Well sometimes things just have hidden blessings behind them, don't they?  There was a moment of panic wondering what we were going to do for our treatment.   But when one door closed another door opened, instantly in fact.  

I had been attending some "think tank" like events the past year hosted by a group called Thriiive.   Through that connection I met a fantastic Naturopathic Doctor who trained at Bastyr and with Deitrich Klinghardt, MD.   She had relocated to Southern California and was seeing patients.   I took Michael to see her and she picked up on things that no one had ever mentioned before.   She tested him for many different levels in which imbalances could exist.  She not only looked at the physical body but also the emotions, beliefs, psychological and spiritual levels.    This was amazing!    She was able to reverse some very painful things that were hindering Michael's improvement and soon became his healer.

Much of the treatment would be considered "out of the box" by most physicians.   Some may even think it's crazy.  But the results speak for themselves.  I had a kid that wouldn't ride in the same car with his dad for years.   It was very difficult.  In one session, with the participation of both Michael and his dad, this was reversed.   On a physical level much of his issues resolved.   But since this blog isn't about Michael I won't go into this too much except to say that Miss Jennifer (as we call her) rocks!

When we began seeing Miss Jennifer I was doing very well.   I was at that 80% better phase that Dr. Watkinson had brought me to.   So really I was an observer of her work with Michael.   Since much of this work involved me because we were working on healing past trauma's such as emotions from the divorce and other things, I also had some healing benefit.    A few times Miss Jennifer worked on me and helped me along with certain physical or emotional issues.   She is still my physician of choice for my family and sees us to this day.   This is quite a compliment since I have hired and fired many doctors along this journey, especially for Michael's care.

One day Michael was having a session with Miss Jennifer and I mentioned to her a dream I had the previous night.    In that dream I saw a little boy with autism that I know.    In his real life he is non-verbal.  But in my dream he was a little older and began talking to me instantly.   I was shocked in the dream and asked him if he wanted to talk in "real life".   He casually commented..."No...I need you to help my mom first."   That was very profound for me.   

As I'm dealing with Lyme disease in our family it has come very clear that these issues are FAMILY issues, including autism.   If you look at a family who has a child with autism you will find a plethora of other issues such as fibromyalgia, food allergies, seizures, candida, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, diabetes and of course autism.    So I learned early on that the WHOLE FAMILY NEEDED TREATMENT on some level.     If there aren't physical issues with family members there certainly are mental issues such as ADHD, asperger's syndrome, OCD, anxiety, etc.    Of course there is also the frantic state that parents are in to "heal their child" that can cause a chaotic environment for those around them.

What I just said in the above paragraph is very important.  Very important.  I ask you to look deeply into your own family and examine it.   These things are not a coincidence.  

So back to my dream.   This made me really think.   This boy with autism won't speak until his mom gets help?   Holy cow!  As I mentioned this to Miss Jennifer she told me about a teenager with many diagnosis' named Weston.  Weston is completely non-verbal in the speaking with your voice kind of sense.    However he is telepathic.    He speaks with his mind, if you meet him, he will teach you how to hear him.  A local healer named Meg Lupin voices for him.    Miss Jennifer had heard about them from her church and thought it might be good for me to contact them and learn about speaking to the kids telepathically.    I have to admit I was a little scared because that sounded pretty woo woo to me.  But the little kid in me thought that would be super cool.   I also envisioned my kids thinking I was super cool too. 

I immediately contacted Meg Lupin and made an appointment for Michael and I to meet them.  When we arrived her treatment room had lots of beautiful pictures that children with autism had drawn for her.    There were pictures of rainbows, angels and a beautiful palace.    She had crystals, religious icons and other nick knacks around.    Michael was in heaven.   I won't get into that because this day is a big turning point for his journey and he needs to tell it.   But suffice to say it was an amazing day.    When Weston arrived I felt a little awkward.   He is 16 and a little intimidating to be around.   I began talking to his mom about his special gifts.    While I was speaking with her I heard a very loud.. "Hi!" in my head.   That was weird.   I must be hearing things.   It was pretty surreal because eventually all I could do was just watch his moms mouth move, I had no idea what she was talking about.   I just wanted to see if I could hear Weston.    So I thought in my mind really loudly..."Weston if you are trying to talk to me, please speak up because your mom won't stop talking and it's hard to hear".    Right after that he let out a huge laugh!    I think he heard me!  Later I asked Meg and she said that he had indeed heard me and thought that was funny because he always says his mom can't hear him because she is always talking.  Hmm now this was interesting.

