Newest ATEC Score

ATEC website through ARI

A full two years since the first score was given, in those two years:

- 2 years of gf/cf diet (recently limiting soy)
- 9 months of chelation (9 months of td-dmps, 3 months of td-ala)
- 10 months of ABA

Summary Scores (this is the total, not broken down), the scores are 0-180, with 0 being the most typical child, the lower the score, the better.

June 2004 (before any diet/therapy/etc) - 90
December 2005 (1.5 years diet, chelation, aba) - 54
June 2006- 26

In two years to go from moderately on the spectrum to nearly typical, this isn't nature taking its course, this isn't him just getting better, its what we've done to for Derek.

I ponder all the time if we SHOULD be doing all this, there are plenty of parents who just roll with it, let autism be their child. I don't know where their children are on the spectrum, or how they will be as teenagers or adults. Maybe they'll be fine, hold jobs, get married, go on with life. Maybe they won't.

I didn't feel I could take that chance, that by some miracle Derek just got better, maybe he would have. Maybe not.

I KNOW he has opportunity now, at this rate he will be able to live on his own as an adult, hold a job and be part of society. Will he be totally "normal"(define normal)? Don't know. But even if he has quirks, they will be more accepted, easier to ignore and may not be so obvious. I was reading a story today that a mom wrote out about her teenage son, he had been doing well until he hit his teen years and now his quirks and stims have picked up so much he's embarrassed to be in public. I don't want that for my son, if I can help him now, and he has as normal as childhood as possible, then I've done well. He's happy now, when he wasn't before, just sitting there, zoning off into space or running around in circles oblivious to us all, or running up and down a hallway with his hands on the bumpy walls.....that's not childhood.

Now he's playing outside with his siblings, and we're looking at putting him into a preschool this coming fall. I'm looking for playdates, maybe even a short summer camp or activity like a gym or music class for his age. THAT is childhood.

On another good note, his insurance recently has updated to start including 12 visits a year to a naturopath. The better news is that there is a DAN! doctor in our area that is not only an naturopath, but an approved provider on his insurance. For the first time we can finally see a DAN! doctor. I feel like this will be one more piece of our puzzle in place, someone to order and run the right tests, so much that we still need to work on with his diet and skin issues.

Just wanted to let parents know who aren't sure what to do right now, this all does pay off, I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it really does work for far more than not.