in fact, when Jackson was having difficulty with potty training – another challenge for autistic children – Palmer told the youngster he would take him on vacation to California, but only if he learned to use the potty. Jackson never needed a diaper again, they said.

Now, he is not only improving in the classroom, he has developed his own friendships and even plays T-ball and flag football.

With all those improvements, you are not likely to find any processed foods at the Palmer-Bull home, and they don’t eat anything that has the word “fortified” on the box. Instead, they focus on foods in their natural state, like organic eggs they hatch themselves, fruits, nuts, seeds, gluten-free cereals and raw goat’s milk. Palmer-Bull also makes lots of her own foods using all-natural ingredients, like homemade ice cream and cheese – both made with goat’s milk - and homemade yogurt and granola bars. And, of course, she grows her own vegetables in the backyard.

Once unwilling to eat meat, Jackson now does so with gusto. “As he has recovered, his diet has actually expanded,” Palmer-Bull said. “He used to eat only certain foods, and he wouldn’t eat meat at all, but now he does.”

While taking a nutritional approach is not a cure-all for all families dealing with autism, Palmer-Bull wanted those who could benefit to know of it so they can give it a try. “Not every kid is on the autism spectrum for the same reason, and this won’t work for everyone, but it worked for us,” Palmer-Bull said. “I believe the MTHFR variant played a role in our case, so I think getting this approach out there could help a portion of autistic children.”

For the Palmer-Bull family, at least, the approach worked in dramatic fashion.

“I used to be scared what would happen to him in the future when my husband and I aren’t around,” she said with a tear in her eye. “But I’m not afraid anymore.”