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A question for those who have a child with ASD
Are any of you using biomedical treatments to help your child? Tell me about your experiences.
tia
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Re: A question for those who have a child with ASD
Yes, we're doing biomed.
We got a reputable DAN dr (fired our 1st one), got tests done and went from there. We're doing the GFCF diet and supplements based on the test results. In the past year, we have also done the B-12 shots and some meds, mainly for yeast in the belly. We didn't do chelation, as my child didn't test high on metals and we have never vaccinated him.
It is hard at first, especially if you have a child that is not a fast/obvious responder to the diet...so you can get discouraged and easily unmotivated. Also, the number of supps can get crazy high and keeping up with that can be challenging. But, it has helped my child in the long run, especially since I saw adverse effects when there was a slip up.
We've been at it for almost 12 months consistently, although we had been playing with it for a lot longer...and only succeded with the diet on our 3rd try. Along with no dairy or gluten, we also avoid soy, yeast, sugar, oxalates, artificial colors/additives and we try to stay low on corn. Lots of simple, homemade meals and a good GFCF cookbook.
If you have specific questions...let me know, there's so much to write about.
hopanka I'm glad to hear your story. I've been feeling like such a failure lately.
I went to a DAN conference about a year ago in San Diego and I was totally pumped and motivated to get DD on this path. We found a very reputable, board certified (DAN) pediatrician in the area but he does not take insurance. We simply can't afford that so we brought DD to a DAN chiropractor in the same office who does take insurance. We really like the doctor, but I started getting frustrated and discouraged with the diet. He initally had us remove (obvious) dairy just to get started (cheese, milk, butter, yogurt, ice cream etc) There was such an immediate and noticable improvement in her stools and removing dairy was not that hard. She loves almond milk and doesn't seem to be terribly upset about losing cheese.
When he asked us to get rid of gluten, I was on board but struggling to find things that she would eat. OMG I've wasted SO MUCH MONEY on these overpriced GF foods that taste like CRAP. Over Thanksgiving weekend I kind of "gave up."
We were with family for the first time in ages and all DD's cousins were eating eggo waffles for breakfast. That used to be her FAVORITE. We were never fully successful in our attempt to eliminate gluten, so I just let her have the waffles. Since then I've been REALLY lax about gluten and I'm feeling guilty.
I also feel like I'm noticing more stims but I can't tell if it's all in my head. She was never totally GF but we were pretty close.
She was only given Omega Cure fish oil and glutathione supplements to begin. We need to bring her for more nutrition testing for allergies and sensitivities but lately I've just been seeing the dollars fly out of my wallet. It's so discouraging sometimes.
I'm trying to stay positive and optimistic, but for some reason, that's been a bit of a challenge.
I'd love to hear your GFCF bread recommendations. Also, do you know of any decent GFCF crackers, bagels and snacks. DD does like meat(chicken, ground beef, turkey) and rice but I struggle to figure out recipes that both she and her twin sister will enjoy.
Thanks in advance for any information or advice you have.
Thanks for the book rec!
Ava looks at me like I'm crazy when I try to push those Van's waffles on her. I swear she would roll her eyes at me if she could, like "b!tch please."
LOL
that's the look she gives.
I even tried the Van's pancakes and the Van's french toast sticks. No dice.
Hi - sorry...I had it all typed up last night and then it all vanished! So, here goes:
1) Bread: Brown Rice Bread by Food for Life (pink & red packaging). I get it at WF. My son is very picky and this bread tastes really good. You keep it in the freezer, and only thaw what you need that day. I use a separate toaster oven for his GF stuff and thaw/toast at the same time. It comes out tasting as your regular white toast IMO. He loves it! I use it for PB&J and other snacks. The only downside is the price. $7.50/loaf...but just recently I discovered that Trader Joes carries Food for Life breads for only $3.50/loaf....not bad. It doesn't work for us, because it has yeast in it, so we have to get the more expensive one, but if you're doing plain GFCF, this could be your best bet. I noticed you went to S.D. conference...are you in Cali? If yes, Trader Joe's is the store to shop at for a lot of this stuff. It's way cheaper than Whole Foods.
2) Snacks: Corn chips instead of crackers (Whole Foods has good ones - 365 is their own private label and not very expensive at all...plus the chips don't have any other additives/artificial colors. Just some lime added to the corn chips. I whip up some avocado guacamole-style and serve with the chips...great snack. Other snacks: apple sauce, coconut-milk based YOGURTS by So Delicious (these are awesome...chocolate flavor, vanillla, strawberry...all really good).
