This is an excerpt of Case #4 from:

One Heart,
One Mind
The Case for Healing Autism and Pandas
by Pierre Fontaine

Case 4 05 – 28 – 10
DOB : 07 – 03 – 04
MC: Autism
EC: 5
SI: 3
SS: 3

Mom

His primary challenges are language and social skills. He is a little social
with the people he knows and social with his sister. She is a social butterfly.
He may have some capacity to socialize but he is clearly not confident. He is
introverted like my husband but clearly there is a problem and his speech is
far from being at level. He can be very serious, he seems to research or
observe everything rather than join in.

When he was twelve months old he became a very picky eater and
developed a lot of oral sensory issues. Now it is much easier but it is a
learned behavior. He mostly eats hot dog and peanut butter sandwich.

Please tell me about the oral sensory issue.

It all began when he was 10 months old. He started to push foods away, our
PD felt it was only a phase but it continued. He started to loose ground in
height and weight percentile. He ate anything crunchy. Looking back, we
should have known it was autism. Other than that he seemed to develop
normally.

At 18 months old he spoke six words instead of a hundred. The pediatrician
said “he is a boy, let’s see when he is two.” He also did not wave bye. My
mom, who had been in early development, made an appointment for us.

It turns out he was not just speech delayed but also socially delayed as well
as adaptive delay. In that moment, I saw his life before my eyes. I saw this
normal and wonderful life we have start to disintegrate. My husband insisted
he would be fine. I felt he was standing in the way but once he saw how
serious I was he backed down and became supportive.

OK. Tell me about his development, please.

His development is way behind. He does not sense that he is different. We
were in a playgroup, all the kids were running through the house and he was
spinning the wheels of a tractor. I actually don’t think he has any anguish
about the way he is at this moment though he has come a very long way
since then.

Tell me about the pregnancy, please.

From a physical point of view my pregnancy was so normal. I didn’t have
any concerns even during the delivery. I think had I not breastfed him for a
few months he would be in worse shape than he is now. He spit up a lot and
he was not a good sleeper from the get go. We had to swaddle him in a
blanket otherwise he’d cry. He cried a lot until he was 10 months old. I
didn’t think of that as a red flag. Now he sleeps like a dream and has done so
for a long time.

He cried terribly after his first round of vaccine. He started making screechy
noises with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. It was so strange. To
this day, every now and then he suddenly makes noises or screams.
Recently, I pulled him off supplements, I felt bad for him since he had to
drink this awful drink. I think they have been good for him but I wanted to
see what happens when I pull them off and after a week we saw some
regression.

He has a hard time focusing when there are two or three tasks in a row but
what I would love to see most of all is social development. When other kids
ask him a question he turns his back to them and gets ornery. “They are
asking you a question!” and he does not care. If his sister asked him a
question he does not turn his back on her.

He started turning his back on people when he was two years old. Even last
week when a boy greeted him with “Hi, John”, he crossed his arms and said
“DON’T SAY hi”. We have been trying to teach him to not be ornery for a
long time but no matter how much we try he does it.

We signed him up in a soccer team. He just stayed in one place on the field,
totally in lalaland.

Tell more about being ornery, please.

A boy squirted him and he got very defensive. He does not want to play or
say “hi.” Conversation is nearly impossible with another child of the same
age. He talks a little bit only for some purpose. I think he gets this way
because at times of insecurity he feels those around him in a very physical
way. He does not want to be touched, or if we say “good job”, he gets upset.
Sometimes, he chases kids at the playground. I saw a girl walk up to him and
say “can I play with one of your cars?” he said something to the effect
“pretty don’t play with car”. I think he was confused as to why a little girl
would want to play with a car.

On Mother’s day lunch he cried the entire time. I was so frustrated. Why is
my child the only child in the room who can’t enjoy this lunch? He is so
different. We can’t even do random things. We can’t go in his room when he
is there, he gets very upset if we do. With all his social awkwardness, he
does not come across as shy. He is very independent and not clingy at all;
perhaps too independent.

He does not have OCD or stimming outside of making some noises. When
he was little he turned the lights or the fan on and off. When he was two he
was lining up cars and turning the wheels.

He is not comfortable with leading, his sister leads the play and then his play
can be somewhat appropriate.

I wanted a typical boy in Kindergarten. I was so naive. I thought we’d be
there by now and we really are not, far from it. I guess I still worry how he
will be when he grows up. What if we freeze at fourteen? What if he were to
never progress? Life would be so difficult. I think I would be a mess. I want
him to want to do things. Chess and outdoors don’t come up in this equation,
as he does not have much of an original thought in his head.

Tell me more about feeling the insecurities “in a very physical way.” If
you could speak in the first person, as if you were him, it would help
greatly.

I think he feels like he is in a bubble and I think the bubble is painful to the
point he’ll get tears in his eyes even when the situation is happy. At a
restaurant, he sits way over at the end of the booth as far away from physical
contact as possible. If any of us reaches out to him he screams, “Don’t
touch.” That behavior really aggravates his father.

