Has anyone tried the transdermal vitamins with their autistic kids? We have just started the Panacea Products transdermal B-12 Power vitamins for our 11 year old Asperger's son. At our Autism Society meeting we had a presentation by a doctor about transdermal vitamins. Several people in the group raved about the effectiveness and since they are water-soluble vitamins we thought it can't hurt. Some parents were able to get their kids off some major drugs. Our son is on Lexapro and he hates taking it - doesn't swallow pills, so it's a flavored liquid. He sees an excellent child psychologist who has been a Godsend! Families Helping Families has also been a tremendous help. I'd love to hear from other parents about what has been the most effective with AS. My son is high functioning on the AS scale but can be challenging. I'm wondering what adolescence will bring. Scout Mom 14

My son is going to be 18, May, 2, 2006 and I've not been able to get him to take any pills , if he starts , he'll take them for a day or two , then refuse. He is in high school , he is very smart , but does not test well, I can't see him holding a job. He is also in Boy Scouts and it looks like he could make Eagle , he is cuting it close. I just took him to see if he could work at BS Camp, this summer. Having him in Scouts for 12 years has made him a better person, he would not do anything in school. I've not had him in to see where he is on the AS scale how can I do that? Indiana University is the school around here that is doing alot of study on this I got alot of info from them. Kim

First of all good luck to your son in earning Eagle! We've been active in Boy Scouts since my older son was a Tiger Cub and he is now 14 and active in Boy Scouts and ready to enter Venturer Scouts. My 11 yr old AS son is also in Boy Scouts and we have been blessed with leaders who want to learn about Autism and work with him. We were afraid about him going to Boy Scout summer camp for a week but my husband took the week off and went with him. He had a few minor meltdowns -- things that don't make sense frustrate him. My 11 yr. has a dual exceptionality in school - Special Ed & Gifted/Talented. He has been through testing through the school board with a child psychologist and he has his own child psychologist and they both agree that he is high functioning for AS. They used the Gilliam testing scale to determine the severity. Both parents and teachers filled out forms asking questions about his behavior, plus he has been with the child psychologist since he was 5 yrs old. The University should also have grad students and professors who would be interested in interviewing your family and son. We have a grad student in psychology who has interviewed many of the families along with her professor to get information. Families Helping Families and the Autism Society have been excellent sources of information for us. We have gone to trainings and the State Autism Conference in Louisiana with speakers such as Temple Grandin (Austistic author, excellent speaker) and Jerry Newport (AS, also a good speaker) which provided great amounts of information. Is your son in SPED at school? My big problem with my son right now with school is that he just wants to read instead of staying on task at school. The Autism Society has tremendous amounts of information on adults with Autism who may not be able to be a part of the work force. They have all sorts of programs I think many are federal and not state, but not sure. I'm sure your local Autism Society chapter will have lots of information on that subject. I hope some of this has been helpful -- feel free to email me if you have any questions. Anne

We don't take vites transdermally, however, we are pursuing other biomedical interventions like chelation and methylcobalimin transdermally with great success. My son is 8, in 2nd grade, and has improved so dramatically that he has lost his educational diagnosis through the school system, and is on the verge of losing his medical diagnosis as well. (For the record, he was diagnosed at age 2-1/2 as moderate autism.) I would LOVE to share stories with other autie-moms on what has and hasn't worked during this journey! -BJ

BJ, The transdermal vitamins we're using is made by panacea creams, the Power formula which contains magnesium chloride, zinc chloride, B-6 (Pyridoxine HCL), and B-12 (Cyanocobalamin), and folic acid. So far, so good. I'm on the female version which is great not only for hormonal issues but with a gastric bypass vitamin absorption is so important. So, I think it's basically the same type of thing as you're doing -- can't wait for the great results! Anne

Who'd you see speak? Bernard Rimland or someone? Transdermal, that would be through the skin? How is that delivered? Patch? My first thought as a diagnosed adult with Aspergers would be that if it was a patch it might be extremely hard on an aspie because of skin sensitivity. So if that is the method of delivery it would be something that would need to be considered. I take B6 and magnesium with considerable success. I do also take 2 meds though. ~KD in WA

Dr. Barbara Brierre is the inventor of the Panacea products transdermal vitamins. She was an Internal Medicine doctor but now does research. The transdermal vitamins are delivered via a metered dose pump and feel similar to any body cream product. It can be applied to the inner forearms or inner thighs. Some of the autistic children with sensory issues will take it on the inner thighs and then put their pants on to limit the sensory issues. It doesn't take long to be absorbed into the skin. My son still takes Lexapro but we have noticed a measurable improvement in him. Of course, he is getting older and he is a high functioning Asperger's so we can't say conclusively that it is just the vitamins. On the other hand it can't hurt b/c it's only water soluable vitamins and the B vitamins, magnesium and zinc do seem to have a calming effect. I've seen less and less of his Aspie symptoms. In fact, he is more social, he went to the dentist (pediatric dentist) who is great with kids but he's always been very afraid. This time he stayed still for his cleaning and even took X-rays and SPOKE to the dentist. That was truly amazing b/c he used to have to be held to get his teeth cleaned and X-Rays were generally out of the question. I'm seeing definite differences in his personality. If you have any questions feel free to email me at tkdblk2002@yahoo.com Anne 254/175/1??