Spectrum Support Starter Kit

Raising a child with autism can be compared to balancing on a three-legged stool, with Behavior, Biomedical Health and School Support as the three supportive legs.  If any of them is weak, it makes the others not work as well.   If you can work on all three areas, especially the weakest, “balance” gets much easier.

If you have a not-yet-diagnosed child, who is showing signs of needing nutritional support for brain health and digestion, we welcome you as well.   You will most likely find many useful tips in this page.

At BrainChild Nutritionals we believe that biomedical, behavioral and school can all work together, and help to support each other.  Conversely, if things are way off balance in one area, other areas rapidly become unstable.  At various periods of your children’s life, you will probably find yourself devoting larger amounts of time and effort to working on one area over the others.

It has been our experience that making lasting progress in the behavioral area is much easier when you are also supporting your child’s health biomedically.  Achieving real success at school is also easier with biomedical support.   So we believe that it’s crucial to spend time at some point on all three, and that once you get at handle on each one, the others will become easier to manage.

 At BrainChild Nutritionals we believe that biomedical, behavioral and school can all work together, and help to support each other.  Conversely, if things are way off balance in one area, other areas rapidly become unstable.

Our goal is to support your child's nutritional and physical health, which can help them make behavioral and educational progress that really sticks.  We’ve seen over and over that this is possible, through the use of appropriate, high quality nutritional supplements and the support of family, friends, experienced practitioners, and all of us here at BrainChild Nutritionals.

As you may know, the biomedical approach to helping children on the spectrum often includes quite a lot of  supplements.  This is partly because the children’s digestive systems are so out of balance that they cannot absorb nutrients well, particularly at the beginning.  It’s also because so many of their body processes aren't working very well to do what a normal body does on its own.

The idea is to get enough of what the body needs to absorb well and be utilized as intended, so that the body can slowly start functioning better, and eventually pick up some of the work itself and need less help.  Another goal is to help support the gut to perform more effectively, absorbing nutrients better from food and supplements.

Supplementation can seem complicated.  Understanding what each kind of supplement is supposed to help with, and getting them in place takes some time, planning, and most of all, patience.  We know you can do it, and we look forward to helping you learn how.

Autism Supplementation 101

1. Vitamins and Minerals

Typically, children on the spectrum do not absorb nutrients well because their digestive systems are not working very well.  Often, they eat a very limited list of foods.  B vitamins are particularly important because they are crucial for optimal brain health.  Minerals, particularly magnesium, zinc, selenium and trace minerals, can be crucial as well.  

Some parents and teachers report children “waking up” or becoming less brain-fogged when they start taking well-absorbed vitamins and minerals such as ours.  This suggests that these kids were literally starving for these nutrients, and may not have been able to absorb and utilize them from diet alone.

2. Probiotics

A healthy digestive system contains good flora, which is “good” bacteria that helps with digestive function.  If you think of the gut like a garden, the good flora is the plants, worms and helpful insects and the bad flora is weeds and destructive bugs.  Probiotics are essentially “seeds” to grow more good flora.  Probiotics add good bacteria, and help it to “take root” and grow (colonize), bringing the gut back in balance.  If children have serious yeast overgrowth and other gut dysbiosis, probiotics alone may not be enough to rectify the situation. Measures such as our Natural Candida Program may be needed to return a healthy bacterial balance to the digestive tract. 

3. Fish Oils

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are considered "essential" because they are needed throughout the human life cycle, cannot be produced in the human body, and therefore must be provided through the diet.  EFAs help with brain and nerve development, cellular communication, oxygenation, metabolism and immune response.   In children on the spectrum, Omega-3 EFAs such as DHA and EPA are particularly important for the brain, the immune system, and to help fight inflammation.  Many studies show that EFA supplementation can also help with positive mood and attention.

4. Digestive Enzymes

Our bodies make digestive enzymes to help break down the food we eat.  The better food is broken down, the better our bodies can absorb the nutrients in it, and the easier it is for us to get rid of the rest as waste.   Kids on the spectrum commonly have low levels of stomach acid and dysfunctional food processing throughout the gut.  These children can also have special dietary needs, such as intolerances to proteins such as gluten (in wheat) and casein (in dairy). Dietary enzymes can help break down aggravating  proteins and aid digestion. A by-product of better protein digestion is often noted as an improvement in mood and disposition in these children. However, it should be noted that enzymes are not a cure or treatment for any medical condition. Enzymes simply support good digestive function, which can help anyone's mood and disposition! 

Our focus here at BrainChild, of course, is on the biomedical side of things.  Our goal is to support your child's nutritional and physical health, which can help them make behavioral and educational progress that really sticks.  We’ve seen over and over that this is possible, through the use of appropriate, high quality nutritional and natural supplements and the support of family, friends, experienced practitioners, and all of us here at BrainChild Nutritionals.

As you may know, the biomedical approach to helping children on the spectrum often includes quite a lot of natural supplements. This is partly because the children’s digestive systems are so out of balance that they cannot absorb nutrients well, particularly at the beginning.  It’s also because so many of their body processes aren't working very well to do what a normal body does on its own.

The idea is to get enough of what the body needs to absorb well and be utilized as intended, so that the body can slowly start functioning better, and eventually pick up some of the work itself and need less help.  Another goal is to help support the gut to perform more effectively, absorbing nutrients better from food and supplements.

Supplementation can seem complicated.  Understanding what each kind of supplement is supposed to help with, and getting them in place takes some time, planning, and most of all, patience.  We know you can do it, and we look forward to helping you learn how.