The Link Between Autism and Gut Inflammation

Introduction and guest background 0:00

Welcome back. We're continuing our conversation on Crohn's and colitis and reversing chronic conditions. I'm your host, Sinclair Kennally, and today I am joined by the wonderful Luminara Serdar So she is not only an autism expert, but she's also become well known for the understanding the root causes behind autism and neuro divergence, and what I've discussed at length with her in the past as a trusted colleague is her realm of expertise in reversing chronic conditions and how intertwined those are with neurological issues.

So I'm very excited to unpack this topic together today. It's a it's a very delicate territory. You know, it's an emerging field of awareness in our space right now. And so all you parents out there hold yourselves tenderly as we tackle some things we mythbuster day, it's all good. And, so just to recap, Luminara is an autism transformation expert helping parents discover and address the root causes of their child's challenging autism behaviors so that a child can become happy and develop to peer level and gain independence, and so parents can feel competent, empowered, and happy, too.

She's trained as a scientist in genetics, cell biology and biochemistry, and as a functional nutritionist and holistic healer. She works with clients throughout the world using nutrition, opening body systems and removing toxic buildup to help shift autism behaviors. Welcome, Luminara. It's great to have you here. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. Wonderful. So let's just dive right in to this link. Between deep seated gut conditions and your realm of expertise, autism. What are your thoughts on that and what do you noticing today?

Well, not just those with autism, but almost everyone can use some gut help and some liver help. But what I see specifically in my clients with autism is I see huge inflammation, I see immune system dysregulation, I see chronic infections, parasites and toxins which feed those guys. And I'll tell you when, like when I do a diagnostic test on someone who is, 2 or 3 years old and they have high levels of uranium or cesium or Tellurium or these weird things, we don't know where they come from. I always go, where do they sock this away in their body?

You know, it's just such a conundrum to me how someone so small can really have a huge toxin load and, you know, tells me they're not detoxing, right? They're not letting the stuff go. So it just builds up and builds up until you see a child regress, or they have the next toxic hit and something happens. So

Gut health, toxins, and autism root causes 2:53

anyway, that's gut and beyond. Yeah, absolutely. I think you're bringing up a really crucial point that our kiddos today never got time in a less toxic environment. Like they're starting off on the back foot, right? So if they're not good graders, they're much more likely to be exhibiting, you know, deep seated gut issues and also potentially neurodivergent issues. Right? Like the gut brain axis is undeniable. Right. And there's research that shows that toxins cross the placenta into the developing fetus.

And there's research that shows that moms who live near pesticide sprayed fields have a higher incidence of autism. Like there's so much evidence that builds up to this that that affects the neurodevelopment in the womb. But then a lot of moms themselves, you probably see this. Or if your mom out there like autoimmune stuff, menstrual, you know, hormonal stuff. I have a lot of parents who come to me with autistic kids who did IVF, and maybe they have twins or triplets. They couldn't get pregnant because, well, maybe they're a little too toxic in the first place.

So there's lots of lots of build up in this. Yeah, absolutely. So so help us unpack that a little bit more because we just like shot right out of the gate talking about pesticides and what what other root cause factors do you see showing up in kids with autism today? Well, I think we like the biggest thing is dysbiosis in the gut and inflammation. You know, we have kids who are picky eaters I think yeah, part of that is a sensory issue. But part of that is like, oh, it just hurts to eat or I'm sensitive to this food, or it hurts and leaks through the gut and makes me feel crappy all over my body.

So it's a combination of the gut dysbiosis, which leads to leaky gut. Some toxins going in there leads to leaky gut as well. Like life is a gluten. that stuff travels around the body to the brain, and then it can sit in an area of the brain during neurodevelopment where that part of the brain doesn't develop. There's, a doctor, Robert Melillo, who's done a lot of investigation on this where, you know, we develop different parts of the brain in two, three, six month increments. And if we miss that developmental period because maybe there was brain inflammation or toxicity for some reason, then that part doesn't develop.

So when I work with people, I'll see I'll ask what what developmental age is your child out? And they'll say, well, for speech it's like two, but for, you know, math, it might be sixth grade, you know, so there's all these different developmental levels going on in one brain. And it it's very individual for how and why that happens. But I think at the root we can say there's stuff going on in the gut. It leaks into the brain and it creates inflammation and problems where the nerve cells don't connect.

