Join the Autism Telesummit - We kick off on January 15th!

Hello:

I’m so excited to extend an invitation to you for the FREE Autism Recovery Telesummit.

Event: Autism Recovery Telesummit:

Why Listen-In on the Telesummit?

1.  Top Global Autism Experts Offer Recovery Strategies
2. Top Autism Recovery Experts Give Strategies To Improve Communication With and
   
   Health For Your Autistic Child

Telesummit Focus:

★ How your child can speak, comprehend, communicate more

★ Change tantrums, screaming and self-stimulation into sweetness and smiles

★ Create positive changes in the brain

★ Discover why diet is so important and hear diet choices that work

★ Make eye contact and say, “I love you, Mama”

★ Get lifelong support for your child and family

★ Hear RECOVERY STRATEGIES THAT WORK from everyday moms

★ And so much more!

  

We kick off on January 15^th!

  

My colleague, Luminara Serdar is hosting this incredible event.  She is deeply passionate about returning health and a more typical lifestyle to your child, with the hope that they are one day off the autism spectrum.

“Yes! Sign me up for the Summit!”

                                   or 

Click here for more information and to register:

Sincerely,

Terra Smith

P.S. Know anyone who needs support with their child with autism? Please forward this invitation to friends, family, teachers and therapists today!

Proofs for Paperback, Hope Comes in Pieces

But Mia, these are only the proofs. 

Part 2, Michelle Nickleberry, Autism Education and Training for Flight Crews and Law Enforcement

Missed Part 1, Click here


Part 2:

Michelle, went on the say that Tori was always the one that got sick and still tends to be that way.  As with many parents, Michelle discovered the hard way that finding a pediatrician who strongly considers a mother’s observations and intuition is a key part of finding said pediatrician.

“Two PhD Psychologists, two MD Psychiatrists, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist , six people observed her from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  I took a break and took her home.  I returned from the break with my mother and received a diagnosis of severe autism.  The panel told me that Tori would never get better.  They said she would only get worse and that we should be prepared for her to spend the rest of her life in our house.

Michelle snickered at the diagnosis initially,  “Autism… “Six people observing Tori for four hour…? Not only am I Tori’s mother, I have a Master’s Degree in counseling.  I had done the research on how autism may look.  Six people to tell me that… really?  Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks.”

According to the doctor, Tori would get worse… worse than not speaking, worse than barely crawling.  She took a moment to ask herself, Why are you crying when you knew what it would be? The moment didn’t help.  “Mom and I cried.  It was hard to drive home with Tori’s very poor prognosis.

“On top of all that, while my insurance paid for the diagnosis, it would not pay for the treatments related to autism.   My company self-funded our insurance coverage.  Under Federal Law and State Law, they chose to opt out of coverage for autism treatments.   A single mother at forty-five, money was already tight… with medical bills...  But, I just could not accept such a poor outcome for my daughter.”

Michelle saw that she needed to educate herself.  She looked into the standard practices of treatment for autism.  These were Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), occupation therapy, and physical therapy.  The pediatrician talked about drug therapies which she chose not to do.  That was the path she remained on for a while.

She started looking for alternatives to understand more of Tori’s conditions and behavior, especially her stims.  “Stims are self-stimulated repeated behaviors Tori uses to calm herself down. Her stims took the form of falling back and doing snow angels on about any surface.”

Despite being tight on money, Michelle went to her first Generation Rescue event, Autism One in Chicago in 2011.  “There, I learned about diet, essential oils, biomedical treatment, and the Son-Rise Program.   My head was spinning with so much information.”

Michelle started doing two things when she returned from the conference, using natural soap and lotions, and learning more about Son-Rise.  “I really noticed a difference when I used a friend’s homemade soap.  Tori spoke more words.  She started putting her sentences together.

“Son-Rise of the Autism Treatment Centers of America was created by Barry “Bears” Neil Kaufman and Samahria Lyte Kaufman.  Going there became a priority though I didn’t have the money.  Son-Rise gave me a scholarship to cover a part of the cost.

“I took a week off work and went to Sheffield, Massachusetts to attend the program.  It helped me to see inside Tori’s stims.  Son-Rise taught me to do what she does when it comes to acting out some behaviors.  It shows Tori that she is loved, that there is nothing wrong with her.  It taught me to see the world from her perspective and to see what she may be responding to.  When Lexi and I first started joining her in making snow angel movements, Tori would stop and look at us.  That was a good thing.  She would get up and move our legs in the way she wanted them to go. That was interaction.  Then, she would lie back down on the floor and do more snow angels with us.  Over time, she just stopped doing them altogether.  Son-Rise goes on to say that you should reflect a life in which your child will want to join.  So, Tori, Lexi, and I do some silly stuff in our house that generates hugs and kisses which wasn’t happening before.  These programs were so helpful to Tori’s improvements.  I speak out now.  If there is anything going on about autism, I try to be there to support it, share my experiences with what has worked or hasn’t worked for Tori?”

