Gus has had a substitute teacher for a few weeks now. His regular teacher broke a limb just before Christmas and hasn't been back yet. Heaven help us, she needs to get well soon. I keep getting notes home that he's 'off.' As if I'm supposed to know what that means. Honestly, by most people's definitions, he's a bit 'off' by design. So, is she telling me he's 'off ' from his usual 'offness'? What am I supposed to make of this?
I figured he wasn't getting his work done, so I've been drilling it into his head every day before school. You have to do your work, you have to listen to what your teachers are telling you to do. And he comes home with the same thing. I finally asked him what's going on? Is he doing his work? Is he listening to the teacher? He has said that he is, and actually, judging from the amount of homework he's been bringing home - no more than usual - I had to believe him. So I finally wrote the sub a note asking for specifics. What exactly is he doing that is so 'off?'
The note came home today that he's needs constant prompting to finish his assignments and that he seems to be in his own little world. He seems to be having trouble focusing.
What on earth is this woman doing in a program for spectrum kids?
That loud thudding noise you hear is my head slamming into the desk.
This is the note that I wrote back: "That is pretty typical for him."
Is she kidding me?
And by the way, on day 4 of the gluten-free diet, I have goofed and put spices with MSG into our dinner. But there has been zero change so far. If anything, Gus has been more hyper than usual. Except when he's in school, then he's just zoning out into his own little world. This life is going to drive me to drink one of these days.
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Going Gluten Free...sort of
Wow, I haven't been here in ages! Sorry for the prolonged absence. I took a hiatus to write a novel back in November, which I did succeed in drafting, and then I was asked to revise my first novel, but I've been sidetracked with the inspiration to write a new one. So, I'll probably be sporadic at best. There hasn't been much new going on either. Gus's teacher had an accident just before Christmas and hasn't been back to school yet, so I think he's missing her. He's been sort of unfocused at school, not doing his individual work. But otherwise, he's pretty much been status quo.
My friend the dietitian came to see him this week and again recommended that we try a gluten free diet for just 2 weeks to see if there's any level of change in his ability to focus and attend to tasks. Since we've tried everything else, we decided to go for it. She left me a couple of cookbooks and I bought a bunch of gluten free food yesterday. Today is the first day of the trial. I'll need to find some Xantham gum soon - many of the recipes call for it. But this morning I made some gluten free pancakes from a mix. I had to tweak the recipe because of the cholesterol issue (the recipe called for eggs) and I used applesauce with low fat milk. They came out surprisingly good!
Gus is aware that there will be some dietary changes and I think he may be fretting about them a bit, but right now, he's pleased. Those pancakes really were good. I'm hopeful.
My friend the dietitian came to see him this week and again recommended that we try a gluten free diet for just 2 weeks to see if there's any level of change in his ability to focus and attend to tasks. Since we've tried everything else, we decided to go for it. She left me a couple of cookbooks and I bought a bunch of gluten free food yesterday. Today is the first day of the trial. I'll need to find some Xantham gum soon - many of the recipes call for it. But this morning I made some gluten free pancakes from a mix. I had to tweak the recipe because of the cholesterol issue (the recipe called for eggs) and I used applesauce with low fat milk. They came out surprisingly good!
Gus is aware that there will be some dietary changes and I think he may be fretting about them a bit, but right now, he's pleased. Those pancakes really were good. I'm hopeful.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Dietary interventions
In the past two weeks, I've come across people who have suggested to me that I should try different dietary methods of helping my son. One person, a dietitian, is a strong advocate of the gluten-free/casein-free diet. She also tried to convince me to try enzyme therapy. The other person was a mom with a child who has ADHD. She was advocating enzymes, supplements and an all-organic diet. I had heard about these therapies in the past, but quite frankly, they're very hard to maintain, and when I had first heard of them, our pediatrician couldn't give me the information I was looking for. So I thought that maybe it's time to consider one or all...and there's the problem. Which therapy is right?
Gluten-Free
Gluten is a protein found in certain grains: wheat, rye, barley, and because of contamination issues in processing, sometimes oat. When gluten is removed from the diet, the small intestine can repair itself. The gluten-free diet is recommended for those individuals who suffer from intolerance to gluten that can cause all manner of gastric disturbances (i.e. diarrhea, bloating, gasiness). The success stories sound very hopeful, so what do we have to lose?
The thing is, Gus has never had any gastric problems outside of the occasional virus. So would this diet, which is recommended for 3-6 months, be of any use to him? A good nutritionist may be able to evaluate the situation, but they can be a little pricey. One place I was referred to in Kingston, NY charges about $120 for an initial consultation. I was fortunate enough to be given a referral card, so I may be able to be seen for much less. We'll see how that works out.
On the plus side, it makes perfect sense to me that spectrum kids digest food a little differently than the typical child. I've said for years (to pretty much myself because no one around us likes to listen to me) that Gus can't handle chocolate in even the smallest of doses. A bit of chocolate would usually send him into hyperdrive for at least 48 hours. "But that's crazy...there's not that much sugar in chocolate...the amount of caffeine in chocolate is minuscule..." I don't know what it is in chocolate that has always made him nutty, but the only evidence I need is that when he has it, he's worse, and when he doesn't have it, he's better. So the argument for eliminating gluten from the diet feels right to me. And I'm certainly willing to try it if I can.
