The Un-Prescription for Autism: A Natural Approach for a Calmer, Happier, and More Focused Child, by Janet Lintala with Martha W. Murphy.
You know, I'm pretty sure both my mother and my first school taught me not to judge books by their covers. That said, it didn't take much education in psychology to know that people may be taught that maxim, but will absolutely ignore it immediately. The saying is more meant to be applied in dealings with people, not physical books at a library, but the principle does apply. I always envisioned the saying referring to the pictures and colors on the book cover. Particularly after I learned that the modern author has about as much control as a reader in regards to the cover of their book.
But I should probably start applying the saying to book titles, too, because those also are sometimes determined by the publishing companies. And also because of books like this one. My first thought, upon reading the title of this book, was, "Gee, people will do anything to avoid saying 'cure' in regards to autism, won't they." Which I'm afraid was rather unfair of me, to this book and its authors, at least in retrospect. I'm not yet convinced that the whole of the autism world isn't dancing around the word like it's a Nazi comparison in an Internet debate, but this book, at least, explains itself quickly. "Un-Prescription" is not meant in the sense of "undiagnosing" or "curing" someone with autism. It's meant in the sense of propping up the body's own systems using "natural" supports. I put "natural" in quotes because while prescription medication is hardly natural, shoveling helpful bacteria down your throat is also not terribly natural either. There is, however, a body of evidence supporting probiotics, so, y'know.
This book is divided into two parts: theory and practice. Theory covers chronic pain and problems, organizing your data, probiotics, enzymes, and antimicrobial agents. Each section comes with footnotes and a body of scientific studies, which can be found at the end of the book. You check off your child's particular problems, if the section applies at all, and come up with a "to do" list of sorts custom made for your child. I hadn't heard of either enzymes or antimicrobial agents being treatment options in autism, so that alone was kind of interesting.
More interesting to me though, was the explanation of why gluten-free/casein-free diets can help autistic people. Actually, it was downright horrifying to read. In brief: the idea that incomplete digestion of gluten and casein (dairy) can leave proteins (peptides) that closely resemble morphine. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue because the brain is protected from the bloodstream and digestive tract by a barrier. But if you add in leaky gut syndrome, you get, well... leakage. So morphine-like substances affecting the brain. Remove the gluten and casein, or as this book suggests, take enzymes to aid in digestion of gluten and casein, and you eliminate the digestion problem, and the morphine-like substance.
So, uh, at least according to the authors' experiences, some bad behavior and suffering in kids with autism is caused by opiates. As I mentioned, I found the concept absolutely horrifying. Probably because I learned some of the effects of opiates in my various school anti-drug campaigns and my psychology education. Morphine is used for controlling pain, but at least in popular culture, it has the side effect of making you not feel or care about anything. Given that I don't generally recognize fun when it's dancing in front of me wearing a clown suit, I kind of wonder if the opiate effect applies to my case, too.
I spoke with my LENS-doctor (and supplements-doctor) about feasibility of the theory, and she didn't even blink. According to her, any person with leaky gut can have these effects, but people with autism show symptoms of it louder and more obviously than the general population. Some schools of thought call us "the canaries in the coal mine," regarding things like this. But my doctor assured me that it wasn't simply an autism thing. Schizophrenic people, and people with biopolar disorder, also show signs of increased suffering from this awful quirk of biology.
So that's a thing, apparently. The book's solution was twofold: the first is obvious, transitioning to a gluten-free casein-free diet. The second, which is easier to start but should transition in the first, is enzymes. My fiancee, Chris, is lactose-intolerant. He doesn't naturally produce enough lactase, the enzyme that digests dairy, to digest say, a glass of milk. So we mainly avoid feeding him dairy-heavy products. But if Chris needs to drink a glass of milk, or say, eat ice cream or some other dairy product, there's an option. He can chew up a lactase tablet with his first bite of food, swallow it, and then for a short time, his body will digest the dairy normally.
The concept behind these enzymes for gluten and casein seems more or less the same to my eyes. The authors actually recommend those enzymes, but also a broad-spectrum set of enzymes to help with digestion in general. Every person's biology is different, and some people only need a couple for a short time, while others may be using enzymes for the rest of their lives in addition to having a GFCF (gluten-free casein-free) diet.
After the wedding and honeymoon, I'm going to start on the enzymes under the care of my LENS-doctor, to see what happens. Going casein-free would be easier than going gluten-free, but depending on how much change I see, I might end up doing both.
The remainder of the book was practice: how to build these theories into your child's life. Calendars, tips for keeping the supplements, probiotics, enzymes, and special diets organized and regular, even recommendations for supplement companies, smartphone apps, and other useful tools. At the very back of the book is the science: 20+ pages of citations.
The tone of the book is friendly, optimistic, and helpful, and the advice generally seems consistent. One of the major emphases of the book is to treat the underlying disorder, rather than simply slapping a bandaid on the symptoms. For example, some people on the spectrum have constipation. A normal schedule for pooping is once a day, but sometimes these kids don't poop except once a week or so. In many cases, the book says, the doctors prescribe laxatives to get things moving. But that only treats the problem, not the cause. The book purports to treat the cause, so the problem won't need to be treated.
This kind of focus is consistent with what my LENS-doctor preaches and does: treat the cause(s) of the problem, and the problem should cease to be. It also makes logical sense, at least to me.
You know, I'm pretty sure both my mother and my first school taught me not to judge books by their covers. That said, it didn't take much education in psychology to know that people may be taught that maxim, but will absolutely ignore it immediately. The saying is more meant to be applied in dealings with people, not physical books at a library, but the principle does apply. I always envisioned the saying referring to the pictures and colors on the book cover. Particularly after I learned that the modern author has about as much control as a reader in regards to the cover of their book.