Since Michael had such a fantastic healing appointment with Meg, I made my own appointment.   Meg does Reiki which is an ancient form of hands on healing in which the universal energy is accessed to bring healing to the client.  It is very relaxing and an amazing treatment.   During this first treatment many amazing things happened.   Some Reiki Masters are able to tap into things that seem unimaginable.   It is not uncommon for guidance from our loved ones, angels and other beings to come through.  Not every Reiki Master has these gifts, but Meg does.     In my appointment my brother who had died by suicide when he was 19 came through.    Meg didn't know this history in our family previously but seemed to just know.   The messages my brother gave me were so healing.   I was being introduced to a lot of interesting things.   One other thing came out during this session, that I am a natural healer.   This doesn't make me any more special than anyone else because many people have this quality, but it was something no one had ever told me before.

I was sold!   I loved Reiki!   I had been thinking of taking a Reiki class for quite awhile but I always had a list of excuses as to why I couldn't or shouldn't.   I'm a Christian doesn't that go against our beliefs?  Nope...that one didn't fly.  It's weird?  Who made me the judge and jury.  I don't have the time?  Well on the day of the class everything that I could've been doing fell through and I had no excuses.  It was either lay on the couch or go to the Reiki class.  So I went.  

Poor Gail Thackray to have me as her student.   I grilled her and asked her where this energy was coming from.   What if you get bad energy coming instead of the good?   All these questions she answered with ease.   That put me at ease too.  I hope that after that initial Tami Q and A she found out that I am a very good student indeed.  One reason I wanted to take the Reiki class is that I had heard that it can really open up your intuition, calm your mind and make you more centered and grounded.   Coming in as a person with her mind spinning all the time this was a very attractive benefit.

In that Reiki 1 class we did a guided meditation.   After the meditation we were supposed to go around and share our experience.   When we got to one of the participants she said.."Well I couldn't do mine".   We wondered what had happened.   She then went on to say that some "guy" had interrupted her.   He showed her a big monster truck and had strawberry blonde hair and a goat tee.   Everyone looked around puzzled.   She said.."I'm kind of psychic...does this guy belong to any of you?"   Oh shit!   I raised my hand.   That was my brother.   Mouths dropped around me.  She said..."Well he just wanted you to know that he's here and that he likes that you are doing this".   I was floored.  

You may wonder what this has to do with Lyme disease.   But any kind of healing, is healing.  When your religion says that people who commit suicide go to hell, it is an amazing revelation to find out that this is not true.   My brother came through in the session with Meg and again at my Reiki class.   Oh he's not in hell, in fact, he is helping us out from the other side.   What a relief! 

Part of my Reiki 1 homework was to do 21 self-healing sessions.   I would lay in bed for about 45 minutes each day and do a Reiki session on myself.   This was a profound part of my healing.   Each day my intuition would increase.  I would begin to see visions.  I would even have profound dreams in which I was given guidance on what treatments to do, doctors to see, etc.   Each day was bringing something new and something amazing.   I was able to use this treatment to balance my emotions, my feelings, my body.   If I felt a little Lymie, I could balance it out with Reiki.  

Once my 21 day homework was complete I could then practice sessions on family members.   Michael has always been amazing to volunteer for such things.   I worked on him and he could give me great feedback.  (Michael is clairvoyant among other things)   He could tell me from a clairvoyant perspective what the Reiki energy looked like, felt and so on.   He would come and ask for a Reiki session when he felt out of balance either emotionally or physically.   If he had a bad day at school we would do Reiki and it would seem to make it all better.   Jenna was a great subject as well.   One time she jammed her toe.  We thought it might be broken, but it wasn't.   The pain was lingering.   I did a Reiki session and by the end of the session the pain was completely gone.  I have many Jenna stories which are similar to this.  

