A week of reflection

This Friday, we will celebrate Logan's 12th birthday. Yup, you read that right. His 12th birthday. In honor of this momentous occasion, I am going to post some things he accomplished this year. We have been blessed beyond measure this year. Do we still have a ton of work to do? You bet. But I will post those goals at the beginning of the new year. For now, I am counting my blessings. Oh, and you may get 2 posts on some days as I finish typing up my NAA conference notes.

For today's post, I didn't need to think any further that what I overheard this morning. I got up early ( early for us anyway) to take JoJo to school. JoJo is staying with us for several weeks while his mom tends to a dying relative in South Carolina. After taking JoJo, I came back and laid on Logan's empty bed. He had fallen asleep in Madison's room last night. Plus, he has an electric blanket and it was kinda chilly. So, several hours later, I hear him moving around in the room. I pretend to be asleep and listen as Logan self talks his way through his morning routine.

Why is this important? All kids do this . It is a developmental milestone for him to see what needs to be done then talk his way through it. It is assessing the situation, seeing what needs to be done then making a plan to do it. The first step in this process is self talking. He can't do this in his head without first doing it out loud. Consider it part of transferring responsibility to him. It's making him responsible for taking care of himself which is imperative if he is to live independently as an adult. I couldn't be prouder of him.

God is good all the time!

Birthdays just keep getting better

It's that time of year again. Another birthday is upon me. Now, I am a year older and wiser , right. (you can stop laughing now , nana).

The day was fabulous albeit low key. Since it was my day, I elected to drag the family around to see the Christmas decorations with me. In our house, the birthday person has final say about where and what gets done. We ate lunch out which was Logan's idea. It was a fun day.

We celebrated a day early since Michael had to work on my actual birthday. On my actual birthday, Nana came over to babysit that evening. Papa (my dad) takes me out to dinner for my birthday. We went to Zaxby's and laughed and talked and laughed some more. I look forward to our dinner every year. Papa works alot so I don't get to spend nearly as much time with him as I would like.

It was a good day. I am so blessed.

The sweetest sound

The sweetest sound that I have ever heard was the sound of BOTH my children singing their hearts out giving thanks to Jesus this morning. My heart soared and of course, I cried. I am so blessed!

Interested in Vampires?

I received two books to review about vampires. Now, it is no big secret that I am a HUGE fan of Twilight. It is an engrossing story to say the least. Would I let my teenage daughter read it? Probably not. The books are more graphic than the movies. I know that it is meant for teenage girls but there are some themes that are not really conducive to teenage girls. For instance, Edward stays in Bella's room every night. While they save themselves for marriage, it is probably not a good idea to encourage unwed girls to have boys in their rooms without their parents knowledge.

Touched by a Vampire is a book about the hidden messages and what the Bible says about them. I am not a big fan of books that dissect other books based on their biblical value. Like I said, I adore the Twilight series as well as Harry Potter. I think that you can find something wrong with every book if you looked for it. I am a bigger believer in giving your children a strong Biblical foundation and having regular discussions about how to apply the Bible to life today. That said, this book did raise some great questions that could be used in a discussion group. It was really boring to read though. The theme was interesting but the presentation was poor. She harped too long on the subject and that totally turned me off to her ideas. It's a good book to have if you are indeed going to allow your teenage daughter to read the series so that you can have some Biblical discussions.

Thirsty is a great adult book about vampires. IT deals with Nina and how her alcoholism destroys her life. She has to move back to her small town and happens to move next door to a vampire who falls in love with her. The book deals with her journey through sobriety and her efforts to find God in all of it. There are no lewd scenes or suggested themes to it.

It was a good read although it kinda dragged in the beginning. If you can get past the first couple of chapters , the action definitely picks up. Is it as engrossing as Twilight? No. But the last chapters keep you turning the page even though you should be doing something else. It was a great light read and a welcome distraction from all the autism stuff. If you enjoyed Twilight then you should enjoy this book as well.

Now, for the fun part. Along with the books to review, I received a copy of each to give away. So , leave me a comment ( because you know I love comments!) . I will enter you into the drawing which I will hold Nov . 26th So , you have until Nov.25th to leave a comment. These books would make a nice gift for a Twilight fan looking for another vampire book. :)

I received these books for free to review. Other than that, I was not paid for this review in any way.

Our Final Weekly Wrap Up for 2009

It's official. We're done. No more planned lessons until January 4, 2010. Hear that?? It's me breathing a sigh of relief. Ahhhhhhhh!!!

Unfortunately we still have some loose ends to tie up. Both children have been given a sheet that tells them what has to be completed during break. These are not the fun stuff that they can earn snowflakes for prizes. (More on the snowflakes later). These are things that should have been completed but somehow didn't get done. Wanna know what they are? Good because I am going to tell you anyway.