And so you don't have development. Interesting. Okay. So in your experience, you know, of course I want to unpack this with you like really in-depth today. but I just want to give some hope to parents in the audience because you have such an amazing track record. I want them to know upfront the kind of potential that's available to them when you take a holistic approach to this, what what is possible for kiddos who have missed these neurological development windows, you know, due to maybe toxin exposure, right, maternal fetal toxin transfer or, you know, inflammatory factors that disrupted their gut health as kiddos.

Well, the first thing I want to say is there is hope because I have a 21 year old girl I'm working with right right now. Like every day, she has new cognitive awarenesses and abilities and is doing new things that she hasn't done before. Yes, she's still at a five year old level, but before she was at a two year old, you know, so these developmental things can happen. and I feel it's really about pulling out the toxins. And the more you pull them out, the more the brain cells can connect. And so we use supplements that are called binders that pull out toxins.

And that I feel is key. And getting the colon moving. So kids are pooping every day is a huge key because that means the toxins exit the body instead of just get recirculated. We see so many times when we give binders that kids, who are highly anxious or really aggressive, they just calm right down because it's the toxins. I mean, it's just I've been shown again and again and again that it's the toxins that recirculate that go into the brain. Is there research on that? I'm not quite sure if it's that detailed, but it's so obvious

Hope for neurodevelopmental progress 7:49

when you can give a child something, grab on to those, pull them out, and their behavior is different and it can change in 15 to 30 minutes. Wow. That's amazing. I you know, there is you know, it's been well documented. The enter and hepatic recirculation of toxins for sure, where the body's trying to excrete toxic materials through the bile, and then they get reabsorbed through the small intestine lining before the bile ever gets to exit the body, because we just didn't evolve with stuff. So the body's trying to recycle, you know, bile salts and, because this bile is so expensive to make, and that's part of how we get ourselves set up for re toxic vacation events.

I totally could see what you're talking about. It's very hard for the body to secrete synthetic substances we didn't evolve with or heavy metals. Right. Because those were like embedded deep in the Earth's crust before, you know, we we really started breaking all that up with mind before. We started drilling for oil, you know, and things like that. Not to put. Too fine a point on it, but, you know, actually one of my favorite things to share with people is that, you know, that, you know how the Roman Empire sort of crumbled from within at the end.

And then we had like, these crazy emperors over and over again. And the how popularized, lead jewelry was. And, you know, cups were made from led that, you know, for wine and plates and things. It's like, why do you think they all went insane? Like, well, and then we didn't learn our lesson because later we use mercury as a medicine. Oh, I know, what are we thinking? I know that's so true. Well, and I just want to point out about that is that I have a client who, when he was little, his parents, they lived in the Middle East.

Now they live, you know, in the US, but they lived in the Middle East. And I was like, how is tellurium? How is this stuff in his body? And something we don't think about is all the words, all the things that have been detonated over there. There's these I don't know if they're called the sirocco winds. They're high winds in the desert. When the sand gets blown miles and miles and miles. And she brought it up to me. I didn't even think of that. But, you know, imagine what might filter down and, like, sit on the soil and then the wind, stir it up.

Yeah, absolutely. Another way we get things. I think I, I totally agree with you. I mean, we've known from what we're tracking in the marine layer in California, right on the coast here. You know, it's much more toxic. the air pollution is actually right on the coast because the marine layer traps air pollution and holds it down close to humans and animals. So like when someone was said about this was like the pumas that were right on the coast along the California coastline were much higher in Mercury, over 100 times higher in Mercury, actually, than Pumas further inland because of the marine layer vapor.

I mean, there's no way, you know, we think about this. And where did that mercury come from? Well, you know, we've got this jet stream coming up. Air pollution from China comes up and around, filters down. It's very interesting. You know, we're it's actually a pretty small place we live on when you think about it. Well and Fukushima and Chernobyl. So I've had kids who've grown up in that or parents lived in that area. And then you see really high uranium levels or something. So it's it feels like a mystery as to how we get these things.