The special thing about Reiki is that the energy flows through you and out your hands.  So the practitioner is getting a Reiki treatment at the same time they are giving a treatment.   So both practitioner and client are having a healing.   In my book this is a win-win situation.   All of these benefits made me decide to pursue Reiki as a career path, and I moved through all levels to become a Master Teacher.

One way I decided to test my newfound intuition was at the book store.   I went to the metaphysical section and asked for guidance on choosing the best book for me.  I used my hand to scan the books for their energy to see which one resonated with me.   One popped off the shelf called "Vibrational Healing Through the Chakras" by Joy Gardner.  I opened it and read how you can find the underlying cause to disease and balance the body using vibrational tools.   Your body is energy, disease is energy, vibration is energy.  Find the right vibration and you can heal.    This made perfect sense to me.  I bought the book and read it in 2 days.   Come to find out Joy Gardener has a certification program for Vibrational Healing.   I signed up to take the classes.

The classes were for about 6 months and then a final 10 day workshop in Hawaii.   One thing I learned is that in order to be an effective healer you really need to dig through and deal with your old crap first.   This was about half of what we did in our classes and workshops.  We would learn a technique and then pair off to practice on each other.   So we gave a session and got a session.  Major healing for all of my classmates went on during this time.   We dug through the past, healed it to find healing in our present.   I can safely say that I don't ask any client to do something that I haven't done myself.   We were stripped raw in these classes and amazing healing took place.  

In one class I was the volunteer to receive a session from Joy as she taught the technique.   The technique is called cellular consciousness.  It is where you visualize shrinking down really small and entering into the body to look at parts that were diseased or dysfunctional.   (for the moms out there, kind of like on that cartoon Magic School Bus)   I chose to go to my gallbladder and liver.   Even being 80% healed I still had the occasional gallbladder attack and felt that my liver wasn't working optimally.   The information I gained from this session was priceless.   What we found out was that my liver was strongly affected by my mood.   When I get angry  and say it is a level 2 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst), the impact on my liver is a level 8.   So my anger would be amplified and have a strong impact on my liver.    My lesson from this was to know that it's ok to be angry at times but work to remain more balanced and refrain from putting yourself in those situations which your anger could escalate.   So I stay away from people and situations that seem to "push my buttons".    The gallbladder had many lessons for me.  What I learned here is that it cannot process the foods I was eating.   Being a cookie and chocolate addict it became very clear that it was not processing and the only way it would work would be if I ate a lot of greens.    I visually saw green sludge in the gallbladder like a disgusting sewer.   My solution to this created the greatest healing yet.

Learn what I did to cause my profound healing in part 4.

Once we received confirmation that both Michael and myself had Lyme disease, the mad dash to search out treatment began.    I looked online first, googling every search term I could think of in regards to Lyme disease.   From what I could determine there were three options:   antibiotics, herbal/naturopathic approach or Chinese herbal medicine.  At the time I just decided to look at the antibiotics, knowing I could revert to an herbal approach if that didn't work for me. 

I set out for a plane ride to Northern California to see one of the most well respected Lyme Literate Medical Doctors in the state.   Just getting to his office was a wild ride.  On the airplane we hit major turbulence and a thunder storm.  I began to have my first ever panic attack.  All I could do was cover my head and curl up in a ball of mush on my husbands lap, praying that this ride of terror would end.   My whole body was shivering and shaking as we landed.    I spent the next hour and a half begging my husband to rent a car and drive us home, instead of flying back in that death contraption called an airplane.  No budging there.  I think he's still in a little bit of trouble for that.

