A Must-See Autism Film

Alexander Ameline’s short film gives an uplifting introduction to autism for young non-autistic audiences, aiming to raise awareness, understanding and tolerance in future generations. Simply beautiful!

12 Important Things

I love this list of 12 important things every child — and maybe especially our children on the autistic spectrum — needs to hear.

Challenges & Blessings

Dr. Temple Grandin sits down with Nancy Asplaugh-Jackson from Autism Live to discuss children on the milder end of the autistic spectrum. Very informative and inspiring.

Airport Rehearsal!

Flying is something we take for granted these days, but for children on the autistic spectrum, it can be an overwhelming experience.

Understanding that taking an autistic child on an airplane may require some advance planning and preparation, many airports now have programs that provide them with a flying experience without ever lifting off the ground.

Here is a list of 15 airports currently offering an Airport Rehearsal Program.

Autism Wandering

Have you seen the new Autism Wandering PSA yet? Watch and share to raise awareness!

Miami’s Autism Card

The University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) partnered with the Coral Gables Police Department and the Disability Independence Group (DIG) to create ID cards so people with ASD can present themselves as such when interacting with law enforcement.

The idea came about after some young adults with autism were arrested for exhibiting “suspicious” behavior after being pulled over while driving when, in fact, they were simply responding with behavior that is characteristic of ASD.

With the help of the ID card, police officers will be able to know why a person may not be making eye contact, speaking, or reacting in an expected way.

The card features a bio-dot section, which allows drivers with autism to show how they are feeling by pointing to one of four options: relaxed, calm, nervous or tense.

I love this idea because it not only gives people with ASD a tool, but increases law enforcement’s awareness of ASD with that same tool. I think every state needs this!

The Quiet Voice of Courage

Courage is a quiet voice… I love this sentiment, especially after a hard few days. Tomorrow is another day. Here’s hoping it’s great for all of us!

A Different Kind of Kvelling

I recently read an article in The Washington Post that really touched me; maybe it just hits close to home.

Nancy L. Wolf wrote about ‘kvelling’, a Yiddish word for ‘bursting with pride’, to describe what moms and dads everywhere do when bragging about their children’s accomplishments. But what happens to kvelling if your child is on his or her own very different path? Her article is worth your time and consideration. Read it in full here.

Collaborating with Educators

I typically do not post articles as long as the one that follows. However, I saw this article by Dr. DeAnna R. Burt in an autism newsletter I receive and thought it was relevant at the beginning of a new school year. I was encouraged by the information and hope you are, too!

Fostering Collaborative Partnerships with Your Child’s Educators
By Dr. DeAnna R. Burt

School is in session. For a child with autism, this often feels like embarking upon another unfamiliar and unpredictable experience; it’s unnerving and unsettling. This is how it feels for many children with autism who grapple with change.

Each school year presents a new learning opportunity for the child, his family, and his educators. At least that is how it was for my family; a new school year brought with it a new classroom environment, new sounds, a new teacher, a different set of expectations, new school policies, a new set of friends, a new class schedule, and a different lunch hour. Every year was full of change or, as I chose to see it, new opportunities.

Now the mother of a 20-year-old son with Asperger’s Syndrome (among other spectrum disorders), I knew very little about autism nearly 20 years ago when Mark was first diagnosed. But, what I failed to realize at the time was, that was also the case for the educators in his life.

Twenty years ago, we knew much less about autism than we do today. Oh, did I fail to mention that I too am an educator? Perhaps, this (among other reasons) contributed to my parenting journey being one marked by passionate advocacy for my son’s learning.

Still today, I maintain the opinion that everyone can learn within a supportive environment, but not every environment is conducive to learning. Some children require differentiated support in order to learn. We understand this better today in academics, but in those early years of my son’s life, my passion was often misunderstood; my presence resented by some of my fellow educators. But, that all changed. By the time Mark reached 4th grade, a collaborative and mutually respectful partnership had emerged between my family and his educators. So, what changed allowing us to foster such a supportive learning environment for Mark?

