Hi, everyone, we are in Cindy's program too and it has been two months and a half. My precious son is 12 years old and he is semi-verbal. He was diagnosed with mild-moderate autism and was very slow to develop his speech. As a mom with a slightly older kid (Gosh, don't you just hate that all experts are setting all the timelines for our kids, and each year at his birthday, I feel so much pressure), we have tried everything, 40 hours ABA, OT, speech, IEP, even son rise -- you name it. I guess the only domain we have not tried is a gluten-free diet (we have not really tried any special diet). I was hesitant to try at first because I was afraid it to be another disappointment after physical and financial exhaustion. However, there wasn't much else for me to try honestly, and his school isn't helping him much. Don't get me wrong, he and I love his school but they are not able to see what a brilliant little boy he is. As his mom, I know he is brilliant and sunny but I cannot always bring out that part of him sometimes. Before joining her program, my son was very strong-willed, limited verbal, and he never took medicine (yes, we had survived this long without him taking medicine and thank god he is a healthy boy) and he was resistant to many things. We started adopting the program strategies. The first big change we saw was his willingness in trying new food (healthy food, yay!) and take medicine and supplements. We also started having mini-conversations, and he started joking a lot. While most of his jokes are still naiive and may not be so much socially appropriate, but one joke he told last even made his teacher laugh "teddy bear cannot eat snacks because he is stuffed" He is soooo easy going nowadays. We only had one tantrum in last few months and he explained me later: the reason why he was mad was because I was mad for him slowly putting on his socks before going to his ice skating class.

I do recommend Cindy's program. I think if you are someone against ABA or ABA-related principles (like myself), her program's philosophy will resonate with you. I don't think the goal is to cure autism but to let them be free of their limitations and challenges related to it, certainly not to ask kids to mask themselves. If you are someone who believes in neurodiversity and the true potential of autistic people, this program will also resonate with you, because we all want to bring out our kids' best selves so they can advocate for themselves, not just passively "love someone the way they are." Also, I, as someone who has been totally "brainwashed" by our neurotypical culture and expectations, have experienced a lot of changes in myself. I interact with him differently, and I keep checking my own words and behaviors. They are not the only ones who need therapy, but we also need "therapy" so we can be the parents that a neurodiverse kid needs and be connected with.

I agree with CorinaBergstrom. 1st, why is there no actual information about what methods are used in this program on the internet or from other professionals? Certainly, if this program is as helpful as claimed, there would be more information about it out there other than the name of the co-founder. 2nd, if you truly want everyone on the spectrum to benefit from this program, why make it so expensive, and why shame parents that cannot afford it by saying that only people who are decisively committed will always find a way to join. As a parent of a child on the spectrum surely you are aware of the costs families already incur having a special needs child. Many of us are single parents, who have had to leave our professional careers to care for our ASD children. Do you think money grows on trees, or just that we are not committed parents if we cannot afford your price? If this program is that wonderful, why have you not gone through the proper channels to make it available through insurance, you claim to want everyone to have access to this, and that it can make an incredible difference for your child and family. I understand that this is a private business, and the focus of any business is to financially succeed, but you are claiming to be able to help these families, all I see is your financial focus. Also I noticed on your site, that you claim this same 5 step method works for autism, ADHD, bipolar, sleep complaints, mental health concerns, chronic pain and numerous auto-immune conditions, seems like a pretty broad spectrum. I simply do not see your actions aligning with the comments you make about this program. Provide real answers. Oh, and I can assure you, I AM A DETERMINED AND COMMITTED PARENT!

We are going through Cindy’s program now. Our son is 4 years old and diagnosed a nonverbal level 3. We’ve been in the program for 6 weeks now and have seen many changes. He has had a whole day with no crying, starting wearing cloths, eating things I would have never even offered him before like sauerkraut, and is sleeping 10 hours a night! All things he did not do before these 6 weeks. We were hesitant at first, especially because if the price, but we had tried everything! We were in ABA for over a year with no change. This cost covers all of the time Cindy gives to your family personally! There’s so much information and she has been amazing at walking us through it all. I can’t recommend this program enough and I can’t wait to see how much more our little boy blossoms over the next 6 weeks!

I counsel extreme caution whenever you hear someone suggest that autism can be healed or cured, or that someone can "recover" from it; sometimes they just mean that behaviors can be improved, which is of course true, but autism is a physiological condition that cannot be "cured" any more than having a certain blood type can be cured. I'm also immediately set off by the fact that the "masterclass" that one is directed to when going to freedomforautism.com is presented as a live webinar, with limited membership and mocked up to look like it is happening live--though it is clearly just a recording. It also feels like a sales pitch, though this could just be because the speaker sincerely believes in the efficacy of the program. It's all about how amazing the results will be, how all the other experts are wrong, and almost entirely devoid of actionable content. You can get a lot more in terms of practical and actionable takeaways for free from countless other sites out there.

I'm not trying to turn you away from this program, but it feels like woo to me.

I'm coming back to this after having seen the positive reviews left by certain users, and also the comments from someone claiming to be Cindy. As an autist myself, I have questions:

Why do none of the profiles of the users offering support for the program have any details in them?

Why are there no concrete details on the program offered anywhere? That's the first thing I (and all committed parents) will be looking for in order to determine whether or not something is worth the time to research further. If I don't see any, I move on.

Why is one person talking about supplements? There are no supplements that alter brain physiology to make up for the fact that those with autism tend to have significant structural differences in certain parts of the brain than those not on the spectrum.

"Imbalances." Of what? Specifically what? This sounds like more of the same woo that is everywhere in dietary supplements and weight-loss programs. Impurities, toxins, imbalances--there are very general terms that have no meaning outside of context.

"Some people will prefer to make excuses, and take no action." Maybe so, but not anyone who is on this site. Autism parents are among the most motivated and aggressive troubleshooters and problem-solvers in the world. We are already facing monumental challenges, so phrases like this are both insulting and revealing. There's no "there" there, or you'd share some of it. We all know already how much BS is out there and how to detect it. Why not offer some of that knowledge up for free? Anything that truly warrants a $15,000 price tag (or whatever it is) can withstand to give a little away without it being ruinous to the business.

I hope I'm wrong and that people are benefitting from the program. However, as both an autistic adult who grew up with zero support and a parent of an autistic child, that someone would sequester the promise of a magic cure behind a massive paywall is infuriating and disgusting.