Vaccines Cause Child’s Autism, Parents Don’t Make Connection, But New Doctor Does and Recovers Child
James, was healthy, happy, calm, and developing normally until he was vaccinated at 17 months old. His parents keenly recall the night of his vaccination because his behavior started to change and his health began to deteriorate. Every part of James’s fragile body was negatively impacted: which included his sleep patterns, a loss in vocabulary, and his body’s inability to thrive, gain weight, and grow hair.
This family, like countless others featured on this website, witnessed the traumatic decline of their child’s health, personality, and capabilities following vaccination. For this family, they were surprised to learn their son was suffering from a severe vaccine injury – encephalopathy (severe brain swelling)! In fact, this young boy’s bodily systems were shutting down, according to his doctor. His mom, Heather, continued to investigate and through the help of their experienced functional medicine doctor, her son gradually regained his health over the course of two years through a constellation approach of detoxifying, diet/nutrition, supplements, additional therapies, and continual testing. Heather shares her compelling story as a way to provide comfort, hope, and encouragement to other parents with children on the autism spectrum disorder and who are vaccine-injured.
Heather: Information. Information is something a lot of people want, need, seek. Answers. Solutions. Guidance. On September 1st, 2016, we were in a place where we had questions. Our son, James, who was 17 months old, had a few things we couldn’t explain. Subtle signs, that something wasn’t right.
I had recently stopped nursing him. He had developed a bloated tummy, which we thought was due to the change in breast milk to rice milk. He had stopped talking, which we thought was just James being a little “mulo” (bull headed boy). He was talking prior, and at the time of us seeking answers, he no longer said: rock, doggies, milk, plane, or mommy. He called Brian and I “daddy” – which was the only word he said. He was getting rashes constantly and his eyes were often irritated. He didn’t eat much and woke up five to seven times a night. His hair stopped growing and became very coarse. His body weight stopped increasing. The not sleeping anymore happened relatively soon following the vaccine adverse reaction, and still is a challenge.
His doctor told us repeatedly that this was all normal. One day, we decided to try a new pediatrician, something just didn’t feel right. While on my break from work, I found a new doctor in our area that was able to see us. When we first went to meet Dr. K, I was shocked at the pile of paperwork we did. I kept telling Brian, “I don’t know what this has to do with anything…it’s just his milk.” The doctor took a while to come in to see us.
When she came in, our world was shattered. She said she believed our son had experienced a reaction to his last set of shots. The DTaP in his case. His last round of vaccines was January 14th, 2016. He was given the DTaP, haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), pneumococcal, and polio (IPOL) vaccines when we only authorized two vaccines per visit.
On January 14th, he had experienced something called encephalopathy [SEVERE BRAIN SWELLING]. This was not something many doctors knew much about, which in our case was our son crying uncontrollably for hours following his shots. Even though we were very clear about him only getting two shots per visit, one of the shots had three in one, which they didn’t tell us. The encephalopathy [brain swelling] was causing massive pain in his brain. The night he had his reaction, his doctor said to give him Tylenol and it was “normal” (which it wasn’t). (Behavior changes occurred from that evening on. Behavior and weight within the first three months, and rapidly progressed as time went.)
The doctor suggested she’d like to do some preliminary testing, to determine if this truly was the case. Of course we agreed…we knew it would come back fine. We did hair, urine, and blood tests that week. At his follow up appointment, I was sure nothing would be an issue, it was just the milk…When our doctor sat down, I knew something was wrong. She said our little baby, not only had a bad vaccine reaction, but his little body was shutting down. His neurological reaction was so severe, he was experiencing complete mitochondrial dysfunction, and his brain was inflamed causing a list of problems. If we would have proceeded with his next round of shots (which he was due for), he would have either had a grand mal seizure or died. He had no immune system left. His doctor recommended to not vaccinate further, because even at this point — he wouldn’t likely come back from it.
He was maxed out in heavy metals (aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, nickel, tin, titanium, and silver). As a kid he was never given baby food, formula, or canned food, so there was a big problem. The testing also showed he was a carrier of a mutation called Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). The MTHFR is a very complex and common mutation that also causes the body to hold onto toxins, including heavy metals and not eliminate them properly.
