The Monster has been Unleashed!

Landon is going through something right now, and it is not fun, not for him and certainly not for the rest of us.

I believe it might be an overgrowth of yeast in his gut, or possibly his body's response to some processes being stimulated that haven't been stimulated in a very long time, if ever.

Landon has been on a special diet for several months now.  We started implementing the Gluten Free/Casein Free diet back in June of 2007, or as it is more fondly known, the GFCF diet.

I started removing the casein first.  That is the protein found in dairy products, mostly cheese and cheese products, milk, etc.....  I did notice some definite improvements with the removal of these products from his diet.  At the beginning of the school, I removed all Gluten, that is the protein found in wheat products, also rye, barley,  and a few others.  Again, I saw more improvement.

About 3 months ago, I started Landon on a supplement program.  Many people call this biomedical approach to "curing" autism.  I call it common sense.  

Autism is, in my opinion, caused by a genetic predisposition that is triggered by environmental influences.  The pollution in the air, the water, our food sources, it is everywhere!  This part of Indiana has some of the worst pollution in the Nation and it is getting worse every year.

These pollutants "mess up" our body's natural way of getting rid of these toxins and our pathways of eliminating toxins stop working correctly and things "back up" in our systems.

I have read through many, many descriptions of different types of heavy metal poisoning/toxicity and my son is obviously effected by a build up of heavy metals in his body.

I believe that vaccines were just one way they were introduced into his body, along with the air he breathes, the water source, and pesticides used on the food we eat and the pollutants in the soil that grows our veggies.  Plus whatever I have been exposed to as well.

So, even though right now his behavior is hardly bearable, I know that I am doing the right thing for him.  He may be acting like a monster right now, but I have so many things to be thankful for that he has progressed in since starting him on this program.

Here are just a few of them:

Better coordination, less clumsiness

Better speech and understanding of speech

Noticing more of the world around him, especially music on the radio

REMEMBERING something that happened to him and being able to tell me about it, before his memory was very poor.

He is LOVING to read and his teachers say "Loving to Learn"

His focus and attention have improved

Eating more foods, eating MEAT!  

Going to the bathroom (bm) on a regular basis, now tell me that doesn't make a person just feel better!

Better eye contact, not normal, but better

Doing portions of his homework INDEPENDENTLY!

Less frustration at not being able to do something

The other day, for the first time, EVER, he said "HI" to a boy he knew from school that we saw at Wal-Mart!

You could've stopped me dead in my tracks and knocked me over!  He has always needed a full prompt to say hi to anyone! and he did this all on his own.

Now, to some of you reading this, you might think, these are all things most kids do, BUT my son didn't!  These are major accomplishments for him and for our family.....DON"T take those everyday things for granted, for a child with a disability, whether it be autism or whatever, those mundane, everyday tasks can be overwhelming to the child and to the parent.

These are what we celebrate at our house!  Along with what my "Normal" kids do as well!  No small task goes unnoticed.  I sometimes feel like I am two moms, the mom of NT kids and the mom of a child with autism.

On the one hand, I love it when my son or daughter bring home an "A" or a "B" or they do something well in sports, or music or whatever...those are proudly displayed when possible and bragged upon to friends and family too.

However, when Landon is able to do his homework independently, that is also celebrated, when he makes it through the week with all smiley faces on his behavior chart, that is celebrated, when he reads a short story to me, without help that is celebrated too.  These seem like such small things to some people but for Landon they are BIG accomplishments.

I think we could all stand to appreciate those little things that the people we love do for us, you  never really know what kind of effort went into doing that for you.