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August 18, 2005
To Whom it may concern,
My name is Maribel Danta. I am the Vice President of NAALI (National Autism Association –
Long Island), and co-creator and co-organizer of The Long Island Autism Awareness Fair
and Conference.
I had the very good fortune of having crossed paths with Dr Michael Trayford. At a time when I
was desperately seeking new ways to help my child Gabriel, who has autism, and trying to
find a doctor who would take my concerns seriously, Dr Trayford came into our lives.
My son Gabriel was the typical normally developing child until the last series of vaccination
shots, the dreaded MMR. He quickly regressed and lost all language, eye contact and
withdrew tremendously. Frightened, I began my long road from county, to school district, to
neurologists, pediatric gastro enterologists, to developmental pediatricians and child
psychologists. I was told by everyone my child should be medicated, there is no hope, only
option is ABA, it was devastating.
Before I took Gabriel to Dr Trayford, I did the Floortime intervention and got him speaking
again, basically 2 word sentence. I also managed to potty train him. Though big milestones
those were the only significant ones. He started an 8-1-1 special ed class in Clayton Huey
Elementary school in Center Moriches NY. He was a Kindergartener. He had definite
behavioral issues.
We started to see Dr Trayford in October. Dr Trayford immediately addressed his “gut” issues
with probiotics, nutritional supplements EFA’s and vitamins. He tested Gabriel thoroughly,
allergies, heavy toxic metals, and it was discovered that he had severe allergies to the basic
aggressors that many children with Autism have. We then put Gabriel on a casein free,
gluten free, egg free diet.
We started chelation per test results, had Gabriel do specific exercises and spinning
techniques. We began this plan of action in January,and because this changed his behavior
dramatically, Gabriel was integrated into a regular kindergarten class for center time and
gradually he worked his way up to over 2 and a half hours of integration time as June arrived.
Gabriel went from speaking in 2 word sentences to 8 then 10 word sentences. His receptive
skills are on par with his chronological age, 5 years 11 mos, and his expressive skills are a
year behind. He has come a long way. I am proud to say that in September Gabriel will be a
full day kindergarten student with a shadow/aide. He will be in a regular class all day long,
with typical children. What every professional told me I needed Ritalin or Concerta to control,
Dr Trayford knew better. He knew to treat a symptom, not to mask it. More than that, he knew
how to listen to a parent’s legitimate concerns, put them at ease, and take their child
seriously. I cannot stress enough how the impact of Dr. Trayford’s knowledge, generosity,
compassion, and persistence has affected my son, my family and our community. I invited
Dr. Trayford to speak at our Fair last year and not only was it the first session to fill up, but we
received many complements about his session afterwards. There were at least 800 people
there and a few politicians, not to mention our Congressman, Tim Bishop. The fact that Dr.
Trayford stood out, speaks volumes.
I of course, will miss the immediate availability of driving to Dr. Trayford’s office and venting
my latest concerns. Though I know we will always keep in touch, I also suspect that there are
many very lucky families that will be able to experience that same sense of immediacy,
something a parent of a special needs child never takes for granted.
We need more doctors like him treating our kids, treating our families. I know for a fact that
my child would not be where he is today despite my efforts and those of his talented teachers
if it wasn’t for the expertise and talents of Dr. Trayford.
Sincerely,
Maribel Danta
www.autismfair.com
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