Kimya Dawson ([info]kimya_dawson_) wrote,
@ 2004-12-21 10:23:00
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Current mood: hopeful

check out those glutes
alright so i am officially responsible for getting skyler started on a dairy free/gluten free diet. i think i am going to try it for myself too. i have spent years altering what i consume because of the way certain things affect my brain, now that i have read this book, i feel like i have a better grasp on what food sensitivities really are and how to know what aggravators are really in which foods. me and akida talked about certain ways our brains feel sometimes. the book isn't just about autism but also families with a predisposition to autistic tendencies and biological differences that cause certain substances to not only go unprocessed, but to turn into opiades in the system. creating a surrealness. me and akida have said a number of times. i can't handle hallucinagens because i always feel like i am tripping. it talks about stimming which is when autistic kids obsess on one thing to comfort them, and i thought about myself with driving and the internet. and akida sitting alone with his guitar all day. and my mom with her crafts. i wonder if these sensitivities to glutens and yeast in a family could also cause a predisposition to alcoholism, because it is another allergy. it talks about how these people become junkies for the things they are allergic to. skyler was diagnosed with PDD over the summer. this woman says that PDD is autism. doctors just don't always tell you that. he is like a junky for certain foods. i paid close attention yesterday to his reaction to what he ate. and to his reaction when i told him he couldn't have them. he freaked the fuck out. this lady says that there will be a few days of withdrawals and then such a marked improvement that the hassle of changing feeding patterns that it will all be worth it. i am going to go try to find a copy of this book and get started. i think it will help him just based on my experiments on myself with food.
lynn, will you email me at kimyadawson@gmail.com anyone else with any experience with this too. today is going to be rough for him- like rehab. so i can use some encouragement.
i know a lot of people think this (and the belief that autism comes from vaccines) is a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but honestly, i have always trusted quacks more than the doctors who are slaves to the pharmaceutical biz.
my family has generations of people who have difficulty feeling okay in the world, and turns out most of these families in the book have similar situation. i am relieved thinking that there might be a way to make skyler less frustrated and make it so he can communicate better.
anything for skyler.


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[info]sa_rah
2004-12-21 03:54 pm UTC (link)
That's really interesting. Lots of luck with it, Skyler's lucky to have such a caring aunt.

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[info]pyxilillymon
2004-12-21 04:23 pm UTC (link)
I obsess over driving and the internet, too. BLAH.

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[info]kimya_dawson_
2004-12-21 04:29 pm UTC (link)
it's hard to explain what i mean.

:(

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[info]pyxilillymon
2004-12-21 08:23 pm UTC (link)
Same here.
You know, today is only the first day of winter but i'm ready for it to be over already. When it's cold outside, it makes it harder for me to go on adventues and stuff. So here i sit over the break - playing Chrono Trigger on my computer and checking certain things online obsessively. I think driving is a healtier obsession because it gets you somewhere. Sometimes.

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[info]lambwaffle
2004-12-21 04:38 pm UTC (link)
A few years ago I was in a class on the psychology of language and had to write a research paper on a topic. I chose theory of mind in the autistic individual and how that effected their communication. Theory of mind is the capacity of an individual to make a mental representation of what another person is thinking. This comes in handy during conversation because it helps you parse the intention of the other individual's speech. For instance, if you are capable of generating an accurate theory of mind for that individual you'll be able to tell if that person is joking, or angry, or whatever, really. It seems that autistic individuals have trouble with generating an accurate theory of mind and therefore their ability to communicate is hampered a great deal. I never really researched the causes of autism, but I do believe that the allergy theory was being researched a great deal at the time. No evidence has suggested that autism is caused by vaccines that I know of, but it's still impossible to dictate what could be the exact cause of autism.

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[info]kimya_dawson_
2004-12-21 08:28 pm UTC (link)
yeah, i am not saying that vaccines are the cause. i just think there could be a lot of factors involved.

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[info]socetew
2004-12-21 04:44 pm UTC (link)
I'm eating some raw brocolli as a snack, and my friends are making fun of me. Not like I eat that many vegetables, but I figure each bit counts.

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[info]jasonfifi
2004-12-21 05:10 pm UTC (link)
the manager where i work(i do phone-fund raising for the local shakespeare theater) has a disease that makes her body process gluten in a really bad way. my memory sucks, so i can't remember what it was called... but yeah, she was telling me about all the other things gluten can do to a person, and man; that's crazy. when i've got more money to spend on food, i'll go gluten-free, but for now, i'm good friends with the bread store lady(i get mad fat deals, like, 3 loafs of organic 9 grain for $1.89; score!). that, and gluten is in seemingly everything. fucking food companies pump it into anything that walks, like, if i remember correctly, she(my manager) couldn't drink diet mountain dew anymore because it had gluten in it... but then, that shit has "fake sugar," aka "cancer" in it. anyways, good luck on the diet change.

