Need Advice Please

[Guest guest]

Hello to All:

I have a 7 yr. old son ASD nonverbal, just started with a DAN DR. We were

told to start the GFCF diet. Well this is what my son eats: Pizza (PAPA JOHNS)

Chocolate

cupcakes (no frosting)

Cocoa puffs

Hot dogs

(Ball Park all beef)

Oreo cookies

Water (only

water)

This is it. This is everything. So I tried to replace the cocoa puffs and

cake with gf free and he absolutely will not eat it. I took away pizza and

Oreos. I cannot get him to eat. He is going to starve. There is nothing he eats

that I can even get enzymes in him (or supplements) He does not seem to crave

any of these foods he just wont try any thing else. He does not have diarrhea

his stools are normal. He is 7 years old and only weighs 42 pounds so he

cannot afford to loose much. I feel like I am stressing his system. I do not

know

how all of you do it! I feel I am failing him. Please am I the only one with

this problem?

any help would be great

Cherie (Mom to an angel)

[Guest guest]

Hi there,

Congratulations on getting to this point! I've been doing the diet for 4

months. The first month is hardest then it becomes easier. I'm doing enzymes

with the diet and hope eventually to wean off GF/CF. I am sure or

Dana will come in with some great advice. What follows is my very limited,

recent, experience. Go to Dana's website for some good links (can someone post

the link please?) I think there is a good GF/CF site in the US which has a

local " Guardian Angel " who can help you.

Enzymes

First up, just to say I have on GF/CF but have now discovered ENZYMES!

Yippee! Enzymes addition to GF/CF have normalised his bowel movements and we

have seen some excellent improvements in my little boy. He's doing well. I'm

keeping him GF/CF for now but will eventually challenge him once I feel he's

stabilised.

However....

GF/CF is intrusive, not cheap, and hard on you. You have to watch your kid like

a hawk all the time.However, Enzymes can really help here. One of the many

things they can achieve is to minimise the impact of dietary infractions.

de-Felice's book and website will help you understand the process and is one in

my " inspirational " pile I dip into all the time. She gives you tips for

actually managing the whole shebang - school, family, friends.

Stay Motivated

I have been forced to change the thinking of a lifetime. I have had to

understand that what the world may see as a very restricted diet, is part of

's recovery puzzle.

Its so hard when your Son is 7 years old, because he knows he what he wants! My

son is not 3 yet and is on a really limited diet. The good news is you are

doing what's right for him. Sometimes it makes me sad when I can't buy him an

ice cream on a sunny day like yesterday - I now acknowledge my sadness and say,

No, keep going. You will definitely meet resistance but the results are so worth

the effort.

Your son's diet is really high in sugar like My son's was. Is your Dan Doctor

looking at Yeast?

He is craving, that's for sure! Just like my Son!.

Your big issue is the same as mine - the diet's high in " treats " . Maybe your

first priority could be to phase in some of the replacement treats, because

that's going to be the sticking point for you. At least then he's eating

something if he's not into the meals you present (again my experience, your

journey may be different).

Inspiration

The book that really got me on the road was a Book by Seroussi (which is a

fantastic and beautiful read in its own right) called " Unravelling the mystery

of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder " . It is her story of Research

and Recovery. It inspired me.

Another is " Children with Starving Brains " by Jacquelyn McCandless. Both these

books will basically equip you to discuss issues with your Dan Doctor if you

haven't read them already. Apolgies if you have.

Its not too late!

Lots of people will tell you it might be too late because your Son is 7 - ignore

them - I have recently heard of two men in their forties who had aspergers, who

went GF/CF biomedical - both feel they are in recovery. One of them told his

wife of 20 years that he loved her for the first time. A good website is in the

UK - AIA (Allergy Induced Autism) from which you will receive good advice.

You'll then build on this as you go to find out your Son's individual

biochemistry to see how you can help him. But one step at a time. I exhausted

myself - it wasn't necessary. I could have used that time to play with my

little boy and love my partner!

