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For those parents whose child has recently been diagnosed, this is what I would advise you to do;
1. Make an appointment with a DAN! doctor now –
What’s a DAN! doctor? DAN! stands for Defeat Autism Now!, this organization is made up of doctors and researchers who believes that Autism is primarily medical disorders with behavioral and cognitive impairments that are by-products of the physical illnesses our children suffer. They train doctors on biomedical protocols, testing and treatments and they educate parents on effective biomedical treatments. A DAN! doctor is a healthcare professional who has attended a DAN! conference clinician’s training.
There are no DAN! doctors in Malaysia, but there’s 5 in Singapore and 2 in Indonesia. Maya’s DAN! doctor is Dr Erwin Kay in Singapore. He practices on Tuesday, Thursday (8.30am-1pm and 7pm-9pm) and Saturdays (8.30-1pm). But the clinic is open on on other days as well so you can still call to make an appointment.
2. Get on the Gluten-Free / Casein-Free (GF/CF) diet now!
Gluten is wheat, barley, oats and rye. Casein is dairy, so no more cow’s milk or formula, cheese, butter, ghee or goats milk. Our children are not able to fully digest gluten & casein, it creates brain fog, has an opioid effect and causes gastrointestinal distress. We need to bring the toxic load down in our children and the fastest way to do so is by changing their diet. Our kids have multiple food sensitivities, apart from gluten & casein, you should also avoid yeast because a large number of Autism children has yeast overgrowth. Also try to avoid fish because fish contains mercury and our children usually has high levels of heavy metals including mercury, aluminium and lead. If possible, go organic. If it’s too much to do right now, at the very least please change to organic chicken.
Change your milk to Rice Milk. My favorite is Pacific Rice Milk, Vanilla flavor. It’s RM10.90 per liter at Bangsar Village Grocer. Replace breads, biscuits and pastas with gluten-free versions – Ogran have gluten-free bread mixes, cake mix and biscuits (you can buy this from Body Basics at Bangsar Shopping Center) Biologique has GFCF breakfast cereals.
3. You need to get a good Multi-Vitamin – Super Nu Thera by Kirkmans’ is a specially formulated multi-vitamin for children on the autism spectrum. Our kids need mega doses of vitamin Bs, especially B6, higher amounts of zinc, etc. This is THE recommended multi-vitamin. Kirkman’s do not accept orders from Malaysia due to customs restrictions however you can purchase it from this website http://autismangelsstories.blogspot.com/ It comes in 29oz bottles, it
can last you for 6 months. Most kids prefer liquid lemon lime flavor. Take 5ml daily.
4. Cod Liver Oil – Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil is the purest and certified
mercury free. You can buy them in Vita Kids shops in Singapore. Take 5ml daily
5. Probiotics – our kids really need this especially if they have gastrointestinal
problems. Always buy the refrigerated kind. Ask any pharmacy for refrigerated
probiotics, make sure it’s multi-species. The higher the CFUs the better. Minimum
of 6 Billion CFUs. Body Basics in BSC sells probiotics multi-species 6 billion CFUs
60 capsules (RM78). Quinpharm pharmacy in one of the Telawi streets has Prolecta
Multi Species 10 Billion CFUs 30 capsules (RM78)
6. Start your child on ABA therapy – ABA stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis. There are several trusted ABA providers in KL. Check out http://andiinitiative.blogspot.com/ and http://www.autismmalaysia.com/services.htm#
Even if you see the DAN! doctor, he will tell you to go on the GFCF diet, take Super
Nu Thera, mercury free cod liver oil, high doses of multi-species probiotics. These
are the baseline supplements and recommended dietary interven
tion to the DAN!
tion to the DAN!
biomedical approach.
Please read up on these websites;
http://www.autism.com – this is the DAN! website, full of articles and reports on biomedical treatments. You can also download videos of conferences and more.
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.com – fantastic advice & help from a parents’ perspective
http://www.generationrescue.org – this is Jenny McCarthy’s site, she recovered her son from autism in 2 years
http://www.recoveryvideos.com – you can download videos of parents talking about their journey into autism and how they recovered their children
There’s a lot of hope out there, so stay strong and good luck!
Spectrum Mum in Malaysia 
>hi marissa, thank you so much for posting your experience here! i have been surfing the net for weeks trying to get infor about DAN doctor in Malaysia but you know, fail…my son was diagnosed when he was 2yo. we'd been adviced to send him to join nursory & theraphy such as OT, speech, play groups,etc.. we see little improvement on his speech but behavioral problem getting worse. i want to start with biomedical treatment & ABA but i was told that these is a costy approach for autistic treament. may i know how much you have spent to start the biomedical treatment & the ABA theraphy?Frm:Penang
>Hi Penang Parent,I'll be glad to discuss this, but I don't have your email address, can you contact me directly at vmarisd@gmail.com please.Marissa
>Hi Marissa, I read about your experience in gfcf diet and DAN. I'm actually seeing the same doctor. My son is now under gfcf but I noticed that his habit of closing/opening of doors,gate,windows etc. Became more frequent. I'm wondering what could be the reason. I read that other parents who removed dairy from the child's diet they noticed that perseveration and OC behavior lessen. Wondering if you have any idea comment on this?
>Hi- your post is so informative. My nephew comes under autism spectrum. He is four years old. He has been getting ABA theraphy for almost a year but has not made a major a change. There are qualified ABA therapist available in M'asia, can you also inform me as what re salary ranges. Your help is greatly appreciated. Regards, Kaneez
>Hi Kaneez, You can actually contact me at klbiomed@gmail.comAs for ABA, you should contact ANDI Initiative as it is the best resource for behavioral therapy in Malaysia. Marissa
>Hi, I am Gile. I have a 7 years old autistic boy. We have undergo the biomedical for 2 months now. My boy cant communicate, he loves to sing and read. What I suppose to do to improve his communication skill?
>hi, i have a 4 years old son diagnosed with mild autism, and a 11 months old daughter. Both of them are dued for the MMR shot at 4 years old and 1 year old respectively. My biggest concern is whether my daughter will develop this ASD , and will my son's situation deteriorate ? Read your blog on "all about yasmin" you mentioned that you did not give MMR to her, how is it possible? pls advice. thanks
>Hi MarissaCan I ask a question?Will the baby still need to carry on with all the autism therapy, autism school, autism activities, even after trying the biomedical and improved?Thanks! & Luv U!
>Hi Yvonne,This was written 1.5 years ago. If you read the more recent postings, you'll find that we are still doing biomed. Though we no longer need special education or therapy. My girls have other health issues which still needs supplements. I do know of other recovered children who still need to be on the diet and supplements like my girls to maintain their current level, though hopefully it won't be for long. However, your question depends on whether you are asking during initial treatment period or after recovery. If during, then yes you should do biomed AND therapy. Hope this helps. Marissa