After these discoveries, we started a full biomedical intervention for our son. We saw a dietitian to start a detox diet, started a long list of supplements, and began testing James’s progress every three months. He could no longer have gluten, soy, rice, potatoes, milk, corn, coconut, or peanuts. We started speech therapy and began the long road to recovery. In April, our boy was diagnosed with autism. We were still in disbelief, even with doing treatment, and hearing the word autism all the time the last two years. His doctor, we were led to by sheer fate, and God’s will, is one of only ten doctors of her caliber in the United States. She is a functional medicine doctor.
May 15th of last year, after three months of speech therapy and a year of treatment, our son said “mommy” again. He is now talking a lot and his beautiful hair is back! He’s in the 88th percentile for height and weight, and he has returned to us. After two years of intense work, supplements, blood, and urine tests – which a two year old shouldn’t have to experience – his brain’s inflammation is now completely gone! And his mitochondrial function is almost perfect. (Praise be to God!) James is currently on 21 supplements, and continues to astound everyone with his progress! We’ve done treatment for two years following his reaction to the DTaP vaccine.
His story of recovery was shared last week, at a pediatric convention in Sacramento, which was huge for us. His pediatrician actually shared our story. James’s current test results are amazing and though we still have lots of work to clean up the aftermath – I know God is with him and I have absolutely no fear for his future!
I have wanted to speak out for a long time. I don’t think this is as big of a secret as I see it as, and most who have done their research and/or who have experienced something similar are aware of this going on. We have been in our own world and this is why. Two moms in particular have been a big inspiration to me, and have given me peace to share this. Now that James is doing better, I feel more comfortable sharing his story, as one of triumph, not sorrow. God spared him, and led us to his guardian angel Dr. K who saved him and us. If you feel your kiddo is showing signs that something isn’t right, and your doctor isn’t asking you questions or listening, go to someone who will. You know your child and you are their advocate! Don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion.
We absolutely believe that had we not intervened in our son’s healthcare and began treatment when we did, our son would have died!
“Sometimes real superheroes live in the hearts of little children, fighting big battles.”
Q&A with Heather:
Q: When he was vaccinated during any of his doctor visits, were you provided with informed consent? Or given any vaccine info sheet or package insert?
Heather: I’m sure we signed consent, or had verbal, but no information was ever given at all. Signs of a reaction were never discussed. All the warning signs we told the doctor about she dismissed as normal.
Q: Did James receive the Vitamin K shot and Hepatitis B vaccine at birth?
Heather: In the hospital, he only received the Vitamin K shot. Never gave him the Hepatitis B shot. I’d read bad things about it.
Q: Any other visible vaccine adverse reactions to previous vaccines prior to him not doing well around 17 months old?
Heather: Not that we knew of, but most likely he experienced problems since each reaction becomes stronger and stronger.
Q: Can you describe James’s personality before his vaccine injury, after, and then after recovery and healing?
Heather: Happy, relaxed, good eater, and calm prior to his reaction. He had quite a few words, and talked every day on our walks. After his vaccine-injury, he was sensitive, up and down emotionally, very antisocial, didn’t want to eat, stopped talking completely except for “daddy”, not present (hard to get his attention), and inconsolable during fits. Started tripping and falling a lot. Following treatment, he slowly regained his speech and is still hard to understand sometimes, but is almost at the appropriate stage for his age. He now eats all the time incredibly healthy foods. Broccoli is his favorite. We worked with him A LOT on eye contact. His coordination still isn’t great, but a lot better. He’s still very antisocial, but we are in groups to assist with this.
Q: What are your son’s favorite playtime activities? What does he enjoy doing? Where does he excel now?
Heather: He’s awesome on his scooter, and his balance bike, loves swimming or getting wet in any way. Loves art, including painting, and enjoys singing. He has an amazing memory and is very, very active.
Q: After you learned of his MTHFR mutation and his vaccine injury, is that when you started researching vaccines and toxins? Did you get tested as well?
Heather: We haven’t mostly because we’re focused on his treatments for the time being. It’s been a whirlwind for us since finding out…If we are carriers, I’d like to start the same protocols, but we need him at a very healthy stable place first. I occasionally take his MTHFR supplement if I’m eating a lot of folic acid. His supplements are very expensive and not covered at all. I haven’t been working the last 6 months, because daycares/schools aren’t authorized to give him his supplements or prescriptions, which he has to take everyday. When I’m working again we want to be tested as well, even for heavy metal load. His doctor said we are both likely carriers being he is. My siblings are looking into testing for their children now. Yes, we had never heard of MTHFR, even though I felt I did a lot of research prior to him being born on vaccines and their safety.
