If your child has autism or another neurodevelopmental disorder such as ADHD or Sensory Processing Disorder, it can be empowering to develop a biomedical plan.
Use this biomedical plan as a symptom checklist to work with your practitioners to guide treatments, medications, biochemical interventions, therapies and evaluations.
Now objectively think about your child and circle the symptoms that apply to him/her. (You may want to print this page out and use it as a worksheet!)
Physical Symptoms
Symptoms of Physical Motor Impairment (Fine and Gross)
- Falls easily
- Poor balance
- Difficulty navigating uneven surfaces
- Reduced fine motor skills
- Abnormal gait
- Walking on toes
- Poor muscle strength/low tone
- Overall muscle weakness
- W sitting
- Slumping posture
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Oral-Motor Difficulty
- Drooling
- Gags when eating
- Swallowing issues
- Oral motor weakness that results in food aversions (prefers pureed foods)
- Poorly chews food/exhibits mouth stuffing
- Poor articulation
- Expressive language delay
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Digestive System (GI-Related) Issues
- Vomiting
- Acid reflux
- Chronic constipation
- Chronic diarrhea
- Self-limiting diet to small number of foods (picky eating)
- Fluid refusal
- Weight loss
- Failure to thrive
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Sensory-Integration Issues
- Sound sensitivity
- Touch avoidance/may not want to be cuddled of hugged
- Hypersensitive to smells
- Distractability
- Proprioceptive seeking behaviors (a desire for deep pressure)
- Self-limiting diet to particular food textures
- Apparent insensitivity to pain
- No real fear of dangers
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Speech and Language Problems
- Non-verbal
- Delayed speech
- Can not communicate ideas/difficulty expressing needs (expressive language delay)
- Low oral motor tone (open mouthed, drooling)
- Difficulty being understood (poor articulation)
- Does not understand what is said (receptive language delay)
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Cognitive Pathologies
- Inattentive
- Hyperactivity (always in motion)
- Poor concentration
- Poor/slow processing speed
- Difficulty problem solving
- Developmental delays
- Seizures
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Social-Emotional-Behavioral Problems
- Not responsive to verbal cues (acts as if deaf)
- Withdrawn into self
- Prefers to be alone
- Reduced social skills
- Difficulty being with other kids
- Inappropriate social response to others
- Lack of spontaneous peer interactions
- Lack of eye contact
- Echolalia (repeating words or phrases heard)
- Pedantic areas of interest
- Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors (OCD)
- Inappropriate attachment to objects
- Sustained odd play
- Spinning objects obsessively and inappropriately
- Oppositional behaviors
- Temper tantrums (beyond what is age appropriate)
- Outbursts for no apparent reason
- Extreme distress for no apparent reason
- Resistance to change/rigid/insistence on sameness
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Allergy and Food Sensitivities
- Red, hot ears after eating a certain food
- Red, hot cheeks after eating a certain food
- Distended “pot belly”
- Re-current (often painful) diaper rashes
- Eczema
- Hives/dermatitis
- Stooling issues (diarrhea or infrequent stools/constipation)
- Strong craving for a particular food/food group (dairy, gluten)
- Urination accidents in an already potty-trained child
- Night time bedwetting/ inability to potty train through night
- Oppositional or “off behaviors” after eating certain foods (sugar, highly processed foods, foods with dyes, etc.)
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Immune System Dysregulation
- Chronic runny nose
- Always sick
- Chronic ear infections
- Re-current strep infections
- Re-current sinus infections
- Asthma
- Allergies and food sensitivities/intolerances
- Eczema/dermatitis
- Autoimmune disorders (hypothyroid, etc.)