“Don’t talk to me”. He crosses his arms across his chest. It is as if he is not
capable of being close to anyone. It is easier to not have friends. I want to
play but I am so unsure, it is easier to pretend I am not interested. In a group,
I am not capable to hold it together.

I feel trapped under something very heavy. I am always trying so hard to do
what is easy for others. I push rocks all the time and right now I don’t want
to push a rock. I am tired, it is easy for you to say it that way but it is not
easy for me. I am tired a lot, there are always obstacles.

Tell me more about obstacles, please.

Everything feels like an obstacle, and even worse, new rocks are always
being created. There is always another rock I have to push. I smile a lot but I
am done with pushing rocks.

When we are at a restaurant, I am in the corner of the booth and Dad comes
over, that is a rock. Inside my brain it is full of rocks. Big boulders, big
rocks that I try to push off. Rocks pulse through my brain. A rock is always
getting in the way in here. I stumble over them all the time. Speaking is by
far the biggest rock. I am not going to let someone pull the rock off because
at times, it can also be a protector.

When the girl came at the playground the rock was not there. I turned my
back on her and I created another rock. I love not having the rock. I love to
play. I love the attention when the rock is gone. I feel really free but it is
difficult to allow myself to be free. I wish I had the confidence of not having
the rock. I’d be a lot happier but the rock is all I’ve got. I don’t like the rocks
in my brain, they keep me from learning something new.
The rocks are like hurdles. I keep picturing the hurdlers. There are 15 of
them coming and I never get a break. Sometimes I trip over them. There
usually is not enough space in between them. I have to work really hard and
it is impossible to avoid them.

Work really hard?

It takes a lot of intense concentration, which is challenging for me. Intense
concentration is the only way for me to get to recognize all the different
numbers or to write my name. I can’t hear the end of the words. It takes so
much concentration and sometimes I just want quiet.

Tell more about intense concentration.

I think of working gears in my head, they all have to be moving. I need the
gear to always move, I have to work to make the gears move. If I am not
constantly telling these gears to move they’ll stop. It is a constant effort, a
hammer I have to constantly keep moving. Constantly having to be aware. It
is like a marathon that never ends. I am running a marathon and the finish
line never comes. I am picturing being in a flock of birds and I have to move
through them. They encircle me. It is very confusing. Metal, lead and steel
together. If I can push all of that out, my head will clear. Having to push all
these distractions out is very heavy. If I could get all of that out. Ooooofffff,
what a relief that would be!

Tell a little more about being in a flock of birds, please

It is busy and confusing with random sounds and noises, bouncing off of me.
It is chaotic. It is too much and too fast. I need the birds to be organized. I
need a constant viewing window. I think I could handle the birds if there
were a window. I can’t reach through the birds, so I am feeling stuck and
trapped.

Comment:
It is very common to have one parent, the husband or the wife be
reluctant or non-accepting of autism. Perhaps the reality of Rainman
seems so remote that just thinking about such a future is unbearable.
When we speak of regressive autism the schism between what is real
and the autism stereotype is too wide to reconcile. Unfortunately, this
happens at the very moment something must be done in the child’s life.
As much as the children need help I think it would be very efficient for
the parents to also be afforded help.

REMEDY
THLASPI 30 C

————————————————————————-

FOLLOW-UP I 07 – 01 – 10

All I can say is “wow.” The biggest improvement we noticed was his
behavior with other kids. Now he runs right into a group. It is incredible, he
is doing really well in that regard. It is a big improvement. I also know he
has been very involved with groups in school, that is a big change too. I
hear, at times he was even the leader in the group.

With one on one interaction I don’t see much of a change; he is still rude.

His language has become more complex but the improvement with it is not
as much as the social improvement. His sentences are longer; he can string
two or three sentences, which was not possible before. He is more
descriptive. He uses more feeling language. “I feel like a little boy.” He said
that shortly after the remedy, that was a first.

I have seen him do more boyish things, rough and tumble rather than being
too rigid or being well behaved yet sounding like a toddler. He is definitely
more animated and playful. We did not even have to encourage him. He
seems to jump into things more on his own rather than stand back and
decide. He participates at songs like throwing his hand in the air etc. He is
more animated.

He is willing to eat more things than before.

He had strep throat a couple of weeks ago. The strep turned into croup. Now
I started him back on antibiotics.

He is still very immature, more like a three or four year old rather than a six
year old. He always walks several paces behind us. Perhaps he gets
distracted with things that surround him. When we go out to eat he looks all
around. I don’t know if it is a disconnect or a distraction.

We have cut all supplements and he seems to be doing just fine. We would
have seen gains slow down by now so it can only be the remedy helping
him.

He used to have chapped lips year round, warm or hot weather never made a
difference. It used to bleed but now he has normal soft lips. Every now and
then we notice a little distention but for the most part his tummy is pretty
flat.