Starting

We went cold turkey but it looks like you will have to go gradual -If I had my

time to go over again I'd cut Dairy first - this makes such a big difference to

a lot of people because it motivates them -in most cases within 3-4 days you see

improvements. Doing it all at once - when he KNOWS what he wants- is harder.

Feel for you.

Look at his lifestyle and replace one thing at a time -his mid-morning snack

could be GF/CF crisps, for instance. I motivated by putting things in

cool looking containers and bowls.

Allergies

Maybe you need to look at what he is allergic to before you start the diet -

then you won't be cutting out lots of stuff he actually can eat. However no

criticism intended but he has exactly the sort of diet my son had - I thought I

was loving my Son too - I wasn't. All the research I did led me to see that to

him, Gluten/Dairy was a drug he got a fix from which spaced him out and harmed

his development. Likewise food additives.

Gluten - replacing meals, snacks

Gluten is a harder task. In 's book there are good recipes for

cookies using Carob chocolate chips - I'm a rubbish cook and I can make them!

Also have people explained x-contamination to you? has his own deep fat

fryer - the whole family have GF/CF fries in Sunflower oil. The reason I use

Sunflower Oil is J can tolerate it, and some oils have contaminants which our

kids also react to.

Beware of Shop Bought GF/CF

You sound like you're in the States - I know there are excellent GF/CF things

going on there in terms of shop bought food, much better than here. The problem

is that much off shelf GF/CF has very small percentages of Gluten and Casein

which does not have to be declared (would you give a little bit of heroin to a

drug addict? and also things which have by-products in such as Barley Malt,

which many of our kids react to. You have to check everything. I hardly buy

anything off the shelf now - at least I know J is clean that way. He eats:

Breakfast

You can give him GF/CF puffs (there are some good ones on the market) with Soya

milk if he tolerates it.

Eggs if he will tolerate.

GF/CF Toast - you can make your own bread - don't know US website if you're in

the states, but Barbara's Kitchen is UK website.

Snacks:

Pears (organic - pesticides contaminate others). Reason for limited fruit is

that also has phenol issues.

Many of our children react to Citrus fruits such as Oranges, also Apples and

Bananas and chocolate, which are high in Phenols.

GF/CF Cookies/Mini Muffins made with GF/CF Flour.

Meals

Shepherds Pie

Sloppy Joe's

Steamed Chicken and Organic Chips

Spaghetti Bolognaise (GF/CF pasta)

Gf/CF Sausages

Drinks

Watch out for giving him too much juice.

Vegetables

WONT eat vegetables yet apart from Potato (I say yet, as I intend to win

this one!)

Blimey I didn't mean to write an essay!!!!!!(LOL!)

Lots of love and luck - email me offline if you need any help.

Eileen and

riyoelam@... wrote:

Hello to All:

I have a 7 yr. old son ASD nonverbal, just started with a DAN DR. We were

told to start the GFCF diet. Well this is what my son eats: Pizza (PAPA JOHNS)

Chocolate

cupcakes (no frosting)

Cocoa puffs

Hot dogs

(Ball Park all beef)

Oreo cookies

Water (only

water)

This is it. This is everything. So I tried to replace the cocoa puffs and

cake with gf free and he absolutely will not eat it. I took away pizza and

Oreos. I cannot get him to eat. He is going to starve. There is nothing he eats

that I can even get enzymes in him (or supplements) He does not seem to crave

any of these foods he just wont try any thing else. He does not have diarrhea

his stools are normal. He is 7 years old and only weighs 42 pounds so he

cannot afford to loose much. I feel like I am stressing his system. I do not

know

how all of you do it! I feel I am failing him. Please am I the only one with

this problem?

any help would be great

Cherie (Mom to an angel)

