Supplements for Autism

There are some supplements that have used with children with Autism for over 12 years now, and have had enough success as to be consistently recommended by parents to other parents, and have had some limited research to back them up. A supplement is not a cure. It is not really a drug, since it is not regulated as a drug.

A supplement is generally a natural substance, like a vitamin, that at some point was shown that some Autistic persons' were low in, or improved with taking them.

The three main ones that appear are:
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DMG*
Vitamin B6
Magnesium

*DMG = N, N-Dimethylglycine

I recommend purchasing one package, taking notes on behavior, amount and severity of tantrums and other measures of progress, like progress notes from therapists and school. Provide a single supplement, and give it about 2 weeks to work. A child might act differently at first-sometimes an improvment causes them to be a little more active, but then they settle down. After the package is used, go off the supplement for a week before buying another, and observe if the child gets worse without it. If he/she does, then you have some evidence that this helps them and you can justify the continued expense and trouble of giving it to them.

DMG is generally in a foil packet, as the tablets dissolve very easily in the open air. This makes them easy to give to the child, as they practically dissolve right on the tongue. My son as always seemed to like them and doesn't need to swallow them like a pill--he just chews them.

The dose is about 3 per day to start, for a very young child, age 3, and can be up to 6 per day. As they grow, you can add another tablet gradually.

B6 is given as a separate tablet. We cut them in half at first, and ground them up in a mortar and pestle and added the powder to baby food or honey. As the child gets older a larger dose can be given, but don't give a dose larger than an adult dose without consulting a physician.

Magnesium is given the same way. Start with half the adult dose. I use chelated Magnesium.

Don't consider a multivitamin to be sufficient with these last. An additional multivitamin is also a great idea, and there are some great tasting chewables out there that have no gluten, casein, or dyes in them.

I have heard of some Autistic children improving greatly--going from not speaking at all to speaking in sentences--on these supplements alone. I personally met one family who claimed this was true with their son, whom I also met. This was the deciding factor in getting me to go out and actually purchase them and try them, even though I had heard about them before that.