Ok! We’re back! I know it’s been a while but life has been crazy around here! Anyway, let’s get to it!

If you’re following the steps I took with Ashton, you may have already seen your pediatrician and/or monitored/recorded your child’s daily behavior and foods for two weeks (see part 2). Now we can finally start to get to the nitty gritty of the process- metal toxicity. Now before we get into this, I’d like to remind you again that I am not at all a doctor. Just a mother sharing my son’s autism journey and what we’re doing to get him to reach important milestones. Please consult with your physician before you attempt any of this with your own child.

Because I’m not a doctor or a specialist, I’m going to sum up the theory of metal toxicity and how it can cause autism-like symptoms as best as I can. But please make sure to take this information and do your own research so you can get a full understanding of what it means.

It’s no secret that autism is becoming more and more common with each generation. And many researchers have suggested that the main cause is not autism at all but children being more heavily exposed to toxic metals that cause austistic-like symptoms. The theory is that excessive metals settle in certain areas of the body (particularly the brain and blood), and that prevents parts of the body from functioning properly. More specifically, it causes the body to exhibit behaviors that are very similar to certain autistic traits. The problem is, many doctors simply don’t agree with this theory and believe that a child is born autistic and environmental factors have nothing to do with it. So it can be tricky and a little costly to find out if your little one has a metal toxicity.

When I first heard of this theory I was super skeptical but at the same time, I was desperate. The doctors gave Ashton a diagnosis, handed me a pamphlet and sent us on our way. No other information, words of encouragement or anything. She just delivered the news and rolled out like she didn’t just give me life changing, devastating news. So when I was told about metal toxicity, how you could safely remove those toxins and get your baby back on track- I knew it was worth a try. I delved a little deeper to find out more, doing tons of research and was overwhelmed with success stories of parents who put their children on a specific diet and began a process of chelation therapy (the process of bonding metals in the system and removing them from the body) and their children were thriving.

Welp. That’s all I needed to hear. I knew I was going to do it. But before I could start, I had to make sure that Ashton did, in fact, have a metal toxicity. I can’t stress this enough- DO NOT BEGIN ANY TYPE OF CHELATION THERAPY BEFORE GETTING YOUR CHILD TESTED FIRST. It’s very important and can be dangerous if you jump the gun.

There are three ways to test for metals in the body- a hair test, a saliva test and a blood test. A blood test can only be ordered by a doctor and, like I said earlier, most doctors don’t agree with this theory so we’re left with hair and saliva. These are the two companies I used for Ashton’s testing. (I have no affiliation with these companies whatsoever. Just sharing who I used. Please do your own research beforehand).

Hair elements test: https://www.holisticheal.com/hair-elements-test.html

This test was great because their doctor reviewed the results and made suggestions for each metal. There was also another section that went into full detail of each metal Ashton had excessive amounts of, where it could likely come from and how to help manage it. (I’ve attached some pictures from Ashton’s results below.)

This is the saliva test we used: https://maxgenlabs.com/collections/genetic-testing-kits/products/maxfunction

The MaxFunction Panel provides information from your DNA, provides you with very detailed and thorough report of your child’s health, antioxidant production, detoxification process for hormones, chemicals, and heavy metals, neurotransmitters and the balancing of brain chemistry, diet recommendations- it’s incredible. So incredible that I’m actually going to get myself and CJ test as well. Here are a few pictures from Ashton’s reports.

Ok! So that’s pretty much step 3 of our journey. Getting Ashton tested! Next week I’ll tell you all about all the vitamins I put Ashton on before the chelation process to get his body ready to support his liver while removing all of the yucky stuff he had in his system.

Please let me know below if this series has been helpful to you all! I want to make sure I’m covering as much as possible:)