My Full Reply to Katie's Post

Wonderful negative article Katie.

Good job of grouping some possibly bad people in with a bunch of good ones and then attacking.

It is nice to know someone cares enough to try to protect us poor, desperate, gullible parents of autistic children from the dangers of those who would put their professional reputations and licenses on the line to pretend like they care about helping our children, only to then dupe us out of our life savings, and then what? Laugh and spit in our faces?

Seriously, are you trying to make us lose all hope? I have to wonder if you had a bad personal relationship with a DAN practitioner, or if you are running for political office against one and this is your idea of a mudslinging campaign.

I am medical professional and also the father of a three year old autistic girl.

It has been my experience that there are not many physicians (if any at all) where I live who admit to knowing much about autism, especially managing or treating it. It has nothing to do with their Hippocratic Oath, it is just simply a lack of knowledge and training.

In fact, it is often left up to us as parents to make very difficult decisions regarding our autistic child's health and well-being. We do countless hours of internet research because their is no one else around who is able to tell us why our child is screaming inconsolably most of the day, or what to do when our child stays awake all night, every night, spinning in circles, among numerous other bizarre behaviors and issues.

Many of the approaches these dastardly DAN "doctors" use to treat the symptoms of autism come right out of the research of non-DAN folks and is quite easy to find if you are at all computer literate.

As a matter of fact, based on the research from countless internet articles, and testimonials from parents of other autistic children, my wife and I began treating our daughter biomedically with diet and supplements prior to ever speaking to a DAN doctor. We saw almost immediate improvements in her focus and eye contact (which was zero prior to that time).

We decided that since we were seeing improvements we would proceed with more biomedical treatments. Hey, it seemed like there was something to this.

We located the closest DAN doctor (2 1/2 hours away) and made an appointment. We brought our list of ideas of what we would like to try with our little girl. After listening to our daughter's history he gave us his opinion and offered some new ideas. Together we came up with a collaborative plan to manage Jillian's more debilitating symptoms.

We began B-12 injections which I administered every other day. Our daughter, who had not spoken an intelligible word in nearly a year and a half almost immediately began speaking. At that time it wasn't communicative speech but it was a definite improvement.

On our next DAN visit, upon my request we increased the injections to every day. Our daughter is now occasionally forming short sentences to communicate her needs.

We had also performed a nutritional evaluation after our first DAN visit and as you might have guessed, we learned she had a gastrointestinal dysbiosis. An overgrowth of yeast in her gut.

We began a course of Nystatin and ProBiotics. Nine days later she smelled like a brewery, she had regressed in all of the areas she had made improvements in, and then (excuse my language) she puked and shit a whole lot of yeast out of her system.

The day after that lovely event she was a different child. She stopped the inconsolable screaming we were accustomed to hearing for hours at a time, her stimming behaviors just about disappeared, and she started showing interest in playing with her sister.

Now, it is true that autistic children can progress without interventions. But, I would have to say that it would be almost inconceivable to think that the improvements my daughter has made are just coincidental. They appeared to correspond directly to the interventions in the manner we read they would in the literature we had researched. (Also the same information given to us by our DAN doctor on our first visit). As a side note, she is now able to tolerate and focus on her behavioral therapies much better.

For anyone who knows my daughter there is no mistaking the progress she has made. We owe a good portion of that to her DAN doctor. By the way, my financial DAN black hole now stands at a grand total of $40. (Two twenty dollar co-pays). The nutrition test cost $99 but that went to the lab, not the DAN doctor. The vitamins and supplements have a cost, but giving them was my decision and none of that money goes to the DAN doctor either.

Apparently there are some people who obviously work outside of the medical field that are somewhat naive about insurance companies. Insurance companies collect as much money as possible and pay out as little as possible. This is how they stay in business. Currently there are only seven states in which private insurance companies pay for autism treatment, and that is only because they are mandated by those states to do so.

I don't live in one of those states, but my insurance company covers our DAN visits because we got a referral from my daughter's pediatrician (one of the one's who admits she doesn't know much about autism).

To suggest that parents of autistic children are desperate for a cure is probably an over-statement and somewhat disrespectful. Unless, you are the parent of an autistic child you really have no idea what our lives are like. (If you are a parent of an autistic child (Katie) then I will assume your article is somehow a reflection on yourself).

We certainly understand and accept the fact that our children are not what you would consider "normal" and probably never will be. But just as anyone who sees their child in pain or struggling in any way, we want to help. Just like everyone else, we want our children to reach their full potential in life.

Let me assure you that we certainly do question the facts and evidence about autism; that is what led us to pursue the treatments we have begun and seek out a DAN practitioner who supports our decisions regarding our daughter's health and functional capabilities.

As for the statement about hearing only what we want to.... I hear my daughter speaking now and I don't hear her screaming so much. I also see her looking at me, playing with her sister and interacting with other people. She is headed toward her potential.

Hopefully, she has a long way to go.

Respectfully,

Chris O'Connell