First, our apartment building. They came and tore up all of the trees and bushes, pulled off all the siding, put in new windows and then put up new siding. Michael found this whole process puzzling. Strange men around, banging at 7am, garbage everywhere...
He couldn't even play in the backyard because of all of the nails and broken glass. It's been about 10 days so far. I can't wait until they are finished. Michael tells the men (who don't speak English) to "clean up the mess". Gotta love it.Next, Me. I've started on a new healthy path (we're not calling it a diet). But, I bought a Vitamix blender to make smoothies. I got a ton of organic fruits and veggies. Best part if Michael's helps me. I cut up everything and he puts it in the blender. Then I let him power it up. He won't drink the juice, but I got him to eat bananas, carrots, lettuce & celery. He used to eat bananas when he was like 1 or 2 years old. This is a pretty big deal. He gagged on the celery, but didn't throw up. In the past he couldn't eat these foods- he wouldn't even touch them. I'm excited. We keep telling him "we're eating new foods". I think it helps that we are both eating new foods. Michael even gets upset when I don't make a plate of new foods for him while making a smoothie. My goal is for him to drink the smoothies in the near future.
And lastly, Michael. We got his tests results back a few weeks ago and he has yeast and bacteria problems. Many children with autism have gut problems like these. We added some yeast and bacteria fighters to his supplements. Olive Leaf, Grapefruit Seed Extract and Monolaurin. If these don't work, we'll going to try a prescription that is stronger. But, I'll like to try the natural stuff first.
The hardest part has been Michael's stims. He's been stimming a lot lately. He's also been rubbing his mouth, like he is nervous. Extra stimming is a sign of yeast problems. So, it makes sense.
Michael also started summer school on Monday. He goes for about 3 hrs a day. I'm not sure exactly what class he is in, but he's not in the autism class anymore. I need to go to the school this week and check out the situation. He was definitely happy to get back to school.
Oh, another thing we changed is Michael's diet. We cut out french fries, cereal (corn), orange juice and rice milk. That is about half his diet. We added Pear Juice. I'm also working on the whole "new foods" project too. LOL. We haven't had this much change since he was 3 and we had him start eating meat and took out gluten/casein & soy.
With all of this going on, Michael is still doing well- talking more everyday. Michael got the best compliment this past week. Three different people said Michael was the "happiest kid with autism" they had ever seen. He dressed himself today- even picked out his own clothes and they matched (kinda). I think if we can get the yeast & bacteria under control, which will result in less stimming- we'll be right on track. Wish us luck.
