10 Days Later...

Wow, 10 days flew by, just like that. No rest for the weary, though! I need to get back to this. I must! I shall! I'm doing it right now!! It's HAPPENING.

One of the main thoughts running through my head is the incredible impact dairy has on my son. I'm still not over it. We had a FANTASTIC weekend with regard to behavior and overall demeanor. The language is coming back, the stimming rarely occurs, patience has returned... the dairy is almost completely out.

The other night at bedtime, DS was playing with his trains when I informed him that he needed to get ready for bedtime in 5 minutes. He looked at me and quietly told me it's not bedtime.

"I'm going to set a timer for 5 minutes, and you can play with your trains that whole time. Once it rings, it's time to clean up and get ready for bed."

Calmly, he said, "I don't want to clean up."

"Well, I can clean up and we go to bed right now, or you can play for 5 minutes and then go to bed. Do you want to go to bed right now or do you want to play for 5 minutes and then go to bed?"

"Play for 5 minutes."

"Okay. I'll set the timer now."

Once the 5 minutes were up, there were no issues putting the trains and tracks away and getting ready for bed. I just KNOW that 2 weeks ago, in the middle of the insanity, this would NOT have gone as smoothly. OH... it's so nice to be back!!

Oh, and Happy Pi Day!

Reintroducing Dairy: Revisited & Rejected

Bye-bye, dairy!

Well, that was fast.  I'm convinced we need to eliminate casein.  Today in my son's communication folder from his preschool, his teacher noted that he was aggressive toward another child.  That is not my son.  I searched on the Internet for links between dairy and aggression and was overwhelmed with the number of stories connecting the two, particularly with children on the spectrum.  We did fine without dairy for 7 months, so I'm not too concerned about dietary changes.

My main concern is to get that casein or casomorphine out of his system asap!  I'm not sure if there is anything I can do to help with that, but I look forward to a happier child.  The first time around, we noticed improvements within a week.  Hopefully that's the case again, but if not, it will take up to 3 weeks. 

I should also note that after what I call "*The Cheese Curl Incident" which propelled us into reintroducing dairy, his communication folder has shown only one day of semi-good behavior, with the rest of it being uncooperative.  Prior to The Incident, his mood was happy and generally cooperative.  I love that communication folder.  Anyway, at home, I saw exaggerations of what I consider classic autistic behavior: hand-flapping, jargon, extremely poor eye contact, etc.  I hadn't realized how seldom these actions had occurred until I began seeing them again.  His emotions were quick to change as well, and he would become so upset so quickly over the smallest reasons.  Poor little guy.

The good news is, if it is this, then we know it and we have the power to do something about it.  If not... we'll still keep the dairy out, and see what else we can do.


*The Cheese Curl Incident:  Despite providing a Do-Not-Feed list to the school, they still gave him cheese curls at snack.  Dairy AND Red40.