But when you start breaking it apart, like we were just doing like, oh yeah, or ancestral, like it comes through, you know, our grandparents, oh, parents. That makes total sense. I was the sickest kid out of the family. I was the oldest daughter. My mom had amalgam fillings. My mom was living the American Indian with my dad. They were fixing up houses together in the 70s. She was doing it herself, chipping away at lead paint. You know, being so brave, you know, getting her hands dirty and,

Why drainage and constipation come first 11:54

yeah, like, that's got to go somewhere. And it doesn't take that much to shift development. Right. And it doesn't take that much to shift a child's microbiome. Yeah. So having talked about that, I just want to say, like if a parent realizes and can become aware enough to go, oh my, my child has this stuff. And this is what's creating the neurodivergent, the neurodevelopmental issues. You know, that there's hope that we can take that out because we can repair guts. We can take toxins out. It's a process, but it's completely doable.

And so I think everyone should have hope out there. I think that's so beautifully said. I agree with you. I had, we just recently tracked me on the immunization schedule. Looking back at my increases in texture, sensitivity to foods, and getting really picky and needing foods to be separated from each other, and all this weird behavior that I had as a kid, it's like, oh, there was a notable increase in that at these key ages where I had several immunizations based on the schedule at the time, the standard schedule.

So, you know, when school requires, you know, a few of those, then, you know, there can be noted shifts in a child's behavior, trying to use my words carefully and with with thought here. Well, there's just a greater load on the body that the immune system then has to deal with. The gut has to deal with the microbiome, has to adjust and go, whoa, what is this? It can be an immunization. It can be anything else we're exposed to. It's just another thing. Yeah, totally. I mean, what we're talking about is like the adjuvants and, you know, the, the things in, in a music immunization that are designed to elicit an immune response, like that's what it's for.

We're trying to mount an immune response with that style of care. And so it's very difficult for the body not to have an adverse reaction to that. When you pair that with, you know, say the glyphosate and, you know, the EMF and total toxin load. So there's already stuff in there. So like yeah. And and you know we talked about lead and then Mercury and whose idea was it to put aluminum in these things. I mean. The next thing you know I have a lot of questions about that. Yeah, we're another time, but certainly something to open the door to because there's some really fascinating research.

And I wish it wasn't politicized because what we're really all we care about is do families have the support they need to, you know, for everybody to be whole and happy and healthy and. And with so much sensory and the and the politicized political ization, I'm not sure if that's the right word of it all. Like it's really hard to get the right information or to, you know, if you do get the alternative, the things that we are trying to promote and speak about, then there's always someone, you know, snooping Snopes or what are the what are the ones that say, oh, no, that's not valid and that's not real.

So then you have this. Experience. And like, what is real? What do I do? How do I get real help? And it can be very confusing. Yeah. It's frustrating for parents. I know it's exhausting. The good news is like you say, this is easy to make progress if you understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and you celebrate small wins and you're willing to look at root causes and reduce total body burden, right? And you're willing to do it in the correct order, because I found that, like parents have tried detox and their kids got worse and then they don't want to do it anymore, but if you detox in the wrong order before the pathways to actually eliminate are open, like if your child is constipated and you're detoxing with that's that circuit, that recirculation, that's just going to happen.

And so that doesn't work. So there also parents also need to understand that yes, we heal the gut and then yes we pull out toxins. But there's a specific order and different thing different steps you need to do that aren't, you know, posted with that new supplement on Facebook. Yeah, absolutely. We can't think about it in like a, in a siloed way. It's got to be systemic and systematic. Okay. So let's talk about that. So with autism we often see chronic conditions which can include but are not limited to Crohn's and colitis.

Or at the other end of the spectrum we could see like chronic constipation. Not unusual right. For kids who have trouble excreting. So what is the correct order of operations to support a child? To be ready to do the deeper work? Where would you start them? Oh, you have to start with them. So first of all, I want to define constipation because I know pediatricians are out there saying it's okay if your child poops every 3 to 4 days, no problem. Yes, and that's not true. Parents to let you know that we need to be pooping every day.

