Polly: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Willis Langford for helping me with this chapter and for teaching me some of the basics about autism. There are many people on the Internet that are trying to educate each other about autism. Each voice is a wonderful asset to our community. I am especially grateful to have met one of these people in the charming personage of Willis Lanford.

At the age of 80, Willis still considers himself just an uneducated country boy, yet he has been an avid student of nutrition and health for 50 years, and presently sells Mannatech nutritional products. phone (760) 439-7884 or website www.mannapages.com/Willis He has even written a self-published book (available from him as a computer program/file) called Self- Help to Good Health. I asked Willis why he spent so much time helping everyone when he has no relatives with autism. His reply was,

“I love kids, and it broke my heart when I learned these beautiful kids were being given little or no help, their concerned parents were being fleeced, and then told to throw the kid away! I don’t know the cause or causes of autism, but I do know this, it is related to a damaged gut. This produces starvation, and every one of the symptoms are indicative of that, and the symptoms can be managed with nutritional intervention¾ workarounds that get some nutrients into the child¾then miracles happen.”

Willis hosts his own small Internet list at Williss@yahoogroups.com, where autism is the usual topic. (One of the mothers of an autistic child found Willis particularly enlightening, and asked him to start his own list.) Willis has written a summary of the biological research in the field of autism in which he has included some of his own observations gleaned from his interactions with the parents of autistic children. The complete article, “Managing Autism” can be found in the files section of the Williss group at www.yahoogroups.com. To view the article you must at least temporarily become a member of the Williss group. Then look for the paper in the files section of the group. An earlier version of the article called “To Infuse” was published in a magazine called The Autism File, phone 020 8979 2525. It is a rather long and technical article, but it would be worth your effort to find and study it.

Marie: I don’t post often, mostly because I am guilty of pestering Willis directly (a little too often, sometimes) but I had to write in and share on my successes since having my now dear friend, Willis, come into our lives. I “met” Willis five months ago and within one month of following his advice, we accomplished things with our son we hadn’t even come close to addressing before. Within five days (count ‘em, as Willis would say he went from an Autism Interventions 57 average of non-stop tantrumming a day to ZERO tantrums. The aggression disappeared. The hyperactivity went next; he would actually sit to either leaf through books, play with toys or simply sit and be still when he didn’t have anything to do. The endless wandering, making those horrendous noises and doing basically nothing, were all replaced with actual playing! He would visit the toy room throughout the day, discovering toys he had never even given a second glance to and play with them! He stopped making those dreadful noises. Within a month he was able to sit up on the floor without any type of back support for the first time! I was told by the occupational therapist that it would take a good three years of therapy to get him to do that. (Our son is 7 years old.) We accomplished all this with Willis by our side, using Mannatech products and other supplements. Life has changed for us and we have actually lost the fear of going out in public with him because his behavior is now, for the most part, very predictable and manageable. No doctor had been able to do this for our child. How can I not be eternally grateful to Willis?

I share this to encourage other parents who are just starting out, but just as importantly, to give public recognition to a very special person who has given us everything without asking for a thing in return. What he has done for us has returned much of the faith in humanity I had lost throughout these past few years of facing the indifference and sometimes rejection from doctors, school, so-called family and friends. I think it is obvious to you all that I love this man very much. Thank you, Willis. May God continue to bless you and your work.

Polly: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Willis Langford for helping me with this chapter and for teaching me some of the basics about autism. There are many people on the Internet that are trying to educate each other about autism. Each voice is a wonderful asset to our community. I am especially grateful to have met one of these people in the charming personage of Willis Lanford.

At the age of 80, Willis still considers himself just an uneducated country boy, yet he has been an avid student of nutrition and health for 50 years, and presently sells Mannatech nutritional products. phone (760) 439-7884 or website www.mannapages.com/Willis He has even written a self-published book (available from him as a computer program/file) called Self- Help to Good Health. I asked Willis why he spent so much time helping everyone when he has no relatives with autism. His reply was,

“I love kids, and it broke my heart when I learned these beautiful kids were being given little or no help, their concerned parents were being fleeced, and then told to throw the kid away! I don’t know the cause or causes of autism, but I do know this, it is related to a damaged gut. This produces starvation, and every one of the symptoms are indicative of that, and the symptoms can be managed with nutritional intervention¾ workarounds that get some nutrients into the child¾then miracles happen.”

Willis hosts his own small Internet list at Williss@yahoogroups.com, where autism is the usual topic. (One of the mothers of an autistic child found Willis particularly enlightening, and asked him to start his own list.) Willis has written a summary of the biological research in the field of autism in which he has included some of his own observations gleaned from his interactions with the parents of autistic children. The complete article, “Managing Autism” can be found in the files section of the Williss group at www.yahoogroups.com. To view the article you must at least temporarily become a member of the Williss group. Then look for the paper in the files section of the group. An earlier version of the article called “To Infuse” was published in a magazine called The Autism File, phone 020 8979 2525. It is a rather long and technical article, but it would be worth your effort to find and study it.

Marie: I don’t post often, mostly because I am guilty of pestering Willis directly (a little too often, sometimes) but I had to write in and share on my successes since having my now dear friend, Willis, come into our lives. I “met” Willis five months ago and within one month of following his advice, we accomplished things with our son we hadn’t even come close to addressing before. Within five days (count ‘em, as Willis would say he went from an Autism Interventions 57 average of non-stop tantrumming a day to ZERO tantrums. The aggression disappeared. The hyperactivity went next; he would actually sit to either leaf through books, play with toys or simply sit and be still when he didn’t have anything to do. The endless wandering, making those horrendous noises and doing basically nothing, were all replaced with actual playing! He would visit the toy room throughout the day, discovering toys he had never even given a second glance to and play with them! He stopped making those dreadful noises. Within a month he was able to sit up on the floor without any type of back support for the first time! I was told by the occupational therapist that it would take a good three years of therapy to get him to do that. (Our son is 7 years old.) We accomplished all this with Willis by our side, using Mannatech products and other supplements. Life has changed for us and we have actually lost the fear of going out in public with him because his behavior is now, for the most part, very predictable and manageable. No doctor had been able to do this for our child. How can I not be eternally grateful to Willis?

I share this to encourage other parents who are just starting out, but just as importantly, to give public recognition to a very special person who has given us everything without asking for a thing in return. What he has done for us has returned much of the faith in humanity I had lost throughout these past few years of facing the indifference and sometimes rejection from doctors, school, so-called family and friends. I think it is obvious to you all that I love this man very much. Thank you, Willis. May God continue to bless you and your work.