- Family history of autoimmune disorders
- History of vaginal infections (in girls)
- Many courses of antibiotics given close together
- History of getting fungal infections and prescribed anti-fungal creams
- Known immune dysregulation (low immune test results via blood work IgG, IgM, IgA)
- Other______________________
Symptoms of GI/Bowel Problems
- Constipation (slow motility)
- Abdominal pain
- Infrequent stools
- Diarrhea (possible pancreatic enzyme insufficiency)
- Mucous in stool
- Undigested food in stool
- Off-color stools (white, mustard, black colored)
- “Sandy” stool
- Malodorous stools
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Nutritional Deficiencies
- White spots/ridges on finger nails
- Peeling feet
- Thinning hair/hair loss
- Weight loss
- Pica (a desire to eat non-food items)
- Other______________________
Symptoms of Energy Production/Metabolic Problems
- Fatigue/lethargy
- Excessive amount of sleep per day
- Difficulty rousing in the morning (takes a long time to get moving once asleep)
- Low muscle tone
- Motor regressions
- Lack of learning (when educational program is appropriate)
- Moods or behaviors that wax and wane throughout the day
- Child has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mood disorder or schizophrenia
- Loss of any developmental skills (language, social connectedness)
- Developmental stagnation
- Marker early motor delay (delayed motor milestones)
- Global muscle weakness: fine and/or gross motor
- Presence of seizures
- Known hypoglycemia episodes
- Presence of food intolerances or avoidance
- Two or more children within the family affected with symptoms of autism
- Small head circumference (declines over time relative to overall size)
- Growth retardation or excessive growth
- Child has been given a label of “atypical autism”
- Irregular biochemical findings in lab work
- Has had an adverse reaction to sedation/anesthesia in the past
- Other______________________
Other Concerning Symptoms Your Child Exhibits
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Underlying Issues
Now that you have thought about individual symptoms your child exhibits, do you think your child has any of these underlying issues?
Refer to the above checklists and circle what applies to your child.
- Physical motor impairment
- Oral motor weakness
- Low muscle tone
- Digestive system problems
- Sensory related problems
- Speech and language issues
- Cognitive pathologies
- Social-emotional behavioral problems
- Allergies (IgE mediated)
- Food sensitivities/intolerances (IgG mediated)
- Weak immune system (dysregulation)
- Symptoms of nutritional deficiencies
- Energy production/metabolic problems
Metabolic Screening
Any child that has been diagnosed with autism and/or has a global developmental delay DESERVES a full metabolic screening for disorders of energy metabolism in order to obtain more information about your child’s metabolic state and overall health status.
You are going to pursue a metabolic screening through: (Circle one.)
- Pediatrician
- Neurologist
- Functional-medicine doctor
- Geneticist
- MAPS doctor
- I am not going to have a metabolic screening done
- I have already had a full metabolic screening done
Specialists for Further Evaluation
Circle any specialist you may want to visit for further evaluation:
- Gastroenterologist
- Allergist
- Nutritionist
- Neurologist
- Geneticist
- MAPS doctor
- Naturopath
- Functional-medicine doctor
- Endocrinologist
- Audiology screening
- Developmental optometrist
- Osteopath
- Chiropractor
- My child does not need any new evaluations at this time
Additional Therapies
Think about your child; is he/she currently receiving the right therapies for his/her symptoms?
This is not intended to be a recommendation or endorsement of any specific treatment options.
Its sole purpose is to introduce you to possible treatment options outside the main stream medical model for the treatment of autism.
- Reflex integration
- Vision therapy
- Craniosacral therapy
- Auditory therapy
- Physical therapy
- Hippotherapy
- Aqua therapy (by an occupational therapist or physical therapist)
- Speech and language therapy
- Oral motor therapy
- Sensory-integration occupational therapy
- Behavioral therapy
- DIR Floortime
- Social skills classes
- Art therapy
- SonRise
- Music therapy
Prioritizing Issues for Your Biomedical Plan
What are the three most pressing issues to address for your child?
Most concerning behaviors/symptoms?
What is the developmental area in which he/she is most delayed?
This is the “TO DO” list.
1.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Top Priority for Your Biomedical Plan
My top priority is to:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Further Learning
Topics I am interested in learning more about:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Still Looking for Answers?
Visit the Epidemic Answers Provider Directory to find a practitioner near you and help you develop a biomedical plan for your child.
