Aspergers/Autism/Sensory Integration Chatter #3

[Yeddi]

DD was diagnosed with her PPD last year. Over that time we have incrementally tried new things/therapies. Osteopath was one, which made a big difference because he put her on a GABA supplement. It not only changed some of her behaviour, but it also stopped her from having fits whenever she went over 37 degrees. Before that, if I thought she was going to have a temp I'd have to stalk her. Since starting she's had temps up to 39 degrees without fitting and I've seen the difference in her eyes and the smell of her breath because they were normally the give away of an impending fit.

Then we started (about six months ago) doing Sensory Integration Therapy and Extra Lesson through our local psychologist Marriane Judd. The differences were obvious, but mainly only to us in an everyday context. After the initial period we are now doing the at home program as part of our homeschooling Integrated Listening Systems Australia. Sound Learning Systems. Auditory, Listening Program, Sound Therapy, Australia which has been super beneficial. I can really tell the days when we have done our music time and when we haven't. (We do ENKI for homeschooling btw, if anyone is interested. It's expensive for a homeschool curriculum - about $800 a year to ship from America - but it is awesome and well worth it.

But the biggest change was with the diet, which was the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet created by Dr N. Cambell-McBride, who has an autistic son herself. Very interesting reading, and makes lots of sense. I since come to truly believe that yeast-overgrowth is evil, particularly for my child. Balancing her good gut flora and removing yeast and yeast feeding foods from her diet has made the world of difference. Everyone comments on it. Those who don't know her would never guess she has any issues anymore. In fact, her public psychologist and therapy team have warned me that when they do the review in 6 months time, they're most probably going to have to take her off the spectrum. And I agree. She doesn't really belong there anymore. She still has some issues (like chewing metal and licking strange things), but it's worlds apart from where we were.

I encourage you all to look into some of these resources because they've made such a big difference in our lives, and having tools always helps.