Another Round of AIT (Auditory Integration Training)

My kids just recently graduated from AIT ( Auditory Integration Training) training last MAY 2009. It was the second time for my son and first time for my daughter. Though my daughter is a typical child, I decided to put her on this training to improve her listening skills and to maybe atleast make her more patient.

I did notice such improvement on her after the training. Though she still becomes impatient sometimes, it has improved her well-being. Her sitter noticed a change in her as well. While on the other hand my son continues to progress, I can't wait for six months to come to see what difference does it make on him.

Back to MB12 Shots

I just resumed giving a dose of MB12 shot with my son today after a month of not being on it. It's because I couldn't figure out where the changes are coming from. And to my surprise, I realized GFCF is finally working. Of course with AIT on the side and some supplements he's having. For sure, with AIT, his sensitivity to sounds went away especially with firetruck/ambulance siren and the noise from crowded places. It might have also helped him in his speech but my instinct tells me it's gotta to be the diet he's in. But I realized it's the combination of both. Everyone who knows him noticed his speech has improved as well as his eye contact. Yey!

Surfers Healing

View this:

http://espn.go.com/withoutsports/index.html

I wanted to try Surfer's Healing Camp for my son during the summer however they are already full for 2009.I know for sure that he is going to love this. I called the number and they said they were already full and that they will be open for next year's registration on April 2010. Got to save the date!

Trade Joe's Chicken Breakfast Sausage (uncooked)

I happened to pick this out at the shelf in search of what I previously bought. Good buy and juicy good tasting sausage. My son loves them. Easy to prepare. I love it because all the ingredients are organically grown, gfcf and no artificial flavor/ingredients.

GFCF but Nevertheless, Good!

Since I tried different chips from health food store including Lundberg Rice Chips, chips have never tasted so healthy and so good!! From time to time, I get to eat Doritos on my break but my taste bud can tell that this isn't satisfying for me. Well! I have gone from those regular chips we buy at the grocery store to this lines of healthy chips and I must tell you that not all healthy chips aren't good! You just have to keep trying different brands. For our family, some of our favorites are Lundberg Rice Chips, Pita Chips (not GFCF) and Food Should Taste Good brand.

What Happens When Diet is Infracted?

This is according to my experience..

When my son eats something prohibited from the diet, instead of getting flushed out like other foods, it leaks out into the bloodstream. Within 24-48 hours, it reaches the brain. Then the problems occur. He gets hyperactive and keeps making noises, he gets jumpy, even harder to focus, and tends to have less patient and gets frustrated easily. He seems to recall things that upsets him a minute ago which starts a whole new tantrum. And again and again..it's been researched to cause inflammation in the brain preventing the neurotransmitters to interact, perform, semd/receive messages and grow.

Why Go GFCF?

The theory is that many if not all autistic children have a damaged intestine/gut. The damage may be there from birth but more likely comes from some immunological injury like a bad reaction to an immunization. (keep in mind this is mostly theory). Autistic children seem to have weaker immune systems, and a lot seem to have digestive problems.

This "leaky gut" allows some food proteins to pass through into the bloodstream only partially digested, particularly the gluten from wheat/oats/rye/barley, and the casein from milk and other dairy products. These partially digested proteins form peptides which have an opiate-like affect (opioids is another term for them). They can bind to the receptors and cause harmful effects in the brain just like a regular opiate. Opiates can either cause or magnify autistic symptoms. The opiates are a type of narcotic. There are receptors in the brain that they bind with to reduce pain and induce pleasure, but they also have harmful side effects. An example of an opiate is morphine or heroin. Until it can be figured out how to heal the "leaky guts", many parents are putting their children on the gluten free/casein free diets .

If you look at the available medical literature, there are at least three highly reputable sources for the benefits of removing certain dietary items (gluten and casein) from the diet of children with autism. In the studies of Cade*, Reichelt* and Shattock*, approximately 80% of autistics are significantly improved (not synonymous with cured) by the STRICT removal of gluten and casein. A 100% gluten and casein free diet. Sorry, but 99% free doesn't count. This means no: milk products, wheat, barley, oats, spelt or rye flours. (It is tough to do because most autistic children are fully addicted to the stuff - but there is enough emperic data and clinical observation to justify the one year trial). It has been found to take up to one year to remove all the caseomorphine and glaidomorphine from the body. This is because of the blood reproduction and ability to breakdown and rid body of it.

Observe behavior during the wash out. Be aware that many family members and well intentioned friends or teachers have the idea that "just a little won't hurt". This is wrong and there is good data to support why this is true, but if you really want to know if this is what is making your child autistic, then you must really police this.

Speech Therapy on the Run

Finally, after months long of waiting for summer to touch down in L.A., my son will be attending summer Speech Therapy twice a week for 2 hours until school resume on September. It was just timing that I called the therapy agency that told me I have until August 31st to use the services and the date I picked which started on June 22nd will end exactly on August 28th. I have to make arrangements who is going take him there. Thank goodness my husband volunteered himself!!! (like he had a choice!).

