Treating DS - MaryAlice's Page!
Alice Castellano
Hopewell Junction, NY

MaryAlice Castellano, the sunshine of our lives, was expected on Christmas Day 1995
but joined us instead on Thanksgiving Day November 23, 1995.
We took that as a special message.
She was born with Down Syndrome (Trisomy21).
She has been on the TNI (Targeted Nutritional Intervention) vitamin therapy
Nutrivene-D (a custom version) plus DHA or cod liver oil and a few other things
since she was 8 months old and is doing wonderfully!
She is one cute little girl, with personality PLUS and we are SO proud of her!
I am now happily homeschooling her, and her speech especially has improved greatly. She is truly communicating now - in fact, she's a chatterbox!
She is doing 1st and 2nd grade work generally, with reading skills at 3rd to 4th grade level.
We are doing a NeuroDevelopmental program from Linda Kane at Hope And A Future which is the backbone of our homeschooling.

MaryAlice at 3 3/4 years, with some of her beloved flashcards:
She adores books. They have always been her favorite toys.
From about 14 months on she would often spend 20 minutes or more "reading" thru her books page by page.
By her second birthday we were working on word flashcards (Glenn Doman style) and using the
LOVE & LEARNING series and her favorite word was "abada" (alphabet!). She was reading 25 words.
By Feb 1998 she was reading about 50 words and by June probably twice that. At three she was up over 200 words.
She learns new words quickly, and by age 6 we were working on short phrases and sentences, and reading easy books.
She knew the alphabet, upper and lower case, numerals 0-12 and understood quantities 0-6 and was starting to count by age 4.
She began identifying basic colors around 18 mos. and could identify or match the written names to about a dozen colors by age 4.
Now she loves board games, which are great for learning lots of skills, and puzzles.

A recent portrait taken by my sister Sarah
who does beautiful photography.
Pictor Luminis Photography

She has a great sense of humor and makes up lots of little games.
She loves to laugh, especially at her own jokes ;-D Lately she is into Knock Knock jokes.
No doubt they'll discover the Sense of Humor gene on chromosome 21!

Daddy took 9 years completing his RV-6!
First flight was February 19, 2001. He's very proud :-)

Mom is a professional free-lance violist (that means I play the Viola)
who was lucky enough to play in Italy for five years
and to study with Kim Kashkashian :-)

To help your child with DS, or ANY child, to do their best I really recommend reading the books by Glenn Doman (especially "What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child" and either "How To Teach Your Baby To Read" or "How To Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence" which covers reading, math and more) for starters. If these aren't available through any regular or online bookstore they can be gotten from his website linked below. With that background then you can listen to the audio tape series by NACD or tapes from the independent NDs for more ideas and insight into neurodevelopmental issues.
Meanwhile, click here to go to Dr. James MacDonald's very insightful and supportive website on nurturing communication and socialization with the child.
I feel that a lot of the great improvement in MaryAlice's speech since I started homeschooling her is due to use of his techniques.
These resources have given me invaluable concepts and information on child development, how to approach working with her, what to work on, and perhaps most importantly, hope for what she could accomplish and inspiration to help her achieve it. I must also say that I adjust and adapt the activities to suit our temperaments and lifestyle, and most of all try to have fun with it.

The more stimulation (of ALL the senses), input, & opportunities to experience and learn a child has, the more capable they will be. The more love and positive support a child receives, the more capable and happy they will be. This is DOUBLY true for our kids with DS. See Einstein Syndrome essay!
One of MaryAlice's favorite activities I did from the time she was a baby was her twice daily full-body deep massage. With things like this and the TNI protocol working for her, her muscle tone is close to normal.
The science behind the TNI is called Nutrigenomics. Observational data indicates that this TNI protocol not only normalizes the often poor immune systems of those with DS, it gives them at least a 10-15% boost in both physical and mental abilities.
I find that pretty exciting, and if you combine that with lots of love and stimulation, our kids can do wonderfully well! :-))

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Gut dysbiosis (damage to the digestive tract and it's flora) I now believe to be close to universal in those with DS, and almost as common in the rest of us. This is a really *huge* issue. Here is a partial list of symptoms which can be caused by gut dysbiosis: * autism * ADD * ADHD * Aspergers * dyspraxia * dyslexia * allergies of all sorts * asthma * eczema and other skin problems * pellagra * bipolar disorder * schizophrenia * depression * migraines * reflux / heartburn * Candidiasis * fungus infections * yeast infections * compromised immune system * diabetes * alcoholism * metal toxicity * repeated ear infections * OCD * MS * lupus * Hashimotos * autoimmune diseases * arthritis * IBS * IBD * Crohn's disease * colitis * colic * Celiac * bloating * flatulence * long term constipation &/or diarrhea * undigested food in feces * very picky eating * carb cravings * multiple nutrient deficiencies * anemia * impaired thyroid function is almost always associated.
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride of Great Britain is one of the doctors putting all this information together and treating the gut dysbiosis. She wrote a book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) and is writing another named Gut and Physiology Syndrome which offer clear understanding and ways of healing. Much is dietary and is based on the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet).