Guest post by Bette Miles-Holleman
In May 2000, I took my youngest son, Benjamin, to the doctor to have his hearing tested. I suspected that he may have some type of hearing loss, because he was not developing as well verbally or socially as his older siblings did when they were the same age. He was (and still is) affectionate and happy, in fact the least likely of any in my brood to give me any trouble. But something wasn’t right, and I could feel it.
The doctor could find nothing wrong with his hearing, but suggested that we see a speech pathologist. The diagnosis: Ben was on what is called the Autistic Spectrum, a range of related conditions from Semantic Pragmatic Disorder, SPD (High Functioning Autism) , where the child can be taught coping mechanisms and lead an independent life to Profound Autism, in which the condition leaves the child without speech and unaware of other people or their surroundings, in a world of their own.
Our youngest daughter, Hannah, was also the newest member of the family in 2000. She was diagnosed with SPD at the age of 3. Both she and Ben have taken specialized speech and language courses at a local elementary school, and have made tremendous progress. We also home school them, and they thrive in their studies.
In the eight years since we became aware of what we were dealing with, there have been plenty of up and downs, joys, sadness and triumphs. We decided against the use of drugs, and treat Ben and Hannah’s condition through diet, which excludes and /or limits gluten, sugar, and dairy products, also known as a GF/CF diet. The results have been nothing short of miraculous.
Bette Miles-Holleman is a home schooling mother of of 5, living on the West Coast. She is editor/CEO of Beauty Culture Magazine, a Giant Squid lensmaster on Squidoo, and is a guest contributor on many web sites such as DealingWithLearningDisorders and HealthyFoodForHealthyLiving.com .
That was great!good news! Very informative, nice ideas
Thanks for sharing you wisdom and knowledge