Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Conditions: A Practical Guide: A Story, an Adventure, Practical Information and Science

I bought this book because my son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, tourettes syndrome, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. In the three years after the diagnoses at age 8, he seemed to be getting worse. I had already discovered that vitamins B6 and B3 (niacin) work better for his anxiety than zoloft, plus relieved his allergies and asthma somewhat, so I expected to learn more along the same lines from this book. My son did ok in school grade-wise, but didn't speak a word all day and acted peculiar as far as not moving his arms when walking, sitting with his palms up, avoiding eye contact, etc. I was afraid he would have a lonely life. At home he threw constant temper tantrums, wouldn't cooperate with showering or changing clothes or going anywhere in the car, etc. I had discovered yeast overgrowth in a diet book a few months earlier and treated myself successfully for constant yeast infections, but I had no idea until I read this book that yeast overgrowth (dysbiosis) caused leaky gut syndrome, which results in neurological disorders in the young and over 5000 symptoms and 80 diseases in older people. This is the basic auto-immune disorder. When I read this book, I learned what the root cause of my sons neurological problems was. Also, I made the connection that my lifelong shyness, attention deficit, low thyroid, allergies, and lately constant yeast infections and worsening joint inflammation were caused by dysbiosis and/or leaky gut. Plus my anxiety was getting worse than ever along with the arthritis (caused by anti-inflammatories). I bought the enzymes for my son to take with meals, but he wouldn't take them, so I tried them myself and in two days my hip wasn't sore, and by the end of the week my anxiety was gone! My hip had been throbbing constantly for the past 2 years and I assumed that I would have to be on anti-anflammatory meds for life or get a hip replacement. Along with taking the enzymes, I dieted low carb and took nutrients to help my intestines heal faster. It took about 4 months before I could stop taking the enzymes without the arthritis or anxiety returning. I feel so lucky to have discovered this. In the end, all my son needed was the yeast cleansing and restoring beneficial bacteria. He took four small pills daily for yeast cleansing - pearls probiotic, garlic oil, grapefruit seed extract, and biotin for 6 weeks (if your child won't swallow pills, try using a tincture called wormwood complex or something similar and make sure you are giving a large enough dosage, it is hard to overdose but easy to underdose), then he took only the probiotics, a couple of them daily. After 4 days on only the probiotics, his behavior changed significantly because he was building plenty of proteins in his intestines for the first time. I would say that about 95 percent of all of his disorders disappeared. He walked and sat differently, he laughed at jokes, he quit fighting about everything and became very coopera

As a parent of an autistic child who's been reading about autism and special diets for 2+ years, I totally expected this book to be another one of those feel-good "how I cured my autistic/PDD child using such and such" books without much validity or substance. I didn't have high expectations of it being about anything that could actually work for my son. I was pleasantly surprised. This book is extremely well researched, has lots of scientific data to back it up as well as has real stories from people helped by enzymes. As a result, I have purchased the enzymes for my son and am starting to see good results. It is good to know an alternative to the GF/CF diet exists.

UPDATE a year later: all his bad bowel movements are gone! And it really did help with potty training him since the BM's were under control. Thank you for writing this book. You helped us where we kept getting swept under the carpet by the 'specialists'. ------------------ If your children or you have Sensory Integration Dysfunction or PDD, please read this book. My son has both as well as digestive issues and after trying diet changes with no luck, I literally stumbled upon this book and gave it a whirl. YES..it does work. My son has regular bowel movements now, his tantrums have significantly decreased, his attention span is much better, his speech has blossomed and I could go on and on. Ths information in this book is verified (as I did a lot of research researching the book and sources). This is a natural remedy to try and it cannot hurt you in any way. At the very least read it to understand about the leaky gut and how it affects development. In the book she mentions her group on yahoo which I have been a part of after reading the book. You can post messages there to get information about getting started, anything, anything, anything. I cannot tell you how relieved we are to have found this book and try her suggestions. We had been to a pediatric gastroenterologist who told us our son would grow out of it by the time he started school. You have nothing to lose. This book is well written, divided into logical chapters and you can start implementing the enzymes into your diet even before you finish reading the book (but I would recommend finishing the book).

I loved this book and wish I had read it before many of the other ones I found. Just loved it! It really brought so much together for me. For the first time I understand how it all works together. My son has improved so much with enzymes. He no longer needs a special diet so the entire family is relieved of that stress. The teachers love his change in behavior. He can finally LEARN what is being taught. This was an easy book to read and understand. I loved how the humor in it made me laugh because I could relate so much. My son still needs some help in some areas, but he is so much better I no longer worry about his future. DeFelice's book has changed our lives and I couldn't be more thankful.

This book was written with an intelligence, wit, and clarity that is very rare for such a technical subject. Don't be fooled by the title. The book covers autism, PDD, ADHD, Sensory integration disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, and many other neurological and gastrointestinal conditions. The author teaches rather than preaches on the science, experiences, and the how-to of using long overlooked digestive enzymes to help with many related health conditions. I went away with the knowledge I needed to understand the options and make my own informed decisions. Read it before you start any biomedical or behaviorial program. And if you have already started a program, read it so you can finally understand what is really going on, and how it can be improved with enzymes.