We occasionally get letters or comments from parents that have seen improvements in health with diet. To help provide hope to so many still in the trenches, I’ve decided to make more of an effort to share some of these comments (with their permission, of course). Many of us don’t have it all figured out, but we cling to the hope and words of progress. Everyone’s journey is different, diet changes may not reap huge changes for all, but it is absolutely helping some. Like this family, glutamate and the diet have been a huge piece to our puzzle. Thank you for giving us hope…
“I have been debating (with myself) the last few days whether to share our deeply personal story with the internet or not, but I have decided that if it helps one child have a better future, or one desperate mother (or father) find hope, it’ll be worth it, so here it goes. Six years ago yesterday, when our sweet baby boy was 4, he was diagnosed with autism (ASD). I vividly remember that day. My husband and I were called in the psychologists’ office, and they went over the evaluation results (they had evaluated our son weeks before). They had a box of tissues on the table. They were kindly ready for me to cry, but I had no tears left that morning. I had cried so much already, days and nights. I knew what they were going to say, but I still needed a formal diagnosis for him to get services. Our son is a very bright child, but his behaviors were getting in the way of his progress at school and other daily activities. He taught himself to read and write when he was 3, but was minimally verbal until 5. Right after his diagnosis, we faced the first obstacle, our insurance covered the evaluation but did not cover therapies. It was like saying to a person “we covered your cancer tests, but not the treatment.. good luck with that”. We started him on private Speech Therapy anyways, but again, his behaviors didn’t let him fully take advantage of it. That’s when I finally understood that there was more to ASD.. that behaviors have a root cause, and thanks to a sweet and dear friend I started learning more about all the underlying medical issues of ASD people. We found a dr who ordered tests and we made a couple of diet changes, but it was not enough so behaviors continued. Summer camps couldn’t accommodate his needs. He struggled a lot at school that year and the next year was even worse. I hired an advocate, attended endless school meetings, from which I left feeling devastated, hopeless, defeated like I was failing my baby. We pulled him out of school and he started full-time ABA. Therapy was helping him but the radical change came when we fully committed to diet changes.. and thanks to another dear friend, learned about the autism and glutamate connection. Therapists noticed so many positive behavior changes after we cleaned up his diet. We found an amazing doctor (people travel from all over the world to see him) for him and more wonderful positive changes have happened ever since. Fast forward to now, our son is 10 and thriving at school. Honor Roll student. Taking advanced Math and Science classes. He will be “graduating” from ABA in 3 weeks because he doesn’t need those services anymore (per his BCBA and RBT). We had a school meeting 2 weeks ago, and everyone was ecstatic about how far he has come. He’s like a different child. We now leave school meetings with a gigantic smile and our hearts filled with joy. We are so very grateful to the team of (private and school) therapists, school staff and teachers that help him every day. It’s been a long and painful road, but so worth it. I promised my baby that I would never stop fighting for him, to give him the best life possible.. ‘till my last breath, ‘till the last penny in my pocket. I wouldn’t have been able to stay sane without my faith in God.. without my amazing hubby, who has been my strength and has picked me up more times than I can count.. and the unconditional support from my mom and sister, who have (many times) traveled thousands of miles to come to our rescue when the hubby and I felt lost. We still face many challenges but are more hopeful than ever. We are convinced that autism is medical (genetic predisposition + environmental factors/diet/toxins/pathogens) and that healing is possible ♥️”
-Anonymous Mom