Autism recovered?

Medical experts say it's not possible to recover autism. We have living proof in the form of three children, that it IS possible. In my blog you will find recovery stories, along with information regarding health that I have learned over the years. And sometimes just snippets of life to give hope that yes, life can be normal after the hard work is done.

Sit back, enjoy, and be hopeful! RECOVERY HAPPENS!

**Kids names have been changed to protect the innocent and naughty alike. ;)



Wednesday, May 23, 2018

How to find the recovery stories here

Hey guys!  Life is just so full with three busy kids, I cannot seem to keep up with my blog.  However, The recovery information here is absolutely still valid and helpful.  So rather than needing to find the search button and type in the right words, here are the three recovery stories in order:

Tony's story

Grace's story

Kate's story

Click the links.  I hope this helps!!

There are many other autism links and helps in my blog posts, but these are the starting point.  Feel free to poke around and I hope this helps you on your journey.  xoxo

Remember, recovery IS possible.  Anyone who says otherwise needs to be moved to the side while you do what's best for your people.  Also remember, recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.  It takes time and you need to take care of yourself in the process.

Love and hugs to you all!


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Like-minded moms

Whew!  School is done for the year!  YAY!  Paperwork is filed, mailed and/or tossed out and it's done.  My son has a full-time job, my older girl has a part-time job and Kate and I spend a lot of time in the car getting kids from job to job.  It's not a thrill but she's pretty excited that I'm not making her bring school work with her.  hahaha

Since I lost my job last year, our very kind Sensei has let me start cleaning the dojo so I could work off their fee, instead of having to pull them from class.  This has worked out well.  Cleaning someone else's toilets is not on my "favorite things" list, but it's a small price to pay for them to continue karate.  With Tony now fully employed, Kate has been allowed to step into his spot.  She is SO excited!!  Her sweet friend has been such an encouragement to her, trying to help her learn new moves and smiling at her from across the room when it's hard.  Her sister has been very helpful too, but I somehow forgot to get a pic of them two of them.  Next time...


The kid's karate class is for homeschooled children.  Our dojo offers many classes throughout the day, but Sensei offers two classes in the morning specifically for children who are homeschooled.  It's very nice and a good way to meet fellow homeschoolers.  Yesterday, after cleaning, I went outside to talk to a mom I hadn't met before.  We had only talked for a moment when we both realized we have children recovered from autism.  You should have heard the squealing and laughing!!  Grace told me later that they could hear us all the way inside.  Oops, but also lol!  :)  This mom and I almost immediately started chatting about GI problems and how getting a handle on that had improved brain function.  Autism moms can talk poop, I tell ya!  It's what we do because we KNOW that gut problems cause brain problems.

I have met many parents trying to recover their children, especially at conferences.  Plenty of conversations online and over the phone.  But meeting one in my own hometown is way exciting!!  She has had the same experience we have...people can't believe her son used to be on the spectrum.  I have watched him in class for months.  You know, the kids don't just stand there like robots, they interact before and after class, they sometimes goof off during class; they're quite normal children, these homeschooled people.  ;)  I had no idea her son used to be on the spectrum.  And she had no clue mine were either.

It's nice to be on this side of things.  Recovery accomplished.   And now we're able to help others do the same thing.  What a privilege.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Recently, the SCD has come across my eyes and brain multiple times.  I learned a long time ago that when a particular subject continues to come across my path, especially when I'm not looking for it, I need to look at it more closely.  Let me tell you why...

Two years ago, I contracted a deadly bacteria, antibiotic resistant of course.  It was after a time of extreme, prolonged stress & grief; during which I ate poorly and did not sleep for weeks.  After running literally hundreds of tests with multiple doctors, all of who could find nothing wrong in spite of how obvious it was that something was wrong, I finally got a stool test showing that I had this horrible thing.  The test was cultured so we could see what would kill it, so as soon as I got my test back, I set about killing it.  I went from bed-ridden to functional in a few months.  The road to recovery is often quite slow and I have struggled with how long it has taken.  But this particular bacteria is known to kill people so I consider myself fortunate that we found it before it finalized it's work.

