Vitamins and Autism: The Real Story

[By Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D.]

Kids today receive about four times the number of vaccinations that I did in as a child in the late 1950s. And, there has been a sharp increase in the incidence of autism in children.

There are conventionally trained physicians, such as Drs. Andrew Wakefield, Suzanne Humphries and others who are convinced that the steep rise is due in large part to the rising number of shots for children. While I personally am in full agreement with them, vaccination is not the focus of this article. Increased vaccination is a fact of life. Increased autism is also a fact of life. Whether it is correlation or causation, in either event you have virtually no choice in the matter. You are forced by law to vaccinate your children. You are also righteously and compassionately compelled as a loving, dedicated parent, to care for your autistic child. The pressing question is, what can we do to help autistic children today? I therefore wish to address autism as an existing condition, regardless of what may have caused it.

You may or may not be surprised that many an internet search (and most all doctor visits) will assure you that, like vaccination, vitamins have precious little if anything to do with treating autism. However, there is a whole body of knowledge that disagrees.

Autism may be what Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, termed a nutritional dependency disease. This is distinct and different from a nutrient deficiency disease. Deficiency means you are not getting the commonly accepted minimum standard. Dependency means you personally need much more than others, permanently. Drugs will not correct vitamin dependencies. Nutritional treatment can, and has.

In half a second, a Google search will yield over 50,000 results for Bernard Rimland. Dr. Rimland has been honored all over the world. In Britain, newspapers such as the Guardian and the Independent featured his life and work. The LA Times called him "the father of modern autism research."

"In 1964, (Rimland) published 'Infantile Autism', a landmark book that argued autism had biochemical roots," said TIME Magazine, "and also controversially claimed metals like mercury (in vaccines) could trigger autism and vitamins could help treat it."

Melvyn R. Werbach, MD, in reviewing nutritional treatments for autism, said: