This month, I would like to take a moment to share with you a story…At some point about a year ago, Dr. Steelman forwarded me a research article regarding autism and the role that magnesium supplementation had played in helping the participants in the study. You can read about some of this research on our website at http://www.myactive8.com/A8_updates/autism.html .

     This especially caught my attention because I am the single parent of one of those kinds of kids. My son has Asperger’s Syndrome. More simply put, it is a high functioning form of autism or classified as part of the autism spectrum disorders. My son is one of the two out of every 10,000 children that will be diagnosed with this heartbreaking disorder and the statistics are rapidly climbing.

     The most noticeable thing is that, even though of normal or high intelligence, you will find with this disorder that Asperger kids have difficulty in socializing in what you or I would call a “normal” manner. For instance, if you are having a conversation with my son, you may or may not get an interactive conversation with him on any given topic that makes sense in the context with which it was said. I could be making a statement regarding the weather and he’ll come back with a statement regarding what the cat was doing – even though he had heard what I had said. 

     As you can imagine, in most social settings; namely school, church, and organized sports or activities, this did not go over well with his peers and more often than not, ostracized him from making friends.  When he was younger, it wasn’t quite as much of a problem because younger kids are more forgiving and tolerant of those who are “different” from themselves. But as he grew older, this became more of a problem in helping him fit in with his peers and classmates. Another recent study I read said that these kinds of kids are typically 3 to 4 years emotionally younger than their peers – something else I can also vouch for!

     Why am I bringing this up?  Because as a single parent raising an autistic child during a time period that had little research in these areas; I would get frustrated, irritated and tired of dealing with teachers, parents, classmates, friends and family who didn’t understand why my son was the way he was and didn’t have anything to offer in the way of real help.

     Very little was published at that time in how diet, nutrition and supplementation could play a huge role in helping kids like my son do better in all situations. Had I not been particularly diligent as a parent in working with him constantly (3 to 4 hours of sitting with him nightly to keep him on track and encourage him to get through his homework still haunts me to this day as an example of just some of the time spent helping him), he would have never made it through high school, let alone junior high.

     When I read the research regarding how magnesium supplementation helped autistic kids function better, the light bulb went on.  I put my son on Active 8 last year (he was already on Active Omega) and slowly, but surely over a period of time since I put him on Active 8, he has made substantial gains in all aspects of his life. He communicates better, puts his thoughts and words together better, recognizes social cues easier (reading faces and expressions), is more coordinated and accepts change easier. Not perfect of course, but has made substantial, noticeable improvement as compared to a year ago when I first started him on Active 8. Finally, at the age of 19, he was able to get a job for the first time this year. A day I never thought would or could happen!

     Was it because of Active 8?  I can’t “prove” it scientifically, but I can tell you it was the only real different thing that I did in his daily routine. You’ll never convince me otherwise, because I live with this child and know firsthand the daily grind of constant reinforcement, attention and vigilance that he’s had over the course of his life.

     Why am I telling you this? Because I wish someone had clued me in years ago when I was struggling to keep our lives somewhat sane and trying to figure out how best to help my son grow up in a complicated world. And to tell you that if you are in a similar situation or know firsthand of one, that you can tell them there’s HOPE for that child. That more and more research is being done on autism with the HOPE of finding out what more can be done that can help kids like my own son.

     And even though a product like Active 8 isn’t a “cure-all,” I want you and them to know that there are products, nutritional methods, therapy and other things that can be done to make it easier for kids like James to learn, to cope – to not just survive, but thrive – and that you too as their caretaker can have HOPE. And if sharing my own experience can be of value to someone of similar circumstance, then it was worth the time for me to share it with you. So I encourage you to share this article with someone who also has a special needs child – you never know just how much of an impact you may have in their lives by doing so. And let me know, I would love to hear from you!