Madison

Copywork - finish learning her name , address and phone number

Cursive- finish the Handwriting w/o Tears cursive workbook 2

Math- Finish Singapore 1B

Read A Loud- finish the Learn 2 Read Bible

Logan

Math- finish Singapore 3A

Read Aloud - finish Sorcerer's Stone and watch movie.

Copywork- Psalm 23

OT- 20 jumping jacks (in a row and with correct form. This helps his core and his motor planning)

We still have some together stuff to do but I am trying not to push it. Everyone needs a break and it is all stuff that we will go over again during the high school years. We are finishing the book of Exodus in the Old Testament then moving on to Reading a chapter of Luke per day for the Christmas season. Next week, I will post about some of our fun activities...

Step 1 - Remove

Step 1 of Dr. Buckley's protocol is to remove the offending foods. There are several autism diets out there, GFCF, SCD, low oxalate and more. The best diet is the one that works for your child. GFCF is a good starting point.



GFCF is a gluten and casein free diet. You remove all wheat just as if the child had celiac disease. You remove all dairy in it's many forms as well. There are medical tests that you can run to test for allergies but these are often not accurate. ASD children treat these foods as a drug in their system. It's like morphine in their system due to leaky gut. Their guts are in such a mess that the food literally leaks out into their bodies .



You may see withdrawal similar to that of an addict looking for his next fix. For Logan , this was brutal. 7 years ago when he started this diet, all he would eat is Kraft mac n cheese. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I swear I should have bought stock in that company. I would be rich now. Once we removed the offending foods, his diet completely opened up. He will even loves broccoli now.



We did not see any major wow moments with the diet. We saw the changes when he accidentally got gluten or casein. Then his behaviors came back in force. Logan had severe constipation that made him toe walk all the time. Yeast was through the roof. His immune system was non existent. We literally had to try something to bring him relief.


Remember that a medically prescribed diet is a tax write off!!!


There are several websites where you can find more info.



http://www.generationrescue.org/
http://www.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

Of course, you have to do more research and learn more on your own. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on this blog. Dr. Buckley has not seen your child so this is generic advice. Always contact your own physician for questions. Just be forewarned that you may be better educated about these things than your doctor.

Moving on to more fun stuff

OK, don't let your eyes gloss over yet, Stay with me here as I go into the second part of Buckley's presentation. Immune dsyregulation. It's the second thing that happens besides oxidative stress when you overload your body. These two things go hand in hand for most autistic children.


Immune dsyregulation is exactly what it sounds like. The immune system can not regulate itself and confuses what is bad and what is good. It sends out antibodies to things that it shouldn't thereby inflamming areas like the brain. You can't have development if your body is spending it's time fighting itself. Sounds like a no brainer, right? I know, bad joke! Andy Wakefield has done some great research on this as well. He's come up with some fascinating discoveries in the autism world. It would be worth your time to google him and his research.

Back to immune dsyregulation. well, 70% of the immune system is in the gut. What do a majority of autistic children have? Problems with the gut, be it leaky gut, yeast , constipation, whatever. It all translates into gut problems. Guess what? If you heal the gut then you help the immune system. Gut issues and the immune system are intertwined. You can not help one without helping the other. They must be helped simultaneously.

How does she suggest that be done? Four simple words: Remove, Replenish, Repair, and Restore.

1. Remove- Move to a gfcf diet or gluten and casein free diet. Why? Gluten and casein have pro inflammatory molecules in them. You are trying to reduce inflammation. See my other blog, http://www.lovinggfcf.blogspot.com/ , for more info on the diet. Also see http://www.tacanow.com/ and http://www.gfcfdiet.com/ for more info.
2. Replenish the gut with high potency probiotics. You have to reestablish the healthy flora of the gut.
3. Repair and Restore by adding these things

enzymes- need to contain DPP-IV

multivitamins rich in B- complex and B6

Omega Fatty Acids- fish oil - only from companies that remove the organs before pressing the flesh. I personally like Nordic Naturals brand. Flax would work well too.

Minerals- calcium, zinc, magnesium

Repair and Restore also means yeast management in the gut as well. That's a whole post itself. I promise to get to that post soon.

Now would be a great time to mention that Dr. Buckley is coming out with a book next January. It is available for preorder on Amazon now. She will have all of this in her book along with guidelines to follow as well. I personally have already preordered it and can't wait for it's arrival.

Of course, you have to do more research and learn more on your own. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on this blog. Dr. Buckley has not seen your child so this is generic advice. Always contact your own physician for questions. Just be forewarned that you may be better educated about these things than your doctor.