After years of treating patients and analyzing scientific data, Harvard researcher and clinician Dr. Martha Herbert offers a revolutionary new view of autism and a transformative strategy for dealing with it. Autism is not a hardwired impairment programmed into a child's genes and destined to remain fixed forever. Instead, it is the result of a cascade of events, many seemingly minor. And while other doctors may dismiss your child's physical symptoms as coincidental or irrelevant, Dr. Herbert sees them as vital clues to what the underlying problems are, and how to help. Here, she teaches you how to approach autism as a collection of problems that can be overcome--and talents that can be developed. Each success you achieve gives your child more room to become healthy and to thrive. Her specific recommendations aim to provide optimal nutrition, reduce toxic exposures, shore up the immune system, reduce stress, and open the door to learning and creativity--all by understanding and truly meeting your child's needs. As thousands of families who have cobbled together these solutions themselves already know, this program can have dramatic benefits--for your child with autism, and for you, your whole family, and your next baby as well.--From publisher description.