[Guest guest]

it may be a bit harder to implement the gf/cf diet only because your child

has had 7 years of eating " regular " food (albeit, limited). either way, it is

no easy task. my son is 8 yrs old and has been gf/cf for four years.

unfortunately, he gets a hold of forbidden foods (mostly at school by

snatching).

anyway, i'd start slow and easy. you can get gf/cf cookbooks that will

help. also,

_www.andi.com_ (http://www.andi.com)

may help. i'd certainly do the enzyme thing. i know this doesnt help much,

but, if i think of anything else, i'll respond. best to you, vicki

[Guest guest]

sorry, the website is :

_www.autismndi.com_ (http://www.autismndi.com)

stands for autism network for dietary intervention. it's a newletter with

lots of good advice. you can even email the founders for further advice. vicki

[Guest guest]

At what age should children be pronouncing regular/irregular past

tense verbs correctly? My son is 6 and he still isn't. Is there a

website or book anyone can recommend that can tell me where my son

should be at with his speech/language? He is supposed to be getting a

20 minute consult by his school's SLP once a month. I had told her

about the past tense verbs that he's still not getting and she said

that it's developmental and they should get it by 3rd grade. He is in

Kindergarten. However, I was taking him to a private SLP for therapy

last year, but stopped last spring because he was doing so well. She

did tell me though, that if he wasn't getting the regular past tense

verbs by that summer, I should bring him back for more therapy. I

never took him back because we just can't afford it (we were paying

out of pocket).

Also, he had been diagnosed with apraxia and a phonological disorder

before, so when the school's SLP says it's developmental, I am kind of

skeptical. I know they don't want to give him any therapy because of

their budget, and last time I talked to her she said he was

communicating appropriately when she observed him, but me & my husband

still have concerns. What is it going to take to get some therapy

from them? Am I going to have to wait until the 3rd grade for them to

give him therapy if he still isn't saying the verbs right because my

husband is unemployed right now and we cannot afford an advocate or

lawyer.

[Guest guest]

I had no luck finding the answer for what age children should master

regular/irregular past tense verbs. Have you talked with his

teacher? You could also call the private SLP and get more information

from her.

The links below can give you ideas for working on verbs at home.

There are sample pages you can print. You can make flash cards with

index cards using the cards below as examples. There are a couple of

examples of games you can make. Mad Libs might also be fun for making

a story and practicing.

HTH,

Tina

http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=FD104

Related Products

Active & Passive Verbs

Irregular Verbs Fun Deck

Regular Past Tense Verbs

http://www.superduperinc.com/search/search.aspx

other products for learning verbs

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/the-time-machine/

this is a cross word puzzle that you could do together. It says that

it came out of a workbook for 3rd grade, but you could simplify it

for his age.

>

> At what age should children be pronouncing regular/irregular past

> tense verbs correctly? My son is 6 and he still isn't. Is there a

> website or book anyone can recommend that can tell me where my son

> should be at with his speech/language? He is supposed to be

getting a

> 20 minute consult by his school's SLP once a month. I had told her

> about the past tense verbs that he's still not getting and she said

> that it's developmental and they should get it by 3rd grade. He is

in

> Kindergarten. However, I was taking him to a private SLP for

therapy

> last year, but stopped last spring because he was doing so well.

She

> did tell me though, that if he wasn't getting the regular past tense

> verbs by that summer, I should bring him back for more therapy. I

> never took him back because we just can't afford it (we were paying

> out of pocket).

>

> Also, he had been diagnosed with apraxia and a phonological disorder

> before, so when the school's SLP says it's developmental, I am kind

of

> skeptical. I know they don't want to give him any therapy because

of

> their budget, and last time I talked to her she said he was

> communicating appropriately when she observed him, but me & my

husband

> still have concerns. What is it going to take to get some therapy

> from them? Am I going to have to wait until the 3rd grade for them

to

> give him therapy if he still isn't saying the verbs right because my

> husband is unemployed right now and we cannot afford an advocate or

> lawyer.

>