Amen University
Dr Amens Groundbreaking Online Course on Autism
Regardless of where your child is on the spectrum—with symptoms ranging from mild to severe—an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis can be devastating. Coming to terms with the magnitude of your child’s lifelong neurodevelopmental disability, and all its implications, is not easy.
Yet, autism is not a calamity. With the right guidance and information, you can indeed find a way forward.
Gaining a better understanding of your child’s condition, its causes, and proven autism spectrum therapies—as well as strategies to care for yourself—can empower you to meet the challenges of an ASD diagnosis and help your child and family to thrive.
How would you like to have life-changing, cutting-edge information about autism available to you from one of the nation’s top mental health experts and one of the foremost pediatricians specializing in neurodevelopmental disorders right now? Better yet, what if this information was available to you at an affordable price to access at any time of the day, from anywhere?
Well, now it is.
Autism: A New Way Forward is taught by board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics, Dr. Daniel Amen, and board-certified pediatrician and autism expert, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Together, they provide essential information about autism, risk factors, testing, autism therapies, coping strategies, and more. You can start implementing what you learn right away and experience how much better life can be for your child, your family, and yourself.
WHAT WILL YOU GAIN FROM AUTISM: A NEW WAY FORWARD?
Autism: A New Way Forward delivers nearly six hours of education broken down into 10 evidence-based lessons.
By the end of this course, you will gain a clear understanding of the following:
- How autism starts and why
- Autism types and root causes
- How an “elimination diet” relates to autism, plus how to implement it into your loved one’s life
- Biomedical risk factors, key lab panels, an extensive overview of genetic testing, and understanding results
- Natural protocols and lifestyle changes to help alleviate common ASD symptoms
- A comprehensive guide to avoiding caregiver burnout
Some of the benefits you’ll receive from this digital autism course include greater confidence in your ability to care for your ASD child, happier and healthier relationships with your ASD loved ones, and peace of mind from knowing you are providing the best care you can.
OVERVIEW OF DR. AMEN’S ONLINE AUTISM COURSE
In this digital autism course, Dr. Amen and Dr. Kartzinel share their respective backgrounds and credentials. But more importantly, they share openly and candidly their personal and professional experiences researching and treating autism.
To give you an overview of what is going to be covered, the 10 educational modules include:
- Introduction
- Understanding Autism
- Nutrition and Lab Testing
- Infections and Genetics
- Gut-Brain Connection
- Hormones
- Natural Supplements
- Medications
- Managing Behavior
- Caregiver Burnout
Taking this course will provide you with a much greater understanding of autism, its root causes, and strategies to manage it.
UNDERSTANDING AUTISM
In one of the educational segments in this on-demand course, Dr. Amen and Dr. Kartzinel characterize autism based on their own vast experience treating patients and helping families.
In this module, you’ll learn about the basic signs and symptoms of autism. Dr. Amen groups them into the following three main categories and provides illustrative examples of what these symptoms look like in children:
- Problems with communication (language delay, problems with adequate speech, and conversation)
- Impaired social interaction (lack of nonverbal communication such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body gestures; lack of seeking to share interests or achievements, no two-way street with others)
- What looks like obsessions or compulsive behaviors (Repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activity; showing unusual intensity or focus; rigid adherence to specific, non-functional routines or rituals)
You’ll learn about nonverbal learning disabilities that often co-occur with autism, including:
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Tourette syndrome
BRAIN IMAGING AND AUTISM
In one of the course modules, Dr. Amen discusses brain SPECT imaging, which he uses as a tool to learn more about different brain disorders. It looks at blood flow and activity in the brain and shows where there’s healthy activity, too much activity, or not enough. A treatment protocol will be aimed at calming overly busy areas of the brain and stimulating areas of low activity.
Based on his brain-imaging work, Dr. Amen has discovered that there’s not just one type of brain pattern associated with ASD. Rather, there are many patterns, indicating that ASD is not just one thing.
HOW FOODS MAY BE EXACERBATING AUTISM SYMPTOMS
In one of the course modules, you’ll learn about common foods that can make autism symptoms worse, what they do in the body, and how to eliminate them from your child’s diet.
These foods include:
- Dairy products
- Gluten
- Soy
- Corn
About 80% of Dr. Amen’s patients see an improvement of roughly 20% by removing these troublesome foods from the diet. Because these items are in so many foods, strategies are provided on exactly how to go about eliminating them and replacing them with healthy, delicious alternatives that appeal to kids.
LAB TESTS FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
In Dr. Amen’s autism course, he and Dr. Kartzinel discuss important labs to measure things like iron levels, hormone levels, carnitine levels, inflammatory markers, or possibly a urine food allergy profile.
You’ll learn how to request these labs from your medical doctor or provider and what information can be gleaned from them. Some deficiencies may indicate low levels of key nutrients. A dietary and nutritional supplement protocol to correct these deficiencies may be helpful in resolving certain ASD symptoms.
Heavy metal testing is also recommended, as well markers for immune system activity. This section of the course provides a great overall picture of biological factors that may play a role in your child’s autism and resolving what can be corrected.
UNDERSTANDING INFECTIONS AND GENETICS
In one critical module, Dr. Amen and Dr. Kartzinel continue with the biomedical approach, moving into infectious and genetic influences that can make symptoms of autism worse.
There are several infectious diseases they are concerned about, including:
- Lyme Disease
- PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus)
- Mold exposure
- Yeast overgrowth
When Lyme, strep, or mold go untreated, psychiatric symptoms such as obsessive behavior, depression, anxiety, and fatigue may result because the brain is not healthy. On a very positive note, antibiotics or antifungals will usually resolve the infectious issue, and autism symptoms will improve.
“When we remove them like the layers of the onion, you can see more and more of your child coming out, the eye contact comes back. There are no more tantrums, no self-injurious behaviors, and no aggressive behaviors. They're pooping great, they're sleeping great. True they have special needs but they're a joy to be with,” Dr. Amen says.
This module also discusses a very important antioxidant the body manufactures: glutathione. Glutathione helps to counter oxidative stress in the body. The chemical pathway that's responsible for making glutathione gets its blueprint genetically.
If your child does not make optimal glutathione, enhancing the production of glutathione with natural substances (certain B vitamins) can help to lessen autism symptoms as well.
The types of testing available to determine infectious and genetic influences that impact autism are also discussed.
HORMONES, SUPPLEMENTS, AND MORE
In the remaining modules, Dr. Amen and Dr. Kartzinel continue to educate you with important and useful information including:
- The powerful impact gut health can have on autism
- Hormonal influences on autism symptoms
- Science-backed nutritional supplements
- Medications that have been shown to benefit autistic children
- Strategies for managing your child’s behavior as they grow older
- How to avoid caregiver burnout
With the information in this groundbreaking autism course, you will feel empowered to better support your ASD loved one. And that can lead to a happier, healthier relationship.
If your child has autism spectrum disorder, start the healing process now with Amen University’s proven, on-demand course Autism: A New Way Forward. This course is taught by Dr. Daniel Amen, a board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics, and Dr. Jerry Kartzinel, a board-certified pediatrician specializing in the recovery of neurodevelopmental, chronic neuro-inflammatory diseases, and hormonal dysfunctions.
