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Following the Program
In Part Two you will find the what’s and how’s of following the program. If you
feel adventurous, as you read skip ahead to get a sense of what the basic steps are.
There are specific things that you can and should begin to do right now, so feel
free to begin right away if you would like to.
Finally, I know both from myself and my three daughters that different people
learn in different ways. Some of us are more visual, some more linear and logical.
Some learn better through seeing or hearing or touching or feeling. If you know
yourself to be a visual learner, I also encourage you to consult the website, where
there are many visual presentations of the ideas contained in this book. While
you’ll note that this book also contains some visuals, its basic purpose is to unfold
the ideas in a linear, narrative sequence, and I hope that this will be helpful for
all of you who learn that way.
The Complexity of Modern Life
Once upon a time . . . life was a lot simpler. And just as life is more complex today,
so are our illnesses. We have fast food, fast cars, and a fast pace of life, with
all the stressors that go with it. Years ago as Father Knows Best played on our
black and white televisions. Mom was typically the homemaker while Dad went
to work. Now it’s common for both parents to work in order to make ends meet,
with everyone juggling work and family responsibilities. Since the 1950s, the
divorce rate has doubled, resulting in more single-parent households, with more
people than ever before acting as both Mom and Dad. It sometimes seems that
the more progress we make, the more difficult things become. Or, as the Dalai
Lama put it, “We have more conveniences, but less time, more experts but more
problems, fast food but slow digestion, and more medicines but less healthiness.”
These and hundreds of other changes have not only added stress to our lives, they
have also greatly increased our exposure to chemicals. In 1950, there were forty
million cars on the road, compared with the over 225 million vehicles in 2000.
The exhaust from this nearly 600% increase has brought an equivalent increase
in carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, benzene, formaldehyde,
and polycyclic hydrocarbons. And that’s not the only source of novel chemicals
to which our bodies must adjust. With more processed foods, over-the-counter
and prescription medicines, and health and beauty products, the last decades
have seen an explosion of product offerings, with all product categories bringing
increasing amounts of chemicals to us and to our water, earth, and air. Recent
studies connect the rising incidence of asthma to air quality and reveal that, in
many regions, the water supply contains residues of hormones and prescription
drugs. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, there have also been larger societal
changes that produce additional stress, whether the source is fear of terror-
8 Autism: Pathways to Recovery