Yeast busters!

Since Josh's lab work came back, my dad researched everything that came back abnormal. It all seems to tie back to their being yeast in his gut. Amino acids he is low in are fungal fighters and the vitamin deficiencies play a role in it also. The other concerning area was his high level of mercury. I'm still reading about options for clearing out the mercury, but will defer to the pediatrician on her recommendations. I had checked out some books on autism from the library. I had to quit reading them, as they were more mainstream thought that there is no cure and you basically have the option of therapy treatments to help your child cope with this. I flipped through and went to the area covering head banging, which is our most upsetting issue with Josh. This book basically said that kids who hurt themselves need to be drugged. The thought of drugging him being our only option brought me to tears. I could never picture sedating Josh. As upsetting as his tantrums and hurting himself can be, I could never picture taking away some of his spirit by drugging him. I shut the book and returned it to the library. Thankfully, the book I was most interested in and had ordered online came in the mail. It's Jenny McCarthy's book, Healing and Preventing Autism. It does an outstanding job of describing in simple terms how doctors and parents have been successfully treating their children with autism. It explains how immunity issues, yeast overgrowth, vaccine timing and overall digestive health play a part in basically brain poisoning. It gives me much hope and a lot of resources as we continue. We are so fortunate to already be going to a pediatrician who is knowledgeable and optimistic in treating kids with autism. What a blessing that she was a step ahead of us! My dad has also been sending me several links to articles he has found. Here are a few to share:

• A video overview on parents explaining the onset and treatment of autism for their children as well as doctors who see treatment options beyond mainstream medicine saying autism cannot be treated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsjx0Lo05z4&feature=related
• Generation Rescue. This is the organization Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey work with as autism activists. http://www.generationrescue.org/

A lot of articles and books discussing poor functioning digestive systems and yeast overgrowth recommend a dairy and gluten free diet. They suggest removing dairy first, then work into removing the gluten. The idea is to quit feeding the yeast in the digestive system. Last week, we started to remove dairy from Josh's diet and are beginning to remove gluten items. He's been dairy free for several days now and just started week 3 on the antifungal medicine. We have definitely seen improvements! I think his overall demeanor is improving and we've had multiple days without head banging or over-the-top tantrums. He still has them, but he is improving. On Friday, Kate, Josh and I went to Costco with my parents to get food for Kate's Baptism party. Josh was sitting in the shopping cart. The checker took the loaf of bread he was holding to scan it. Old Josh would have melted down and started to throw his head back into the cart. Nope, not this time! Josh made a pouting face, shut his eyes and put his head down. NO FIT! Woo hoo! His language is also continuing to expand. He is naming several more objects, but today he used a few words I was really excited about. He walked up to us this morning, pinching his nose and said, "stinky" and laughed. He didn't have a dirty diaper, but just thought it was funny. Later today, he and Emma were playing with a big balloon together. Emma took it from him and he said, "SHARE!" I finally figured out why I was so excited to hear those words today. They aren't nouns!!! He wasn't just naming objects. He was describing something abstract, a smell, an action. Abstract ideas have been a challenge with Josh. We've always felt that when we described something that was going to happen, he didn't get it. And, he hasn't grown into story books yet. So, this was an exciting accomplishment. Who knows if it is related to the medicine and diet changes, or just his progression in speech development, but it's improvement and every step forward is something to be celebrated. Tomorrow will be another celebration for us. Kate is being baptized! Since Kate was born during Lent, we have had to wait until after Easter to get her baptized. There is quite a backlog of babies at our church. There will be six baptized at Mass tomorrow morning and six were this evening. Emma has been very concerned about Kate having "the sin she and Josh don't" (original sin from Adam and Eve which we believe is removed by the graces of Baptism), so she is looking forward to tomorrow as well. She had a dress in mind to wear and I wondered why she picked that one as she hardly chooses to wear it anymore. Emma told me tonight she picked this dress because it was what she was wearing the day Kate was born. What a memory, and what a sweet sister! Blessings to all! Bonnie