He gets very excited when we say we’re going to the zoo whereas before he
would not have cared at all. At the water park, the old Wyeth would have
stood on the side for a long time but now he does not hesitate to participate
in the activities.

Right after we started to give your homeopathic remedy he gave his sister a
kiss without even being prompted. He used to give back a light hug but now
it is more like a full hug.

Tell me more about what you saw when you first gave the remedy.

The first couple of weeks were really big.

Staying on tasks was the first obvious change. Now, the special needs
teacher comes in the room and he needs minimal redirection just like the
other kids. He gets in line like the other kids. He is not even making noises
anymore. Random noises are gone, they used to drive me crazy.

Then, his aversion to not wanting to be touched really got better. His ornery
reaction to “good job” has completely changed too. He hardly says “Don’t
talk to me.”

I think he still gets his wires crossed when several people speak all at once.

You had mentioned a bubble…

It was a bubble that kept him from interacting. He is breaking through a lot
of that now.

How have you been dosing, please?

We see symptoms plateau around seven to ten days. We probably used the
drop dose four to five times. I gave the remedy after three days when he had
strep throat.

I would say his eye contact is a six now; his Spontaneous interaction and
speech are both a seven.

Comment: This is as good a reaction as one can imagine achieving. It
eliminates any doubts. The suffering of a child is gently and effortlessly
being lifted. I can’t think of a more noble thing to do.
REMEDY
THLASPI 30 C

————————————————————————–

FOLLOW-UP II 11 – 11 – 10

He was doing so well but perhaps we waited too long to dose. He started
getting ornery and making noises but we sip dosed him a week ago and this
week he has been so happy and full of energy, perhaps it totally turned him
around. This was the first time we had a step backward.

Creatively he is playing with toys, he is drawing pictures, drawing a bat
mobile. In the past we asked him to draw but he would not or could not do it.

He is talking about boys in school. Socially, the teachers have said he is
more social. One of his classmate said he is one of the funniest boys. He is
starting to tell stories about what happens in school, I can ask him an openended
question and he’ll answer though his language is still choppier than his
sister. His receptive skills are normal now, he has about the same vocabulary
as his sister but it does not flow as much.

He went on a play date and they did great together. He understands more
about people. We were at a Halloween party and he blended right in. He
seemed to be as social and participating as much as the other kids, he
definitely blends in more and he did great at Disney.

Distraction and language are still a challenge. He is pulled out of class to
work in a small group for language. His aid has to directly focus on him
otherwise he does not pay attention at all. He is OK when it is his turn, once
done he goes back to lalaland.

His stools look a lot better, much more normal looking than before.

Comment:
Most of this backtracking was due to not dosing at the appropriate time.
We all tend to become complacent when all is going well. All in all, I
don’t have many concerns about him but I made a strong impression on
the mom to repeat the remedy when it is needed.

REMEDY
THLASPI 30 C

————————————————————————-

FOLLOW-UP III 12 – 19 – 10

He is not even the same child he was back in November.

Socially he is great.

He is in the advanced reading group. He understands everything; all
academics are on level. His speech therapist is releasing him. OT is hanging
onto him for one more year. He is doing creative writing. The principal said,
“I am having a hard time seeing what this child’s challenges are.” This is
miles from where we were.

Everybody agrees he is no longer (though perhaps for one more year) a
special needs child.

He is asking to play soccer. The last time we were there he was standing,
staring all over the place not understanding anything. Watching him play
soccer is going to be interesting. It will show us where he is.

He has friends now. He tells me about them like any other kid would. I can
ask him “how was your day?” and he answers me.

His food pickiness is no longer. May be he had some fears but they’re
gone. I see some bloating from time to time.

He seems more like a six year old. I now know, he will lose any special
labels he has, I don’t have any concerns anymore.

All in all, focus and distraction are a little bit of a problem still, this is why
they continue to take him out of his class.

We are dosing two to three weeks apart.

REMEDY
THLAPSI 30 C

—————————————————————————

FOLLOW-UP IV 03 – 12 – 11

He is doing really well. He is completely mainstreamed. He is keeping up
really well, his aid does not have to do anything. His language is wonderful;
we have no complaints.

His social skills continue to blossom.

He has only slight difficulties formulating a sentence, which slows him
down doing certain things but all good considering.

His upper body strength is great. He started cub scouts, soccer was not for
him, I understood what he was supposed to do but he is not competitive and
team sport is not his thing, at least right now.

We discontinued all supplements.

He does not have any sensory issues left and those that were the symptoms
we used to repeat the remedy on. We are giving the remedy LM 2, moved on
to LM 3 every few weeks. The last time we repeated was a few days ago.

Comment:
There is not much to say here. He has continued to do amazingly well.
He is completely mainstreamed. I changed the potency to the LM scale,
which seems to have had increasing positive effect. I rarely use this
scale.
REMEDY
THLASPI LM 3