Autism Treatment – Essential fatty acid deficiency and Autism

Children who are on the Autism spectrum are commonly prescribed some thing called essential fatty acids. And whether you are talking about cod liver oil or general fish oil, essential fatty acids are helpful at replenishing some of the depleted fatty acids and have become a critical therapy in the treatment of Autism. And one sign that essential fatty acids may be necessary from an examination standpoint is thick, hard ear wax.

So a child with hard, thick ear wax may be a child who is suffering from a deficiency in their essential fatty acids. The ideal approach would be to obtain an essential fatty acid test to determine which essential fatty acid needs to be supplemented due to deficiency. Through testing we could determine whether the primary deficiency lies in the omega 6 oils, or maybe in the EPA or the DHA. And without thoroughly assessing the essential fatty acid levels, you don’t know for certain which is most deficient. You can obtain essential fatty acid assessments through Great Plains Labs as well as other labs. Adequate assessment is a critical piece in determining just what deficiency is at play. Because although we may have an idea of what needs to be supplemented, that may not be the correct thing until we do testing. But, it is very probable that your child is suffering from an essential fatty acid deficiency if your doctor, or your child’s pediatrician has examined your child and notes that he/she has very thick, hard ear wax.

But a fish oil supplement with both EPA and DHA is an easy way to go if you want to introduce some essential fatty acids into your child. Essential fatty acids can be very useful to replenish. Supplementing your child with cod liver oil can be both easy to do and have great benefit to their health. The benefits that we see in individuals with Autism from cod liver oil come for the essential fatty acids but also from the natural vitamin A that it has as well. On average, a dose of 1 to 2 teaspoons a day can be very helpful. Supplementing with cod liver oil has also been shown to help children with visual stimming issues. Once they receive a cod liver oil supplement, often times they don’t side glance as often and their visual stilling is reduced. So if a physical exam shows very thick, hard ear wax, that can be indicative of an essential fatty acid deficiency. And so supplementation with an essential fatty acid product would be indicated in most cases.