Tag Archives: Biomedical treatment
Horse Therapy
Although Horse Therapy, or Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL), is not a DAN! protocol biomedical treatment, it’s something that I feel can be of real benefit to autistic children.
Just this week, I saw a post on an autism forum from one parent whose son was really benefiting from this type of therapy, so I asked her more about it and what it involved. She explained to me about how everything was done in small steps:-
Child introduced to the trainer and taken around the stables to see the horses and other animals, like chickens.- Child offered the chance to touch the animals or touch the straw bedding if touching the animals was too much for him. The child even got to look at the horse poo and to sniff it! The parent remarked how good this was for desensitizing the child.
- Sitting on the horse – The final step was the parent lifting her son onto the horse. The trainer sat behind the child and the horse was surrounded by the child’s mother and three helpers, so the child felt completely secure.
In just 5 months, this sensory sensitive child is now able to ride the horse alone, with the help of a special harness and the trainer and a helper walking alongside. Wow!
The parent felt that this therapy was extremely beneficial to her son because the horse had a calming effect on him and he would often come out of himself during these sessions. She is combining the EFL therapy with biomedical treatment.
The Theory Behind EFL
Franklin Levinson, who has taken EFL and the work of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association over to the UK, says:-
“It’s been clinically proven that just being in the vicinity of horses changes our brainwave patterns…They
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The GFCF Diet
The GFCF or Gluten Free Casein Free (wheat free, milk free) Diet is just one of the biomedical treatments recommended by the DAN! Protocol. The diet has found to be very effective in helping children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) recover from autism and the diet has had a significant amount of publicity due to Jenny McCarthy’s success story.
Jenny’s Success with the GFCF Diet
Jenny McCarthy is an autism “crusader” who has appeared on many TV shows, including Larry King and Oprah, has spoken at many events and has written various books on the subject of autism, its causes and the biomedical approach to treating it. Jenny believes that it was starting the GFCF Diet with her autistic son, Evan, that started him on the road to recovery. This diet combined with other biomedical treatments, such as chelation, vitamin supplements and anti-fungal treatment, has led to Evan recovering from autism and no longer being on the autism spectrum. Jenny does not use the word “cured” but Evan no longer displays any signs or symptoms of autism.
Many other children have also benefited from the GFCF Diet. Watch the video below to hear about another family’s experience:-
The DAN! Project
What is “DAN!”?
DAN! stands for “Defeat Autism Now!” and is a project which was initiated by The Autism Research Institute to educate parents, caregivers and therapists about the biomedical approach to healing autism and biomedical testing and research.

The Autism Research Institute (ARI) believe, as do I, that autism is a treatable condition and that psychotropic drugs, with all of their side effects, are not the best way to treat autism spectrum disorders. The ARI, and many physicians and researchers, believe that there are more effective ways to alleviate, and sometimes cure, these disorders.
Mission Statement
The Defeat Autism Now! project’s mission statement is:-
“Defeat Autism Now! is dedicated to the exploration, evaluation and dissemination of scientifically documented biomedical interventions for individuals within the autism spectrum, through the collaborative efforts of clinicians, researchers and parents.”
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