This blog is a way of sharing the information and resources that have helped me to recover my son Roo from an Autism Spectrum Disorder. What I have learned is to view our symptoms as the results of underlying biological cause, which can be identified and healed. I say "our symptoms" because I also have a neuro-immune disorder called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

And, of course, I am not a doctor (although I have been known to impersonate one while doing imaginative play with my son)- this is just our story and information that has been helpful or interesting to us. I hope it is helpful and interesting to you!


Saturday, May 7, 2011

Further Reading About Oxalates

For those looking to do more research about oxalates, here are some resources with more information.  Not all information is consistent between sources, but overall they provide a much more complete picture than I've presented here on this blog so far.

The Role of Oxalates in Autism and Chronic Disorders

This is a piece on the Weston A. Price site written by William Shaw, who is the director of the Great Plains Lab and who has done pioneering work into studying the role of oxalates in autism. 

Oxalates Control is a Major New Factor in Autism Therapy

 This is another article written by Dr Shaw on the Great Plains Lab website with some different informaiton that is more specific to autism.  In this paper, Dr Shaw discusses findings from studying the results Organic Acid Testing that his lab does for many patients with autism.  His research found that "84% of the children on the autistic spectrum had oxalate values outside the normal range".  This suggests that addressing oxalates may benefit the majority of people with autism.

Low Oxalate Info

This site is the official site of the Autism Oxalate Project (a project of the Autism research Institute run by researcher Susan Owens).  This site contains information about oxalate specific to different disorders including Vulvadynia, Autism, COPD/Asthma, and Kidney Stones.  It also contains information about the low oxalate diet including how to get started with it, recipes for the diet, and suggestions for supplements that will help.  The food lists on this site list foods not only by oxalate status, but also by whether they are SCD legal and their salicylate content, which is very helpful.  This site also has a link to the yahoo group about oxalates, which I highly recommend joining, which is:

Trying Low Oxalates

The files section for this list contains a lot of good information about oxalates, implementing the diet, handling oxalate "dumps" (which is what periods of detoxing oxalate is called), how oxalate impairs various metabolic functions, etc.  By joining the list you will hear about cutting edge information regarding oxalates.  Also, Susan Owens (who is the moderator) also posts a lot of research articles regarding oxalates that are very interesting.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,