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hi
[info]abide_with_me
2004-12-21 05:17 pm UTC (link)
my cousin brenden got PDD when he was really young, but it went undiagnosed for way too long. skylers extremely lucky that he has an aunt like you to take care of him and help him out. brended never had a mom or a dad or especially an auntie like that and as a result hes still adjusting to himself. i hope everything works out for you. make sure that no one ever ever patronizes him or treats him as though he has difficulty in the world or that he is a different person. you know that the world is probably really scary for kids as it is, and if they feel like they can't reconcile with the rest of the world then things can get extremely scary for them. the reality is that brenden has been outcasted and ostracized for most of his life and i would never want to will the same fate on anyone else, especially such a cool looking person like skyler.

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[info]elliotdill
2004-12-21 06:04 pm UTC (link)
good luck, kimya!

all of that sounds very interesting and i know one of my friends' siblings was diagnosed with autism and they changed his eating habits and he got better (i'm not sure if he got 100% better or just a little or what), so i hope skyler can kick some pdd butt, too!

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[info]analkant
2004-12-21 06:35 pm UTC (link)
kimya
i have asperger's syndrome
it's a form of autism
it is why most strangers i meet end up hating me
it is very very serious and should not be considered lightly.
maybe he does have it but you have to understand that a lot of the symptoms are things that normal people have in certain amounts. what separates aspies is that we have ALL of the symptoms and they all combine to make this lovely annoying stew.
i have heard things about pdd and maybe they are the same although some people on the asperger community would cut your head off for suggesting it. i would really suggest reading up on it. the link on my user info, directly under the poem that jason smedley wrote about milk, is the best description of the symptoms that i have found. a lot of it is psychologist language but you're a smart lady.
anyway, asperger's is the new ADD in that it is what everyone with problems is being diagnosed with nowadays. if skyler is functional on a day to day basis, he probably does not have classical autism. he may be an aspie tho. aspies are medically known to be the cutest kids so he fits that criteria. i would highly recommend researching it before deciding on a vegan diet. and this is coming from a vegan. also i have never had trouble with gluten. some people can't digest it well but plenty of others can and are not affected. i think my vegan diet may have been very good for me. the only reason i'd be wary before putting him on a vegan diet is that it is very important for small children to get nutrients that vegan diets don't naturally have. and giving him too much soy could be dangerous too. ok sorry for ranting but this is something that is very important to me.

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[info]kimya_dawson_
2004-12-21 08:18 pm UTC (link)
the thing is i wouldn't be putting him on a vegan diet. he is not a vegetarian. he just wouldn't have dairy. he could still have chicken, fish, etc. i wouldn't keep him on anything that he didn't seem better than he seems now on. the book that i read is a special diet for autism/pdd. so maybe i don't understand clearly which is a part of which and how they relate to each other. i do know that skyler is diagnosed with pdd and his behavior and development isn't limited to small quirks. we have had 2 asperger kids at our day care. one is 7 and he has been with us since he was born. the other was with us for 4 years and left when he was 8. skyler has almost identical things going on as these boys. what the older one could eat was limited. the younger one was supposed to be on a special diet but his parents didn't have the patience. if after a few days skyler were to seem sick i would give him something else. you can't tell in all the cute pictures i post but he is a very special little guy. he can't communicate his needs and he beats himself up. he screams and screams. i wouldn't do anything that i thought would hurt him. honestly, as it stands, he couldn't be any less nutritious than he is. he barely eats. we'll see how it goes. i'll be careful.

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[info]analkant
2004-12-21 09:15 pm UTC (link)
cool. good luck with it.
i have always had trouble eating certain foods. it is inevitably due to texture not flavor. like i won't eat mashed potatoes but i will eat any other kind of potatoes. i hope things work out. it sucks that he has self-injurious behavior going on. that shit is hard. once i was in a behavioral psych class that talked about how they were trying to solve that with behaviorism and then someone just said "hey it makes us sad when you hit yourself you should stop" and then the kid did. anyway i hope things work out for him.

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[info]kimya_dawson_
2004-12-21 09:27 pm UTC (link)
i wouldn't ever train a kid. kids actions are attemps at communicating. i just wanna know whats wrong and try to make it better.

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[info]innerfreak13
2004-12-22 03:36 pm UTC (link)
you can't tell in all the cute pictures i post but he is a very special little guy. he can't communicate his needs and he beats himself up. he screams and screams. i wouldn't do anything that i thought would hurt him. honestly, as it stands, he couldn't be any less nutritious than he is. he barely eats. we'll see how it goes. i'll be careful.

You are such a caring person. It is so obvious how much you care for him. I'm sure that your family is going to help him figure out his world safely.

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(Anonymous)
2004-12-21 08:54 pm UTC (link)
What happens when an autistic child grows up? Does autism stay with the patient for their whole life? Has there been a real increased incidence of "behavioural disorders" in the last century or is it just being reported more?

Are some children being misdiagnosed as showing autistic behaviour when they are really just being a bit naughty or noisy?

Are there loads of adults in their 20s and 30s who suffer from autism but were never diagnosed or given a label when they were young?

These are questions I have never found answers to. If anyone can answer these questions, please reply.

