Dr. Julie Buckley

Many of you have been waiting for our post regarding Dr. Buckley, here it is!

Dr. Julie Buckley, as featured in Jenny McCarthy's book, is located in Jacksonville, Florida. We flew all the way from Washington DC, booked a hotel and rented a car to simply have a single moment with her. 

Now, I am not sure about those of you who are reading our blog but WE have not encountered a cutting-edge, proactive doctor for quite some time. This is not to say that we are without help or hope...but it has been some time, nevertheless.

In the past month both of our autistic children seemed to slide into a downward spiral with no fair warning or reason. Days of endless chatter and limited verbalization met nights of restless, sleepless anxiety. Enough was enough so we called on Dr, Buckley, our last hope at our last straw.

With an office located in a quiet marsh stricken neighborhood, one would never anticipate the unmatched confidence that expelled so peacefully from within. Maintaing a cozy playground in the front yard and a AWESOME waiting room clearly designed for autistic little ones, a parent couldn't help but find themselves relaxed. Add the bulletin board strewn with autism related postings and a little fridge containing GAPS "whipped cream"....this could be our version of heaven.

Could it be? That there was a heaven that lay just outside our endless purgatories door? Could it be? A heavenly being with a profound understanding of the way god created our little ones with a fearless, confident and extremely reassured attitude that this was indeed the end of the struggle?

It was. Dr. Buckley is a mother of a 14 year old autistic child. Her methods are real, proactive and TANGIBLE. No cooky brain washing hypnosis or endless injections. Simple. Raw. Real. HOPE.

Our children, especially our worst, have not been the same since initial contact with Dr. Buckley. Even without a single physical treatment, their attitudes changed into happy, smiling, calm and hopeful; as if they themselves knew they were going to get better.

I highly recommend seeing Dr. Buckley under any costs. For the first time in 13 years, we believe there is a chance our children will live a functional, main stream life.

Stay tuned for more in depth postings regarding Dr. Buckley and our ongoing treatments!

Doctor Julie Buckley

Sprouting Almonds: How To

Many of your are probably thinking right now, "why would I want to SPROUT my nuts? Why would they sell them to be if they weren't ok to eat as is?". You are not incorrect, however it is much more safe and gentle on your digestive system to eat sprouted nuts.

Nuts that have casing or film overtop are being protected by mother nature with a series of natural enzymes in layers after the shell has gone. Soaking and sprouting releases the layers and allows the seed to become itself, in its most vulnerable form; allowing you to digest it and all of the nutrients it contains without missing anything.


Almonds
Step One:

• Take a glass jar and fill it 2/3-1/2 way with room temperature, filtered water.
• Add 1Tsp sea salt and stir until dissolved
• Take your almonds (preferably raw and organic) and pour them into the jar of water, until almonds reach just beneath the water line, leaving about 1/4 inch.
• Cover with sprouting lid or foil that has been slit for air.
• Sit on counter for 12 hours.

Step Two:

• Rinse almonds well
• Place in bottom of glass dish so they are not on top of each other.
• Cover with wet paper towel.
• Let stand for 12 hours
• Check on towel from time to time and make sure it stays wet.
• **Almonds cannot get moldy, check on them from time to time and make sure everything is going smoothly. An alternative option is to place them on a rack and run water over them occasionally while sprouting.

Step Three:

• Rinse thoroughly
• These almonds are now ready to be eaten, made milk of or dehydrated! Enjoy!
• Store in refrigerator until dehyrdated 

Our News Interview About Memantine

Sara was interviewed by Washington DC's Channel 9 News regarding the clinical research study! Here is a link to the interview:

USA9 News Interview

Namenda; After 2 Months

It has been just over two months since we put our 13 year old on Namenda*. We started at a daily dose of 5mg and almost immediately started seeing mild results.

This week we upped her dosage to 7.5mg and INSTANTLY saw an increase in mannerisms, tone inflection and number of words in her sentences!

God help us as we are rendered completely defenseless on going from Autism to typical 13 year old girl virtually overnight! How exciting this process is going to be!