One of the lingering issues I have is digestive, of course.  A common problem with dysbiosis is that the gut bacteria will continue to swing out of balance, even when you are doing all the right things.  The microbiome is a complex system, so when one guy gets out of whack, they all do.  That makes it so that often, getting rid of one bacteria simply causes other opportunistic bad guys (who cannot be killed by the thing you are taking to get rid of bad guy #1) to take over.  This has happened multiple times in my recovery.  I get rid of one bacteria only to find another make me sick in a different way.  I have an advantage because I can see that happening without having to test every few months.  My tongue tells the story of what's happening in my gut and 4 times so far it has cleared, only to show signs of imbalance within 2 days.   It's quite a frustrating cycle but I am not a quitter (plus I have a ROCKIN' nutritionist/cheerleader!) so I continued to search for permanent solutions.

In my search I spent a week listening to the Gut Health Symposium.  Many excellent, intelligent speakers on the cutting edge of how to heal the gut.  Gut disease if an incredibly common problem!  Almost everyone has indigestion, intolerances, allergies, gas, bloating, gut pain, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn...you name it, you probably know someone with it!  In fact, children with autism are known to have gut disorders; so much so that ignorant doctors will ignore them because they are so common that they say such silly things as "Oh kids with autism just have that" - while not even considering that sometimes autism behaviors are a direct result of the pain the child suffers with in their guts.  But I digress...

I first heard of SCD at the beginning of my autism recovery journey over a decade ago.  At that time there were not good support groups available online.  When I first started looking for online support after reading the book, I was told immediately not to bother doing it because of my children's allergies.  One mother even told me "If you can't do it perfectly, just go away".  So I did.  And I don't regret it as I was lead to the Body Ecology diet, which is a wonderful healing diet and ended up being just what we needed.  But I always did wonder about the SCD.  As I listened to the Gut Health Symposium this month, I continued to hear that SIBO did best with the SCD.  As that is one of the lingering things I struggle with, I had to investigate further.  While I have a positive SIBO test, the traditional way to treat it is with antibiotics.  Since I have finally gotten back on my feet after a fight with an antibiotic resistant bacteria, taking antibiotics seemed like asking for trouble.  In addition, there is a 50-100% re-infection rate within 3 months after the antibiotic.  Seems to me that it just wastes time!  You get a little relief, but in the end, you still have it and it's worse since you made it mad with a dose of antibiotics that didn't work.  I did not find that a worthy solution.  I spent a great deal of time with my nutritionist, naturopath and homeopath, as well as plenty of personal research, looking at solutions.  In the end, you can do everything right, but if you are eating the wrong things, it just won't bring complete healing.  So I, with great sadness, said goodbye to my beans (a staple for me) and hello to meat.  And my symptoms are starting to clear.  I did not think beans could hurt me, but they were on the list of no-no's of the SCD, so I got off them and am seeing great progress!  This is enough for me to embrace the SCD a bit more closely.  But it is a complicated system of eating until you really get your brain wrapped around it.  So I sought out an online support that I had heard about a few years ago.  And that's right here.  These boys aren't just doing a job, they're living the life.  They had struggles of their own that brought them to this lifestyle of eating.  Their advice is very practical.  If you're a Facebooker, you can find their support group here.

So there you have it.  If you struggle with ongoing heartburn, abdominal pain, that dreaded "can't stay awake after I eat syndrome"; if probiotics make you feel worse or you notice that starchy foods make you feel bad, look at this diet.  You don't need to have a positive SIBO test to benefit from it.  But it just might be the answer you're looking for.




Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Favorite healing diets

Food is one thing none of us can get away from.  Some of us LOVE food, others hate food, others don't give a hoot about food.  But what we eat matters.

