Diet is often a question for families of children with autism. Fortunately, for families in Jenin we have a dietician on our team to ensure that the children in our program are receiving holistic care at the cooperative and in the home.
Jan studied nutrition and health under the guidance of renowned professor Michael Crawford, director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at the London Metropolitan University. She interned with Nim Barnes, founder of Foresight Preconceptual Care (Bognor Regis, England) and is the Foresight U.S. programme director.
She is a former certified AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) educator with decades of experience teaching and feeding children. She has published numerous articles and books on nutrition with a focus on preconception health, brain and child development. Jan is on the advisory boards of The Mother and Child Foundation (UK) and The Montessori Education for Autism Foundation (UK).
Jan knows the paramount importance for families and educational communities to become familiar with the nutrients in the food we eat, their specific jobs, and understand how to “feed the brain” not just the body. In fact, this is what inspired teacher Jan to change careers and become a nutritional interventionist and educator. It became increasingly clear to Jan that certain styles of eating were complementary to attention, mood, and behavior and others, not only detrimental, but cognitively disruptive.
Under the direction of Professor Crawford, Jan researched nutrients uniquely and collaboratively in brain development for her scientific article, The Declaration of Nutrition, Health, and Intelligence for the Child-To-Be (2007), published in the UK. Jan states, ” Nutritional research points in the same conclusive direction; specific nutrients are required throughout the life-span to support mental health and deficiencies may prevent conception, compromise the neurological development of the embryo and fetus, diminish a child’s ability to learn, and impair future mental health.”
Jan’s specificity in nutrients and brain function paved her way into working with a developmental pediatrician and children with neurodevelopmental delays and difficulties. She specializes in providing individualized eating plans, nutritional education, support and guidance for families of children with language disorders, developmental delays, sensory integration issues, dyslexia, reading and attention problems, autism and correlative mood, behavioral and health issues. She has clients worldwide with complex neurological challenges such as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease which is a deterioration of myelin and Prader-Willi syndrome, a chromosomal deletion affecting cognitive development and abilities.
Jan works for a developmental pediatrician, maintains a private practice in Phoenix, and offers telephone and Skype consultations to clients worldwide. She is a certified nutritional educator and instructs educators, school communities, health professionals, and organizations. Jan loves to instruct small groups providing one-on-one attention and hands-on practicum.
This class is ideal for the Jenin Autism project. Jan is ecstatic about teaching nutritional/brain principles to the Moms of autistic children in Jenin. She states. “I was mentored by benevolent and impassioned nutritional scientists. It is a distinct honor to pass along what was selflessly given to me. Jenin’s rich agricultural opportunities and small farming community make this an ideal environment for feeding nutrient dense, fresh food to children.”
Jan has a sub-specialty in preconception nutrition for Mom and Dads-To-Be.
The Jenin Autism Project 