Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Research shockers

So where do I go from here, the Internet of course!! I started surfing anything I could find on the Internet and reading any books I could get my hands on. I was mainly researching Autism/Asperger's since I had the other 2 well managed, but I knew very little about Autism. During my reading though I noticed a pattern of talking about ADAH and Autism together. I also noticed there was a fair amount of overlap of symptoms. I started to realize that whatever I tried for Kolton I could try for the other 2 as well.

An easy first step was to add quality supplements. We take so many supplements we look like a bunch of 90 year old's with our pill cases. The one thing that kept popping up during my research was about diet changes. I dismissed it right off top because taking all gluten and casein (dairy) out of their diet seemed impossible. I also knew that with 2 teenagers, there would be a huge challenge to get them to cooperate. I also doubted that I could get Kolton to go along with the diet as he is one of the world's pickiest eaters!! However the more I read the more the diet changes kept coming up. I decided that we needed to give it a try but I didn't know how to start. The best information I found on changing the diet was on a website called www.talkingaboutcuringautism.org . There is a whole section on changing the diet slowly, it would have been hard to do it all at once. So we started our changes one meal at a time, breakfast was the easiest and supper wasn't too hard. Lunch was a challenge and of course the biggest challenge was getting Chase to not cheat whenever he could. Kolton wasn't as difficult as I thought since he must follow all rules and the diet was a new rule!!

Despite almost hoping that the diet wouldn't work so I wouldn't have to keep doing it, it was a huge success!! Each one had a different positive reaction which surprised me. I always thought Kolton had bad rough skin, but with the diet change his skin went smooth and he stopped itching all the time. The dark circles under his eyes disappeared and the biggest change was that he started looking us in the eye for the first time!! Ashlynn used to have headaches almost daily and they disappeared! The biggest shock for me was that Chase came back from space and now he talks constantly and he is completely present. We also were able to get him down to the lowest dose possible of his medications!!

We have been on the diet for over a year now and it is just a part of our life. I'll tell you more later on how the teenagers got on board with our restrictions! They even tell others now about the diet and suggest that they should try it too!

Pamela

4 comments:

  1. Hey Pam,
    An interesting read, I am going to look into the diet also, as my youngest son (10 yrs) has just been diagnosed with ADD and my oldest (12 Yrs) was diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago, I also feel that I may suffer from adult ADD.
    I have been speaking with an old Otterburn friend, (Mark Walters, Cheri remembers him) he is a teacher in Mississauga and he was telling me about how large of a spectrum that autism covers including ADD & ADHD.
    Jim Anderson

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  2. Hey Jim,

    I am still shocked at how rampent ADD, ADHD and Autism are these days! Check out the website I suggested, it was very helpful. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have no doubt that all of these kids are going to be amazing adults with tons of energy!

    Check back as I have tried and am trying new alternatives all the time that you may find interesting.

    Pamela

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  3. Thanks Pam,
    I was speaking to Kathy (My wife) at lunch about your blog, and she was suggesting that maybe we could get together one day for coffee and compare notes.
    Let me know your thoughts
    Jim

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  4. Sounds great! I would love to meet Kathy and see you again after all these years! I will Facebook you when we will be nearby.

    Please feel free to pass on my blog to anyone who may find the info interesting, my hope is to help other parents muddle through all of the alternatives out there!

    Pamela

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