Why you might ask?




What we eat turns into nourishment for our cells.  Our cells MUST be properly nourished for healing to occur.  People do not get well while eating garbage, no matter how many supplements they take.  Supplements can be a great bandaid and are often needed in healing to give the body extra help; but in the absence of nourishment, a bandaid is all they are.

I did not understand food when I was young.  I don't guess many people did back then.  It was still the era of microwave dinners, right?  I thought it was just something to keep the stomach happy; I never once considered what the purpose of food was.  I'd like to think I would not have eaten straight sugar from the bowl if I understood food back then but who knows?  I also thought I was invincible and nothing bad would ever happy no matter what I did, so I might not have done anything with that knowledge.

The first thing I learned when looking into autism recovery is that food matters.  The internet is FULL of specialized diets.  There's Paleo, Veganism, Body Ecology, GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), GFCF, SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet), the Low Histamine Diet, the SIBO diet, the Auto-immune diet, and so many more.  But the thing is, these diets don't just work for autism, they are worth exploring for any disorder of the brain or body.  Food has a much more profound affect on us than most people realize.  Do you know someone whose hands hurt after eating peppers or potatoes?  If so, you know someone who suffers a disorder because of food.  I encourage you to research which foods can do what in the body.  It's quite interesting and may lead you to some answers for your own health.

I thought I would touch briefly on some of the diets listed above, and where to go for guidance with them.  Some are specifically geared toward autism but almost all will work for other disorders as well.

Let me just remind you that your doctor or your child's doctor probably cannot speak much into diet.  They learn so much while in medical school, but nutrition is not on their list of heavily taught subjects.  So do your own research and educate yourself.  I cannot even begin to tell you how many parents were told by their doctor "Diet won't help", and yet those very same brave parents did make dietary changes and saw positive results from it.  I am not saying doctors cannot help you, I'm just saying you're the one that lives with your child...do your own research.  You're much more invested in their health than a doctor is, no matter how fabulous they are. :)

Body Ecology Diet is the one I did with my children and myself so long ago.  We still adhere to the principles of the diet even now, we are just loose with the foods because we can be to some extent.  The best place to go for help is the BEDROK (Body Ecology Diet Recovering Our Kids) website and blog. (Yes, my children are some of those adorable creatures you see on the main page).  The page is moderated by a mother who is 14 years in the trenches of recovery and has so much valuable wisdom to share.  You can also get support here if you're a Facebooker.  If you're not on Facebook, get there.  Many private forums are filled with experts and nutritionists who really understand autism and can help you understand it too.

That's it for today.  I'll post next time about another diet and where you can get some support to learn more.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Homeopathy

Disease is an imbalance in the body.  There are many ways to address imbalances.  You already know my biggest passion is nutrition, but there is biomedical and homeopathy as well as herbs and more.  I first learned of homeopathy when someone handed me a copy of Amy Lansky's Impossible Cure.  I was riveted.  Homeopathy had been alluded to in previous years but no one could explain it to me and I honestly thought it was made up bc I couldn't understand it.  This book explains it in real people language.  Not to mention she CURES her son with it!

Now by the time I read this book, we were done with autism, but we still had/have immune dysfunction and massive allergies.  So I'm always looking to see if there's another thing I can do to help the small peoples (oh golly, if you know me personally, you know my son is now taller than I am.  He's still a small people to me though).  I found my way to a homeopath who taught me so much and gave us much healing.  She is a teacher at heart so she also taught me how to help my family through minor illnesses such as colds and flus.  When her family went through a trauma, she became unavailable so I switched to another homeopath.  She is excellent as well, although less of a teacher, which I miss.  Homeopathy is truly amazing, working with the body to give the body the correct energy signatures so it can heal itself.  COOLEST thing, really.

