Thousands of children have been cured of autism—shedding their diagnosis and returning to mainstream classrooms—with a variety of natural therapies. This post is meant to empower parents by suggesting first steps you can take at home while seeking professional help (which will provide the heavy lifting). Most kids who recover have benefited from multiple modalities—not all modalities work for all children and the same technique which fails to provide any progress for a child at one point can be very helpful several years later. (My source for this is Dr. Martha Herbert, autism expert at Harvard Medical School and author of The Autism Revoluton.)

So here are things you can do, such simple and inexpensive things, based on my own practice, my colleagues, reports from parents, and the books listed at the end:

Epsom salt baths: If your child can tolerate baths, add a cup of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). The body absorbs magnesium which has a calming effect and helps your child sleep, while sulphur supports detoxification (a major theme in helping these kids). Try this nightly.

Essential fatty acids: These nutrients are hard to get from the typical American diet and essential for many aspects of our health; they can even reduce aggression and support a healthy immune system. DHA, one of the essential fatty acids, is a major component of brain cells. Look for fish oil capsules high in DHA (they must say “molecularly distilled” which means they do not contain mercury).

Gluten-free diet (well, not so simple, and more expensive than white bread, but it can make a huge difference). Leaky gut is a major issue for many of these kids; the gaps in the “tight junction” of the lining of the intestine allow large molecules to get through which can cause allergies or immune reactions. Zonulin, a substance in gluten, is a cause of leaky gut, and it’s been recently discovered that zonulin also affects the blood-brain barrier, causing brain fog and letting toxins into the brain.

Casein (milk)-free and soy-free diets: These further restrictions also help a lot of kids. Lots of recipes, cost-cutting ideas and advice on picky eaters here.

GAPS diet: Honestly, this really strict diet can be the greatest help, and everyone in the family will benefit health-wise. Learn more here.

Eliminate sugar (read labels for high fructose corn syrup): If you do nothing else, eliminate all forms of refined sugar because it feeds candida and these kids usually have a problem with “gut dysbiosis”—in other words harmful bacteria in their intestines overwhelming the beneficial bacteria.