It's like, would you miss putting your garbage out on the curb and having it taken away? No, that means it built up in your house. So we need to poop every day once, or maybe more ideally. So if your child's not pooping, that's the first course. Now, I know some kids are anxious about pooping. some kids go in the corner and poop in a diaper. You know, it's just it's a big anxiety ridden thing, but there are things we can do for that. There's different supplements that help the bowels move easier.

And depending on what the source is, what's causing the constipation? Is it lack of motility? Then you want to do one thing. Is it the muscles aren't contracting? Then you want to do something else. Is it? Are there emotional things? and there's even a simple massage you can do that helps break up adhesions in the connective tissue so that like if your colon was kind of squished, it can really open up and become bigger. there's research that shows in autism this the upper right quadrant. So if you take your hand and put it right by at the bottom of your ribs, that's where your colon makes a bend.

And a lot of times that's, has a lot of fecal compaction in kids with autism. So it's not moving. And that's just one of the things. Right. So even doing a massage, a gentle colon massage can help move things. So there's supplements and there's hands on. Can we just pause right there and do it. Do we know enough based on what you just said to do it well or do you can we just like, instruct parents right now because that could be a lifesaver for them? Yeah. I mean, I put this out on an email or something and I got someone right sit writing me back the next day like, oh my God, I did this and my child pooped in the morning.

He never poops in the morning. So. So what you want to do is, take your hand and put it on your left hip. Okay? Your left side. Right. That's where the poop is going to go out from the left side. So we want to do it kind of a gentle, neatly picture a kitty cat kneading on you very lightly. And depending on your child, there could be pain. And you want me need to go really, really light in the beginning. Because if you go too hard, they're never going to let you touch them again, right? No. That hurt.

So you just slowly I'll stand up a little bit. You you do the kneading right. You just you're going to do like this kneading. I'm going backwards first in the direction that we poop. We have our small intestine. The poop comes on the right side over and then down the left side. But we want to go opposite to loosen things up. And then we want to. And I'm not doing it correctly. I'm doing it fast. But then we want to massage up the right side over to the left and down the left side. And again that it's helped so many people that I've told about it

Liver, lymph, and toxin release 19:48

and it can loosen up what's stuck in there. That's so helpful. That's very cool. And we know that for even you know adults this could be life changing. Even if sometimes you have diarrhea which is very common for Crohn's and colitis. Right. To have waterfall daily. Right. That doesn't actually mean that you're not constipated. That can be the other side. Of the small. Yes. Yes. So please experiment because what we want is to support the body to return to self-regulation. Right. Very cool. Okay. So I know I interrupted you to ask you more about that.

Did you want to finish your thought, where you were going after that. Well the first thing is constipation. So if your child's not eliminating they're not getting rid of the toxins. So you don't really move on to anything until they're pooping. And I don't care if it's in a diaper. They just get them pooping every day. And parents tell me the poop gets better and better and better depending on, you know, you're going to use a bunch of different things depending on your child or one particular targeted one that's going to be the one.

And then after that, we all my clients have liver issues, and you can tell because they have I even have them the, you know, the dark circles under your eyes. And I'll have kids that, their parents tell me, oh, they're starting to get dark circles again. Or maybe you have a rash behind your ear or in your elbow or on your arms. That's a sign the liver's backed up, and then you want to take care of the liver. And there's herbal supplements for that. And there's. Yes. What? There's a manual liver compression massage.

And we want to make sure the bile is flowing. so we want to do all of that. B and we're working on the gut at the same time. We're working on changing what is the microbiome constituency. What I find is kids with autism have, less variety of microbes in their gut. And, greater amount of what we call the bad guys who create problems and create toxins. So we're looking at that, then we want and there's massages for everything, because before we had supplement companies, before we had medications, we had our hands and we knew how to do this stuff.

And so we have a liver massage and then we have a lymph massage. You know, there's places around the body you can massage your lymph. And once your lymph is flowing, that's picture your pipes in your house. If you're flushing poop down the toilet and it comes back up, what's that going to do to your house if your pipes aren't moving in your body and it flushes back up, where does it go? you know the brain, but it can go lots of other areas and give you joint pain or other pain. So we want to do that before we start pulling the deeper level toxins out.