I asked Michelle, “Is that how you came to get involved in the air travel program and can you describe that to me?”

“That’s just one of my twelve jobs: modeling… handgun licenses and safety, acting…. On this one flight, we had a teenaged boy on the aircraft who sat by a female passenger.  He started rubbing her leg and her arm.  She became very upset and saw it as an assault.  I went to take a look.  I sat by him and saw his reaction, no eye-contact, no interaction.   I went to speak with the passenger to explain. She was slow to hear that puberty can be more problematic for kids with autism.  The crew calmed down.  The passenger calmed down.  A male passenger volunteered to sit next to him.  The police didn’t come.

“I heard about a program in El Paso with my airline’s job.  Kiddos with autism go through the full screening process.  They are issued luggage, check-in, go through security, pat down, board the aircraft and take a seat.  Parents need this type of support.  Flight crews need more training because autism diagnoses are projected to increase.  It’s called a spectrum for a reason; meaning that, flight crews with no orientation whatsoever are bound to create bad outcome for the child, other passengers, crews, and airlines, especially so with police departments.  And that’s already happened.  I want to help educate staff to identify and de-escalate these situations so that a child and others can continue with their lives as planned.”

Michelle Nickleberry, Autism Education and Training for Flight Crews and Law Enforcement

Michelle Nickleberry adopted her daughters, Tori and Lexi, as a single woman.   She works as a flight attendant with a major airline, provides concealed handgun training, and works as a grievance specialist with a union.  Her ambitions are to:

1. Expand airline passenger orientation programs for kids with autism in order to reduce the chances of behaviors that officials and passengers may not understand.
2. Develop awareness programs for airline staff and police forces both to reduce the risk of harming a child and to reduce escalations that may demand resources best used someplace else.   

Michelle’s Story, Part 1 of 2:

“When I married, it was a family decision for me to leave the Dallas Police Force.  I think about going back as a reserve police officer sometimes.  Life is different now.  Now, I am a single mother of two daughters, one on the autism spectrum.  I adopted twin daughters, my kiddos, after they came into my life as foster children at only eleven days old and born prematurely.”

Michelle oriented me to that difference in her life by sharing one particular police call:

“He threw us around like we were ragdolls,” recalled Michelle, her voice steady; like the brawl must have found its place in the context of her life.  “My partner and I didn’t know if we were going to make it.  The perpetrator was so strong… extremely strong.  He wasn’t trying to stop us.  He wasn’t trying to resist us.”  Driven by rage-induced mental health issues and the inadvertent intake of laced marijuana, “He attacked us.  He tried to take our firearms.  He hit us over the head.  This was a fight for us to go home. So, it was on.  We engaged him will all the strength and tactics coming from the only source it could, God’s gift of the will to survive.

“A security guard showed up.  He had a shotgun.  He went to lay it down so that he could help us. Immediately, we told him not to lay it down.  The police weren’t necessarily appreciated in that neighborhood though we had a police room in this same complex.  He came to help, shotgun and all. Shotgun flailing at risk of firing, perpetrator kicking, punching, going for our guns… we got one cuff on him.  Other police officers arrived.   We all finally cuffed and subdued him enough to get him into the ambulance.

“My partner and I looked at one another after it was over.  Minor injuries, no hospitalization, and we were still alive.  We sat in the cruiser, looked at one another again and cried.  We followed the ambulance to the hospital.”  The perpetrator’s family probably followed as well.  They were the ones who called the 911 operator,   “… giving a warning that he was out of control.  He had attacked them first.  When we showed up, he had gone from attacking his family to attacking us.

“The incident made me more aware of my mortality, but it did not change my path.  I had joined the Dallas Police force in my early 20s.  Later, I became a detective.  I loved the rush, chasing people, figuring out what the bad guy was doing and stopping him.  I always kept in mind that it could have been my partner or me on the department’s memorial wall.

“After marriage, I left the force.  When divorced, I made an attempt to return.  But, there were too many changes.  Somewhere in all that, I earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology.  Then my kiddos came into my life as foster children.  As foster kids, each was required to get five shots at fifteen months old, all in one day."

