u/Lower-Knowledge-1974

I thought it would be beneficial to parents who are looking into doing additional testing.

For background, my son started regressing around 18 months and was officially diagnosed at 2 years old. Since then, he has been enrolled in speech therapy and in-home ABA. He also gets support from a local program.

We started him on Leucovorin, under the guidance of our doctor and saw some results. I saw some improvement in focus and eye contact but my wife did not.

We got a blood test done and saw that his serum iron levels were on the low end but his ferritin (iron storage) was dangerously low. He also had a 2.3:1 copper to zinc ratio. His copper was at the very high end.

Under the guidance of his ND and MD, we started an iron and zinc supplement - this helped so much. Friends, family, therapists and even neighbours saw a huge improvement in his eye contact, focus, responding to his name and staying in one spot to do puzzles, colour etc. He started to say words and mimic but wouldn’t always initiate.

We got an OAT test done with our ND with the following results:

Everything else was in range. From my understanding, it seems like a moderate yeast overgrowth in his gut and a deficiency in B2 and B6. Those deficiencies are resulting in less mitochondrial energy to help with his speech and other things. First step would be to eliminate the yeast issue.

For added context, he eats really well, not picky, sleeps good. His main concern for us is speech and initiation.

We have a follow up to review his OAT results and revise the game plan with his ND next week.

I wanted to just share with the community, his journey and current status incase anyone else has gone through something similar or wants to see what testing is available.

He will always be autistic and we would never change that. This is to work on his skill building so he can be successful and properly receive the support he gets.

Hello everyone,

My son is 2.5 years old, started regressing around 18 months and was diagnosed at 2. Young to be diagnosed but he had the classic signs.

We recently completed a blood and stool test. The stool test showed no abnormalities/parasites. The blood test was fairly OK but showing low serum iron levels (within range but lower end), low ferritin, high copper (.1 from max range), low vitamin D and lower zinc levels. His mother was anemic and had GD during the pregnancy.

We have implemented a few things while waiting to complete an OAT test, under the guidance of our ND.

- Iron Bisglycinate + Camu Camu Powder
- Vitamin D3/K2
- Rosita Cod Liver Oil
- B12/MTHF + Leucovorin
- Magnesium Bisglycinate

He eats well and is developing great physically. He has 7-10 hrs of in-home ABA and speech services per week. To help with the leucovorin absorption, we took him off any casein products and switched specifically to Ripple Kids Milk.

Our main concern with him is focus and lack of speech. We saw the biggest jump in those areas after starting his Iron supplement. Based on his recent findings, I will be adding Zinc Bisgylcinate and switching back to full fat 5-7% whole A2 milk. Stopping leucovorin for a while to address his Zinc/Copper ratio and continue working on raising his ferritin/iron levels.

The reason why I am listing out everything we are currently doing is to see if any one else has had the same issues (low iron/low zinc + high copper) and what you did to try and resolve this. There are numerous studies online showing the relationship with copper/zinc and kids with ADHD/Autism

I know his autism won't go away, our goal is to make sure he has optimal health to receive his ABA services properly and support that process.

OAT + Blood Results

Blood/Stool Test Results