This information-packed guest blog is the second in a series from my friend and colleague Dan E. Burns. Dan is absolutely passionate about asking tough questions and finding answers related to young adults living with autism and their families. Dan’s last guest post Funding Autism for Life addressed options families have for supporting and caring for individuals with autism when they age out of public school. This excellent post from Dan explores The Brookwood Community, the brain in relation to movement and exercise and much, much more. Enjoy!
Touch, See, Feel, Move: The Brookwood Community in Texas and the Autism Epidemic
By Dan E. Burns
“We don’t just believe in miracles,” my guide told me, “we rely on them.” White-haired and in her eighties now, striding ahead of me cell phone in hand, my guide, called “Me-Maw” by some of the residents who to flock around her, prefers to remain anonymous. “I didn’t build this wonderful place,” she explained. “It’s God’s doing.”
She opened door after door as we made our way through clusters of busy citizens in the ceramic workshops, gym, natatorium, and clinic to a fine, on-campus restaurant near the gift shop and gardens of The Brookwood Community, a 495-acre residential/educational village designed to enhance the lives of adults with disabilities.

Right around the corner lurks a yearly extravaganza of ghoulishly engrossing treats and spooktacular tricks. Children have selected their favorite characters to transform into for a night of house-hopping fun. Schools are having fall parties, churches are putting together carnivals, and neighborhoods are stocking up with sugary and corn-syrup laden “goodies”. Does this scare the nightlights out of anyone else?

This is the time of year where many get the flu shot so, I thought it would be wise with all the media attention around vaccination to tell you what is in your flu shot. There are many option you have to choose from so its best to do the least toxic one or skip it altogether if you are weary. Its important you know they base the current flu vaccine on strains from the previous years and viruses evolve, this is why people still get the flu despite the vaccine.

If you’ve followed my blog for much time, you probably know that I’m very concerned about how changes to our environment in the past 50-100 years have affected the health and wellbeing of our entire society, but especially our children’s generation. With Autism Spectrum Disorders, asthma, life-threatening allergies, ADD/ADHD, diabetes and so much more at record numbers and on the rise in our littlest population, I’ve come to the conclusion that many variables must be to blame for these frightening increases.

The journal of pediatrics published an article earlier this year describing cases of pediatric lead intoxication from imported Indian spices and cultural powders. They determined lead concentrations in these products and predicted the effects of ingestion on pediatric blood lead levels (BLLs). The results showed cases of pediatric lead poisoning from Indian spices or cultural powders. Twenty-two of 86 spices and foodstuff products contained >1 µg/g lead (for these 22 samples, mean: 2.6 µg/g [95% confidence interval: 1.9–3.3]; maximum: 7.6 µg/g).

So along our journey here we have discussed how antibiotics play a role in poor health, yeast for example is what we most recently went over. You can catch that blog from a few months ago to refresh yourself or read for the first time. As a biomedical doctor I can tell you there is a reason for antibiotics, they have their time and place. Unfortunately, their time and place is too often in the wrong hands. Once we get children healthy again, having addressed the dysbiosis and inflammation its imperative we refrain from using antibiotics if at all possible.

Last week, I discussed in “School Lunches on GFCF: Obstacle #1” the tough task of meal planning for your GFCF child’s school lunch. This week, I am writing about the second obstacle which parents face in regards to taking that GFCF lifestyle to school. I am talking about peer pressure.
OBSTACLE #2: PEER PRESSURE

I want to touch on interpretation and the role it plays in your child’s recovery. When I refer to “interpretation” I am speaking to the act of the physician looking over, ordering and recommending properly. This is VITAL in any care plan and for any child. I have had hundreds of patients say to me “Dr.

I just got back from the Defeat Autism Now! Conference and as usual it was great. They are starting to advocate more for alternative therapies, including craniosacral therapy. I was happy to see them mention this as I too have seen huge improvements in my 8 years of doing this therapy. I had some time to speak with some of the leading biomedical physicians and we all agree that caring for these children takes a certain expertise and knowledge. Many doctors from all over the world come to learn about biomedical care and with the help of DAN! It’s become the starting point for many doctors.

A few weeks ago I did part 1 of this blog to bring awareness to parents with special needs children and the importance of getting guidance. So, lets dive in and answer these questions so you can get started tomorrow.
Does the type of testing matter?
Each doctor has a toolbox of testing they do and all are not equal, neither is the interpretation of the results. I will touch on this more next month but in the mean time find someone that treats and sees children with special needs and make sure they have the knowledge in functional medicine (treating the core issues) to treat your child.