Visit www.hriptc.org for a better understanding of the specifics of metal metabolism. It is much more complex than a one time well-intended parental chelation. Most all children receive immunizations, unfortunately containing thimersol (mercury), however all do not develop autism. The difference among the children is their body's varying ability to metabolize metals and toxins and remove them out of their systems before the worst damage occurs. Chelation alone will only remove the current metal load and not address the underlying conditions contributing to the predisposition to the autoimmune condition mislabled autism or lupus or rheumatism possibly induced by the metals. There is also a website referred to as TAAP (more than one organization uses this lettering-be sure and choose the autism one when using your search engine). The members concur that immunizations are involved in the disease process and due to my and their extensive review of medical journals and doctors worldwide recoginize autism as a biomedical autoimmune disorder. I am saving money to receive appropriate treatments for my family each of us has various autoimmune/connective tissue/speech/and or cognitive functioning disorders. I sense your treatment options like mine are tied to financial availability. In the mean time do your research so your money is well spent hitting the nail on the head rather than the expensive process of getting there one piece of the puzzle at a time. Everyone has a cure when you have an incurable illness. That can be an initial relief when you have been battling an illness such as lupus for years without even receiving a diagnosis only to eventually be so debilitated that finally a doctor out of years of doctors finally sees a diagnosis: an incurable death sentence. . . not what one hopes for. Children with developmental or behavioral disorders are often looked upon as an educational or psychological issue rather than a biomedical one. This occurs, in part, due to medical insurances classification of them as behavioral disorders to avoid having to pay for treatments. Parents and teachers are perplexed by these children's behaviors not realizing that they are due to a miserable underlying biomedical condition which the adults cannot see and the child cannot communicate and the average MD or psycologist is unaware of. The medical researchers or doctors who have had autism, celiac, ADHD/OCD, lupus etc. hit their families have had a different approach of a serious need to find the root cause to devise appropriate treatments. HMO's and PPO's do not accomodate anything useful towards a cure because it is easier and less expensive to medicate the symptoms and write people off. So people like us have to find the answers on our own with afforadability sometimes an issue. We also have to be leary of the Doc Hollywood types and snakeoils in the process. Good luck.