Honestly, I think we all changed. My son changed. I changed. And, his team of educators and administrators changed. We were on a continuum of learning, growing, and trusting one another. Perhaps, once we began to realize that we all wanted the same thing — a common outcome—a healthy, thriving, and successful learner—that is when Mark began to reap the benefits. We became partners toward his education.

So, in the category of “Helping Someone Else Along the Way,” I offer these tips toward fostering a collaborative partnership with your child’s educators this school year.

1. Be willing to teach and be taught. Everyone stands to benefit from the knowledge and experiences of others. No one knows it all.
2. Don’t stop believing. I raised Mark based on the belief that everyone can learn. My expectations of him and others were strategically aligned to this position.
3. Be involved. Show up. Be visible for your child and others. Introduce yourself. Get involved so you can get to know the school and the school can get to know you. But, you must also know when to let others do their job and get out of the way.
4. Use your external resources. There are times when the expertise of others (those outside the family and the school) is needed to offer a neutral perspective.
5. Align yourselves as a team. Do not promote an “us” (family) against “them” (school) mentality. This only impedes progress and your child will be the one standing to lose the most in the end.
6. Remember to say “Thank you.” (Can you imagine me saying this in your mother’s voice?) When the school gets something right on behalf of your child, praise them for it. Tell the superintendent of schools. Send the teacher a thank you note. Celebrate the success of your partnership.
7. Finally, pay it forward. Be willing to share the learning with others. It did not take long before the school began to ask me to share my story, strategies, and resources with other families. Who wins? Everyone wins!

Have a safe and collaboratively positive school year.

Track Record of 100%

I love this message. It’s a great thing to keep in mind on rough days.

Finding the Right Shoes

Karen Wang has written a wonderful article called 17 Tips For Finding the Right Shoes For Your Child With Special Needs. 

The wrong pair of shoes can create a day of misery for anyone. But when special needs are added to the mix, the right pair of shoes can become elusive. She offers sensory-friendly options and discusses making shoes more comfortable.

Check out her tips for finding the right shoes for your child by clicking the link.

Aspiration

“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Can this be said of me? That’s what I aspire to. Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

“Autism Balm”

Dr. V. Ruth Pinney has been researching and working with autistic individuals’ brain chemoreception pathways with a view to changing the reactions to the specific sensory perceptions.

About one-third of people on the autism spectrum are hypersensitive to odors, and these reactions can lead to eating disorders and other behavior disorders. Hypersensitive autistic smellers and tasters tend to have poor appetites, gag easily when offered food and eat only a few foods that they can tolerate the smell of. Even normal or pleasant odors may be perceived by them to be malodorous and disturbing.

Dr. Pinney created NOXO Sensory Balm™ to help “tone down” the perception of smells by the brain by providing a scent that is calming to the brain’s emotional centers. When this balm is applied topically, under the nose, an individual can find relief from odors that trigger coping responses.

This balm was first marketed under the name “NOXO Autism Balm” because of the obvious application for those on the autism spectrum with sensory integration difficulties who need to eat a greater variety of nutritious foods. It is reported to be safe, easy to apply, and non-invasive.

I’ve not yet tried this product, so I welcome the feedback from parents who have. Please let us know about your experience. It truly takes a village…

[Click on the image for more company information]

Learning From Goldfish

A responsibility and a privilege…

The Beauty of Difference

A sister’s tribute to her autistic brothers will make you rethink what it means to be different…

Before Breakfast

School began at our house yesterday. Looking for positive inspiration can be a real challenge for a son with ADHD. I found this picture, and it made me smile.

Celebrate Uniqueness

Thursday’s inspiration!

Vaccines and Autism

Senior CDC researcher Dr. William Thompson has just released a press release/statement regarding the possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Apparently, the vaccine research he has been involved in at the CDC since 1998 hasn’t been accurately reported.  It will be interesting to watch what ensues.

Click the graphic to see the whole statement.

Road to Recovery

For anyone who has not yet heard of Ethan Fox, he hit the news and Internet about three years ago with his mother, who explained how changing her son’s diet to gluten- and casein-free recovered him from his autistic spectrum disorder.

