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Does anyone go to a DAN doctor?How does that work?Yes - not much time to respond right now, but basically a DAN can help you with testing that a regular ped might not, guide you through biomedical, prescribe antifungals, antiparasitics, etc., and genenerally help treat the possible medical causes of your child's autism. [QUOTE=daegandays+2] Does anyone go to a DAN doctor?How does that work?[/QUOTE] I think you will find this message board overwhelmingly pro-DAN!, so here's some info from the "other side" (again, the hyperlinks don't work for me here. You might have to cut and paste these URLs): It's time to stop this "miracle cure" madness: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6433/ Autism Myths (be sure to click on "Labs" to learn about DAN-style lab reports): http://autism-myths.org/ And: Association for Science in Autism Treatment http://www.asatonline.org/ Daegandays, You're going to find a lot of opinions both for and against DAN doctors, but I just wanted to reassure you of one thing. You are in control of your child's treatments; they can't force you to do anything you don't feel good about. 90% of what they do is just adjustments to the diet and nutritional supplements anyway, so it's not like it's a dangerous, invasive regimen. I encourage you to read up on the subject and form your own opinion. There are a number of other parents on this board who do biomed for their kids and have seen wonderful results. I hope that some of them respond too so that you get a good idea of how it works. A good place to start reading is the book Children with Starving Brains. There are also a number of great websites to help you get started - two are www.generationrescue.org and www.talkaboutcuringautism.org. We've only scratched the surface of the DAN protocol with our son, and in 8 months he has progressed from moderate autism to asperger's. He was a huge responder to the GFCF diet, omega 3's, antifungals, and several other things we've tried. That's not to say that he doesn't also need ST, OT, and PT, but even his therapists say they've never seen this kind of progress before. A couple are even starting to question whether he's truly on the spectrum at all, and that certainly was not the case a few months ago. Sorry to ramble, I just don't want you to get discouraged by the naysayers, and there are plenty of them. No, biomed isn't going to work for every child, but it's worth a try. Please let me know if you'd like more details about the biomed we've done with our son. @ JanieJust out of curiosity, did the same doctor who originally diagnosed your son with Autistic Disorder also do the recent re-diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome? Thanks for the reply's! We have done some work with a naturopathic doctor who had info from a DAN conference. I would like to find a MD with the training though. Our son did do better on supplements and the GF/CF diet. My problem is that the last few months my husband has stopped buying the right foods because he beleived we could not afford it anymore. We have had 18 months of in home intensive therapy which I am now switching to RDI. So I would like to get back on track with the diet and things.Our son has responded mostly to a remedy from a homeopathic doctor.It has been amazing to see but I know his jumping and lack of focus is due to yeast and wheat and dairy. As far as the naysayers go I just try not to judge people to harshly.Every child responds to things differently.All I know is that our child gets further ahead if we use natural approaches too. I would be open to hearing any biomed approach you have used Janie. [QUOTE=pingu]@ Janie Yep. Daeganddays, there are lots of DAN doctors who are medically licensed as Pediatricians. They do natural as much as possible but of course prescribe medicines as well, when needed. Do a search in your state and make sure the one you choose is licensed and has been treating autistic children for a while--my opinion would be a year or more. My girl, too, has climbed up the spectrum from severe autism at 2 to what looks like Asperger's at 5. It has taken a long time to get here for us, and she still has much to learn and grow. We will continue to see our DAN doc and do what she needs because she was quickly becoming a child we couldn't live with and now, though she is still a lot of work!, is delightful, happy, interested in people and learning, talking up a storm, pottying, etc etc etc. I *think* the only people who are naysayers against DAN and biomedical are those who haven't tried it. I found this about a 75yr old PHD naturopath on utube interview on Sky Health about reversing ADHD, autism & behavioual disorders. Michael Sichel is a wealth of knowledge. Hope it helpsvideos on utube Short version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7aZpPVrkI4 long version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhn9pWtOR8g We will be seeing our DAN soon. The reason we decided to bring one onto our son's team is because he looks at the overall issue instead of seeing each issue as individual problems. He will look at the whole child instead of just treating each problem that arises like they don't have anything to do with his Autism. Most of his issues totally surround his Autism and none of our doctors gets that, not really. They still see them as individual problems. He will help with the testing needed to see what's going on inside his little body, help us formulate a long term plan and a short term plan for making him feel better, and keep us coordinated on what, when, where, and why of the treatments we are doing. He is our partner and that's how he views his patients. He helps guide them in the treatments and allows parents to make all final decisions. He's just the one that has the ability to help us gain information into our child. It sounds like you've found the perfect person to treat your son, he sounds brilliant, and as you say he's willing to look at the whole picture. I hope the treatment goes well. |
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