And I want to say a story about mercury toxicity. And a friend lived in Japan many years, eight tons and tons of fish. One day he couldn't get out of bed. I mean, I'm sure there were symptoms leading up to it, but he couldn't move and he went to find out what it was, and it was his mercury poisoning was off the charts. he did evacuation for a number of weeks, and then he was fine. And five years later, same thing with that tells me. And then he had to do it again and felt better. But what that tells me is the mercury in our body is so smart it stores these toxins deep, deep, deep inside.

And when those more surface ones were were out of his body, that it's almost as if deep inside his cells and his connective tissue and the fatty tissues, they went, oh no, no, we can come out. Yes, absolutely appear to return even though you're still detoxing. My so yeah, layers to the gun. You know, it's so true. And I appreciate you setting the expectations around that because what what I find very scary in the space right now is just popularization, especially in functional medicine. If like, like you said, evacuation of like yeah, we'll go through a quick series of a few IVs because I learned about IVs and we can workshop.

And now I have an IV room. And people practitioners don't actually know how to prepare the body for heavy metal chelation. And they're thinking of it as a very short term process, and the body's not actually prepared to think about it as a short term process. Right. We know that the brain drains last year, just taking us through the drainage funnel. Right. So the brain drains last and there's mercury that's just highly lipophilic deep inside the brain, highly inflammatory. How is that going to come out in a short term process?

It's probably not going to. Right. Especially if you didn't open up your drainage pathways first. So is fascinating stuff. And I think it's really appropriate to, set long term expectations so people know this is a lifestyle, not an event. It's a marathon, not a sprint, which means we could self-regulate along the way. We don't need crashes because we're not going to do heroic dumping. We're going to do gentle releases. Right. Well, and the thing I want to point out is that when I see these toxins pulled out, when they actually do and follow what I guide them to do, and everyone gets a customized protocol, they, the kids, their anxiety levels down.

They're not as rigid in their behavior. I can't tell you how many parents have told me, oh, now he can stand to have his face washed and have it under the shower and have his hair clipped and his nails clipped when they were before they were so sensitive. So these sensitivities shift, kids eat more foods and the cognitive development is incredible. I know it's very complex. I was telling you about the girl who's 21, and she started doing puzzles for the first time. It's just, you know, circle and square and rectangle.

But she had never, ever shown interest or done it the right way or played with it the right way. And she was just cruising right along. She just learning so many new things every day. And she's interested and curious and aware, and I think it takes a lot of different brain connections to make that happen. So I don't know what's happening, but I know that she's dumping toxins and, you know, it's it's working. That's such a gorgeous testament to neuroplasticity. Right. And the brilliance of the body if we help remove these interferences.

Yeah, absolutely. It's so interesting because I know it's so we have, you know, a smaller pediatric focus in our practice. But it's it's a big lift because you're really holding the whole family.

Family regulation and emotional support tools 26:38

Right. And I'm just I really give you all the credit in the world for helping parents navigate this and learn how to become the container for their child to do this deep work, because it really is a whole family process. It is. And a lot of the some of the parents will go, well, I'm going to try this on myself. They want to try a supplement before they give it to their child, and they notice how it makes them feel and they're like, oh, this is great. And I'm I'm sleeping better or I have more energy, you know?

So yeah, I love when parents do the protocol with their kids because their kids can't always give them the feedback on nonverbal or low expressive. And when parents feel it for themselves, like I'm sure with your adult clients, you know, they feel it and they it encourages them to keep going because they know they're heading in the right direction. Yeah, we frankly prefer to work with the parents first and then for the kids. And so we'll gently say, I'm like, where he would take a whole family approach with this one, because for that very reason, you don't you know, what to look for more in your child.

If you have a relationship to the tool and you went through the process yourself, you know, and your nervous system can withstand the ups and downs because your child's coagulating with you. Absolutely. I, I wanted to mention that if a if a parent is anxious, the child picks up on that and is so much more anxious. So we also teach tools. I also teach tools that are about energy management in the body and emotional regulation. And it's not just about supplements and going through a protocol because there's, you know, probably some trauma stored in there and some weird energetics going on.