Which brings us to the down side. Although many more supermarket chains are starting to carry gluten-free products (locally for us, A&P and Hannaford's) in addition to the Mrs. Green's and health food stores, the fact still remains that these foods are much more expensive. If we were better off financially, hell if we even had 2 full incomes, it might not be such an issue. But when you're consistently having trouble staying out of the red every month, it's a very real issue.
Once we get past the cost, then there's the fact that gluten can be found in almost everything! And what about when we eat away from home? Gus's school doesn't follow a gluten-free program, and he's in a school for special needs children. Our families would certainly have a problem with adapting to a new diet. I've got an Italian mother-in-law who lives to feed her grandchildren pasta and bread, and those things are my kids' favorites. Yes, we can find gluten-free pasta (it's actually pretty good), but if I suggested that MIL try something different, that would be akin to asking her to throw a spitball at the pope.
Snacks are another issue. I tried a few things that I thought my son might like - he didn't. So I am still searching and trying to adapt before going full force into this diet. I'll report my progress.
Casein-Free
Casein is a protein found in dairy products. This wouldn't be too difficult to incorporate into our diets (if I could get my in-laws to stop obsessing over feeding my children ice-cream - they've gotten better about it). There are enough ways to get calcium into a diet without dairy, and my daughter already won't drink milk. Even though Gus does drink milk and eats yogurt, no one else in this household does. Soy milk hasn't gone over too well. I attempted rice milk, and I don't think he liked that too much either, but I'll need to try it again before I can say for sure. And even if the kids can't have ice-cream, they can still have ice-pops made with fruit, which they love just as much. Of course, Gus isn't one of those kids with any major food aversions, so it may be easier for me to make this particular transition than some others.
I'm still researching the enzyme therapy route and going all-organic, so that will be a post for another day.
Gluten-Free
Gluten is a protein found in certain grains: wheat, rye, barley, and because of contamination issues in processing, sometimes oat. When gluten is removed from the diet, the small intestine can repair itself. The gluten-free diet is recommended for those individuals who suffer from intolerance to gluten that can cause all manner of gastric disturbances (i.e. diarrhea, bloating, gasiness). The success stories sound very hopeful, so what do we have to lose?
The thing is, Gus has never had any gastric problems outside of the occasional virus. So would this diet, which is recommended for 3-6 months, be of any use to him? A good nutritionist may be able to evaluate the situation, but they can be a little pricey. One place I was referred to in Kingston, NY charges about $120 for an initial consultation. I was fortunate enough to be given a referral card, so I may be able to be seen for much less. We'll see how that works out.
On the plus side, it makes perfect sense to me that spectrum kids digest food a little differently than the typical child. I've said for years (to pretty much myself because no one around us likes to listen to me) that Gus can't handle chocolate in even the smallest of doses. A bit of chocolate would usually send him into hyperdrive for at least 48 hours. "But that's crazy...there's not that much sugar in chocolate...the amount of caffeine in chocolate is minuscule..." I don't know what it is in chocolate that has always made him nutty, but the only evidence I need is that when he has it, he's worse, and when he doesn't have it, he's better. So the argument for eliminating gluten from the diet feels right to me. And I'm certainly willing to try it if I can.
Which brings us to the down side. Although many more supermarket chains are starting to carry gluten-free products (locally for us, A&P and Hannaford's) in addition to the Mrs. Green's and health food stores, the fact still remains that these foods are much more expensive. If we were better off financially, hell if we even had 2 full incomes, it might not be such an issue. But when you're consistently having trouble staying out of the red every month, it's a very real issue.
Once we get past the cost, then there's the fact that gluten can be found in almost everything! And what about when we eat away from home? Gus's school doesn't follow a gluten-free program, and he's in a school for special needs children. Our families would certainly have a problem with adapting to a new diet. I've got an Italian mother-in-law who lives to feed her grandchildren pasta and bread, and those things are my kids' favorites. Yes, we can find gluten-free pasta (it's actually pretty good), but if I suggested that MIL try something different, that would be akin to asking her to throw a spitball at the pope.
Snacks are another issue. I tried a few things that I thought my son might like - he didn't. So I am still searching and trying to adapt before going full force into this diet. I'll report my progress.
Casein-Free
Casein is a protein found in dairy products. This wouldn't be too difficult to incorporate into our diets (if I could get my in-laws to stop obsessing over feeding my children ice-cream - they've gotten better about it). There are enough ways to get calcium into a diet without dairy, and my daughter already won't drink milk. Even though Gus does drink milk and eats yogurt, no one else in this household does. Soy milk hasn't gone over too well. I attempted rice milk, and I don't think he liked that too much either, but I'll need to try it again before I can say for sure. And even if the kids can't have ice-cream, they can still have ice-pops made with fruit, which they love just as much. Of course, Gus isn't one of those kids with any major food aversions, so it may be easier for me to make this particular transition than some others.
I'm still researching the enzyme therapy route and going all-organic, so that will be a post for another day.
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