This is one of the news reports that interviewed Ethan, his mother, and his physician, who did a good job explaining the gut-brain connection and why diet has an impact on neurology.

I strongly disagree with the use and inference of the word ‘cure’ in the video. But ‘reversing’ and ‘recovering’ are wonderful reasons to explore all the options. I believe with all my heart that parents of children on the autistic spectrum remain on the frontlines, demanding, questing, ever-searching for answers with our outside-the-box thinking.

After watching the four-minute video, be sure to check out the Operation Clean-Up steps we’ve taken and continue to take with Corban, and see how much diet has affected his autistic symptoms.

10 Tips for IEP Meetings

With the new school year upon us, many parents will be working with their children’s schools to implement IEPs. The Autism File Magazine’s Vaughn K. Lauer has compiled and published a list of top 10 tips to help get the most out of the IEP process (I especially appreciated tips #5 and #7). Although he’s written a book on how to conduct a truly collaborative IEP meeting, these tips were actually gathered from parents in a survey he conducted.

Click here to read the article.

Hope for Tomorrow

Powerful words to start the week!

“All About Me”

Michael Dorfman is a Michigan special education lawyer who represents students and their families to resolve conflicts within school districts. He’s come up with a wonderful back-to-school tool for our children that I love!

He reminds us that two children with autism–or ADHD, for that matter–are nothing alike, other than having the same diagnosis. That is why each child with a physical and/or learning disability attending school needs an “owner’s manual” to accompany them. This pamphlet communicates your child’s disability, needs, likes, past successes, and triggers for your child’s school teacher and paraprofessionals.

Click here to learn about how to write an “All About Me” Pamphlet for your child.

It’s going to be a great year!

Everyday Hero

This story and video out of New York are a few years old, but I never, ever get tired of watching. Heroes with autism are everywhere, if we only keep our eyes open. I’m inspired.

Stamina on the Journey

I love this reminder that this journey with our children on the autistic spectrum is a marathon, not a sprint.

Student Profile Form

The National Autism Association has published a Student Profile Form for the new school year. It’s a free download and they want to share it with everyone. Click on the picture of the form to download your copy.

Autism CARES Act

Last Friday, President Obama signed into law funding for autism research, intervention, and help for young adults with autism. It’s called the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act, or Autism CARES.

Significantly, this is the first legislation that focuses on the needs of adolescents and young adults, and it also tasks the federal government with researching and anticipating the needs of young adults with autism who will be aging out of the school system in upcoming years.

Click here to read the whole story.

To the Moon & Back

A lovely thought for a Tuesday!

Operation Clean-Up: Soy

Soy is such an unassuming and harmless-looking legume. What reason could I possibly have for pulling it from Corban’s diet? Read on to find out more about phase three of Operation Clean-up.

Here was our Operation Clean-Up 101 (phase three): Soy 

Soy is one of the most controversial foods in the world today, and when you begin a clean-up diet for your child, controversial foods should raise red flags and motivate you to look more closely. Questions about soy abound. Is it safe? How much should we be eating? Is it really a super-food? These questions are important because everywhere we look, the soy bean is lauded as a cheap, low-fat, cholesterol-free source of high-quality protein.

While whole soybeans are a good source of protein, in this country we don’t eat the whole bean. The majority of soy in the U.S. is processed to make soybean oil; and the waste product from that is then used to make soy protein, which shows up with all nutrients stripped away in our processed foods. The fact is that most people in the United States are eating a lot of soy without even knowing it.

Here are some quick facts about soy:

• Soy contains phytoestrogens, which are plant-based compounds that can interfere with hormones in the body
• Soy has phytic acid, which prevents the body from absorbing important minerals, like magnesium (which many of our ASD children are already alarmingly deficient in)
• Soy blocks enzymes that are necessary for the digestion of certain proteins
• Over 90% of soy produced in the U.S. is genetically modified, and the crops are sprayed with the herbicide Roundup, which has been found to be toxic to human cells.