So far, first session ran great. My husband reported therapist was good and must have been longed experienced one in this kind of field! Great! She was also able to accommodate our schedule as my son has other therapy session to attend during the day not to mention summer camp will start in July.

Diet Infraction

OMG. My son has not been functioning well since Monday. A lot of giddiness and silliness, sensory seeking and jiver javerring!! This is what infraction does. That Sunday, he took a piece of his sister's fish cracker and nibbled a piece of Popcornopolis cheese flavored popcorn. I guess that really has an effect on him. Since I took him off of B12 shot, I never really noticed anything different until his diet was infracted.

Since he started the diet in February he started to talk in full sentence after 2 months. Not to mention he also had Auditory Integration Training in January which was still effective. He was also banging his head more often lately not because he was upset but has something to do with sensory. I have not been giving him Calcium for the last 3 days because I ran out. I asked his doctor who was 70 miles away about what kind of Calcium will do better and he recommended the Calcium Citrate.

Today, I called 4 different vitamin store to check if they have CArlson Kid's Chewable Calcium. I got lucky with Vitamin Barn. I got off my sit and took off to buy this. It costs $8.01 including tax. Not bad compare to online price of almost 11 bucks. Thanks to Vitamin Barn!

The Dangers of Nitrite in Lunch Meat and Hotdog

Sodium nitrite (or sodium nitrate) is widely used as a preservative, antimicrobial agent, color fixative and flavoring in cured meats and other products.

Children born to moms who ate a lot of nitrite-containing cured meats while they were pregnant may have an increased risk of brain tumors.

If you eat hot dogs, bacon, ham, luncheon meats, corned beef, smoked fish or any other type of processed meat; you are almost assuredly consuming nitrites.

If you love lunchmeat, pepperoni, bacon, sausage and other cured meats, look for nitrite-free varieties in your grocery store. If they're not there, request them!

Though this preservative has been studied for more than 50 years, there is still ongoing debate as to whether or not it's harmful. Some experts say that the health claims against the preservative have "not been substantiated" while others recommend avoiding them in your diet entirely.

Why You May Want to Avoid Nitrites

Numerous studies have found that nitrites contribute to a variety of negative health effects, which we've compiled here.

• Cancer: When you eat nitrites, they can be converted into nitrosamines, which are potent cancer-causing chemicals, in your body. Specific cancers seem to be most affected, including:
  • Colorectal Cancer: People who ate the most processed meat were 50 percent more likely to develop lower colon cancer, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
  • Stomach Cancer: An investigation into 15 studies on processed meat found that the risk of stomach cancer increased from 15 percent to 38 percent if the processed meats ratio consumed by an individual rose by 30 grams.
  • Pancreatic Cancer: People who ate the most processed meats had a 68 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer compared with those who ate the least, a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): People who ate more than 14 servings of cured meats per month scored lower on tests of lung function and had an increased risk of COPD compared with people who did not eat cured meats. For each additional serving of cured meat per month, the study found a 2 percent increased risk for COPD.
• DNA Mutations: Hot dogs that contain nitrites have been found to contain DNA-mutating compounds. If enough DNA mutations occur in the gut, it could increase your risk of colon cancer.
• Brain Tumors in Children: Children born to women who ate a lot of cured meats during pregnancy had a two to three times greater risk of developing a brain tumor than those born to mothers who did not eat cured meats. Children whose mothers at low levels of cured meats during pregnancy had a moderate increase in brain tumor risk, the study, published in Public Health Nutrition, found.

Does This Mean I Should Never Eat Bologna, Hot Dogs, Pepperoni ... ?

Yes ... and no. If you are concerned about nitrites and want to avoid them in your diet, you must cut out most all commercial hot dogs, luncheon meats, sausages, bacon, and processed meats (even that in canned soup).

However, supermarkets are increasingly offering nitrate/nitrite-free varieties of everyone's favorites. While some have pointed out that nitrite-free meats are often still "cured" using salt, sugar or another natural curing agent, which may be misleading to consumers, they do not, at least, contain nitrites.
To make even healthier meat choices, look for nitrite-free products that are also grass-fed and free of artificial flavors, artificial colors and byproducts.

It's also worth noting that processed meats are not the only sources of nitrites. Green leafy vegetables and root vegetables contain naturally occurring nitrites, though it's thought that compounds in the vegetables inhibit the formation of the harmful nitrosamines in your body.

Nitrites also exist in drinking water due to fertilizers, manure, animal feedlots and other environmental pollution sources.

Where to Buy Nitrite Free Products, Grass Fed and Free of Artificial Flavors, Artificial Colors and by Products

Whole Foods
Trader Joes
Henry's Farmer Market
Other Local Health Food Store

Exhausting Day

I find this day very exhausting!!! After 7 hours of being out hopping from 1 city to another, my husband and I got home around 6:45 pm. Of course, we missed the kids! They spent their time home watching tv and doing some arts and crafts while my sister look after them. My daughter wanted to go to the beach for 3 weeks now but the weather wasn't permitting. She brought that topic again and of course, I've promised her next weekend if the sun comes out early then we'll jump out of bed and head to the beach fully geared!