Roughly, two weeks after the vaccination, Lexi seemed unaffected.  But, Tori quit talking.  She quit giving eye-contact and stared blankly.  “Tori had started saying little things like mommy and bye-bye, the little things that babies say.  She stopped talking whatsoever:  no more hugging and kissing, no more eye contact.  She reacted differently to things that I said.

“She was already behind in development and had occupational and physical therapy because she was born premature.  Both therapists thought that her lagging development was due to that condition.  I asked them about autism because, in my work, I knew about it.  The recurring comment was, ‘She is too social to have autism.’  They fought me on the autism diagnosis.  Her ability to read labels at the grocery store at age two didn’t help my argument.  So, I contacted a children’s hospital.  The hospital stated Tori needed to be at least two and a half years old before she could be tested.

“I scheduled her for testing so that the appointment fell on the first possible day she would become eligible."  Michelle continued with the prescribed care.  MEDICAID paid for care because Tori and Lexi were both under foster care.  That stopped after Michelle’s application to adopt the twins was approved.  “My insurance was used to cover the exam and the testing for autism.”

“One day at the doctor’s, I talked about how Tori crawled on one knee, her right knee, like her left leg was dead.  She pulled herself with her arms.   I don’t think I heard but four words.   Bone infection!  Death!  Hospital….  Then, I drove.  I mean…Al… seriously… I drove to the hospital!  Everything and everybody was in my way.  My car was not fast enough.

“After seven or eight hours at the hospital, the doctors ruled out a bone infection.  They did not know the cause of her awkward crawling.  An occupational therapist saw her and said that the only other time she had seen something similar was with one of her young patients who had autism .”

Click To Read Part 2


Preview Hope Comes in Pieces on Amazon:

Generation Rescue Says and Shows That "You Are Not Alone"

Jason Napolitan

Jason Napolitan is the Operations Director for Generation Rescue.  Jason is responsible for leading the operational functions required to provide resources for families of kids diagnosed with autism.   Process improvement, effective policies – he is responsible for those.  He is involved in brand management as well.  There was some concern about the short distance between my camera phone and these two.  But, I think it captures them pretty well.   

Left: Terra Smith, Author Hope Comes in Pieces  Right: Jason Napolitan, Director of Operations Generation Rescue

Candice McDonald

Below is Candice McDonald, Executive Director, Generation Rescue.  Every time I looked up, no matter what symposium I attended or keynote I listened to, whether I was down in the lobby, sending a text from a quiet nook, she seemed to be breezing  by or talking to a guest or a sponsor or a speaker. She just never stopped for three days… and all with a smile and in a pair of high heels. 

Left: Candice McDonald, Executive Director, Generation Rescue   Right, Terra

A Greener Path To Health with Ana Maria Abba

Ana Maria Abba is the mother of an eight year-old son diagnosed with autism and mitochondria issues.  Hope Comes in Pieces sometimes means finding a career or entrepreneurial endeavor to provide both an income and access to needed resources.   Ana Maria chose Ava Anderson for that purpose and advocates through her website, Greener Path To Health, http://www.greenerpathtohealth.com. She helped market for Ava Anderson products at the Autism Education Summit, 2015.

Additionally, the venue allowed her access to a great deal of information and express her empathy to the people she meets. Ana Maria’s path took her through the DAN protocol, homeopathy, and other treatments.

She says there is a spiritual component to wellness that’s important.  She is always in search of a balanced approach.

Baby Teeth by Terra Smith

Mia’s two front teeth repeatedly loosen then tighten back up.  It's been going on for the last eight or nine months.  This is due to her mitochondrial dysfunction, diagnosed in 2013.  The last cycle ended with her front teeth slanting forward.

I called her biomedical doctor.  He said other children under his care have the same problem.  He went on to say that the cycle of loosening and tightening baby teeth lasted as long as five to six years for some of the kids he treated.  So, something will have to be done eventually.  Mia’s options are limited.   She can't take a local anesthetic because of her allergies.  An anesthetist will have to put her to sleep.

Lately, one of her teeth became very loose. We wiggled it about once an hour to help it along.  She talked about getting her tooth out. I encouraged her to wiggle it with her finger without my help.  Then, I started seeing all these strings hanging from the door knobs.

I talked to her about the strings and that maybe we should use one to loosen her tooth more.  She said yes.  I asked her if she wanted me to pull it.  She answered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

I pulled on the string.  The tooth came out of her gum but was attached to one small piece of flesh. There was a little bit of blood.  She started into a melt-down asking for a Band-Aid.  I situated her tooth with gauze.  It took me an hour and an half of explaining that Band-Aids can't go on a tooth in the mouth.  Mia was glad to share the news when the bleeding stopped, “Yea. It's not bleeding.  See.”

