When we first met Dr. Robert LaRusso, our daughter Barbara was 14 years old. She had been diagnosed with autism more than 11 years before. At the time there was little we could do to help besides providing a good speech therapist. ABA was in its earliest stages and only practiced on the West coast at the time. Literature about the benefits of a casein and gluten free diet had yet to exist. Still, we were determined to leave no stone unturned in our search for methods to help Barbara.

We started with the Feingold diet which our pediatrician said wouldn’t be effective. However, repeated tests of this diet showed us how damaging food additives were to Barbara’s system and we were able to diminish her hyperactivity and increase the regularity of her sleep patterns through controlling what she ate.

When Barbara was four, we met a homeopathic doctor who further restricted Barbara’s diet to eliminate yeast, sugar and other sweeteners.

We did hair analysis that showed too much aluminum in her system and went through two rounds of Auditory Integration Therapy, the first with some progress, the second with none. With each intervention, we saw some gains but we were still far from where we wanted to be when we first spoke with Dr. LaRusso. Little did we know that we were approaching the method that would give us more hope and more progress than all the other interventions combined.

In that first conversation, John and I listened as Dr. LaRusso explained what an NOT treatment involved and the gains that had been shown by other patients with various learning disabilities. These case histories were inspiring. The treatment was non-invasive and did not involve drugs or side effects. It would not be harmful to Barbara; all it could do is help her. We made our first appointment for later that week.

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