My day didn't go as planned. I was supposed to stop by the new market in town down in Woodland Hills to see what gluten free products they have but my migraine attacked. Henry's Farmer's Market that is. Now I am still thinking of what to prepare for snack and lunch for my son tomorrow. Adding to my migraine, my son nibbled a piece of Popcornopolis that I immediately took away from him. He then went to another room and found my daughter's fish cracker and nibbled another piece. This has gotten me even more disappointed!!! Poor him! I felt like depriving him of everything in life!! But on the other side, I just poured my thinking of how he gets better without gluten. Living without gluten isn't easy!

Yeast Free Pizza 3

I baked this 3 nights ago when I ran out of food to put in his lunch bag. So far, I've tried Kinikinick brand of pizza, Glutino and Brown Rice pizza but none of them was liked for a long time. Usually my son would only try them once or twice but after that, he didn't them anymore. They all came back home from school. The recipe I made came from Special Diet for Special Kids 1. The ingredients are organic baby rice cereal (Beechnut brand or Earth's Best), baking powder, egg substitute (because my son has allergies to egg), olive oil, rice vinegar, gfcf rice flour, garlic salt and water. Mix all ingredients together and make a dough and put in the oven for 19 minutes, then add favorite topping and bake for another 5 minutes depending on the toppings cooking time.

The pizza looked good when it was popped out of the oven. It's thick and sure looks like a real pizza! The taste is great. No yuckies.

Baking Cookies

I bought gluten free Bob's Mill Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix at Whole Foods Market the other month. When my son's Tx came in a week ago, she picked brownies to bake with him during the session. He loves doing some of the mixing and stirring of ingredients while he says "chef!" I guess he wants to be a chef that's why. So last night, I asked if he wanted to bake cookies for his snack at school tomorrow. And he actually grabbed the little stepping stool and joined me in the kitchen.

This recipe is so easy to make with the help of Bob's Mill Mix. There are alot of varieties to choose from on their gluten free mixes. The cookie itself tastes good although I have to use Ener-G egg substitute because my son is allergic to eggs. Instead of margarine, you can also use any of your favorite oil. I used olive oil because that's all I have in the kitchen that I know is safe. By the way, I do have Canoleo Soft Margarine in the fridge but I didn't use because of milk derivatives. This baking session was successful. He liked the cookies!! I only gave him two small pieces because they're too sweet. But other than that, it is awesome good!

Sun Peeking Through Our Window

It's been 6 months since we began this biomedical journey for our son. First it was, AIT, then GFCF diet, then DAN! doctor, then yeast free diet for short a period, the B12 shots and supplements. It was amazing how he had made this huge progress everyday. It's surprising how his speech has improved and with just a little time, he was able to make a lot of good eye contacts and meaningful sentence.

The most wonderful moment happened yesterday while I was in the kitchen with my daughter and my son was in the room watching tv. I heard him running towards my direction and he came up to me and gave me a big hug. The most touching moment happened when he said " I wove you!". Oh my God!! I never thought he would actually said that to me without prompting. It was spontaneous and I felt it and I know he meant it. I'm like floating on the clouds!!! Whatever it was that made him said that didn't matter. Hearing those words came out of his mouth was the most wonderful and amazing thing I've ever had during these hard days and nights of searching for answer.

We are on the road to recovery !!

Updates

I haven't been blogging lately because of our busy complicated schedule between work & kids and between kids and therapies and special trainings, school and IEP, summer vacation and summer camps and all that stuff. This weekend I need to organize my thought on what to prioritize first. I want to blurt it out here in my blog since it helps me to remember things when I write them. Two more weeks and school is over. My son will go on a 2-week vacation before the Extended School Year begins. I'm trying to figure out what to do on those two weeks that he will be home. One of his therapists is cool about working around our schedule and going outings with my babysitter and kids. That makes me lucky since I don't plan on enrolling him in Summer Camp until after ESY is done which will be in August. Not to mention I have my little girl who is also going to be home for the whole summer. He will also be going to private Speech Pathologist for 20 hours. (hopefully he gets a spot on 1 agency I am looking at!!) We also plan on involving him in the kitchen. Since he likes cooking/baking we will have some moments in the kitchen stirring bowls and baking some GFCF food. Besides thinking about the camp, we plan to be out under the sun during the summer. First stop, the beach, then a choice of Universal Studios, Disney or other theme parks. I have five different books that I got from different places that I wanna use to do my research on and plan for the summer. And guess what? I haven't started reading them seriously.

Birthday party is also coming for my fairy prince who's turning 7 on September. Basically, I have to months to plan ahead and hopefully by that time we will have a very nice special place to celebrate this special day.

Before I forget, I have one more lab work for him to do and all the test will be done for now. The other one that we sent to Paris, France came already with a not so good result which I have yet to discuss with his doctor when we go to our appointment sometime in July hopefully.

It seems like it's never ending!! Being a mom isn't simple. It requires alot of skills and time to do all these. And for those moms out there who really do everything for their kids, you guys are super heroes!!!!