(KTLA-TV)

(KTLA-TV)

Many parents of autistic children are desperately looking for hope. We just may have found itÂ….

For years Luly Guzman , of Lake Elsinore, has been taking her autistic son Sammy to every doctor and specialist she could find. Sammy couldn't talk until he was 9 years old, he couldn't sit still or make eye contact with anyone. Doctors recommended Sammy be medicated and ultimately institutionalized, but Luly didn't want that for her son.

Luly says it was so hard, her son would bounce and move around non-stop in public places, he would make strange noise and it was hard to go anywhere in public with him. She was searched for answers. She found them when she walked into this Brain Balance center in Westlake Village. Dr. Robert Melillo has been studying autism for years. He says this has been called one of the largest childhood epidemics in the world and it's only getting worse.

Dr. Melillo says autistic kids have a brain imbalance but that it's not permanent. He's developed different exercises, games, and a nutritional program to help kids balnce their brains and master social skills. Luly says the change in her son has been dramatic and for the first time ever he's in a mainstream classroom.

Some of the changes have been more subtle. For instance, Sammy has always been scared of the dark and had to sleep in his parents room crippled by fear. But Luly says that all changed after working with the doctors here. One day he grabbed his sheets and makeshift bed from his parent's floor. Luly asked him, "what are you doing?" He said, "I'm going to sleep in my room, mommy.

I'm a big boy now, I'm going to be okay, right mommy?" Now she can say yes and be confident that her son really will be alright.

Luly hopes that other parents will take a look at Dr Melillo's book, Disconnected Kids. She said it gave her back the son she always knew was trapped inside his own brain.

For more information go to Brain Balance Achievement Centers