When I offered to pull it the rest of the way out,  she objected, "I'm scared.  I'm scared."

All the next morning we talked about her tooth.  We talked about the tooth fairy only paying her a visit once the tooth was out. Later that afternoon, Craig came home.  I talked Mia into putting another string around it.  She wasn't happy with that but kept saying that she wanted it out.  She came up with the idea of biting an apple.  With where the tooth was, that didn't seem like a good idea.  So, we stuck with the string. We prepared for the worse.  Craig and the therapist stood ready in support... I pulled. The tooth came loose.  We looked at Mia.

She said, "Oh my gosh.  Thank you.  Thank you."

When we rinsed out her mouth, she saw blood.  Her eyes teared up.  On the third rinse, all the blood was gone and her tears went away.

All that talk about the tooth fairy created problem that required me and Craig to re-write fairy standard practice.  If Mia put the tooth under her pillow, we couldn't remove it without waking her.  Mia still sleeps in an enclosed specialty bed. We talked her into leaving the tooth under a pillow on the night stand.

Video of her waking up after a visit from the Tooth Fairy is coming soon..

Hope Comes in Pieces Review on Amazon

Mia Turns Six Years Old

Mia's goes to the pet store once a week when she does well during ABA therapies.  She never played with the puppies though she said she wanted one.  Last week, she saw a dachshund puppy.  Her reaction was totally different.  She got down and played with it.  Then she looked at me.  I heard the words that many parent's hear much earlier when at the pet store, "Home, take him home?"

What's a mom to do?  Little moments like these, where I can see Mia catching up developmentally, I really appreciate those moments.  We couldn't bring the puppy home that day.  Her birthday was coming up.  I called both grandmothers, my sister, Mamaw Beverly - a big thanks to them for Cyndy, Mia's puppy.  #Reminder, need a new reward. 

Hope Comes in Pieces

Available on Amazon:

Ma, your world hurts! Mia Smith, a five-year old girl, regresses into thirty-eight medical and behavioral conditions, one hundred and thirty one allergies, and autism. Many substances and foods in her biological environment cause her pain. Her mother, Terra Smith, practically the Chief Recovery Officer, works with doctors, therapists, and insurance companies to coordinate all the care required for Mia’s comeback. Her father, Craig Smith, puts in the work hours to make sure the family has a home, food, and clothes. The longer recovery takes, the more Mia falls behind.

A main demand of Mia’s recovery is that Terra is often required to mentally, physically, and emotionally adopt Mia’s changing points of view.  Then, she has to step back out and be the parent.

Yet, Terra Smith is set on helping Mia to discover what recovery feels like. Hope comes in pieces of knowledge and moments broken away from the trying, exhausting day. But Terra will take those pieces, thoughtfully put them where they fit until the full picture of recovery comes into view.

With a forward by Jerry Kartzinel, MD (Best-Selling Author, Board Certified pediatrician and a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics) this book in one testimony of the 1 in 15 children who have developmental issues within the U.S. Additionally, the European Union estimates that 800 million children live in environments that negatively effect cognitive development.

Available on Amazon, Click this link.
.

Fierce Defenders and Stalwart Advocates - Celebrities Out-Front

Jenny McCarthy

Left to Right: Ryan Blair, Jenny McCarthy, Jodi Gomes, Ryan Neufeld, Dawn Neufeld, Jacqueline Laurita, Chris Laurita
Speaking: Jacqueline Laurita

Left to Right: Ryan Neufeld, Dawn Neufeld, Jacqueline Laurita

Left: Ryan Blair 

Jodie Gomes

Speaking: Chris Laurita

Terra's Takeaway - Autism Education Summit

My takeaway from the Autism Education Conference – I paid very little in comparison to the quality and level of medical and other consultations I got for Mia.  Really, there was no way I could have afforded it otherwise.  Even then, I needed help getting there (Thanks Mom).  Just talking out-of-pocket medical costs, take a look at the qualification of the posted physicians, all of which are known internationally.