So for these reasons—hormone interference, GMOs, pesticides—soy is something we’ve excluded from not just Corban’s diet, but from all of our diets.

To find out more about soy and studies of its toxic properties, reference the FDA’s Poisonous Plant Database and report.

Results: This clean-up phase was a hard one to measure, as we didn’t see any obvious or significant change in behavior. However, for all of the reasons mentioned above, the whole family feels better about restricting the amount of soy we consume.

Suggestion: Watch labels for: soy lecithin, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, texturized vegetable protein (TVP), hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and any other phrase containing the word ‘soy’.

Hope is Beautiful

Amazing things are accomplished with hope. Never give up!

Nutrition-Anxiety Link

I just read a great article by Nicole Beurkens, PhD, who publishes a newsletter called Horizons. The article focuses on anxiety in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and she gives some practical ideas to reduce anxiety symptoms without using medication. Here is her article…

The Nutrition-Anxiety Link in Children
with Learning, Mood, and Behavior Challenges
by Nicole Buerkens, PhD.

Anxiety is a very common symptom in children and adults with a wide range of diagnoses. The majority of individuals with learning, mood, and behavior challenges struggle with anxiety symptoms such as constant worry, fear of being in social situations, feelings of restlessness, or panic. While many things can cause and exacerbate anxiety symptoms, the things we eat and drink can have a major impact on how anxious we feel. Many people either suffer with anxiety symptoms throughout their lives, not realizing that they can be treated, or rush to medication as a solution without trying other approaches first. Understanding the link between anxiety and nutrition, and making health changes to eating habits, should be part of a first-line approach to supporting anxiety reduction.

Here are some simple nutrition strategies to try if you or your child struggle with anxiety…

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Keep Climbing

Who doesn’t need a little motivation midweek?! I also like to remember that a journey with a child on the autistic spectrum is a marathon, not a sprint. And sometimes we need to remember to count even the smallest victories. 

It’s Not a Walk in the Park

Almost a year ago, I posted a video I found online of what sensory overload feels like for some children on the autistic spectrum. In this video, we are shown what it might be like to simply walk down the street for someone with ASD. Incredibly enlightening! I will be ever so much more aware when I’m walking outside with my 12-year-old son.

Growth

When we can’t go over or around something, sometimes all that is left is to go through it. I think it’s lovely to think about the challenging times as learning opportunities. Look for growth everywhere!

Operation Clean-Up: Refined Sugar

The second phase of cleaning up Corban’s diet was to pull refined sugar. I know that sugar contributes to many serious health conditions (heart disease, cancer, cataracts, emphysema, anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity). But when I learned that refined sugar is tied to decreased immune function, I knew we had to see what would happen when we took it out of Corban’s diet.

For children with developmental delays, sugar is especially harmful. This is true because many children on the autistic spectrum have food allergies, damaged intestinal tracts, out-of-balance gut flora, and yeast (Candida) overgrowth. Yeast is especially alarming because it feeds on sugar. Then the yeast:

• produces toxic chemicals including alcohol, which the blood carries to the brain and affects nerve growth and brain development
• depresses the immune system and makes a child more sensitive to other allergies to food and environmental stimuli

So how did we begin this second phase of our Operation Clean-up? We began by religiously checking processed food labels for the following sweetener ingredients and strictly limiting them in Corban’s diet:

• white sugar
• brown sugar
• raw sugar
• confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar
• cane sugar
• sucrose

We also completely avoided these sweeteners:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
• Corn Syrup
• Fructose
• All artificial sweeteners, including aspartame

Being informed is the first step to making positive change. If you want to learn more about why sugar is dangerous to our health, click here to watch the video, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”

Results:  Corban became a lot less moody and combative after only a few days without refined sugar. The frenetic activity, including stimming, decreased substantially. The other enormous impact we saw was that previously, Corban had been constantly sick, catching one thing after another. After pulling refined sugar, he’s had only one mild cold in the last 9 months. Now that’s progress.

