pervasive developmental disorders

Auditory Training

This article was adapted from brochures available from the IDEA Training Center & the Spectrum Center www.spectrumcenter.com, two excellent sources of auditory training. Who Needs It? Many children with developmental delays initially present as having poor or non-existent speech and language skills. Their medical histories show frequent ear infections, no hand dominance, sound sensitivity, and avoidance of certain types of touch and movement. Candidates for auditory integration training include individuals with learning and language disorders, attention deficits, pervasive developmental disorders, autism, central auditory processing problems and sound sensitivity. Under-reactivity is also seen with some children craving sensory input such as spinning and “rough­housing.”   Behaviors in these individuals are unpredictable; parents, teachers and friends are overwhelmed by poor toler­ance for frustration, temper tantrums, shyness, or aggression that appears unprovoked.   These are all secondary signs of one possible cause which is neuro-physiological. What Is It? The ear has a function that is even more primary that hearing; listening.  Listening requires the coordination…

Exploring the Gluten Free Casein Free Diet

by Kelly Dorfman, MS, LND, Co-founder, Developmental Delay Resources Many parents of severely developmentally delayed children have become aware of a research study that was done in Norway. It found that a high percentage of children with autism had a “mutant” protein in their urine that was created by the consumption of gluten (found in wheat, oats, barley and rye grains) and/or casein (milk protein) contain­ing foods. This “mutant” protein was the gluten and casein protein bound to a morphine-like substance. The research­ers theorized this was what was causing the children to become spacey and addicted to these foods. When one or both of these protein groups was removed from the diet, many of the children reportedly became more interactive. The technical details of how to test for the presence of these proteins and how to institute this diet have been well ­outlined in Dr. Lisa Lewis’s Special Diets for Special Kids, Volumes I and II. The purpose of this…