Convert XML to Simple Object?

I’m new to AS3 (but not other programming languages) so pardon my ignorance. Is there a way to convert the XML object into a simple object? I’m parsing a string into XML and I realize that in itself is an object, but I want an object that doesn’t include the functions/properties related to XML itself (appendChild, attribute, etc).

The problem is that I want to pass the XML data (in object form) to Javascript via the ExternalInterface, but I can’t seem to pass anything more complicated than a simple object.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.