Suggestions: While I will not recommend or endorse any specific sugar and sweetening products, I’ll tell you the options we’ve tried and had success with: xylitol, brown rice syrup, organic honey, and stevia. I monitor the information and research on these options closely to make sure we’re making the safest, healthiest choices available. If you’re concerned about introducing or excluding anything from your child’s diet, work with your doctor.

Keep a food diary so you can track your child’s response and to watch for a change or reduction in ASD symptoms once a particular food is removed.

 

Heroes

I’ve never learned anything about Mr. Fred Rogers that I didn’t admire. He’s always been such an inspiration and a stellar example of giving back. Let’s all strive to be his heroes.

Operation Clean-Up: Food Additives

Research has linked the brain to gut health and other imbalances in the body. And we know that the foods we—and more specifically, our autistic children—eat play a major role in cognitive function.

As we started phase one of our Operation Clean-up for Corban, I pulled Food Additives from his diet. I chose something that seemed manageable and obvious, and that might produce some noticeable results. I had no idea if any of this would make a difference, but it couldn’t hurt. These things were pulled from the whole family’s diet, so I could compare how Corban responded with how the rest of the “neuro-typical” family members responded.

Here was our Operation Clean-Up 101 (phase one): Food Additives

We eliminated all artificial food dyes, flavors, and sweeteners from Corban’s diet. Many children are sensitive to preservatives and artificial food coloring. Additives have been shown to trigger disorders like ADHD, hyperactivity, and anxiety. And the base ingredient of some of these products is petroleum. If you’re interested in finding out more, there is a lot of information online about things like aspartame, saccharin, red dye 40, yellow #5, and what impact they may have on health.

We also eliminated high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This came after reading some information from Raymond Francis, an MIT scientist and nutrition consultant, who described the way our bodies process HFCS as, “like alcohol without the buzz.” And it is in EVERYTHING, from bread to condiments to ice cream to soup.

The first time I went grocery shopping and began reading labels to avoid these items, it took me 2-1/2 hours to shop. It was more of an education than a grocery run, and I admit it left me feeling a little sick about the foods we consume in this culture without even thinking about the ingredients we’re ingesting.

Results: At the end of one month, we saw immediate and noticeable improvements in Corban’s attention span, focus, and physical tics/stimming. He simply calmed down. For the first time in his life he was sleeping through the night and was markedly less anxious. He stopped walking in circles, and he responded immediately when we spoke to him. As a family, we have been food-additive free for almost a year.

Suggestion: If you are interested in trying this with your child and/or family, read the labels of the products you buy and eat. Keep a small notebook with the date you started, what you eliminated from the diet, and some brief notes about what your child is struggling with (start with the obvious behavioral issues). After a few weeks or a month, go back and review those notes.

The Great Experiment

Almost one year ago we embarked on an experiment to see if we could recover, reverse, and/or heal Corban’s autism. Was this even possible. And if so, how much?

It all began with reading two books I happened across that shifted my world. These books introduced me to the idea that just as the foods and additives in our modern diet can affect a healthy person’s health and behavior, it might have an even more significant impact on an autistic child’s health and behavior. The encouragement behind this message was to strengthen the child’s immune and digestive systems and get back to the basics of what is going on in our child’s body and brain.

That wasn’t too much of a stretch for me. I agree that what our kids eat has at least some impact on their health. But how much? Could pulling things from Corban’s diet help him, either in general or with autistic-specific challenges?

In the midst of dozens of books and on the verge of overwhelm, I knew we needed to take a step for Corban. At the very least, I wanted to know if diet impacted my son’s autistic challenges. I didn’t want to wait until I had read everything there was to know about this subject. That might take months! So following my rule of thumb — to try anything that sounds practical, reasonable, safe, healthy, and non-invasive — I decided to tackle our operation clean-up for Corban in phases.

Tune in tomorrow to read about our first experiment phase — Operation Clean-Up 101 — and what results we saw in Corban.

