MB 12 Injections - A treatment option for Autism Spectrum Disorders

   I have been driven by the "many children with whom I spend half of my day" to take out time to write whatever little I know about MB 12 Injections. 

   Current upcoming biomedical research now explains Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as a plausible ecological and gastrointestinal disorder in genetically vulnerable children. MB 12 or Methyl- B12 or Methylcobalamin, is essentially a family of vital vitamins that detox our bodies from excess Sulphur.
Children with ASD have a defect in an enzyme that is needed to complete this process of detoxification.
Hence supplements of this vitamin help in improving these chemical processes in the body and surprisingly (indirectly) result in -

• improved speech
• language expression
• socialization ( improved eye contact)
• emotional control
• personal awareness
• mental processing
• overall health

These injections should be continued along with the regular interventions of Speech/Language Therapy, OT and Special Education.

The success stories are many! There are plenty of studies reported in the West  that prove the benefits of MB 12 injections.Though we lack sufficient controlled data in the Indian context to prove the 'quantity and quality' of improvement but still this surely looks like a promising treatment option for children with ASD. 

These injections are initially given for 3-6 months to see any discernible changes and continued later if found favourible.

Side effects include - hyperactivity and sleep disturbances, but these mellow down with time.

They are easy to administer at home. ( given subcutaneously) . Currently these injections are procured from USA.

Many of my ASD kids are taking the MB 12 injections and are showing good progress in my sessions, in school and at home :)

Find more info here - http://www.drneubrander.com/index.php

Eye contact and how to improve it!

Eye contact is the deepest way to form successful relationships and have better social interactions. Eye contact should be established not only when the child wants something from you, but also when she wishes to interact and connect! Always greet your child with a smile and a warm countenance when she makes eye contact with you.This way kids feel loved and cared for! The more your children look at you, the more they will learn, the more they will learn about the world of people, and how people communicate, about facial expressions, about the other subtleties of communication.

Children on the Autism spectrum have challenges looking at people. The more we encourage children to look the more likely they will have successful relationships with their peers.

To improve your little one's eye contact-

• Always position yourself in front of your child so that she can look at you.
• Be at eye level or a little below. Be at least 2 feet away from them.
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  While offering any object/toy.food/book etc to your child keep it in front of your face so that she can look at you.
• Reward your child when she looks at you. Use different tones of voice to celebrate the moment.. You can sing/whisper/ do a little dance or happily denote that the child looked at you!

You can-

• Play with stickers and bindis. Stick them on your face near your eyes. Choose different flashy ones, different sizes and colors. You can include your child's favorite sticker too!
• Incorporate different styles of hats, so that the child looks at your face. You can narrate stories to mimic different people wearing different hats. Use lots of tonal variations in your voice while doing this activity.
• You can cut out different head gears, that make your face look different..e.g. - different hair styles cut out in cardboard etc
• Use wigs! They work wonders..Pink, Orange, yellow, green..pull them all out!
• Candles have been my all time favorite.. They also encourage children to learn blowing ( very important oral motor skill for speech development) and also teach children cause and effect relationships.
• Peekaboo! yes get naughty and playful with your child.You can use curtains, pillows, dupattas or anything that helps you get your child look at you. You must talk to the kid while playing this old age game.
• Face/Eye masks also work well. You can get your child's favourite cartoon character mask and play!
• Bubbles - I personally have found this to be "the wonder tool " for kids who have poor eye to object contact. They get so fascinated by the floating, popping  bubbles..Blow one at a time.. and watch your child enjoy!

 Don't forget to respond back positively when your child makes eye contact with you.. She will surely do it again!

Tips to enhance speech and language skills in your child

Children can communicate since their birth. Infact research shows that a foetus can communicate right from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy!

It is important that an infant learns to pick up speech and language early on. Here are a few tips that will help in promoting your child's speech and language development.

• Eye contact. It is essential for you to look at your child's face and eyes whenever talking or communicating with her. This way she will learn that it is imperative to look at people while communicating. Children get clues about shaping their mouth to pronounce words while looking at your face when you converse with them.

• Turn Taking. The art of turn taking is important to become a social communicator. You must talk to your child and then pause to give her some time to vocalise. This skill can also be worked upon while playing with your child.

• Give your child opportunities. As your child is communicating with you, and you know what they want, give them time before you jump upon fulfilling their needs. This will give them the opportunity to verbalise, point, or even come up with a word.

• Give choices. Giving choices to your child always helps them to become better communication partners. Choices provide your child with an opportunity to vocalise or attempt a word. The child feels confident by evincing her choices and hence is on the right path of further expansion of expressive language.

• Provide commands/instructions. You can begin with simple single step requests that only involve one element, such as 'look', 'smile' etc.Then increase to two elements when one element becomes easy for your child (i.e. "Sit down," or "Touch your ears," and so on).

• Instill the habit of reading books. You can read simple books to your child with one or two colourful pictures on each page. Then ask them questions that can be answered verbally or by pointing to the correct picture. Don't demand a lot initially. If your child fails to reply or respond after 15 seconds, answer the question yourself.

• Reward and Reinforce. If your child comes up with an utterance resembling a word, praise and reward her and then model the correct target word which you think she attempted.For example, if the child says "daw" for doll, say "You said doll. Yes, it is a doll!"

• Hunt for different occasions. Language can be learnt best from our surroundings. Hence its best to make your little one a part of different novel situations and occasion so that she can pick up more and more language. A simple trip to the mall can be a great chance to help your child imbibe new words.

• Clarity of your child's speech. Parents usually understand their kids' speech more than strangers do. It might be an idea to observe how much do others understand your child's speech.This will give you an idea as to how clearly your child is speaking. Children undergo a developmental phase while learning to talk.If you feel that your little one's speech is unintelligible till the age of 3, consult a Speech Language Pathologist/Therapist.

• Correct Modelling of words.Pronounce your words clearly when you speak with your child. Talk slowly and remember to look directly at your child's face.

Although speech and language development varies with every child, a little extra support from the communicative partners in a child's environment will ensure a smooth acquisition of speech .Always remember, parents are "Super heroes" for their kids. Children will emulate whatever their parents do and say. Implementing these aforementioned tips will  aid all parents and care givers in communicating better with the little angels!