Re: problems with many foods - common?

[Guest guest]

,

How much has your son improved with all of these foods taken out? Is he

considered " normal " now? I haven't heard about you chelating your son, have

you thought about it or is that a route you don' t want to venture down yet?

MA

[Guest guest]

A.,

Yes I was referring to you. What a nice ending. Your father must've been so

happy. I give you alot of credit for going behind the scenes and unmasking

everything that bothered him. I hope and pray that he keeps getting better.

You sound like a great mother and I'm so glad to have support from you and

everyone else on this group. I wouldn't be able to be sane right now if it

wasn't for all of you.

MA

[Guest guest]

Hi

Well, first... I hope you are talking to me!! (Yikes there are so many

's - the name is beyond popular in the 60's)

If you are.. here are my answers

1) Diagnosis: Jeff was diagnosed low functioning autistic on Sept 30,

1999. He had a follow up diagnosis of apraxia in February 2000.

2) Diet: We started the GF CF diet in January 2000 and saw good

results, slow but steady results, over 6 months. When Jeff has dietary

infractions it is noticable with a change in behavior, sleep patterns and

big time change in stools.

3) Why Organic: The more I read, the more organic and natural I went

for feeding Jeff. I got completely away from chemicals.

4) Phenols: I eliminated phenols because Jeff would do the

Price evil giggle morning noon and night, especially night. I eliminated

phenols (foods like bananas, apples, tomatoes, chocolate, etc.) and Jeff

stopped the inappropriate giggling completely. Now his giggles are beyond

cute and totally wonderful.

5) Dyes/Natural Flavors/Additives: Jeff would get very spacey when

these foods got into his system. It was hard to get his attention if at all.

We eliminated these and got another step up.

6) Soy & Corn: We hit a plateau in therapies so I got convinced there

was something more in his diet. I did a rotation diet for a few months and

brought a list of 10 offending foods to an allergist. They did skin prick

testing on these 10 foods and low and behold Jeff was really allergic to

corn and soy. We eliminated these and saw another step up in improvement.

7) Low sugar and no yeast in his diet: because Jeff HAD a yeast

problem. Now it is manageable. His test results last April showed moderately

high yeast issues. We treated with probiotics and no yeast / low sugar diet

and retested him in November. Big difference. His yeast problems are

diminishing without drugs. (we like a no-drug-if-you-don't-have-to

approach.)

8) Supplements: these have helped too. But a lot of experimenting in

dosing and types made a difference here.

9) Responses: Jeff has never been an overnight responder to anything.

We have made steady slow progress on most treatments.

10) Chelation: after much research and most testing in, we do believe

Jeff has a metals issue. How much we are not sure. We will begin chelating

Jeff under Dr. Kartiznel's care here in the next month. I will keep you

posted. This next step is scary but after 8 months of reading, discussing,

and evaluating... I would rather get these metals out then leave them in my

child. But it is a extremely well thought out next step. Nothing done at

the Ackerman house without too much thought and discussion! (Not even a TV

purchase! You can image how we discuss our son!!)

Where is Jeff today? Not cured... but a completely different child. The

only things that typical parents see about Jeff is that he is not much of a

talker and just starting to be social. Other than that when I explain that

Jeff is developmentally delayed or autistic (it depends on my mood as to how

wordy I want to be with this person!!!) they do not believe me.

Jeff holds my hand and walks with me. Comes when I call his name (no more

than twice), reads 200 words, speaks 50 foods (although for people not

familiar to Jeff they are still hard to understand), knows 12 computer games

inside and out (including turning the computer on, putting the CD Rom in,

etc.) He sleeps better, his poops are greatly improved, his rashes are

managable and now almost inexistent (thanks to our doctor!) and I could go

on and on.

My father lives 650 miles away and comes to see me 4 times a year. Between

visits I was telling my dad (my best friend) via email and the phone Jeff's

progress. He came out again and cried when he saw Jeff. In a short period

of time (2 hours) he taught Jeff to shake hands and give grandpa hugs. Later

we celebrated to go to look at some fountains locally in a mall. Jeff held

grandpa's hands, smiled with great eye contact, and pointed at the sites

around him. My dad cried. It was very touching.

We have a long way to go but I love how we are getting there. Everyday

there is something celebrate about Jeff. He is my wonder in our lives. On

Saturday, we celebrate Jeff's fourth birthday and I look forward to his

future with great joy and anticipation. I am no longer afraid of the

future, I am embracing it.

Thanks to you guys too I keep my sanity and my husband is still with me!!

Hugs,

A Jeffs mom

Re: problems with many foods -

common?

,

How much has your son improved with all of these foods taken

out? Is he

considered " normal " now? I haven't heard about you

chelating your son, have

you thought about it or is that a route you don' t want to

venture down yet?

MA

[Guest guest]

- cheers to you! WOW Jordan is 5 1/2 and he doesn't even recognize his

letters or numbers. I am starting homeschooling him, hoping to get him

kindergarten ready. I did not know you had had such incredible success with

the diet. Jordan has plaueted also, and I know I need to investigate more. I

did talk the allergist into blood testing for SOME food allergies, but he

was pretty skeptical. Am thinking of taking Jordan completely out of

pre-school because there is just so much junk there for him to get into. I

hope we keep improving to the degree that Jeff has.

(Los Angeles)

Re: problems with many foods -

> common?

>

> ,

> How much has your son improved with all of these foods taken

> out? Is he

> considered " normal " now? I haven't heard about you

> chelating your son, have

> you thought about it or is that a route you don' t want to

> venture down yet?

> MA

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the kind words . Once we delt with the diet, Jeff was so

ready to learn. He is a learning machine now. I cannot get over what he

picks up everyday. Basically within 2-3 weeks we switched from PECS

pictures to PECS with all words. I was floored that he really was picking

that all up!

Now if only we could break through his apraxia... now I would be talking!

Cheers and Happy Birthday Jeff (he is 4 in the next 1/2 hour!)

a jeffs mom

Re: problems with many foods - common?

- cheers to you! WOW Jordan is 5 1/2 and he doesn't even recognize his

letters or numbers. I am starting homeschooling him, hoping to get him

kindergarten ready. I did not know you had had such incredible success with

the diet. Jordan has plaueted also, and I know I need to investigate more. I

did talk the allergist into blood testing for SOME food allergies, but he

was pretty skeptical. Am thinking of taking Jordan completely out of

pre-school because there is just so much junk there for him to get into. I

hope we keep improving to the degree that Jeff has.

(Los Angeles)

Re: problems with many foods -

> common?

>

> ,

> How much has your son improved with all of these foods taken

> out? Is he

> considered " normal " now? I haven't heard about you

> chelating your son, have

> you thought about it or is that a route you don' t want to

> venture down yet?

> MA

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM LOS ANGELES TO JEFF!!!

Re: problems with many foods -

> > common?

> >

> > ,

> > How much has your son improved with all of these foods taken

> > out? Is he

> > considered " normal " now? I haven't heard about you

> > chelating your son, have

> > you thought about it or is that a route you don' t want to

> > venture down yet?

> > MA

> >

> >

> >