June 2005 Meeting

Wow! What a great turnout we had this month. On one hand, I'm glad we are reaching out to other families in Nashville, but also saddened by how many of us continue to be struck by this horrid beast that invades our children and our homes. Nonetheless, welcome to the newcomers. We hope you'll return.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that a dinner nite was in order. So, we'll be meeting in July (on Monday the 25th) at 7p at Sportsman's Lodge in Cool Springs (next to Shogun). Be sure to let me know in advance, if possible, if you'll be attending and I'll call ahead so they'll be ready for us. Feel free to come even if you don't plan to eat.

If anyone has any ideas of information they'd like to see here on the blog, let me know (or feel free to post it yourself!). I'd love this to be a resource for new and seasoned members alike.

- Karen

Recipes

I was asked for the Pancake and Chicken Nugget recipes that I use. Here they are:

Don Baker's Pancakes (from SDSK book)

Dry Mix:

2 c. Bob's Red Mill GF Flour mix

1/2 c. Brown Rice flour

1/2 c. Tapioca flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

3 T sugar ( I substitute 1 T xylitol)

Wet mixture:

3 eggs (I use 4 for more protein)

1 1/4 c milk substitute

3 T oil

1/4 tsp vanilla ( I use 1/2 tsp)

I add to the wet mixture 1/2 of a container of gerber pureed green beans and 1/2 container of squash

combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well.

Combine liquid ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add to dry mixture and stir until there are no lumps. Do not overstir. Batter should not be runny, but should plop from the spoon. If necessary, add more milk, a little at a time, to reach this consistency.

Heat an oiled frying pan and drop batter in. Smaller pancakes are easier to turn, but if you prefer you can make large ones. Cook thoroughly until bubbles form and then flip to cook the second side.

Chicken Nuggets

Cut chicken into tenders or nuggets. Soak in ice water. Drain before dipping in batter.

For batter:

1 1/3 c Bob's Red Mill GF Flour Mix

1 tsp salt

Mix above two ingredients together.

In a separate small bowl, combine 2 T vinegar with 1 tsp baking soda. Then add vinegar/soda mixture to flour mixture.

Add between 1 c and 1 1/3 cups of water to mixture. Combine until smooth.

Dip chicken in batter and fry in oil. I fry nuggets for about 2 minutes and tenders for 4-5 minutes (or until golden brown and cooked through).

To reheat, place in oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes (nuggets) or 9 minutes (tenders). I use a toaster oven. I also freeze the nuggets and keep a small batch in the fridge.

Autism Outreach Clinic - Atlanta - August 28, 2005

Outreach Clinic – Atlanta Area

August 28th, 2005

For Children with Autism, PDD, AD(H)D, and Behavior Disorders

Dr. Rachel West (DAN! Practitioner)

will be seeing patients on Sunday from 8:30am-6:30pm

By Appointment Only

Simpsonwood Conference Center
Brooks Complex
4511 Jones Bridge Circle,
Norcross, GA 30092

(Please see www.simpsonwood.org for directions)

Please contact Sarah Wickens if you have any questions and/or to schedule appointments at 913-341-8949 or swickens@gpl4u.com.

Our goal is to help children with Autism, Allergies, AD(H)D, and behavioral abnormalities improve their health and well being.

Dr. Rachel West, D.O. ( DAN! Practitioner) is a board certified Family Practitioner. She is an Osteopathic physician specializing in natural and complementary medicine. She has a special interest in working with children who have been diagnosed with Autism, AD(H)D, and other behavioral disorders. Dr. West has spent two years working in her private practice of holistic medicine and traditional osteopathy. Her private practice in located in Beverly Hills, CA.

She continues to pursue her research interest in the field of Autism and AD(H)D. Dr. West has a comprehensive approach and is dedicated to helping children reach their full potential.

Each doctor participating in a Great Plains Outreach Clinic is performing his/her duties as a health consultant regarding diagnostic testing and biomedical therapeutic options for children suffering with autism spectrum disorders. They are not diagnosing illness or disease, nor are they providing medical treatment for children during the outreach consultation visit.

