Pumpkin Muffins

Not surprisingly, I found, while going through my pictures, that I had virtually nothing from October 2011 when I started changing diets, till March of 2012, when I backed off. I must have been too busy! I did find my first batch of gluten and dairy free Pumpkin Muffins, a la Silvana Nardone (check the Books page for info on her cookbook).

Notice they were half gone by the time I took the picture. Still a favorite breakfast treat, when I have time to make them.

- Adrienne

There and Back Again

Making dietary changes for one's self is comparatively easier than changing someone else's diet, or a whole household. When I initially began my research on diet changes affecting Autism, it was inspired by some information my sister shared with me about the effects of yeast and sugars on the brain. I am a skeptic, so I tend to be very thorough in investigating any health claims, especially when considering my kids.

After doing heavy internet research (including peer-reviewed articles; I will post some titles in my Books page), and lots of library books, I decided I had nothing to lose by starting with Liam. Even though his doctor was not supportive, I knew it wouldn't hurt him since his diet was so limited already.

I know, it sounds like taking away ingredients would further limit him, but I started by replacing the foods he ate with gluten free versions, or introducing new snacks. So Teddy Grahams became Annie's Snicker Doodle Bunnies, Kix became EnviroKids Gorilla Munch, etc. It took a few weeks to inventory what needed to go, and introduce a few new snacks. Within two weeks however, we were seeing a change.

Liam wasn't eating more per se, and was still having tantrum issues, but his focus increased, his attention span lengthened, and sitting for a few minutes became 10 minutes or more. Even his teachers at Early Intervention noticed a difference in his participation.

And then there were words.

Beautiful, plentiful, yet repetitive. But I heard him finally say "Mommy" with regularity, and he learned his brother's name, and Grandma, and so many more. Most of his speech till now was more sounds with little combining, and mostly random vocal stimming. None of it was functional, and he did not point or gesture. And yet, here he was, as if he had known how to all along.

I was so surprised, and so was Daddy. Daddy had been gone for several weeks, out of town for work. We decided to make the 4 hour trip to spend a night with him, and he couldn't believe the difference. In hindsight, it could have also been because he hadn't seen his son for weeks, but I think it was both. We did notice increased trouble sleeping, though, and more harmful tantrums. So I decided dairy was the next victim.

And out it went. This was more difficult, as some of the gluten-free favorites had to be replaced yet again. And most of Liam's calories were coming from the dairy-based Pediasure, so we had to look for other ways to increase calories (I looked high and low for protein powder, and only found an expensive rice based one to try for a while).

Lo and behold, no more head banging, less screaming, and less night wakings. By Thanksgiving, we thought we were in the home stretch. It was like opening a door that had been nailed shut for almost 3 years. I was so excited, and at that point began changing some foods the whole family ate.

December unfortunately saw a return of some of the tantrums and head banging. I had read in several books that children with dairy sensitivities often reacted similarly to soy once dairy was taken away. I was emailing a TACA mentor at the time, and asked her thoughts on this. She too believed this was a strong possibility. After trying to eliminate any other possibilities, I began removing soy as much as possible. And here again, tantrums and self-harm began to disappear.

Now, I have read dozens of snippets and articles on both sides of the diet intervention debate. There is still mainly anecdotal evidence for its effectiveness, as for so many other treatments parents try. I mean, we desperately want our children to be happy and functional. Who wouldn't try just about anything? Here are my two cents, after using diet briefly (6 months). At least for my children, dietary intervention has worked just as other therapies: the kids thrive on the changes, and make leaps and bounds in development, and then plateau. This is when we stopped, conveniently the same time as I was about to lose my mind over the extra time, effort, and money. And I call it successful because we saw no loss of progress. Just as with Occupational and Speech Therapy, Liam does well, then needs a break.

Now to just get the motivation to try another round :)

- Adrienne

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I have spent the last few weeks entrenched in my newest research project (research is kind of a hobby of mine) – to find more ways to help my kids be successful, not overlooking anything I might have been reluctant about. This was inspired by conversations with one of my sisters and information she shared with me, for my own perusal, nothing more. My sister is a vegetarian, and has made many diet and lifestyle changes for health reasons. She recently began cutting out foods that contain sugar, or ingredients that can become sugars or yeast in the gut. I had never heard of such a diet, but I have heard of other dietary interventions for a variety of issues, some that she and I share. She also wanted me to read the research behind the diet, as it was shown to help with Autism.

After looking through some of the links and articles, it occurred to me that diet and nutrition might be a puzzle piece I was missing, considering that Liam is not growing well, eating hardly anything, and sleeping very poorly. I’m well aware of how diet affects physical and mental functioning, if only from personal experience. So I cross-linked to other sites, searched out books at the library, and hunkered down (in the precious little time I have to myself each day) to gather information.

I am a skeptic at heart. I need to read or see the science behind things. I usually scoff at anything that has no proof, or at least nothing tangible to back it up. So this is the purpose of my research. What I have found however, is way more than I expected, and almost shocking that I haven’t heard of much of it before. There’s been tons of research done in the last 15 years that supports dietary interventions and nutrition assessments for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It makes sense too, that if diet and nutrition are so important for normal growth and physical and mental functioning, this should be a crucial piece for treating children with ASDs. These children (mine for example, but there are hundreds of thousands more) regularly have problems with cognitive functions and communication, GI issues, feeding difficulties, sensory processing problems, and fine and gross motor issues. So why isn’t this addressed by our pediatricians?

Well, Judy Converse, MPH, RD, LD explains it quite well in her book “Special-Needs Kids Eat Right.” (2009, Penguin Group, New York) It’s a combination of history, holes, and controversy.

• History: Unfortunately, some remnants remain of the now defunct theory that Autism is caused by cold, unloving mothers. It was a terrible idea to begin with, but we are still having trouble ridding the world of this.
• Holes: Most doctors don’t receive any training in nutrition during their education. Why? Because of specialization. The medical field now has specialists for every system in the body, but all separately. There is no whole body practice. And, pharmaceutical companies are great marketers, so doctors are encouraged to push prescriptions, and treat symptoms, instead of getting to the root of the problem. I have this complaint all the time, that doctors don’t treat patients, they treat symptoms.
• Controversy: Finally, there’s the sacred cow of vaccines. Most don’t know the whole story, or the science that got misconstrued, so the safety of vaccines is still in hot debate. But the truth is, vaccines are safe (in my opinion), except for a subset of children who may be predisposed to react to a clustered viral exposure. I don’t feel my children were adversely affected by vaccines, but there are children out there who were.

So all this means that traditional doctors are reluctant to venture into treatments that aren’t mainstream, especially in fields of knowledge they are unfamiliar with, like nutrition (that is usually the domain of licensed dietitians and nutritionists).

On Tuesday, at the boys’ physicals, I too found this out the hard way. But I was prepared with the above knowledge, and knew which questions to ask. The pediatrician, as expected, was reluctant to offer any information about dietary interventions or the like. But she recognized my concerns about Liam’s poor growth and nutrition, and referred me to a nutrition clinic that also has a GI department. AND it’s covered by our insurance!

I do feel kind of stuck though, between the immovable rock of traditional medicine, and the hard place of going to the other extreme, territory I’m uncomfortable with unless I can read the science. It’s a tough place to be when I just want my kids to be healthy, and be the best they can be, whatever that turns out to be. This is a place many parents of ASD kids before me have been, and more after will be. But I hope it will be easier for them as time goes on.

Here’s hoping for progress and open minds.

- Adrienne