2nd Annual "When the Belly is the Beast" Autism Conference

February 25, 2011--The Board of Directors of the Gottschall Autism Center is proud to announce that the second "When the Belly is the Beast" Autism Conference will be held on Friday, April 1, 2011 at Rachel's Lakeside in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.  The event will feature nationally-known experts who will address the nutritional and biomedical approaches to the treatment of autism.

Dr. Martha Herbert, Pediatric Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, will present "Autism as a Chronic Whole Body Treatable Environmental Illness."   Dr. Herbert is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an internationally renowned researcher, speaker, author and expert on the genetics and neurology of autism.

“Gluten, Leaky Gut, and the Autism Spectrum Disorder:  How to Connect the Dots,” will be the topic of a workshop led by Dr. Alessio Fasano, Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  Dr. Fasano is also the Director of the Mucosal Biology Research Center and the Medical Director of the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland.

Pamela Ferro, RN, President of the Gottschall Autism Center will present “Gastrointestinal Pathology and the Use of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in Autism.” This presentation will underscore how intestinal function plays a pivotal role in the behavior, communication, socialization, and cognition of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Ms. Ferro, the parent of a child with autism and the co-founder of Hopewell Associates, Inc. in Mattapoisett, will also present “Mothers of Children with Autism:  Strategies to Improve the Outcome of Health and Relationships.”

Additional workshops will be held on finding resources, legal basics for parents, safety and wandering, and transition to adulthood.

Hosting the conference will be Wendy Fournier, President of the National Autism Association.  Ms. Fournier is the parent of a child with autism, a Gottschall Autism Center board member and a frequent lecturer at local and national autism conferences.

The registration fee of $65 per person includes continental breakfast, lunch, conference program booklet and an Autism Resource Guide.  Please visit the Conference Homepage for complete conference information and online registration.