The Great Plains Laboratory is offering a revised, discounted CAP panel for $1299.00

Tests Cash Price

Organic Acid Test $220.00

Urinary Peptides Test $99.00

Comprehensive Stool Profile $305.00

IgG Food Allergy Profile $200.00

Metallothionein Profile $250.00

Immune Deficiency Profile $220.00

Metals Hair Profile $125.00

C-Reactive Protein $65.00

a-1-Antitrypsin $65.00

Pre-albumin $65.00

________

Regular cash price $1614

*This savings of $315 is only offered through Great Plains Laboratory Outreach Clinics!

These tests are designed to determine any abnormalities associated with heavy metal toxins, intestinal pathogens, food allergies, immune deficiencies, and more. Once your child’s Great Plains Laboratory test results are sent to Dr. West’s office, she will develop a treatment plan for each child individually.

The fee for the doctor's Outreach Clinic visit is $200.00 and is due at the time of your appointment in the form of a check or cash paid directly to the outreach doctor. Dr. West has no affiliation with ANY insurance companies and therefore cannot process any claims but she can provide you with a receipt that you may submit to your insurance company for reimbursement of the consultation. Please note that there is no guarantee that the doctor’s fee will be reimbursed.

Each parent will need to have a follow-up consultation with Dr. West through her private office (office or phone) to discuss the test results and options for therapy. This follow-up laboratory review and subsequent follow-up visits are billed through her private office. The fees paid at the outreach clinic (i.e. test panel fee, phlebotomy fee, initial doctor consult), do not include the follow-up laboratory review with Dr. West or any other outreach clinic doctor. Dr. West’s private office fees are billed at $150 per half-hour. The laboratory review consults usually are scheduled for 45-60 minutes. All questions regarding follow-up doctor consults should be directed to the doctor’s private offices.

Kris Davis LVN/Phlebotomist will perform all laboratory procedures for blood collection at the Outreach clinic. She encourages ALL parents to start increasing fluids on their child at least 24 hours prior to appointments. All other specimens, including urine, hair, and stool will be collected at home. The test kits will be given to parents to take home from the clinic. All kits will have a prepaid FedEx envelope to send back to Great Plains Laboratory upon completion of collection. Results of testing will be sent to Dr. West’s office within 4-5 weeks. Please see our website to obtain further information about Dr. Shaw, founder of The Great Plains Laboratory, and the specialized testing that we offer at www.greatplainslaboratory.com

Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO insurance is the ONLY insurance that we can bill for laboratory testing and the blood draw at the clinic due to a contract that Great Plains Laboratory has with Blue Cross. This does NOT mean that every BCBS PPO plan will cover any or all of the testing at 100%. We insist that in all situations, you contact your insurance company with the tests and codes, which can be provided to you from The Great Plains Laboratory upon making your appointment. Your insurance company should be able to determine how much coverage you can expect with those test codes.

The cash discount of $1299 is NOT applicable to those that have BCBS PPO, it is only meant for those that cannot have their testing covered by insurance. This means that individual, insurance prices will apply for each test for those who want to submit through Blue Cross Blue Shield. If not, the total amount is due at the time of the appointment and can be paid by check or credit card. When you get your results for the lab testing in the mail, you will receive a medical receipt with diagnostic codes that can be submitted to your insurance company by you for reimbursement. Many insurance companies will cover at least a portion of laboratory testing through Great Plains, but HMO’s typically will not provide coverage.

The Great Plains Laboratory has enacted a policy requiring each outreach clinic to have a minimum of 15 patients signed up, 14 calendar days before the clinic date. Such policies must be enforced in order to prevent last-minute sign-ups and to make the accurate planning of such events possible. This does not mean that we will not take appointments after the 14-day cutoff, but we ask that patients make their appointments as soon as possible in order for us to ensure that the clinic will take place.

In the case of a cancellation, you must contact Sarah Wickens at 913-341-8949 at least 72 hours prior to your appointment. Failure to do so could result in a charge to your credit card for the $200 doctor consult fee.

Welcome Nashville Parents and Friends!

Welcome to the Nashville Autism BioMedical Support Group's very own blog! Do you blog? Well, you can now! We now have an online place to post comments, brag about successes, ask questions, etc. in between our monthly meetings! I hope you'll participate. I think we can all benefit from interacting. Feel free to vent, brag, and ask away. Keep it clean, though. Basic rules of courtesy apply, of course. And, see you at the next meeting! - Karen