Roadmap for the Journey

We live in an amazing time in which the definition of autism (neurological, environmental, and immunological) is changing. As parents of kids on the autistic spectrum, we are in a unique position of standing up as our children’s advocates and challenging diagnoses, prognoses, treatments, and therapies. We’re exploring alternative answers and options, some of which are controversial. What works well for one child or family may not work for others.

The current medical model in this country is not in a position to address the frightening growth in numbers of children on the autistic spectrum. As a mom who was gob-smacked by the reality that I’m my autistic child’s best hope, I continue to spend a great deal of time reading and researching information about autism and how to meet its many challenges. My rule of thumb is this: If it seems reasonable, safe, healthy and noninvasive, we’ll try it… not to cure autism, but to recover as much of Corban as possible.

I’m going to share with you what we’ve tried with Corban and the results we’ve seen. Will all of these ideas work for your child? Of course not. I’m not a medical professional who can argue for or against the scientific veracity of any of the things we’ve tried that have worked.

My greatest wish when we began this journey with Corban in 2011 was that we had had a roadmap to guide us. So it’s in that spirit that I share our journey, our paths, what’s worked for us and what hasn’t. Take from it what you can and leave the rest. If you’d like to join the conversation, feel free to leave a comment.

Each of our journeys is unique and personal. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. There are no magic wands. There is no sweep of eradication of autism. There is only our commitment to recover as much of our children as possible, a spectrum of possibilities to explore, and the belief that we as parents of autistic children can be strong beyond measure.

 

 

Watch for this icon in the series Operation Clean-Up.

New TED Talk About Autism

Wendy Chung, a geneticist, discusses what we know and what we don’t yet know about autism in a recent TED talk.

While I don’t agree with everything she says in this 15-minute video, I love the fact that it adds to the dialogue about autism spectrum disorders.

Awareness Requires More Than Waiting

April is, of course, Autism Awareness Month. And this month the yearly observance was preceded by the CDC’s announcement of the prevalence of autism, which is increasing at a dizzying speed: 1 in 68 children in the United States—and 1 in 42 boys—is on the autistic spectrum. This is up from 1 in 88 children a mere two years ago.

The announcement was followed by a call for the government to research and find reasons/answers for these alarming and increasing numbers.

While waiting, it’s clear that parents of children on the autistic spectrum need to be more than aware; we need to remain proactive as our child’s primary advocates.

The choices we make for our children, the paths we choose to follow, the therapies we decide to implement to address the many challenges of autism are intensely personal.  And yet, in many ways we’re all struggling with the same challenges. I’m hopeful a more open dialogue between parents will allow us to share what’s working, and what isn’t, in our own families.

With this in mind, I will be including in the pages of this blog some of the things we’ve tried with Corban that have made a significant difference for him. I share this information in the spirit of opening this dialogue as well as offering parents new to this journey a place to start.

I acknowledge right from the start that everything I mention in these pages will not work for everybody. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. There is no magic bullet or magic wand. I’m not a medical professional. And I recognize the spectrum defines a range. However, I’m constantly on the lookout for reasonable, practical, sensible, safe, and non-invasive things to try with Corban to address the challenges of autism. I will freely share these with readers of this blog in the hope that you, too, might find them helpful.

Regardless of the future numbers from the CDC or the government response to them, as parents we can’t afford to wait.

Move Mountains in 2014

Dr. Seuss perfectly sums up my hopes for 2014… both for Corban and for you and your family.

The mountain is waiting! Let’s get on our way!

The Reason I Jump

I just finished reading a wonderful book by a 13-year-old nonverbal autistic boy named Naoki Higashida. It’s called The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old With Autism. Naoki wrote the book by spelling it out, one word at a time, on an alphabet letter board.

While there has been some criticism about the translation by David Mitchell—himself the father of an autistic child—I was blown away by Naoki’s inner voice as he answers 58 questions he thinks others wonder about him.

This young author is bright and thoughtful, and his startling and sometimes moving insights helped me to understand the hidden depths under the impairment of autism.

His Afterword brought tears to my eyes. There, he opens with the question: What am I going to be if my autism can never be cured?

