Thursday, 10 July 2008
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Defeat Autism Now
It's week one of our efforts to come with grasp with Autism and compiling an action plan of treatment. Thus far, we have read a TON of websites about treatment options.
http://www.treatingautism.ik.com
http://home.earthlink.net/~tammyglaser798/authome.html
http://intentionalparents.com/dealing-with-special-needs/hannah-therapy/
http://www.autism.com
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/
Second, and most successfully thus far, was reducing Josiah's sugar intake which has been a breeze. It helps a lot that Josiah doesn't have a sweet tooth at all and loves having big meals.
We tried to eliminate dairy. That has gone good in the sense that butter, cheese and milk were eliminated. We started using Soya milk only to find out literally minutes ago that Soy is very closely related to casein..so that was a bit of downer. On the other hand, Rice Milk, can be used..and the best part is that you can make your own rice milk without paying a fortune. But you need to supplement calcium along with the homemade milk. I shall be placing an order for chewable calcium in few minutes, DV.
Next, vitamins: We got Josiah some chewable vitamins which we were mixing with his milk. Read the ingredients last night only to find out that they has Aspartame...and big NONONNONON...so that has to be corrected.
The vitamins that are a must for autism are B6 and Magnesium to be taken together..so gotta huddle that one.
Omega 6 and fatty acids: started adding flax seed meal. Research shows that children with autism respond poorly to flax seed. So we replaced that with fish liver oil, which he swallowed unbeknown to him with his breakfast..Success!!!
Ingredient I'd be tackling soon: Aspartame...had no idea it was in so many products and how bad it was for concentration and it's link with hyperactivity.
I have asked to be referred to a dietician, to help me with the gluten free ingredients and supplements ie. get prescriptions for them so that it won't cost an arm and leg. The response I've gotten thus far, it'll be a very long waiting list..So I'm not sitting and waiting on them, not wasting any valuable time. Thus far from what I've read on the UK sites, that none of these supplements can be purchased through the NHS. So we have to fund them ourselves, the Lord shall provide.
Books Purchased thus far: "Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism", and "Facing Autism". Books I'm waiting to get from the Library: "Let Me Hear Your Voice". All of these books are written by parents of autistic children who have used the ABA therapy and saw improvement.
ABA therapy, a valuable form treatment for children with autism, is offered within the UK, but not funded by the NHS. So I have just contacted PEACH, the ABA therapists foundation in the UK, to learn more about and see if there's any way that the LEA would fund/offer it.
Enzymes: Peptizyde seems to be the enzyme of choice for those on the GFCF diet, so that's on the list of things to do.
Another thing is adding Epsom Salt to our bathing as it helps detoxification.
I'll be meeting a mom who lives in a nearby town, who helped her son with autism using the ABA method. I think she had to go to canada to receive some training..so that's really exciting..
That's in a nutshell. It's great that there's so much that can be done......Love that little guy..!!
"Save the son of thine handmaid"
Maria
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Comments (6)
It is amazing all that you have learned! You had mentioned making your own rice milk...I would love to know how you do that!
Here is a blog you might find interesting and someone you can connect with...
Our Small Town Blessings
She just recently posted about her son's diet - he too has Autism - and what all she is doing and has tried.
xoxo Cat
Hi, Maria! Thank you for stopping by both my blogs. My wordpress one is unfortunately not able to be updated....... I had a totally different password for it and stopped using it sometime late last year and now, I can't remember! My email for it isn't working either. It'll come to me sometime, I hope because I still hear a lot about how much that blog is helping people. I am going to add my GFCF unacceptable ingredients list and all of that to my Blogger blog that I use now sometime later today. If you scroll down in my current blog (there is only a few days worth of GFCF posting because we just re-started him on it this week), I have posted some recipes and links to other sites.
For supplements, check out Kirkman Labs. Almost every parent with a child on the spectrum winds up on their supplements because they are PERFECT for the special diets our little ones have to be on. I just posted earlier this week about having to make my own rice milk because my son is refusing to drink the almond milk now. These special milks cost SO MUCH. They make my youngest's cows milk at $4.50 a gal look cheap.
I know the rush of feelings going on inside of you with the diagnosis being so recent and I'm here if you want to talk about it. It was so hard for us to do what you're doing right now. To drop the feelings of "why MY baby????" and just concentrate on recovering him. ABA Therapy is very expensive here and unless people can get help for funding, it's not something the average family can usually afford. Zack doesn't have ABA Therapy. He does have occupational therapy and speech but not ABA. Instead, I have been taught by other ABA therapists at the school and I have read everything I can get my hands on... and I'm doing it at home. It's very tiring and it takes a LOT of patience, but until I come into some money, I have no other option. Zack's behavior is better now that he can make his needs known (which only happened sometime over the last 3 months)... but he still needs a lot of help with meltdowns.