Recently my son has discovered the world a little bit more.  He joined Theatre class this year and has loved it so much.  But of course, any group of kids involves food.  My fear of social activities always revolves around food bc food has been our nemesis for so long.  I love the people, hate the food.  But my husband reminded me that the kids have got to learn how to live in the real world.  I told him, "Fine, you take him out to the real world.  I'm going to stay here with my girls".  Super mature moment for me.  So he took him to Chick-fil-a.  Or as otherwise known to allergy families, "Are you insane, the place is coated in peanut oil!".  But the day before his cast party, my bestie took him there and just sat with him, chatting and being in the building without stress.  She saved my sanity!  So by the time Tony had his social gathering after their performance, he and I were both prepared.  My husband went with him and sat away from the group of teens so as to avoid being "that parent", but watched him for reactions.  He did not eat the food there bc that would be stupid, but he sat at the table while others around him ate.  Know what happened?

Nothing.

The kid had not one reaction.

Sixteen years of being unable to touch certain surfaces bc of the anaphylaxis that would ensue.  And now he can sit in a stinky restaurant (that I can guarantee you is not mom-standard clean) without reaction.

You guys!!!  If you are an allergy parent, you know the victory there.  If you are friends with an allergy parent, you get it too.  :)   It still makes me a little teary-eyed.  Of course, now the kid thinks he needs to go to every social event around so I am learning a LOT in letting go of control.  Sixteen years of tight control is hard to let go of, but I am working on it.  I expect sometime within the next decade I may have that figured out.  haha

I came across a mom blog the other day and wanted to share it here.  This was so encouraging and I hope it is encouraging to you too!  A child who was allergic to his own tears??  Gosh, I can only imagine the pins and needles you would live on in that situation.  It's so exciting to see another family healing with homeopathy.

If you are dealing with a disorder of any type, I encourage you to continue looking at options and solutions.  Our bodies want to heal.  They can go through much abuse and still be healed.  Seek out a qualified homeopath and get started on your healing journey.  You won't be sorry!  My son is so thankful we continue to look for answers for him.  And his social life is all the gratitude I need.




Thursday, August 6, 2015

Microbiome

Sounds like a made up word, doesn't it?

The dictionary definition of microbiome is: 
the totality of microorganisms and their collective genetic material present in or on the human body or in another environment:
The wide diversity of species that make up the microbiome is hard to fathom.

Yep, it still sounds made up.  ha!  But it's not.  In short, the microbiome consists of what's living in your gut.  The good guys, the bad guys, the indifferent guys...all the bacteria, the organisms, goodies and baddies, all work together to create your unique microbiome.  Studies have shown that the microbiome can affect your mood, your weight, and obviously your health

I am excited about the many up and coming studies about microbiome.  I believe a great many illness we suffer from are influenced by our gut guys.  Which is GREAT because that means we can potentially change our illness with what we eat.    I'll keep you posted on new research as it comes my way.  

Friday, July 31, 2015

Goodness, time flies!

Hey everyone!  I know it's been a long time.  I recently got laid off and have more time on my hands for blogging so you'll see me here a little bit more.  :)

Well the kids are so big now.  My little one just turned 10!  All double digits in this house now.  It's incredible how time has flown.  I'll catch you up on them later.

Life has been full of ups and downs lately.  I am recovering from a year long illness.  I contracted a pathogenic, antibiotic resistant bacteria last year.  Fortunately, with the good help of my fantastic nutritionist, and the grace of God, I am on the mend.  There is still some healing to do but I am able to function now and that's a huge blessing.

Being so ill really helped me prioritize.  Until then, I was busy being busy.  Doing and going and running myself and my children ragged.  My illness forced me to slow down and in the slow down, I learned a great deal about trusting God.  Allowing myself to release control of some things was hard, but so necessary.  This time also increased my knowledge about the body, how it works and how to heal it in a HUGE way.  So that's what I plan to share with my readers in the coming months...

In the meantime, I hope this finds you well.  I'm looking forward to reconnecting with you guys!

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