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Autism – Tips for Parents and Caregivers – A Cross Post from Dr. Sonya Doherty

Getting a good night's sleep - some tips

Getting a good night’s sleep – some tips

Dr. Sonya Doherty has very kindly allowed us to republish this wonderful tips! for parents and caregivers of children on the autism spectrum.   Doherty is a licensed and board certified Naturopathic Doctor who is an active member of the CAND. Sonya Doherty completed her undergraduate training at the University of Western Ontario in a Bachelor of Science Honors Kinesiology program.  Very experienced in the field of autism you can access her website here.Sonya writes “I feel very lucky to work with so many wonderful families to help children reach their developmental potential. I wanted to write a special note to parents and caregivers about taking care of yourselves! It is my hope that you will all include in your 2011 resolutions to ensure that you are putting some time and effort into your own diet, health and relationships. The healthier parents are feeling, the more energy they have to support their children in all different avenues.

Here are some great tips for parents to consider:

Sleep

Sleep is often highly dependent on children’s routines. Ensure that your child has enough physiological support to maintain healthy sleep patterns. Melatonin, safe sleep supportive botanicals and homeopathics can help children have a deeper, longer, more restful sleep. Many parents have sleep issues of their own. Consider going to bed earlier to take the pressure off of your stress system. Research shows that healthy sleep patterns enhance immunity, energy levels and help individuals cope with stress more effectively.

Dr. Jill James, a PhD biochemist and principal investigator at the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute has identified a number of metabolic and biochemical abnormalities in children with autism. She has also found that parents of children on the autism spectrum often have “methylation defects” which increases their requirement for methyl-B12. Many of you have seen the incredible benefit of MB12 on children with developmental disorders. Parents who do not have a strong enough methylation cycle will have trouble making enough serotonin, putting their mood and sleep at risk for developing issues. Melatonin is the hormone that helps us naturally fall asleep. Melatonin is made from serotonin and vitamin D. A methylation issue could present in a parent with chronic sleep issues and supporting methylation can dramatically improve sleep quality and length (as long as kids cooperate!) as well as having a number of other positive health benefits including prevention of chronic disease.

Digestion

The digestive tract plays a number of essential roles. Energy, mood, regulation of inflammation and immune support are all mediated by a healthy digestive tract. Adults should be having (you know I love to talk about digestion!) 2-3 bowel movements daily that are easy to pass and shaped like an “S” or have a curve. If your digestion is not optimal, it is more difficult to produce energy and regulate inflammation which plays a role in weight regulation and disease prevention. Remember that 90% of serotonin is produced in the digestive tract

Essentials for the digestive tract:

Fiber

Water

Essential Fatty Acids

Probiotics

Consider the foods that disrupt your child’s digestive tract, behaviour, sleep and/or development. Part of our reactions to foods is genetically predetermined and many parents benefit from removing dairy and/or gluten from their diet. Other people have noticed significant health benefits from removing allergens identified through food allergy testing.

Energy and Mood

Who couldn’t use more energy? Most parents and caregivers are focusing so much on their children and day to day tasks, it is difficult to create opportunities to improve energy and/or mood. I believe that every parent should be on a stress system support protocol. Our adrenal glands process all of the stress in our body. Some signs your stress system is under pressure are fatigue, feeling overwhelmed and/or irritable, difficulty with mood regulation, afternoon drop in energy and/or sleep issues. Other people experience difficulty with focus and memory.

For more information, visit www.adrenalfatigue.org

  • B complex
  • Protein with every meal
  • Minimizing processed foods and sugar
  • B12 therapy
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Carers Week 2014 – please sign the pledge to show your support on the Carers Quest Wall


Carers Week 2014

Carers Week 2014

It was Carers Week 2009 when I it really hit me that being a caregiver was not something which happened to other people but was something which was going to happen to me.

I have seen friends both of mime and my parents turn into caregivers. Indeed one of my first work colleagues after leaving university had a wife who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and he was her primary carer. He fought hard to twelve tough years. For many of us it is quite literally a world turned upside down!

In fact I was helping create video of that year’s Carers Week demonstration outside Downing Street in London , the Official Residence of the UK’s Prime Minister. I received a phone call from my wife saying that a lady from the local Early Years Centre had just paid a visit. The lady was of the view that our son did have a issue. While she could not , of course, diagnose it would possibly be autism. As readers of this blog will know a few months later John was formally diagnosed with ASD.

So as you can imagine I strongly support other caregivers. Indeed compared to most my wife and I have it quite easy. But this is not the case for others.

To show your support for caregivers it would be great if you could do two things for me:-

a) Carers UK who are organising the event are organising a Carers Quest Pledge on their web site. It would be great if you could sign here.

b) If you are a caregiver using the comments section below please share how many hours each day or week you are involved in providing care for another person. Many thanks in advance.


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Caregivers of Patients needed by the University of Oxford to take part in a survey about the health related web sites!

Oxford University

Oxford University

Patient and carers experiences of health can be an important source of information to other people with similar concerns. Traditional health information has been based on facts and figures, not the experiences of other patients or carers of people with similar conditions. Today health websites can contain traditional health information, accounts or stories of people’s experiences of health, blogs about health and discussion boards. It is important to understand what impact these health websites have on patients and carers.

A research team in the University of Oxford are researching the effects of sharing online patient and carer health information. The wider aim of this research is to find out how the NHS and other health information providers should incorporate people’s experiences into online health information in an effective manner.

Just click here to take part

https://oxforddph.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_54JzaA3Ub5gWBG5

One component of this research seeks to pilot-test a questionnaire to measure the impact of using health-related websites. This measure will be used in a clinical trial to assess the impact of websites containing personal experiences. It is therefore extremely important to establish if this questionnaire is suitable for its intended use. The questionnaire will also be available for use in future research.

The development of the e-Health Impact Questionnaire is being carried out in collaboration with a number of study groups in Northumbria, Oxford and Scotland. The Programme is funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Can you help with this research?

The research team are asking carers who are aged 18 or over and have access to the internet to complete this questionnaire. They must also live in the United Kingdom.

In this study a ‘carer’ is a family member or friend who provides care in terms of help and support to a person due to their health condition. Examples of care are:

  • Personal care such as help with dressing or washing.
  • Healthcare such as help with medications or medical equipment.
  • Household duties such as cooking or shopping.
  • Physical care such as lifting or helping with walking.

 

What will taking part in this study involve?

Those wishing to take part in the study will be asked a series of questions about their general views of online health information. They will then be asked to spend 10-15 minutes browsing a care related website and answer a series of questions relating to that website. Where participants provide an email address, they will be sent an email after a period of two weeks asking them to repeat a section of the questionnaire again. This is to test if they questions are reliable and accurate over time. Completing the questionnaire should take approximately 20-25 minutes on two separate occasions.

How can I take part?

Please click on the following link to access the questionnaire: https://oxforddph.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_54JzaA3Ub5gWBG5

If you would like to contact the research team, you can do so by emailing Laura Kelly at laura.kelly@hmc.ox.ac.uk