When I arrived at  the office there was an older lady in the waiting room.   I asked her if depression was part of this disease.  She said to me, "Honey, if you haven't tried to kill yourself yet, you're not that severe."    I was in shock.  I hadn't thought about that.   I did feel an energy drain, pulling me down.  Everytime a test result would come through that showed how messed up I was, I was pulled and drained farther and farther.    When I finally met the doctor it was surreal.   I mentioned to him that I saw sparkles above his head.  I'm sure that confirmed my craziness in his eyes.   He informed me that he really couldn't treat me effectively until I had all of my mercury fillings removed.

The flight home was worse than the flight going.   This really sucked.

My husband and I seemed to dig the money out of nowhere to get these fillings removed.   Unfortunately the dentist we chose talked a good talk about his method for removal, but when it was said and done, I was sicker than ever.   He removed half of them and the pain was excruciating, something worse than child birth.  The pain was so severe that it ran up the entire right side of my head.   I became very sensitive to light and sound, often would sit on the couch with an afghan over my head only peeking at the TV through the holes, while it was turned very low.   The pain was so bad, he prescribed me vicodin.   Although I never finished the first bottle for fear of becoming an addict, I got to the point when the vicodin didn't even work at all.    At that point I decided to seek out a different dentist.    Hallelujah!   I found Dr. Hansen!  

Just the sheer concept of giving me oxygen before treating me actually took some of the pain away.  They worked very slowly and carefully, watching my every wince.  I seemed to metabolize the novacaine very quickly and needed a very high dose to complete the treatment, they were very sensitive to me and went at a snails pace to keep me comfortable.    When it was over they sent me home with homeopathy pellets.   These were to help with pain, inflammation and quick recovery.   I was shocked to the core when after only 2 days, all the pain was gone.  The pain from the original work and the work he just completed.   It was amazing and a blessing for me because that whole ordeal was horrifying.

With a mouth free of amalgams I was clear to start treatment.    We started with the Cowden herbal protocol, adding in some Zithromax and Alinia to treat co-infections and parasites.   When it came to remembering to take my own treatment apparently I stunk.   I would forget to take the herbs or only take the ones that were palatable.   Cognitively I was serious about my treatment but there was something lacking there in the follow-through.   Quite frankly I became extremely ill during this time.   The Alinia literally turned my skin yellow, I had diarrhea and was dizzy, about to pass out most of the day.   At the same time my hair was falling out and I had to deal with the fear of losing my hair.   I had a sneaky suspicion that the Zithromax was doing that.   I called the doctor and he encouraged me to push through.  But in the end I encouraged myself to say "screw it".   I felt like crap and was losing my hair!    I understood the whole "herx" concept and needing to detox this crap out, but really this was pretty extreme.

A new set of symptoms began to develop during this time.   I started to forget things.  Not just things, everything!   My husband found me once in the FIR sauna crying because I could remember our anniversary date.  I thought maybe it was in the second half of the year but that was it.    I also forgot daily things, honey do lists, etc.   If I didn't write it down, it didn't get done.   Luckily I always remembered to pick my kids up from school.   Another symptom was the nighttime hallucinations.   I have always been a sleepwalker, but this was something different.    Nearly every single night I would wake up screaming, seeing bugs, rats, spiders (fill in the blank with whatever creepy thing you can think of) crawling all over me.   After a quick switch on of the lights we would determine that it was "all in my head" and I would try to go back to sleep....although shaking of fear wondering which was coming next.    This happened night after night.  My mind was constantly chattering, thinking, making lists and it seemed like it wouldn't shut up.   I was slurring my words wondering what I had just said many times.  In some ways I felt autistic myself.  

I had been on a gluten free / casein free diet for a few months now.   My digestive system was in a constant state of...well, BURN!   Enough said about that.

Somehow I still managed to drag myself into yoga class.  Although I did move down to the beginner class which was easier.   One day I tried doing a headstand in class.  I was so proud, I'd never done one before.    When I got home I showed my husband and the kids.   Something felt weird though right after I did it.  It wasn't right.   That incident began what I call the "6 month headache from hell".   No more exercise for me, the couch would become my friend for the next few years.

