Re: sleeping children

[Guest guest]

<< Subject: Re: sleeping children

" Many times I feel like you; but one

thing that works for me is that when my son goes to sleep at night, I sit by

his bed and just look at him. Sometimes tears will stream down my face as I

think of how fortunate I am to have him. I ponder of how blessed I am to

actually have my son with me. When he is sleeping, he looks so peaceful,

and all I want to do is keep him safe. I think about other parents who are

facing greater challenges than me... "

Bravo , well said! Your posting made me cry, even though I do the

same thing every night!

~the " temporarily-out-of-lurking " , Mom to and >>

I understand too the relief & beauty of watching our little ones sleeping so

peacefully, after a usually hectic day filled with many challenges. It is a

warm, but bittersweet feeling sometimes because in that peaceful state their

Autism seems so distant. I am a singer songwriter & have recently been

working on a song for my son, . I wrote the list today because the

chorus has the line: " ....When you sleep I watch your face, and I look to see

a trace...but all I see is an angel's grace in your sweet face; in your sweet

face.... " After reading the 'sleeping children' post I new I had to share

that with you all :-)

I haven't been writing to the GFCF list in quite awhile because life has been

so busy & full, but now is a great time to quicky update you on the progress

we have seen with since going GFCF 1 & 1/2 years ago.

PRE GFCF he was detached, screamy, stimmy, not talking - except a few naming

words like " truck/train/rock/sun/moon " ...but NO " mommy/daddy " , verbs,

adjectives or word combo's at all & even the words he did use were often

'promted'. Very body & light sensative...squinted alot. Tantrumed over

everyting transitional, or during any small change in environment or

routine...at these times he would lay on the floor seeking to bang his head.

VERY limited eye contact & when he did connect with our eyes, he had that

wild man look, or looked like he was very frightened. Couldn't hold a crayon

or pencil to make recognizable shapes, or color a picture except in heavy

back & forth lines. Had no sense of play with others & was either isolating &

adopting some perserverative behavior like lining things up, or he was

agressive becasue he couldn't handle being in too close proximity with

others. Ate very few foods almost ALL of which were gluten & diary based &

had awful loose foul smelling stools. You get the picture.

This was the scene. We were mystified & beside ourselves & felt sure that

just behavior modification strategies were only part of the solution & that

something physical had to be at play in his Autism. Our wonderful

pediatrician steered us toward the diet due to his savvy & open attitude

towards the treatment of Autism with biological methods & the loose stools

also had him concerned as a clue. (he didn't give us any of that vague " oh

this must be 'toodler-tummy' " bullshit) He did the pre-celiac testing to

rule that out, & it was negative, so he said it might be an intolerance issue

& to look at he Gluten & Casein as possible culprits. He said we could try

allergy testing, but since it was expensive just to TRY THE DIET & said, " if

the cure works, we might have the cause " , & we could then have saved the $$$.

POST GFCF.....Different kid. After an initial detox period in which things

got worse, (the first week was hell, but then got easier) many things

improved greatly right away...some things have taken the course of the year

to improve. I can say that the reverse is true of almost everthing I just

stated before going GFCF. If a certain behavior or issue didn't disappear,

then it was significantly reduced or came to a more typical level for a kid

his age. He is talking now. I mean talking. He can not only name everything

in his environment, but uses spontaneous word combos including verbs &

adjetives to ask for things or describe his experiences (this includes

feelings). Our 'conversations' are still not typical. I mean we don't have

long discussions, but speech in our everyday life & his communicating wants,

needs, & events is quite adequate. This is reflected in his preschool as

well, & his teacher is thrilled at the progress. His eye contact is

great!!!!!!!! (This was one of the first things to see occur after going

GFCF) He can gaze directly at us & there's no more squinting. He has

definately lost that wild far away look in his eyes. It only returns of there

is a food slip up, & which has been commented on by others so I know it is

not my imagination. His gross & fine motor skills have improved. He can cut

with scissors. He can hold a pencil well, identify & draw shapes, & can write

his name & a few other words like MOM. DAD, PIG, CAR. He can sight read many

words, too. He plays with others in a developmentally delayed way as far as

type of play,(he likes peekaboo, chase, truck & block play (instaed of deep

imaginary games) yet he PREFFERS to be with another kid, doesn't get

agressive about 'space' issues, and will often initiate the encounters

with " Hi...what's your name? " . The stimming is also GONE, unless he gets

'contaminated'. The tantrums are dimished to a typical level for a kid his

age. (Only when he gets really upset by a strong NO does he get loud & whiny,

but there is no head banging & it only lasts a few minutes...not 20, 30 ect!)

He still is a limited picky eater, but loves all his GFCF foods & did expand

his diet a bit. he will TRY new things, but usually will reject it. His

stools are solid & once daily. They are light colored, but we all feel this

is due to lack of alot of dark leafy greens. Again, we only see a return of

loose, smelly stools if he gets a gluten/casein food. He will even tell us

" BOO BOO BELLY " & run to the potty. We KNOW that in the GFCF diet we have

found part of an answer for '

issues. The other treatments, including the behavioral aspects of speech

therapy, occupational therapy, & his highly structured classroom all have

been important too. yet, I feel these were only as effective, because

was not CLOUDED & effected by the gluten & casein which were totally toxic

for him.

Yes....he is still Autistic, but so much improved & more functional than we

were ever led to belive he would be at this point! Which means the future is

wide open for him!!!!

For those new on the GFCF path...stick with it. It is not the key for all,

but it IS for many. MY BIGGEST PIECES OF ADVICE>>>>>>

Give it at least a year, and Keep it strict & clean. You really need to

eliminate ALL possible sources of contamination for a good long while to be

sure of the results positve or not. And if there is a slip up, really watch

the reactions behavioral & physical to see what developes. usually we didnb't

see something right away, but a day later... & up to 5 days later we were

dealing with reation & another detox period.

And to make the diet easier to deal with finacially, once you narrow down the

products your child will be eating/drinking...join a food co-op & buy all the

storable foods wholesale. We save a bundle that way! Also....we use alot of

the prepared foods (like bread, cookies, waffles) instead of baking. I was

too duanted by that task & refused to forgo the diet just because I suck at

cooking! Luckily whatever it is, it is all out there prepared already!!!

Good luck to all of you & feel free to email me with any questions.

Peace along the path -Ali (Alisober@...)

ps.... has a yonger sister who is typical in everyway & in not GFCF.

Our family is doing fine with a split diet way of eating. KNOWS what

foods are his & avoind a " Boo Boo Belly " at all costs!