3) Cookies: Quinoa Cookies by Andean Dream (all kinds of flavors - PB, chocolate chip...etc.). My son loves these. Available at Whole Foods.
4) Ice Cream: no need to deprive your daughter of ice-cream...our kids deserve treats, too! :-) Coconut-based Ice-cream by So Delicious (chocolate flavor is BETTER than regular ice-cream IMO...it's divine!)
5) Milk - almond milk is good, but try to change it up a bit. I made this mistake as well, and fed my son a lot of nut-based products....they are very high in oxalates, so you should try to rotate. You can do hemp milk (be careful, some brands taste nasty....we use Living Harvest), rice milk, DariFree (potato based) milk. See, if she tolerates some of these as well.
6) Pancakes - Pancake & Baking Mix by Authentic Foods....it's yummy, my son doesn't like the Van's kind either...it tasted fine to me, but he hated it! He's so picky....but, this mix by Auth. Foods he really likes. The good thing is that there are 5g of protein per serving in them as well, due to the garbanzo bean flour. Pour some maple syrup on them, and you're good to go.
7) Namaste makes a delicious brownie mix....honestly, I could not tell a difference, they taste just like the regular brownies. and my boy LOVES them. They also make good cake mixes (for B-days or special occasions).
8) Applegate Farms makes really good GFCF hot dogs, and so does Rancher's.
9) I use "Kid-friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook" by Pamela J. Compart and it has a ton of great, easy to make recipes. A lot of snacks - dips that you can combine with chips or veggies and many meals. There is a really good recipe for pizza that my son loves. Btw,WF carries rice-based cheese now, that taste pretty good when melted on the pizza.
10) Other people swear by "Special Diets for Special Kids" volume 1 & 2 by Lisa Lewis. About 200 recipes I think in there.
11) For breaded chicken, I get Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice cereal (dark blue packaging) and crush it up. The breading is better than the regular wheat breading, IMO. My son loves his Vienna-style breaded chicken strips!
Also, if you are in Cali, have you tried going to TACA meetings? They are HQ's in Orange County and the GFCF support is amazing.
Oh, and I hear you on the family get-togethers...it's hard when everyone else is eating something good and your daughter can't have it. Well, you can get enzymes. There are some really good ones out these, like Tri-Enza by Houston Enzymes that break down gluten & milk protein molecules, but it can't be done too often and it's not foolproof...really only as an emergency, in case of a slip up...but they're not magic...if you stuff your kid with a ton of milk, you can't expect the enzymes to do the work 100%...but they will help out breaking the stuff down, YKWIM? Also, I usually try to plan ahead...and expect what everyone is going to be served...and bring along my substitutions. After some practice, you really can whip up GFCF stuff that will look and taste pretty much like the real thing most of the time. And your kids won't feel left out.
Lemme know, if you need anything else!
Thanks so much. I'm in NY but we have Trader Joes, Whole Foods and even Stop and Shop carries some GF stuff.
I haven't been able to find DariFree anywhere. Is it in the refrigerated section or on the shelf?
Oh, I read that you went to a conference in San Diego, so I thought maybe you were from Orange County...you flew there all the way from the East Coast? Wow - you're a dedicated momma!
As far as I know, you can order DariFree online only. I haven't seen it in any stores.
Also, if you're looking for a butter replacement by any chance, I found Ghee to be a great substitute and my DAN doc recommended it as well...there's something in real butter that is very beneficial for the body, but it's not in any of the plant substitutes - ghee is the only thing that has it...only I forgot what it is - Lol - I just remember my DAN doc telling me that and that's why we use ghee. Certain children may have a reaction to ghee, though, so watch for that. It is completely casein-free, although it is made from real butter. Other than that, I really like Earth balance, which is completely plant-based (and now they make it soy-free as well).
Well, I know i'm comming in here very late but I have a son with autism and we are doing biomeds. He's been gfcf for two years now and we also have him on Brainchild Nutritionals Spectrum Support II with PAK, threelac, cultrelle, diflucan, Houston enzymes, liquid zeolite, and cod liver oil. Our son has huge progress since starting these supplements and diet.
I know the supplements are helping because he had to have tubes put in in the beginning of December. I had to stop all supplements for the surgery and some of his autistic symptoms came back. Flapping, head shaking, tip toe walking. As soon as I started the supplements again, the behaviors stopped.
I encourage you to try it. We've had major sucess with these interventions and a verbal behavior program.