Almost all fish oils are filtered to removed any excess mercury/contaminants as well as independently certified/tested. So, I wouldn't be concerned with that aspect.

But if not comfortable with fish oil, another option is prescription nutritional supplement called Vayarin. It is basically omega-3 EPA bonded to Phosphatidylserine (both omega-3 and PS are studied in ADHD context, and Vayarin has shown efficacy in double blind trial for ADHD).

Omega-3 can also be obtained from vegetarian sources as pointed above, but I believe EPA/DHA content is highest in fish oil.

Other supplements to consider for brain development that have been implicated in ASD or ADHD context are - cholesterol (from eggs or supplement), zinc, lithium, magnesium, and iron.

Also consider MB12 shots/methyl folate and good multi-vitamin with all of the B-vitamins.

Hi,

The following is unrelated to vitamins:

I was reading about your son and had thoughts about his staring spells, language delay and short attention span. I hope I am not imposing, but I thought you might benefit by what I have to say. My grandson is now 12 years old and attends a school in advanced studies for Science, Technology and Mathematics. Math is his favorite. His aptitude is one grade above his grade level. My grandson was severely language delayed at 4 years of age. He spoke in three word sentences. As time progressed he spoke in sentences that were mixed up. The word order was either reversed or mixed up. He did occasionally have staring spells. He still sometimes has a short attention span, but that is when he is not interested in something. Presently, he has advanced language skills with advanced vocabulary. Once in a while I find he has difficulty with understanding certain words like the difference between "and" and "but" used in a sentence, but it is a rare occurrence. He still has communication problems vs. language. He doesn't always understand what thoughts or ideas I am trying to convey to him. He doesn't like a lot of questions, when I try to help him understands. He gets frustrated. He is not a rapid reader, his fluency is a little slow. Although his reading comprehension is average in the school testing, he still labors over reading comprehension. We did think he might have staring seizures when he was between the ages of 2 and 6, but they were not seizures, he was just thinking about things unrelated to what was going on around him.

I hope this helps you a little :)

@A MyAutismTeam Member @A MyAutismTeam Member How have the MB12 shots helped your children?

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You can also get Omega 3 from flax and some other vegetable oils, but they are short chain omega 3 which require ten times as much to get the same benefit as the long chain omega 3 in fish oil. When I was pregnant my doctor talked to me about mercury and said that not all fish have that danger. Salmon, for instance, is safe. You could bypass the supplements and simply increase your family's diet of safe fish.

We give Coromega, which is distilled & purified and tested for mercury & other toxins. If you really want to avoid fish oil entirely, you can try flaxseed oil. We have also seen good improvements from Behavior Balance DMG, coenzyme Q10, and acetyl-l-carnitine. Methyl B12 injections as well but those require a doctor's prescription.