I found a group online who was seeing great results with high doses of salt and vitamin C.  I gave that a try and many of my symptoms went away.  I was starting to feel good again.  I did this for 6 months.  It was only 2 things to remember to take so I did a good job at remembering to take it each day.   After 6 months I went off of it.   Uh oh!   It was too soon.   You don't realize it's too soon until a few weeks go by and the bugs have the opportunity to repopulate.   I was back to my old symptoms again.  It wasn't as severe though, but they were back.  When I started up the salt and vitamin C again, there were no improvements.  I guess the bugs outsmarted me this time.

As I'm going through this, I am searching for treatments for my son.   I was convinced that this was the "missing piece of the autism puzzle", the key to his recovery.   I found an online group of about 500 parents who had Lyme disease and autism running rampant in their family too.    The problem was that no one had any idea what to do about it.   Some were trying antibiotics with mixed results and others were sticking with the natural methods.   Me and my big mouth mentioned that we should get the autism doctors and Lyme doctors together for a physicians think tank.   That concept spread like wildfire.  We all kept talking about it.   Being a former go-getter I decided with a few other moms to make it happen.    We formed a non-profit foundation called Lyme Induced Autism Foundation and started sending out invitations to the doctors.

Boy was that a lesson.    Most of the autism doctors gave me the virtual finger.  I had responses back like....you couldn't afford for me to come, if we treat Lyme we will lose our licenses, etc.   I nearly fell off my chair.   Luckily the doctors that were meant to come did come and we had a great meeting with lots of fantastic input.  Those notes are still available on www.liafoundation.org .  I learned at that meeting that you must be free and clear of all symptoms for at least 2 months before decreasing treatment.  Oops!

At that meeting was an anomaly.   This doctor attended who was brought by a Defeat Autism Now doctor who was overseeing Michael's treatment at the time.   He sat there with his viles of energetic substances and demonstrated to us his treatment method.   It was very intriguing.   I was sold.   Enter in Dr. Toby Watkinson.   We stopped everything and put our entire treatment of my family into his hands.   He spent 2 years unpeeling layer after layer of infection and toxicity in myself, Michael and my daughter Jenna.  By this time my daughter had begun to exhibit the dreaded food allergies and even had a very scary seizure.   We were doing energy medicine.  It was considered completely out of the box at the time.  But our bodies certainly resonated with it and enjoyed the concept of not having to show pill after pill down our throats.  Even I could follow the treatment with ease.

During this time we made major lifestyle changes.   We rid our household of all toxic substances, changed our soaps, cleaning products and put good quality air purifiers throughout the home.   We rid our kitchen of non-stick cookware, microwave and changed the water we drink.   We had a home inspection which revealed a problem with radiation and electro-magnetic frequency.  We made the needed changes and turn off the electricity every night in our home.   We learned how to muscle test and tested everything we ingested to be sure it was resonating with us and creating healing for us instead of problems.   We learned about choosing a cell phone responsibly by looking at the SAR ratings.   At the same time I was doing the foundation as a volunteer basis for many hours per day, running myself ragged.  I planned conferences, mentoring parents and just pushed through.     But I still made great progress under his care as did Michael.

I always say that Dr. Toby brought us about 80% of the way.   Unfortunately the recession hit and our household income took a huge cut.  We could no longer afford our treatment.  

The story continues in PART 3.

 

This article a long time coming.  I write this not as a therapy for myself but in hopes that if one piece of this story gives the reader an "aha" moment, it has been worth it.

About 21 years ago I developed a ring-like rash on my arm.   At the time, this was in the early 90's and I thought it was a ringworm rash.   Not thinking anything of it, I put some "Calamine" lotion on it and went on my way.   A few weeks later I began college and moved into my dorm room.   It was very stressful because I had never been away from home.   About 2 days into living in this new environment I developed a very high fever and excruciating headache.   It was so painful that I was admitted to the hospital.

