On my mind.
Simon's diet. Sigh. No dairy is going pretty good - except for the occasional day when they will give him something at school. Looking forward to having him in a new school (even though we LOVE the teachers where he is now) with other kids on special diets. I pulled out Special Diets for Special Kids again last night to get myself back into the gluten free mindset. Right now Simon's diet consists of soy milk, OJ, popcorn, gluten-free cereal, crackers, oranges, apples, applesauce, french fries (natural ones :)), sugar free fruit pops, gluten free waffles, nitrate free hot dogs, bananas, peanut butter, refried beans (sometimes), corn tortilla chips...and probably a couple other things I am forgetting right now.
Are most two-three year olds like this?
I was reading in another autism book last night that as long as they are continuing to grow on the growth chart things should be fine. Even if they eat the same thing day after day. That made me feel a bit better, but still. Maybe I just need to get over it.
We have a woman that is coming to our house once a month (or more often if we need her) now that is an Autism specialist. She was here last week for a meeting with Chris and I to talk about what struggles we face with Simon in our home: things like eating, discipline, self-care (dressing, toothbrushing, bathing), schedules, etc. It was cool to meet with her - her goal is to give us practical ideas for ways to work with him, teach him, and help him become a successful little guy. It is like having a parenting teacher right here in our own house. She should be coming back this week to meet with us when Simon is here and help us make some positive changes for him. So very thankful for her.
I am feeling the need to get back into the autism books again. Figure out which ones I have not read and which ones I need to re-read. Sometimes things feel so normal around here that I forget that there are things I could be doing to make life better for Simon. I get distracted with my own stuff. Need to bring that whole balance thing back around again.
I recently read a good book about autism- Thinking in Pictures and other reports from my life with autism by Temple Grandin. Very interesting about how the mind of an autistic person works differently to process information. Also a good story about how she overcame a lot of obstacles to lead a "normal" life.
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Ali,
Matéa is an extremely picky eater - she could live on cereal, mac and and cheese, pb&j, strawberry milk, and fruit - maybe a few carrots thrown in for good measure.
Our friends have a boy who is/was autistic - they were completely pro-active with him... he is now in a regular pre-K class and will be 6 in July!
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I can speak that Simon's diet sounds totally normal and actually pretty varied for a two/three year old toddler. In fact, Simon's diet sounds prety well rounded. I think my little one only ate bananas, cheerios and milk at that age. :o)
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Ali,
It sounds like Simon is eating like most 3 year olds out there :)
My son (turned 3 in March) has been gluten/casein/soy free (nut free, egg free, etc... due to additional food allergies) for over a year and a half. Half the battle was getting me to make the paradigm shift regarding food. It's ok to have chicken nuggets for breakfast- hot dogs don't always need to have buns- that sort of thing...
That is awesome that you are doing the diet with Simon. We have done various types of biomedical interventions and therapies with our son (dx'ed PDD at 18 months). Dietary changes still remain one of the things that has helped him the most.
Hang in there with the diet- it will become second nature, I promise. There are a few gfcf yahoo groups out there- great places to get additional gfcf recipes.
And have you tried Lisa Lewis' ANDI bars- Yummy! My son cannot have them (tree nut allergies), but I eat them. Great for a meal on-the-go.
Best of luck to you-
Nicole
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hey, i would also like to know about the nitrate free hot dogs. we buy the morningstar soy hot dogs and they are nitrate free...but not very yummy. although, you probably have more options in oregon than in my little town. :)
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Ali, this is my first hello to you- I absolutely LOVE your work & your blog.
This is what my 3-year-old w/ minor food allergies eats:
Chicken Nuggets w/ ketchup, pasta, toast, black beans, spelt pretzels, applesauce, hummus, tortilla chips, french fries (healthy of course!) "rice" cream & a few kinds of breakfast cereal. And ONE flavor of yougurt in a tube that can only be eaten frozen, not soft. Oh, and blueberries ONLY if in a smoothie that I make out of applesauce & yougurt (that one flavor already frozen). She's limited to 2 servings of wheat per day. Simon, all issues aside, is a great eater!
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Hi Ali,
I don't have kids so I can't help you there. But I did order that book from Amazon. It sounds like a wonderful book. Something I really need!
Hang in there.
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Ali I am a little embarrassed to tell you that Simon's diet is probably far better than my own. I have to eat REALLY bland foods and even some of what he can have is too "spicy" for me - not for anyone else but enough to upset my system. Hope all goes well.
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Don't know if you watched it or not.. I'm not even sure when it was on but I wanted to let you know about it - CNN is having a special on autism I saw a commercial yesterday but didn't get any details on it. Maybe you can check out their site.
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Ali,
I have been an admirer of your work and a lurker on your blog- I had no idea about Simon's condition. My son was diagnosed ASD at 2-1/2, is now 8 and doing well mainstreamed with an aide, and still maintaining a home program 4 days a week. We did the whole GFCF diet for 1-1/2 years, tried the vitamin therapy, etc. I think everyone's experience will be different, so keep an open mind as you read the barrage of information out there.
I do have the best GFCF receipe for chocolate chip cookies if you are interested, and any book by Bette Hagman is great. Hang in there- it will indeed be a struggle for balance.
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