It's World Autism Day. Until today I didn't know such a day existed. When we were trying to cope so many years ago, there wasn't much awareness at all. We persevered and did what we knew was right for our son. It was hard work, but it's said that nothing worth having comes easily.
Our son had many of they triggers for autism. We induced his birth a week early hoping to avoid a big baby, his brother was 10.10 lbs at birth and the midwife thought if we went a week early maybe, just maybe he would be only 10 lbs. Well, he didn't want to come out a week early. We had the Pitocin turned up as high as was recommended and I wasn't dilating. We turned it off and went home.
We immunized him on schedule as was recommended. He would get sick after the immunizations, but we didn't catch on to what was happening. We had five other children and were just trying to get through the day. At about six weeks he ended up in the hospital with RSV. His oxygen saturation level was in the low 80's. He was immediately suctioned and placed on oxygen to help him breathe. He was on oxygen for five days. Being on oxygen for five days is another trigger.
At three he still wasn't talking. He sounded like a Tele Tubby. Having other children who talked incessantly, and then to have one who didn't talk was a blessing, or so we thought. This was a warning that something wasn't right.
At six months his soft spot closed. He received x-rays to monitor his brain growth and bone structure to make sure his brain wasn't hitting against his skull.
He didn't potty train until he was four. He wasn't being willful. He could not control his body functions.
One day we went to a bird show at the library. This show was SO BORING!!!! The bird lady wouldn't let the kids touch the birds, they had to sit perfectly still, and her information would have bored a board. My son was not able to sit in his chair. He was everywhere-on top of the chair, under the chair, around the chair, behind the chair...you get the picture. I took him out of the building to the car and gave him a spank for misbehaving. We came back in and he tried to sit still and I felt horrible.
I knew there had to be a different way. Something was going on but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.
We went to a neuro-therapist suggested by our homeschooling group. She was not someone I recommend anyone go to, but she did direct us to an osteopath because of the early soft spot closure many years before.
This osteopath was instrumental in my son's healing. He did a complete examination of him and noticed that his body alignment was off. He tested his urine for peptides. We followed up with him for about a year until we couldn't afford to keep going.
We found that he did have peptides in his urine which meant he was on the Autism Spectrum, but he didn't have classic autism. This started us on the path of a GF/CF diet-gluten/casein free diet for almost two years.
The first week his soccer coach noticed a difference, but didn't know what it was. He asked us what was different and we told him about the diet. He started sleeping through the night within days. He always woke up about one or two in the morning ready for the day. You can imagine how tired we as parents were and so not ready to get up at that time of the day, so for him to sleep until a normal time was wonderful.
Our whole family went on the diet for one month. We purged our house of anything that contained glutin or casein. I learned how to cook differently. I used potato and rice flours instead of wheat flour. This was back in the day when eating glutin free was not popular and finding stuff for a four-to-five year old boy to eat was not easy.
Our lifesaver was Lisa Lewis's cookbooks for the GF/CF Diet. Special Diets for Special Kids is the name of the first cookbook and has some wonderful recipes in it. Very kid friendly and doable.
My son is now a teenager and does very well. He still has some quirks about him. He's now learning at grade level. He takes his studies very seriously and is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He makes a mean chocolate chip cookie. We've come a long way from those days about twelve years ago. It was worth it. Every single recipe and decision was worth it. Be your child's advocate. You are the voice for your child. Find it.
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