nutritional supplementation--folate/folic acid..

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Does anyone know about folate supplementation for children with special needs? My son has yet to see a developmental pedi., but he fits the bill of the mild end of asperger's and has some sensory integration issues (sensory seeking). Does anyone know about folate supplementation--I understand its water soluable, so you don't have to worry about giving too much... If others have given folate supplementation could you tell me the appropriate dosage for a 3 year old?

Also, does anyone have info. on zinc supplementation?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

I used to work for a family with a child with Aspergers. I worked there when he was diagnosed and when they started the supplements. They started without seeing a doc by researching dosage information. They did eventually get in to see Dr. Compart (i think her first name is Pam) in or around Laurel, MD. It was about 4 years ago and I could not begin to tell you how much of everything we gave to him.

From what I understand, the dosing of b vitamin and DMG need to be balanced out with folinic acid. It took a couple of weeks to get the dosage sorted out. Too much of the DMG can make them agitated if there is not enough folinic to offset it. They tried TMG before DMG, but it made him very agitated (lots of meltdowns). They also supplement with zinc and fish oil. The DMG and folinic acid seemed to make the biggest difference in his social issues. It was certainly not a cure, but it was a very noticeable difference once they got the right amount.

They still buy from www.kirkmanlabs.com, which offers these things in liquid form. He has huge issues with strange flavors and textures. We found the easiest way to get the mixture down was to put it in sugar free Hawaiian Punch.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I was his nanny. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your insights. My son will be assessed by a neurological and developmental pediatrician in the next few months, so I'm likely to wait to see what they say.
Thanks, again.

[Anonymous]

From what I have heard, most MDs are not up on the supplement therapies. I hope your doc has some info to offer you.

[Anonymous]

I would hold off as well. Do you have appointments scheduled? I would have him evaluated by an occupational therapist as well, they can usually tell whether a child would benefit from services. We tried the supplementation route but what really helped was therapy.

My son has PDD-NOS