Left to Right: Dr. Anju Usman, Alford Kerry Hardy (Al), Me

Anju Usman, MD

•  FAAFP, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice
• ABIHM, American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine
• Hom-C – Homeopathic  Certified

Dr. Kartzinel  - Left

• Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Best-Selling Author
• Pediatrician
• Owner Kartzinel Wellness Center

Dr. Theoharis C. Theoharides

• Doctor of Medicine, Medicine, Yale University Graduate School
• Doctor of Philosophy, Pharmacology ,Yale University Graduate School
• Master of Philosophy, Immunopharmacology, Yale University Graduate School
• Master of Science, Neuroimmunology Yale College
• Bachelor of Arts, Biology and History of Science & Medicine, Cum laude, Yale
• Fellow in the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology

I spoke to more physicians. We just have pictures of these few. This level of expertise isn't cheap. Thank you to Generation Rescue and the sponsors for making this event happen.  If you know someone who needs help getting to one of theses conferences, please help them out directly.  If you don't know someone, please donate to Generation Rescue.

Mast Cell Master, Dr. Theoharides

Theoharis C. Theoharides, MS, PhD, MD, FAAAAI.

Director, Molecular Immunopharmacology and Drug Discovery Laboratory at Tufts University

http://www.mastcellmaster.com/

We call him Dr. Theo.  I look forward to understanding more of how mast cells regulate the body's immune system and what happens when pathogens and toxins interfere with them.  #mastcellmaster  

The Team From World Stem Cells Clinic

http://www.worldstemcellsclinic.com/clinic-staff/

Terra and Alexis Wineman at the Hope for Recovery Party

Alexis Wineman and Terra

Next Steps for Mia, Down to the Nitty-Gritty

The Autism Education Summit provided face-to-face connections with potential resources for parents who must find the next steps or overall plans for their children’s health. Those connections are very important.

Parents perform web searches, make phone calls, attend doctors’ appointments, and talk with other parents through social media.  It may take weeks if not months to have all the information needed to make a well informed decision on a course of action.

In contrast, this photo represents something that rarely (if ever) happens outside a venue like this summit. Terra, in an unscripted and unplanned moment:
            1. Had  access to multiple professional categories simultaneously

            2. Professionals talking face-to-face with other professional discussed the viability of specific treatments for a specific child

            3. As a result of that discussion, Terra walked away with a plan in about twenty minutes versus weeks or months.  Granted, she had done a great deal of research beforehand that catalyzed the outcome.

Above, we have a Terra, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel of Karzinel Wellness Center, Samir Patel - CEO of OxyHealth, and Annie Sidner of Nourishing Hope.  The camera angle only captured Annie’s hands, but she is pictured below, taken earlier as Terra and Annie walked through previously attempted therapies.

Left - Annie Sidner of Nourishing Hope

Educators - none yet or a few hundred IEPs

Educators - none or a few hundred IEPs, read Hope Comes in Pieces  The needs of the child, the direction of the parents, state laws, federal laws, dwindling resources,.. discover the data some parents use to chart their child's course. #aba #bcaba

Hope Comes in Pieces on Kindle and Kindle App

Mia's Specialist, Jerry Kartzinel, MD

Dr. Jerry Kartzinel "specializes in the recovery of neurodevelopmental, chronic neuro-inflammatory diseases, and hormonal dysfunctions."  The Kartzinel Wellness Center "offers treatment, education, and support." for these conditions.  http://www.drjerryk.com

With his help, Mia can actually go to the cinema to see a movie of her choice.  Dr. Kartzinel wrote the forward to Hope Comes in Pieces and has appeared on Larry King and CBS This Morning.

Speaking of choices, whether new or in education for years, one IEP meetings or a few hundred, consider reading Hope Comes in Pieces.

Follow Terra on Amazon - Hope Comes in Pieces

Hope for Recovery Party Hosted by Well Amy

From Left to Right - Niondre StillFlyAlways Robinson, Michelle Nickleberry, and Terra.

MiaRayne looks forward to talking with proud autism mom and advocate Michelle about air travel training for kids with autism and their parents. 

Click the link to visit the event sponsor, Well Amy.

Jodi Gomes' Keywords to Single Moms of Kids with Autism

Jodie Gomes -

- Founding Director, Wake Up for Autism
- Executive Producer and Director, IMDB Profile, Linkedin Profile

Keywords for single mothers of kids with autism, by Ms, Jodie Gomes:
- Respite, take some time for yourself
- "I want my children free to find love."
- On getting what your children need, "Be a bulldog and don't apologize!"

What's In The Box 2

The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower “people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. With breakthrough research and education, we drive consumer choice and civic action.” -ewg.org

EWG focuses on “six major program areas: toxins, food, agriculture, children’s health,

energy, and water.”

Check out their strategic plan by clicking here.   

EWG Listed as Lowest in Pesticides

Foods Highest in Pesticides