BAN!

Befriend Autism Now!

Because EJ is special. I feel like he has super powers :)

He is beautiful in an overwhelming way, like nature. Pure.

Undercover Minority

It's amazing how far being cute will get you.

Often when I mention EJ's autism to someone, I get a response like, "Oh! I couldn't tell..." (in addition to all the "so sorry's" and the scrunched pity-brows). I usually put on a smile, while silent E says, "Tell me, what is an autistic kid supposed to look like?"

There is no such thing as better. Just different.

Guess who?

I transferred the pictures from my camera's card to the computer the other day. It mysteriously took forever! Why?


I found about a hundred of these:



with this at about number 96:

EJ has discovered the camera.

The Most Beautiful Sound In The World

Obby.

that's me :)

ASD GF/CF MSGAF WTF

Nothing makes you feel important like an acronym. (read: sarcasm)

I usually cringe at acronyms these days, because in the autism world an acronym usually masks yet another complex concept that I'll need to integrate into my existence.

Take the GF/CF MSGAF diet. That all means: gluten free/casein free, monosodium glutamate and aspartame free diet.

Here's the theory in the extremely simplified mE-version: gluten, casein, and msg all break down in the body into a protein that the autism brain misreads as morphine. (Aspartame is just evil and shouldn't be in anyone's diet.) Eliminating the offending foods from the diet will eventually detoxify the body and eliminate the addiction in the brain.

Rather than list the foods EJ cannot have on this diet (who has time for that?) I'll list what he can have:
meat
fruit
veggies

Considering EJ's diet consisted of only 7 foods prior to this, he is down to basically apples only.

Oh, and marshmallows.

Sound of Silence

It was quiet. Too quiet.

I ran to check on EJ. He's perfectly fine, watching his favorite Sesame DVD.

With the sound off.

Hmm. I watch this for a while, and some things start to click: he's pointing to the words that flash on the screen. He understands that the letters are forming words. He is trying to say the words (he has this DVD memorized).

He was having sensory overload, and wanted to concentrate.

Every little decision opens him up just a little more.

Tricky Fishy

At 3 am, I was awakened by a hauntingly familiar sound: EJ was awake.

It has been over 2 weeks of the dairy-free diet, and he's slept through every night. I was practically in tears when I said to my husband "I just don't understand. Maybe it's not the dairy at all."

"Something must have....." he froze. "Cheddar Goldfish. I checked his school snack today for chocolate, but forgot about the Cheddar Goldfish."

If I hadn't been delirious with tired, I might have done a happy dance. The diet is working!!

Up next: GF/CF. this stuff ain't for lightweights.