Q: What specific type of supplements is James on that have helped him recover and heal?
Heather: He’s on 15-20 supplements all the time; the major ones that have helped him heal are, charcoal, zinc, dk2, carnatine, glutathione, hydroxy B12, Omegas, chlorella, optimal liposomal L-5 MTHFR, trienza, Epsom salt baths, and many probiotics. Zinc, glutathione and the L-5 for sure have been lifesavers to aid in detox. His diet is on a Mito food meal plan which has helped as well with absorption.
Q: Has he been able to reintroduce any foods that he had to stop eating (gluten, soy, corn, etc.)?
Heather: Yes. Three months ago after 1-1/2 years of treating his leaky gut issues, we’ve been able to reintroduce corn and potatoes. We will meet with his dietician again in August to review his meal plan.
Q: What recent tests have you done that show he’s doing well and his health improved? Was it blood work, heavy metal testing, etc.? Which specific tests and what were the results?
Heather: Blood work, urine, and hair tests every 3-6 months. His Krebs cycle was completely in the red, and now only one section is. We do OATS test, Nutraeval, and THD panels. His MPO inflammatory markers are gone (myeloperoxidase markers of the oxidation process), and his thyroid function has normalized! He has normalized mitochondrial function and neurotransmitter productions now! He still has high yeast overgrowth, and high need for vitamin D and omegas. We went from the 30th and 40th percentile to 88th, and 90th just from detoxing, dietary changes, and supplementation.
Q: What resources and/or support groups or other info did you access and seek out?
Heather: I have tried a few different types of groups, but can’t seem to find our niche. I was very quiet about his condition for the first year, because I just shook anytime I talked about it – it just hurt so bad to think of what he went through. Now, his doctor has shown me to talk about it can help others. Not many families follow the method we are using, and doubt treatment. But we have seen such amazing results and we will continue our treatment. When I research his situation, I find a lot of scary scenarios. The long-term effects of heavy metal toxicity leads to everything you don’t want for your child. I have researched MTHFR quite a bit, and therapies that can help him. His doctor not only checks against his previous labs, she also calls the testing facility for any questions she has.
Q: What advice or recommendations do you have for parents that are questioning vaccines?
Heather: I’d 100% recommend parents to test for the mutation as early as possible to know the challenges you are going to face. Find a doctor that asks you a lot of questions, and will respect your choices and concerns. Know the early and non-fatal signs of a reaction. Most pediatricians are only educated on extreme cases; mild signs lead to major signs quicker than you think.
Q: What advice or recommendations do you have for parents with children on the spectrum and who are vaccine-injured?
Heather: If you are seeing a doctor that doesn’t ask you questions, run away! Your doctor should know how to help you, and warning signs that your child’s condition has many factors. Know autism is one thing, but underlying fungal viral and absorption issues can lead to an even more difficult road. If caught early enough, you can help your child with inflammation, malabsorption, and neurological function. You are not alone, and you did nothing wrong. The system is not designed to protect us, and although you may feel alone, the path you take will be worth all your time energy tears and money.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
Heather: I’m thankful every day for meeting his savior, his doctor. We had no idea the level of toxicity he was experiencing, or how long the road would be. Not a day goes by that I regret his treatment! If your child had a reaction, and is still breathing, consider yourself incredibly lucky and try to keep it in mind on the really hard days ahead.
VACCINE INJURY RECOVERY RESOURCES
This family’s inspiring story is one that addresses how much damage vaccines can cause, but also how resilient our body’s and brains can be given the chance to recover and heal under optimal circumstances and guidance.
* [Tylenol (Acetaminophen) is not recommended, especially post vaccination, as it has been found to deplete glutathione levels and affects mitochondria, a critical component to detoxification.
* For detoxification, healing, and recovery resources for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), check out:
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)
CEASE Therapy Homeopathic Detoxification
Functional Medicine Doctor trained in repairing vaccine injury
Autism Dad and Activist J.B. Handley’s latest book: How to End the Autism Epidemic