Being just 19 at the time I did not appreciate the many tests they ran me through in the hospital.  They took blood from me every hour for 24 hours.   Finally when the only spot left to draw blood was my ankle, I pitched a major fit and refused to let them draw anymore blood.   Then came the 10 interns following my doctor like anxious little puppy dogs.   They foamed at the mouth when the doctor announced he was to do a spinal tap on me.   When I heard that, I had an immediate flash of some movie I had seen where the woman was squirming and screaming bloody murder as she was pinned down for this procedure.    I decided my only way out of this was to be a major bitch and throw a huge tantrum.   I did this and they all excited out of the room, rolling their eyes at me probably thinking that I was going to go infect the world with this "suspected" meningitis they thought I had.

They released me from the hospital and home I went.   To break this 105 degree fever my mom decided to pull a chapter from Little House on the Prairie.   She loaded me into the bathtub and proceeded to pour ice cubes all over me until it shivered that fever out of me.    Well thank you mom because it actually worked!  Fever gone, feeling better, off I went back to college.

During the two years I lived in the dorms I developed some serious allergies, asthma issues and a 6 month battle with what I thought was "mono".   We didn't think anything of it.  After all I was living in the dorms, eating like crap and drinking here and there. I had no concept of healthy eating and "drove thru" for most of my meals.  When I wasn't at Carl's Jr. or Burger King eating french fries and Pepsi, I was eating the lovely dorm cafeteria food in which the only thing I really liked to eat was their white bread and chocolate cake.

The next 10 years proved pretty uneventful.   I seemed to have some GI disturbance but it just became part of daily life and didn't think anything of it.   But then I became pregnant with my daughter.    During this pregnancy I developed asthma very seriously.   At one point I had such a severe asthma attack I began to vomit and was rushed to the doctor.  I also developed many headaches and light sensitivity.   We chalked all that up to pregnancy, after all my bloodwork always came back clean.

After giving birth to Jenna I developed strep throat immediately and was quarantined from my new baby for two weeks.   After that time I began having more severe GI issues such as constipation and cramping after eating certain foods.   Along with the continued asthma I just learned to live with these symptoms.  They became part of life.

When my son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 7, all focus turned on him.   A frantic race to heal him began.  My entire being was dedicated to researching, finding answers, fighting the school district, getting him services and finding the exact biomedical treatments he needed to heal.   I became an angry lion and anyone who got in my way would get trampled on.  I began to develop frequent ear infections and sinus infections during this time.  I did think it was odd that a woman my age would get ear infections, but I loyally took my antibiotics and went to work, dragging through each day.   At the same time I realized that as I was completely immersed in this learning, I could also share this information with other parents.  I began volunteering for TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) as a meeting coordinator.

The day after my first TACA meeting I lost my voice.   It was completely gone.  There wasn't even a squeak!  I thought I must be coming down with a virus or so I did nothing.  After about 3 weeks I decided to go to the doctor.   He easily put me on a z-pack, thinking I must have a bug.  I took the medicine but it did not work.   I then made an appointment with a local ENT.   He looked into my throat and determined that he had never seen anything like this.  He stated that my vocal cords looked like they had Bell's Palsy, looking paralyzed.   He decided that it must be a virus and to let him know if it didn't go away in a few weeks.   In fact it did go away right at the 2 month mark.   It was 2 months that I had no voice.

When my voice returned my body began showing some wild symptoms.   I became dizzy and very achy in my joints.   I began walking very slowly with barely enough energy to make it up the stairs.   I felt like an old woman.   My GI symptoms persisted and I developed frequent headaches.   Add that to the wheezing and I was a hot mess.   I went to a D.O. who said I probably had Epstein Barr.    I decided to go to a Naturopath who worked in the same office as my son's doctor who treated his autism symptoms.    Her name is Nicola McFazdean, ND.   To my luck she is also an expert in Lyme disease.

Dr. McFazdean took a detailed history and when we listed them out I had quite the list of symptoms.   It shocked me.   She determined that I could have either mold toxicity or Lyme disease.    I didn't think either one of those options was probable.  But I felt so crummy I told her to run the tests.    Low and behold I came back positive for both of them.   The Lyme disease was the most conclusive though.   I was a CDC positive which left no doubt that I had the infection.   The health department even called me to ask questions about this diagnosis.   I was the only one in my county they had ever called.  

