It is that time of year where everyone is looking for fun activities to do outdoors. A favorite past time for many, especially kids, is bike riding. For many children with special needs bike riding doesn’t come easily. Having to coordinate steering, pedaling and balancing is often a difficult task for most children to begin with. Children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, autism spectrum disorder or other similar conditions may never be able to ride a two wheeler on their own.
However an adaptive bike will allow you and your child to enjoy bike riding together. There are a number of really good options out there, the key is finding the solution that works best for you and your child. While Lighthouse Autism Center doesn’t endorse any one particular brand or device over another, here are a few that we thought might be helpful based on reviews. These range in prices go from under a hundred dollars up to $7,000.
It is estimated that one in 100 children in America are born with one of the various forms of Autism. So many, in fact, that public health officials have declared it a national health emergency. While intense treatments and specialized schools are expensive and difficult to get into, the government is now requiring public schools to offer educational options for Autistic students.
Autism is a spectrum disorder facing about one in every 44 American children, boys being four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. The causes of Autism are still unknown but research indicates that genetics are involved in the vast majority of cases. In the last few years, scientists have been able to identify the early signs in toddlers. Various forms of Autism can now be identified from the womb but the other symptoms are definitive before the child reaches three years of age.
While there is no one cause for autism, some specialists believe that a diet high in nutrients can help to increase brain function in autistic children to ensure a greater chance of normal development.
Common nutrient insufficiencies in autistic children were folic acid, fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, as well as vitamins A, C, D, E, B6, B12, and K. Food aversions or sensitivities cause some children to have too much or too little of certain nutrients.
Can a Raw Food Diet Benefit Children with Autism?
The Raw Food Diet was created in the late 1800s around the fact that the longer food is cooked, the more of its nutrients it loses. Therefore raw food is not cooked above 116 degrees Fahrenheit to keep it at its peak. People who follow the Raw Diet are often known as Vegans meaning that their diet is free of meat, dairy and eggs. About 75% to 80% of what raw foodists eat each day will be plant-based foods.
Prenatal doctors are starting to recommend that mothers-to-be change their diet to be 75% Raw. A complete overhaul of a personal diet is never a safe move but setting up a diet plan with a doctor is one step specialists are taking to help reduce a child’s risk of autism after birth. By increasing the amount of vitamins and minerals in a mother’s food intake while reducing the amount of toxins and preservatives in the prenatal stages can help to increase the fetus’s brain functions.
A raw food diet typically contains a lot of familiar foods that are considered nutritious choices, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted legumes, sprouted grains, and fermented foods.
Some examples for raw foods include but are not limited to:
Raw and dried fruits and vegetables
Oats
Wild Rice
Quinoa
Wheat germ
Chickpeas
Lentils
Avocados
Raw coconut oil or butter
Raw flaxseed oil
Raw honey
Seeds and nuts
Kimchi
Sauerkraut
What Benefits Does a Raw Food Diet Provide to Children with Autism?
Even after birth, doctors recommend keeping the child on a 75% Raw diet. As a child, it is important to increase the child’s nutrient intake and the enzymes found in raw foods help to increase digestion to increase vitamin absorption in the body.
Vitamins such as Vitamin E and B3 are found in most greens and increase blood circulation to the brain. The Raw Diet also reduces the intake of refined sugars and flours which can aggravate symptoms of autism in most children.
Raw food diets also are typically high in fiber, supporting healthy digestion and low in sodium.
What Risks are Involved in Changing to the Raw Diet?
The Raw Diet is not a change that can be made in one day. It takes research and careful planning with the aid of a healthcare professional, especially for expecting mothers and young children. The diet needs to be based around whole grains and legumes that will provide the nutrients and protein needed to replace meats and dairy. Vitamin B12, the most essential vitamin to the human body, is difficult to find in a Raw diet so it is important that it is safely supplemented.
Switching to a Raw diet, even a 75% Raw diet, takes time and effort but studies have shown that it is well worth it in the fight against autism. Please speak to your doctor to determine if a raw food diet is right for you and your child with autism.
Few parents would argue that taking your child out to eat can be a challenging experience. When your child has autism that challenge is often magnified tenfold, the dirty looks from other patrons, the misinterpretation of behaviors, snide remarks about how you should better “control” your child.
It would be great if other people would demonstrate kindness and understanding. The fact is that you can’t control the reactions of others. That doesn’t mean you can’t take your child out to eat. Here are a few tips that you can use to make eating out a more enjoyable experience for your child and your family.
New research shows that we are no longer at 1 in 88. The national average is 1 in 50. One out of every 50 kids born this year will be diagnosed with Autism.
More than AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined.
Research shows that Early Intervention offers these children the best outcome.
Here, at Lighthouse Autism Center, we are making it our mission this month to spread the word about Autism and provide families that resources they have long been without.
Lighthouse is sponsoring a number of Public Service Announcements that will run on Sunny 101.5 and Oldies 94.3.
For the month of April we have partnered with WNDU to raise awareness through television and the WNDU.com homepage.
Lighthouse is also helping the Climb Project Foundation with their fundraiser. Climb Project Foundation was created by parents of a child with Autism. Their mission is to raise money to help families in our area get the help they need.
If you would like to help Lighthouse and the Climb Project spread hope and help as many families living with Autism in our area as possible, give us a call to see how you can help.
Excellent local source to find out about research studies on Autism is Notre Dame’s F.U.N. Lab. Currently they are looking for siblings of children with Autism.
Autism Live is an interactive web show that provides support, information, resources, facts, entertainment and inspiration to parents, practitioners and teachers that work with children on the Autism Spectrum.
They have started a petition, petitioning the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The point of the petition is to make sure that Applied Behavior Analysis is kept for individuals with Autism. The Affordable Care Act could actually result in individuals with ASD getting less coverage.
The reason this is important, Congress had directed Secretary Sebelius to define ten essential health benefits that make up the minimum insurance coverage required by the Affordable Care Act. Secretary Sebelius, instead of defining them on her own, directed each state to define the essential health benefits. This move puts in jeopardy existing health care coverage that those with Autism have and overlooked that intent of the coverage, as it is meant to cover vulnerable populations.
The involvement of the family has always been a critical component of Applied Behavioral Analysis for treatment of autism. Parents often ask how they can be more involved, how they can take what their child is learning during therapy and apply it at home.
Mealtime is an excellent time for the family to be more involved and help your child with autism apply their new skills into everyday life.
Written by our Family Outreach Coordinator, Lisa DelPrete
I recently read an article from the BBC news entitled “Robots in the classroom help autistic children learn” and I have to say that I do not totally agree with the entire article and this is why. In the summer of 2010, our entire family experienced how the use of a robot could help our then 10 year old son, Mateo, who was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 4 ½. Mateo spent about two days a week throughout that summer working with a robot through the University of Notre Dame’s FUN Lab.
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Lighthouse Autism Center offers ABA therapy for children with autism. Contact us to learn how our innovative clinical model can help your child make greater progress, faster, all while having fun.