*Information:

Namenda
http://www.namenda.com/?WT.srch=1&guid=286163689

Memantine Clinical Research Study: Month 2-3

It has come to our attention that the Memantine* is actually the generic version of Namenda*, a drug, already on the market for Alzheimer's, used at parent/doctor discretion for experimental autism therapy.

We are entering our 3rd month in clinical trials at Children's National Hospital in Washington DC.
This trial is focused on allowing Memantine* to enter the FDA approved market SPECIFICALLY for the use of treating Autism in children under the age of 12. His dose has doubled to 6mg a day, in the for of two 3mg capsules.

To date we have seen some improvement in sentence structure, number of words used in a given sentence and also more "typical" social outreach. For example, this morning our 11 year old looked at me and said, "Ally, tickle tickle!" and then smiled and started ticking me under my chin.

We have also seen some negatives that have been somewhat of a concern. The STIM behavior is at a recent high; loud and aggressive noises with constant repeating of word phrases. These behaviors couple with severe headache, diarrhea, loss of interest in food and what appears to be nausea (I say that loosely as we don't know exactly how he feels as he cannot communicate it directly).

Food for thought:

Our 13 year old is on Namenda* already, they started about the same time frame. She never experienced side effects such as headache or over all ill disposition, but did suffer the increase of STIM activity including loss of sleep on a regular basis (waking at ours like 4am and 5am for the day).

She has also shown a large increase of number of words used in a sentence along with an enormous increase in use of typical "quips".


*Resources:

Namenda

http://www.namenda.com/?WT.srch=1&guid=286163689

Memantine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memantine

The Ultimate GF, Casein Free, Weight Gain Shake

Many of you out there know exactly what it is like to have an autistic child who over eats or under eats. Unfortunately, we have one of each. For years it has been a constant battle as to keeping one out of the cupboards and force feeding the other. However, newly found hope is in sight!

A few months ago we started doing raw milk kefir smoothies* per the "Brain Food Diet". We purchased a cow, bought the kefir cultures and see the milk man at our door every Thursday. Routine shakes, less "stym-ing" and the cycle continues; until we bought a nutribullet.

OF COURSE! This makes so much sense! Lets add things to the smoothie! Our picky eater is more than picky; he has efficiently illuminated all foods out of his diet except millet bread, rice, rice pasta and GF "treats" of any kind. 58lbs and 11 years of age; we needed something resourceful, and fast, so I developed the perfect recipe to please both our little sweet tooth junkie and our eager nurturing hearts.

1 regular banana
4oz of organic, unsweetened applesauce or a "snack-pack" apple sauce
42g (or one scoop) any vegan Shakeology* mix
1 cup frozen, mixed organic berries (excluding strawberries, see "Brain Food Diet"
1-2Tbs liquid, alcohol free, stevia
2 Raw eggs (preferably the highest quality organic eggs available to you)
1tsp fermented spirulina (we use "Body Ecology")

This concoction contains over 700 calories, over 30g of protein and is loaded with natural fiber, probiotics and nutrients. Though it resources ingredients from unique places, nothing is more satisfying than seeing our kid drink an entire shake full of hope for growth into his future!



Ingredient & Equipment Information:

Shakeology
www.shakeology.com

Body Ecology
www.bodyecology.com

Nutribullet
www.nutribullet.com

What is Spirulina?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement)

Memantine Clinical Case Study: 2nd Month

We are now entering into our second month of our participation in the Memantine clinical research study at Children's National Hospital in Washington DC.

So far we have noticed a small increase in use of "typical" language in most sentences as well as larger sentence formation. We are thrilled to have a new understanding for what is going on inside our 11yr old's head!

Negative side effects that we have seemed to find that correlate with the use of Memantine are headaches, seeming nauseous (I say this carefully as autistic kids can not verbalize exactly what ill feelings they are having), tiredness and much more stim behaviors. We have taken to advil, dramamine and Son Rise Therapy to help lessen the severity of these things and are hoping to see less frequency in the future.