After receiving my diagnosis, I had my entire family tested.   My son, Michael, came back positive.  This began the epiphany and a long road of guilt, anger and confusion as to how this all happened and my part in his development of autism.  

Read about my treatment in Part 2, coming soon.

30 Things Autism Has Made Me “Aware” Of

By Tami Duncan

1.  Food can hurt you – especially the wrong kind.  (GMO’s, pesticides, too much sugar, food colorings, preservatives, hormones and heavy metals)

2.  Food can heal you – Organic, good quality, fresh, grass fed, hormone-free

3.  Vaccines and genetics don’t cause all autism – many unvaccinated children are diagnosed with autism.  I believe these children with autism were “meant” to have autism, to have these struggles and this journey to overcome.  Whether their autism journey was due to vaccines, Lyme disease, PANDAS, environmental toxic exposures or whatever...it’s still a journey they were going to take, for a purpose.

4.  Doctors don’t know all – how about a healthy dose of mother’s instinct for you?

5.  You must treat the body, emotions and spirit in order to get true healing.

6.  Heal the family and the child will heal.

7.  Autistic behaviors can be a mirror into yourself.  Is your child too loud?  (maybe you are too and he’s trying to tell you that)

8.  We have allowed big industry to destroy our earth and our bodies.

9.  All children with autism can communicate and speak to you.  Stop, relax, close your eyes, clear your mind and listen.

10.  All autistic children are smart and gifted.

11.  Meet your child where he is and you will connect, understand and heal each other.

12.  You can’t fool a person with autism.  They can read your energy and if you “sugar coat” something, lie to them or fudge, they can read it and will call you on it.

13.  These kids already know God whether you do or not.

14.  Kids and adults with autism are here to CHANGE THE WORLD!  They are here to say “Wake up people! You’ve been asleep at the wheel!”

15.  Children with autism see things that most of us do not.  Try to see what they see.  (Clue:  They aren’t talking to an imaginary friend.)

16. Ask yourself...”What in my family needs to be healed?  What would God’s reason be to send me a child with autism?  What does he have to teach us?”  

17.  You can’t treat the child with one method...physical healing or behavioral training?   It will always come back to bite you in the butt.  You must treat on all levels.  (Body, mind, emotional and spiritual)

18.  They can hear you!   Stop talking about your child with him in the room.  He hears and understands you and picks up on your frustration, anger, depression, etc.   He will mirror those behaviors back at you and you will wonder why he is acting a certain way.   He is showing you that YOU are acting that way and need to be aware of it and stop!

19.  The “other world” your child may seem to be in is much more fun and accepting than our world.   In the “other world” he can talk and communicate to perfection.  In our world it’s a struggle and no one listens. Make this world a place that he will want to be!

20.  These kids teach us to be more loving and understanding of many things.  (parents who seem to not control their kids in public, disabled people, etc)

21.  These kids are very wise.

22.  “We hate Big Pharma – until we need you that is.”   What do you think a child with autism would say about that?   “You’re a hypocrite mom!”  

23.  Feed me crap and I’ll give you crap!  

24.  Feed me love and I’ll give you love!

26.  Close mindedness and inside the box thinking will do more harm than good.

27.  It’s rare when a child with autism has “savant” like skills, thank you Oprah for the misleading shows each year on this.   Most kids have more important gifts than playing the piano or making a beautiful piece of art.  They bring the gift of enlightenment, but you have to accept it.

28.  Balance the energy in the home and family and watch your child thrive.

29.  Kids that come home overwhelmed from school are taking on the energy of everyone around them.  They need a good dose of “grounding”.  Walk barefoot in the grass, hold a black obsidian stone, put his hands on the wall and have him dig his feet into the ground...anything to get them balanced back in this world.  If they are attracted to religious symbols like crosses or angels, let them have them and keep in their room, it helps them feel protected.

30.  Advocacy is productive, anger is not.  Spend your time productively.

Please feel free to comment and add to the list.  I'd love to hear what your guy/girl has taught you.

With Peace and Love,

Tami Duncan

www.tamiduncan.com