And, and so I, you know, when I'll ask parents like, I remember this one family and her ears just they would move and then they'd move back and they move and they'd move back. And I said, I really think there's some energetic stuff going on in your family. And as soon as I said the thing, they're like, oh yeah, that's been happening. They didn't take the step to go further, despite my encouragement. So if I encourage people to take a step in a direction, it's because that's probably the next step they need.

Yeah. And I think that's really lovingly said for sure. What are some of your favorite tools to help support the whole family through those, emotional ups and downs, nervous system, regulation of the healing process? Yeah, I do a lot of breathing, you know, teaching them to breathe and sitting with their child and the trouble co regulate with them. They'll start breathing with them. I do some hands on things like this is called positive points and it helps call meaning you know, there's certain crossover moves you can do.

certain. So a lot of kids really like a lot of sensory pressure and squeezing. and then I have these little energy tools where I call the body sweeping. Just it's really a lot of intention work for the parent. Just intend that they're their systems getting clean because they're so energetically open and pick up on other people's emotions, whether it's the parents or whether it's out at school. They get really stressed out because they're picking up all this stuff and they don't know what to do with it. They're highly sensitive.

So kind of a cleaning routine. So there's a few things. Yeah. I love that okay, cool. Those are very accessible and supportive. Oh and they're free. It's things people can just. Yeah. Do any time you want. We're I'm sorry. That's too expensive. Well, you know, sometimes people think it's too simple. It's not going to work or. It's so simple. How can that work? You know. Absolutely. We run into that all the time. Where the more complex the health condition. You know, that's certainly true for folks with really difficult digestive conditions as well as neurological conditions, too.

We were hardwired to think, oh, the the solution must be complicated, too. And we completely dismiss these foundational basics that can smooth out and speed up the healing process. So on that note. Oh please do. Yeah, of course, you know. Oh, I love tapping I know right. You don't even have to do like the official tapping where you say a bunch of words even though I'm this, I'm I love myself. But you can just do a routine of tapping and then it just kind of does something clearing the meridians.

So anyway, that's that's my last one. Didn't mention. Yeah. No, that's a great one. I love using that for just helping them like turn on the electricity and kind of self-regulate across the system so to speak. Turn the lights on. So what I was going to ask you is I'm sure there are parents in the audience that were excited about this interview because they're on this health journey with their child and they're on it, you know, they, they know about the toxicity of the food dyes and they're eating all organic.

And they would never let their kids near, you know, you know, processed food. Right now. And they're everything is about clean living in support of the child to heal faster. What would you say to those parents who feel like they're advanced students at this, and they're looking for that next nugget to just give them hope and maybe catch those, stones that need to be overturned that were missed. You know. Well, one thing that my parents reporting and I don't know if you're the first person would know this, but castor oil packs are so amazing.

The parents use them consistently. They really see behavior shifts and they see better sleep. So that's one thing that I think is really underestimated. Or under talked about is castor oil. And then point I think what I mean, you and I are these practitioners that go to the ends of the earth to learn all these weird, different things. Right?

Advanced supports and customized protocols 32:28

But in medical school, I don't think anyone's taught about lymphatic drainage. I don't I, I haven't heard I actually sat next to a doctor at an autism training and asked him, I said, what do you do for drainage? I can't do everything. Someone else has got to do that. So are you kidding me? No. So it's clear. And I've sat in these trainings and it's like the. GI doc saying, food won't make a difference. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that from, you know, ulcerative colitis patients and Crohn's.

And it's like dying again. So I feel like that's a key missing step. So if you're one of those parents who's done everything you've worked with a biomedical doctor or you've worked with a functional medicine practitioner, you've done all the things I think drainage is a step a lot of people miss, and that opens up your pipes so that the toxins can actually go out. Because I do have people like that who come to me. But the 21 year old I we told you about since they adopted her at 18 months and since they adopted her, she's not she's never eaten badly.

She's always eaten organic. Whatever. Now, two days on my protocol and they saw changes. So that tells you how important food is, right. Like right from the beginning he's like, is this is this normal? Could we see changes in two days that. Yeah, if we're not putting the stuff back in every day. So anyway, I think the castor oil, the drainage and and then using very specific things for detox depending on what's in there and you might want to do some functional testing. And the functional, the testing isn't always going to tell you what's in there.