But I should probably start applying the saying to book titles, too, because those also are sometimes determined by the publishing companies. And also because of books like this one. My first thought, upon reading the title of this book, was, "Gee, people will do anything to avoid saying 'cure' in regards to autism, won't they." Which I'm afraid was rather unfair of me, to this book and its authors, at least in retrospect. I'm not yet convinced that the whole of the autism world isn't dancing around the word like it's a Nazi comparison in an Internet debate, but this book, at least, explains itself quickly. "Un-Prescription" is not meant in the sense of "undiagnosing" or "curing" someone with autism. It's meant in the sense of propping up the body's own systems using "natural" supports. I put "natural" in quotes because while prescription medication is hardly natural, shoveling helpful bacteria down your throat is also not terribly natural either. There is, however, a body of evidence supporting probiotics, so, y'know.
This book is divided into two parts: theory and practice. Theory covers chronic pain and problems, organizing your data, probiotics, enzymes, and antimicrobial agents. Each section comes with footnotes and a body of scientific studies, which can be found at the end of the book. You check off your child's particular problems, if the section applies at all, and come up with a "to do" list of sorts custom made for your child. I hadn't heard of either enzymes or antimicrobial agents being treatment options in autism, so that alone was kind of interesting.
More interesting to me though, was the explanation of why gluten-free/casein-free diets can help autistic people. Actually, it was downright horrifying to read. In brief: the idea that incomplete digestion of gluten and casein (dairy) can leave proteins (peptides) that closely resemble morphine. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue because the brain is protected from the bloodstream and digestive tract by a barrier. But if you add in leaky gut syndrome, you get, well... leakage. So morphine-like substances affecting the brain. Remove the gluten and casein, or as this book suggests, take enzymes to aid in digestion of gluten and casein, and you eliminate the digestion problem, and the morphine-like substance.
So, uh, at least according to the authors' experiences, some bad behavior and suffering in kids with autism is caused by opiates. As I mentioned, I found the concept absolutely horrifying. Probably because I learned some of the effects of opiates in my various school anti-drug campaigns and my psychology education. Morphine is used for controlling pain, but at least in popular culture, it has the side effect of making you not feel or care about anything. Given that I don't generally recognize fun when it's dancing in front of me wearing a clown suit, I kind of wonder if the opiate effect applies to my case, too.
I spoke with my LENS-doctor (and supplements-doctor) about feasibility of the theory, and she didn't even blink. According to her, any person with leaky gut can have these effects, but people with autism show symptoms of it louder and more obviously than the general population. Some schools of thought call us "the canaries in the coal mine," regarding things like this. But my doctor assured me that it wasn't simply an autism thing. Schizophrenic people, and people with biopolar disorder, also show signs of increased suffering from this awful quirk of biology.
So that's a thing, apparently. The book's solution was twofold: the first is obvious, transitioning to a gluten-free casein-free diet. The second, which is easier to start but should transition in the first, is enzymes. My fiancee, Chris, is lactose-intolerant. He doesn't naturally produce enough lactase, the enzyme that digests dairy, to digest say, a glass of milk. So we mainly avoid feeding him dairy-heavy products. But if Chris needs to drink a glass of milk, or say, eat ice cream or some other dairy product, there's an option. He can chew up a lactase tablet with his first bite of food, swallow it, and then for a short time, his body will digest the dairy normally.
The concept behind these enzymes for gluten and casein seems more or less the same to my eyes. The authors actually recommend those enzymes, but also a broad-spectrum set of enzymes to help with digestion in general. Every person's biology is different, and some people only need a couple for a short time, while others may be using enzymes for the rest of their lives in addition to having a GFCF (gluten-free casein-free) diet.
After the wedding and honeymoon, I'm going to start on the enzymes under the care of my LENS-doctor, to see what happens. Going casein-free would be easier than going gluten-free, but depending on how much change I see, I might end up doing both.
The remainder of the book was practice: how to build these theories into your child's life. Calendars, tips for keeping the supplements, probiotics, enzymes, and special diets organized and regular, even recommendations for supplement companies, smartphone apps, and other useful tools. At the very back of the book is the science: 20+ pages of citations.
The tone of the book is friendly, optimistic, and helpful, and the advice generally seems consistent. One of the major emphases of the book is to treat the underlying disorder, rather than simply slapping a bandaid on the symptoms. For example, some people on the spectrum have constipation. A normal schedule for pooping is once a day, but sometimes these kids don't poop except once a week or so. In many cases, the book says, the doctors prescribe laxatives to get things moving. But that only treats the problem, not the cause. The book purports to treat the cause, so the problem won't need to be treated.
This kind of focus is consistent with what my LENS-doctor preaches and does: treat the cause(s) of the problem, and the problem should cease to be. It also makes logical sense, at least to me.
Read This Book If:
You or your child (autistic or not) suffers from digestive problems and behavioral problems. It's much, much better to treat the cause of a problem than to treat the problem itself. In addition, the book can help you organize your detective work to figure out what's going on, as well as give you things to ask your doctor(s) about. The popular tendency is to prescribe medication at the first sign of behavioral problems, but it may not be needed, and the side effects are often harmful even when you find the right combination of medications. Speaking as someone on the autism spectrum, I would much rather try propping up the immune and digestive systems before resorting to antidepressants and anti-psychotics.
Please, if you have a child that meets the criteria I've mentioned above, give this book or at least its recommendations a try before resorting to medication. If you're an adult with the same issues, I hope you'll consider it as well. Suffering through life is all we can manage sometimes, but it's not all our lives were meant to be. If any of the treatments in this book can make your life easier to deal with, it would be worthwhile.
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