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Julie Matthews, Certified Nutrition Consultant

Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism spectrum disorders. Her work is based in scientific research and understanding of the biochemistry of ASDs and the role of nutrition to restore health.

DAN!® practitioner for 5 years. Graduate of California state certified Bauman College Author: Nourishing Hope Host: Reality Sandwich Radio Program - San Francisco Host: Autism One Radio program Member: National Association of Nutrition Professionals Board Member: Nourishing Our Children campaign Speaker: 2007 DAN! Conferences, Alexandria, VA & Anaheim, CA Speaker: 2007 Autism One Conference, Chicago, IL

Helping people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is her passion. When she first discovered that most people with ASDs also have imbalanced biochemistry, she was intrigued and wanted to learn more. She's been studying ever since.  

When biochemistry is out of balance, there are always ways to affect it and thus influence what “"shows up" in the body. Julie is committed to learning and helping parents and children dealing with these conditions.  Too many people are told that autistic spectrum disorders are something they “have to "live with," or that there are no solutions beyond behavioral and educational intervention.  This is not true. There is great hope for those who explore the underlying biochemical imbalances and seek to restore balance through holistic approaches to wellness.

Causes and Contributing Factors of Autism

There are two common explanations for autism:

• Genetic predisposition
• One or several severe environmental assaults  

The most common cause appears to be a genetic weakness coupled with one or more environmental assaults that "pull the trigger" (as we say). The most common environmental assaults include:

• Mercury toxicity and environmental toxins
• Vaccinations and viruses
• Antibiotics and candida

The following chart illustrates the complexity of the causes and contributing factors involved in ASDs.  As you can see, many of these contribute to the malfunction of other areas, creating a downward spiral of events.  For example, a vaccination with mercury weakens the immune system, causing a need for antibiotics, which contributes to yeast overgrowth, creating inflammation in the gut and leading to further gut imbalance and food sensitivities.

While there are very complex interactions between these systems, a great deal of opportunity for improvement is available once these interactions are understood.  Areas to address include:

• Diets: Gluten-free/Casein free (GFCF), Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), Body Ecology Diet, Feingold Diet/Low Phenols, Low Oxilate Diet, Food Sensitivities, and more
• Supplements
• Mercury and heavy metals
• Environmental toxins: chelation and heavy metal detoxification
• Vaccinations
• Digestion, candida/yeast overgrowth, and microbial imbalance
• Faulty sulfation

Autism - ADD/ADHD: There is a connection

Many people don’t realize that ADHD has similar underlying causes, biochemical imbalances, and interventions as autistic spectrum disorders.  In fact, many consider ADHD a very mild form of ASD.  This reality is often unsettling to parents of children with ADHD, as they do not want to associate their child’s hyperactivity or inattentiveness with the more severe ASD, autism.  However, by simply understanding this connection parents can open up a world of possible courses of action for their children. There are excellent and proven nutritional interventions for autism that benefit milder forms of ASDs including ADHD.

I have seen many children with autism have their diagnosis changed by their doctor, from autism to ADHD, after their symptoms have improved dramatically through nutritional and biomedical intervention. For those with ADHD where the imbalance is far less severe, it's even easier and faster to “"untangle"” the “dis-ease and see results.  The following ASD section applies to ADHD.  When ASD or autism is mentioned, all of that valuable information is relevant to ADHD