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[info]kimya_dawson_
2004-12-21 09:01 pm UTC (link)
i don't know how long you have been reading my journals but the questions you ask are also questions i have. i have seen many kids diagnosed and medicated, i have worked in schools, camps, and daycares my whole life. i think sometimes it really is necessary. and most times it is not. i love a lot of the things in these "problem" kids that other people think are the "problems". diet changes can help without turning kids into robots. i don't think anyone needs dairy or processed sugar. i don't think anyone needs caffeine. i just hate to see parents give a kid a pill to wash down with a pepsi and a bowl of capn crunch. i had seen this happen.

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[info]motherginsberg
2004-12-21 11:02 pm UTC (link)
"What happens when an autistic child grows up? "

I don't have an answer, but

From what I've read about Asperger's syndrome (similar to autism, another kind of PDD) the symptoms of autism is either minimally or greatly reduced overtime, especially if one has undergone certain social-behavioral therapy that reconstructs severe or 'maladaptive' symptoms associated w/ PDDs that can impair one's ability to learn and function independently (i.e. i'm referring here more to autisms that makes a child seemingly 'Catatonic' which is rare).

But these kinds of therapies address more the autistic social mind. From a child developmental perspective, children with PDDs are stuck in a self-oriented stage: unable to fully graps the emotions/positions/comfortability of others, unable to sufficiently/fully express a spectrum of emotions at the 'appropriate' times, etc.

the therapies work to nudge the child outward a bit... but without the therapy, kids with autism are typically extremely bright (although IQ tests for them usually say otherwise, but I think that is bunk), and gradually learn these things without the nudging... hence why the incidence of "Adult" autism isn't as high as child autism.

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help is on th way...
(Anonymous)
2004-12-21 09:24 pm UTC (link)
you bet I will email you...it is great after you get used to it and the best part is feeling wonderful...took me 51 years...so starting younger is all the better...
HUGS
Lynn

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[info]motherginsberg
2004-12-21 10:51 pm UTC (link)
"my family has generations of people who have difficulty feeling okay in the world"

i appreciate this phrase, i've been studying clinical/'abnormal' psychology for some time, and i hate most of our terminology. thank you.

Two summers ago I was hanging out with some children & some nuns that took care of them in Uganda--- the nun mentioned certain foods and how nutrition and the children's psychological connection to the foods aggravated their 'social condition'. The children displayed some of the more classic symptoms of autism (delayed affect/empathy, attention spans that went from buddhist-like to minimal, "fixations", etc.) so I thought that's what she was referring to.

I'll try and think back about it and see if I can recall anything helpful... I have a book or two at home, I'll see if they reveal anything.

You're a good aunt (aunt?), I'm glad he has you/your family.

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[info]talentshow
2004-12-22 04:48 pm UTC (link)
My friend Betsy posted a link to this article: http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/adhd/zeiler.htm . and I thought you might be interested since it touches on nutrition's connection to neurological function.

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PDD-Autism
[info]gimme5
2004-12-24 09:54 pm UTC (link)
sorry, everyone may have moved on , but i m still posting even if its only for my own sake!

the history of the autism/asd/pdd field is such a quagmire because of all the possible cures that have come down the pike over the years (most having little or no merit and raising a parent's hopes only to crush them when they dont work) and the old 'refridgerator mothers' crap from the 60's/70's (ie: autism is the mother's fault b'c they were emotionally distant or 'cold' during crucial early bonding periods- hence the distant emotional states of the children w/this disorder)...

the field is rife with stories about sucessful cures, miracles, etc based on diets, physical therapies, holding therapies, behavior trainings, and what not.. how the hell should a parent know what is really really real?! (there's a real good book about one parent's sucessful struggle w/her 2 children with autism called "let me hear your voice" by catherine mauice -- it is behavior/lovaas heavy which can be contentious, but her sense of panic, confusion and ultimate navigation through all the therapies is very well done)..

there is a great deal of research and techniques for developing successful communication techniques with kids living with ASD/ PDD/autism .. look under "Augmentative and Alternative Communication, autism, PDD, communication interventions" or combinations...

the hardest part about autism is the lack of social closeness, and communication adaptations are a great place to start.. teaching skylar how to express himself in a way that's consistent with the kind of person he is would be a fantastic outcome..

merry holidays>>

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Re: PDD-Autism
[info]gimme5
2004-12-24 10:06 pm UTC (link)
oops, one other thing.. well, a couple i guess..

when skylar is engaging in self-injurious behaviors (SIBs), a lot of the research shows that with autistic kids, almost anything can be a communication attempt .. the trick is to notice WHEN he engages in SIBs, with WHO (familiar? unfamiliar? same person everytime? etc), to get at the WHY (he smacks himself in the head when he cant explain his tummy hurts, etc.).. its probably frustrating as hell for him alot of the time, just as it's probably scary and frustrating for all the people who love him ..

some of the hardest things ive had to deal with in the special ed field are the little (and big) kids that exhibit self injurious behaviors (SIBs).. i would much rather them hit ME than gouge their eyes, pick skin until it bleeds or worse .. hang in there and always try..

thanks

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