Naoki offers a rare look inside the autistic mind, and I encourage you to read it. It increased my hope and understanding. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.

I’ve been using this list during the home-school day when I’m teaching Corban. It reminds me that his learning style and methods are not the same as mine. It also helps me remember to show him patience and respect when challenges come up. Looking at this list this morning, I realized what a great list it is for supporting anyone on the spectrum.

Be Awesome!

This fabulous list is good for all of us to review, but I’m inspired today to set a strong and positive example for my autistic son to follow. In true Aspie style, he’ll tell you he thinks ‘awesome’ is spelled wrong; he’d like to see it changed to “AU-SOME’! I don’t disagree. Let’s all be ‘au-some‘ today!

Top 3 Foods That Impact Learning & Behavior

Research has linked the brain to gut health and other imbalances like moodiness, sleeplessness, difficulty learning, and even ADHD. And the foods your child eats play a major role in cognitive function.

Here are 3 problem foods to avoid that could impact learning and behavior in your child:

1. Food Additives: Research has confirmed that children are sensitive to preservatives and artificial food coloring. Additives may even trigger disorders like ADHD, conduct disorders, anxiety, dyslexia, and autism.

2. Gluten: According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, up to 18 million adults and children in the US may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which can trigger a number of issues, including angry outbursts, mood swings, anxiety, and tics/stimming.

3. Sugar: Optimal brain function requires balanced blood sugar. Unfortunately, sugar can be found in countless convenience/fast foods and has been associated with a higher risk of ADHD, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders, mood swings, and aggression.

Although this blog is dedicated to supporting my 12-year-old autistic son — and we pulled food preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, artificial sweeteners, gluten, casein, soy, and refined sugar five months ago — this isn’t just advice for those on the autistic spectrum. All of us can benefit by looking at our diets in today’s world.

Read more here.

Autistic Kids Are…

The only thing I’d add to this list is “Incredibly Unique”! Corban has helped me to see a much bigger world than I ever knew. And when I count my blessings, I count him twice.

Looking for Strengths

There is a wonderful article in the October 7, 2013, Time Magazine called “What’s Right with the Autistic Mind,” by Temple Grandin. In it she makes the point that research and therapy have traditionally focused on understanding and compensating for cognitive problems in people with autism. But this emphasis on what’s wrong with the autistic brain has obscured a recognition of something just as important: what’s right with it.

A few years ago there was a Canadian study that showed the measure of autistic intelligence depended on what tests the subjects were given. When autistic children took a test that depended on information gained from social interactions, 1/3 of them qualified as “low functioning.” However, when the same autistic children took a test that depended on providing only nonverbal information, only 5% were labeled low-functioning. And remarkably, 1/3 qualified as having “high intelligence.” The researchers’ conclusion? “We conclude that intelligence has been underestimated in autistics.”

Dr. Grandin goes on in her article to acknowledge that autism is not something wonderful that should be celebrated. But she suggests that  “if we can recognize, realistically and on a case-by-case basis, what an individual’s strengths are, we can better determine the future of the individual.” This is a growing concern now more than ever, as the rate of autism diagnoses reaches record levels.

You can read the article here.

Sensory Overload

Illustration by Gretchen Leary

Sensory overload is something parents of autistic children know well. We frequently see our children react to an environment that has too much stimulation for our child’s nervous system to successfully process.

This article has a good definition for, as well as a list of symptoms of, sensory overload that is very helpful for parents.

You can see the list here.

Let’s Talk About Bullying

As parents, teachers, and advocates, we have a vital role to play in preventing bullying and protecting our children.

I just read a great article that discussed some very practical things we can do to help our kids understand what bullying is, to keep the lines of communication open, and to model kind and respectful behavior for our children.

But it’s the fourth item on the list that blew me away. The article reminded us that we need to encourage our kids to do what they love. Taking part in activities, interests, and hobbies they like builds confidence and pairs them up with friends who have the same interests. And that helps to protect kids from bullying. Brilliant!

You can read the full article here.