Parents of autistic children face a confusing flood of options and questions regarding their child's care and often don't know where to turn. Dean Ward, a chiropractic physician, knows the feeling well. He is the father of identical twin boys who are autistic.

"They weren't diagnosed until age three," he said. "They were premature, so the doctors told us they'd catch up."

But Darrick and Douglas, now 7, didn't catch up. They had delayed speech, displayed extensive over-reactions to excitement, would repeat movements for hours on end and started biting.

Ward and his wife began an exhaustive year-long search for some alternative to medicating the boys into zombies. That's how they discovered DAN, a group of physicians and biochemists who promote vitamin therapy and dietary changes to help autistic children. DAN is associated with the Autism Research Institute.

Ward wants to let other parents know about DAN protocols for treatment. The strict dietary guidelines the group promotes are the only things that have made a significant difference for his boys.

The DAN (Defeat Autism Now) principles are based on research showing how autistic children are helped by removal of dietary casein and gluten. Casein is found in milk products and a factor for anyone who is lactose intolerant. It is used in making glue.

Autistic children seem to fall into two groups, those that are born with it and never develop normally and those that develop normally until about age two, then regress. This second group is far larger, leading researchers to suspect the cause is environmental. In fact, incidents of autism have risen over 500 percent in the last five years. One suspect compound being studied is a vaccine stabilizer called thimerosol, which contains mercury.

The group's research goes back to the 1960s when Dr. Bernard Rimland first discovered how important vitamin B-6 is to the autistic child's nervous system. Later, Dr. William Shaw made a quantum leap when he isolated abnormal yeast concentrations in the urine of many autistic patients. This suggested their bodies were unable to break down wheat and dairy products properly and were, instead, breaking them down to compounds similar to opium and morphine.

"That's why an autistic child can hit himself on the head repeatedly and not feel any pain," Ward said.

Removing wheat and milk products from his children's diets seemed easier if mom and dad ate the same things, so the Wards now eat carefully planned meals. His wife spent hours in the kitchen, trying new recipes to find something that would taste good to the kids. Mexican food is something they can enjoy, as long as it doesn't have cheese. They are now helping other parents of autistic children learn if this will benefit them, too.

Ward, whose office is at 7312 W. Cheyenne Ave., can do the non- invasive diagnostic testing necessary to determine if the child would benefit from the DAN principles. He offers the tests at cost and can refer parents to local physicians who are familiar with the program.

There are a lot of anecdotal remedies out there, Ward said, but sadly most of them don't work. But when the dietary changes are combined with medical supervision, results can be documented, so the DAN protocols have a definite base in reality.

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Food sensitivities can affect brain function and alter sensory perception. Ward suggests these food sources for parents of autistic children:

Authentic Foods 1-800-806-4737

Vance's Darifree 1-800-497-4834 or www.amazingfoods.com

Gluten-Free Pantry 1-800-291-8386 or www.glutenfree.com

Miss Robens 1-800-665-9584 or missroben@msn.com

Kinnikinnick Foods 1-844-503-4466 or www.kinnikinnick.com

Kirkman Labs 1-800-245-8282 or www.kirkmanlabs.com

Ener-G Foods 1-800-331-5222 or www.energ-g.com

Gluten Solutions 1-888-845-8836 or www.glutensolutions.com

This Article has been submitted by the Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com team for informational and educational purposes. Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com is a website dedicated to telling the story of Jeremy Jacobs, a character in the novel, Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com.