Because like my friend who had Mercury that came back five years later, it came out five years later in that time between the first collection and, you know, two years down the road, they probably wouldn't have found the mercury. Maybe they would have, maybe they wouldn't. So it might not show up on a test unless you're actively. Yeah, absolutely. Most of those tests I, you know, formats, whether it's urine or hair mineral analysis that they're looking at what the body's in a position to let go of not total body burden.

That is such an important distinction. Thank you so much for bringing that up. That's crucial. Yeah. Because people get these tests and take a look at my child doesn't have any metals. And I'm like I mean let's open the drainage pathways and then let's see. Yeah that's not what that test said that I said this. Is what your body can let go of right now. You see that on my on those. It's hard to rely on the test like yes, they can give you some information, but I muscle test and ask the body what's burdensome for it.

And we'll find things that you're never going to find on it. On a diagnostic test. Yeah. We had to look at multiple layers of information for sure. For sure. So tell me more about, we covered a lot of great hands on tools today. We touched on root causes. We talked about the relationship between chronic conditions inflammation in the gut, dysbiosis, you know, even the microbiome diversity in the gut for kiddos with neurological issues, especially autism. and we also talked about I was going to ask you, what would you have practitioners know that are on the hunt for more tools, but you totally made that point beautifully with the drainage piece.

So what's left, I think, is to talk about like, how would you work with a family or child? You know what? What is your anything else you want to let us know about your approach or any of that? Well, assessments. There's always assessments to find out what's going on. It can be a diagnostic test. If people love to see a number on a paper from a stool sample or a urine sample or a blood sample, which I try to stay away from, or the blood sample that is not the urine or stool. Or we could do a bunch of muscle testing and surprises come up there sometimes for I look at a lot of different things.

You can't do diagnostic testing for that seem to be implicated in autism, like methylation cycle stuff and mitochondrial dysfunction. And if it is dysfunctional, where is it dysfunctional? And then what's causing that or what's contributing to that. So we can really deep dive when you muscle test and ask the body any question. I also would like to do energy healing work. It's neuromodulation technique, which we look for mistakes the nervous system is making, the body is making, and we correct those through a therapeutic intention.

And there's a very specific protocol for that. And we can get creative. And then I customize depending on where anybody is, where they start. Then I customize do we want supplements. Do we need supplement? I mean you almost always do because kids aren't eating well, but we try to get them to eat well, try to get to change the taste buds in the sensory issues. So the right of food is greater. And then of course, working with the parents this whole time, right, because I'm dropping all these parent coaching bombs on them.

You know, I don't say it's part of my program, but like I'm training them up too in the process, you know, to have this certain way of thinking and this hopeful demeanor and have them have less anxiety about the whole process. And then, and then I, you know, I try and minimize this number of supplements because I've talked to people like they come from their naturopath or their functional medicine doctor with 30 supplements. And I'm like, you got some expensive, you're in there, you're not getting in.

So, you know, my strategy is let's pull the toxins out first and then we can get stuff in the body. So it's kind of whatever the person needs and where they are. Some people come to me having done years of work, and some people come to me fresh out of the gate going, what do I do? You know, it's custom for everyone. Is that. Yeah, I think it's necessary to kind of have that breadth and depth as a practitioner in this day and age. And I just appreciate your contribution in this space. I know for parents, this is like you got to have a master's degree almost, and child health just to get your kiddo through these developmental years.

And so we're sending a lot of love that to your parents right now. And the good news is there's a lot of hope. It's never too late to see progress. And, you know, our recommend is to get started as soon as possible, because there's a window of time in which they're under your roof. So, you know, and the. Willing to eat the new things you want them to eat. You start having teenagers and it's harder to get them to comply. Exactly right. And also, we don't want them to make a big story is about who they are.

When that based on temporary limitations. So. That's very cool. thank you so much. Where can people find you. Oh my website is autismtransformed.com So lots of information there. Lots of free stuff. Lots of videos. I have a YouTube Instagram Facebook. So there's there's all there's like free stuff out there. All the all the things. Yeah. Wonderful. Thanks. So yeah, thanks for thanks for having me. And yeah, I think I just want to leave parents with the idea of hope that everything can shift and we just find the right path to doing that and love that.