I am going to add you to my favorites list so I can keep up with your journey. And, I also recommend adding to your library list: The Out of Sync Child, The Out of Sync Child Has Fun, Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew, Special Diets for Special Kids Two. Thanks for stopping by, good luck with everything, and God Bless!!
Hi again :) As for your ABA hours question, it's an all day thing here. I'm not able to sit for hours at a time because I also have a 1-yr-old son, a hubby, and a house to take care of. I've learned to work with him around my regular schedule. When I'm doing dishes, Zack is at the table nearby doing what I've asked him to do (like sort silverware, which is actually progress... it used to be filling cups with marshmallows). But, like most children on ABA, he doesn't want to do what I'm asking him to do... he has object attachment so simply releasing a spoon and putting it away is pure agony for him but he HAS to learn that he cannot hold onto everything so I have to insist patiently and clearly "Zack, put the spoon in the spoon slot." Our biggest behavior problem that we've been cracking down on in our little "ABA therapy sessions" is screeching when he's frustrated (which almost always escalades to slamming his head into the wall if he's REALLY frustrated). I had to teach myself to NOT WINCE when he screeches or hits himself (I will never give him attention for negative behavior) and to continue to patiently tell him what I want him to do. If I'm washing dishes or feeding the baby when I'm asking him to do something like when I asked him to put marshmallows in the cups... and he screeches at me because he wants to hold onto it... I immediately stop everything else that I'm doing and I drop to my knees at his level and call him to my world. He doesn't give eye contact very often and I KNOW he's hearing me, but he isn't actually LISTENING if he isn't looking at me so I will continually call him to "focus on mom." When he does look at me even for a second, I will explain to him that I want him to put the marshmallow (or spoon, bear, whatever) in the cup. At first, I had to hand-over-hand do it (force him to do the motion) and then reward him every step of the way. Skittles worked great for his (he has no problem with dyes or sugar and they're GFCF). But now, he has gotten to the point where I can say "let's do this first and then we can have a treat after all the silverware is sorted." I've been told by people who work with children on the spectrum that at this point where he can shake his head no instead of scream at me and predict consequences when he has a tantrum that he would no longer qualify for ABA Therapy. Great news because a few months ago, he NEEDED it!!
I would love to share all my tips and tricks with you because I strongly feel that the key to unlock the autism puzzle rests within us, the mothers. Nobody in this world knows your child as well as you do. I personally feel that a therapist would still be tackling some of the things that we've already tackles because I'm here 24 hours and Zack has learned that I'm unmovable and stubborn as a brick wall when it comes to his behavior. Usually. He DOES have this little smile with his bright blue eyes lighting up that's been known to melt me...
As far as taking things one step at a time, I do agree with that as far as diets go. We did gluten and casein free at the same time because Zack didn't really bother with gluten products anyway (which really makes me think it's casein that's his problem because he CRAVES dairy products). But as far as dye, soy, yeast, egg, etc go... Yes, one at a time or you'll never know what it is that's causing the problem. The supplements go hand-in-hand with diets but if you feel more comfortable starting him on them before you nibble on the autism diets, then by all means you must do what YOU feel comfortable doing
Zack is on a multi-vitamin and I am purchasing him some calcium drops to put in his rice milk from that link I sent you. The entire family is on fishoil. Autism or not, oil is SO good for you!! I feel better on fishoil, calcium, and magnesium so I can only imagine how awesome the little bodies feel on them.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I check on my blog several times a day (it's kind of my escape when things get REALLY crazy around here, which they do quite often LOL). I don't know all the answers but I'm in communication with a lot of other moms in our situation and some of these moms know enough to fill a medical journal!
Oh and I know I talk too much but I wanted to add that a doctor can help in all the allergy/sensitivity questions. They can run a blood test to find out what he's sensitive to and then tell you how to supplement if you're unsure :)
I'm so sorry to hear first of all that the doctor was so RUDE with regard to Josiah's diagnosis. :( Some people really don't have tact or a good way to help. I'm glad you are such a great mother.. doing all of the research. You are awesome! I think he looks so cute with glasses by the way. I pray God continues to lead you and your husband as you deal with the autisim.
I remember there was an article on mercola.com about someone who cured her son's autism with diet and supplements. And I think I saw one about Jim Carrey's child somewhere. You're doing a great job! I'm interested in reading through those links. If there's anything I can do, let me know!