In all of the business of trying to keep Anya contained I haven't had a chance to mention that she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. In all of the blood work that our pediatrician did she screened for Celiac because it has a higher rate of occurrance in kids with Down Syndrome. A normal number on this test is 4. Our GI doctor said usually if a kid comes back with a number around 20 she will do an upper endoscopy to confirm. Anya's number was over 100!! No further testing necessary. She is officially gluten free. So of course, by default, my other family members are getting a ton less gluten in their diet. I haven't made everyone else go gluten free but I make one dinner now, not one for them and one for her. Our pasta the other night was brown rice pasta. No one seemed to mind. They even like some of her gluten free snacks and will ask for them over theirs. Now get this....Oksana goes to school Monday and has one of her best behavior days in WEEKS. Is this a coincidence? I just don't know. I do know that some people speculate that a gluten free diet helps kids on the autism spectrum. I say speculate because the evidence is weak at best. I might be grasping at straws here....OK I know I am grasping at straws but goodness if it helps even a little bit I'm all over it.
So I asked Oksana what she thought about going gluten free. She was SO excited! She wants to be like Anya and her special ed teacher, who is also gluten free. I reminded her of the things she would have to give up and so far she is fine with all of it. I really don't know how far I'm going to go with this but it certainly can't hurt. In fact I really wish Evan would go gluten free too. He has always struggled with GI issues and I think this would really help him. That is a MUCH harder sell. Let's just say he is less than thrilled with the idea :).
After yesterday's post about our lockdown and Anya's behaviors I wanted to give a quick update. Anya has done so much better since we tightened her restrictions again! In fact we have had little to no problems with the things she had been doing. She can't handle the amount of freedom we were giving her at this point. She was doing well with the firm boundaries which is exactly why we can't take them away. That is my huge mommy lesson learned for this week!
5 comments:
Mommy lessons are the best, aren't they? Like a light has gone on and you are soooo smart. Forget the previous week of blundering in the dark! You know what is going on now. It used to make me feel like I was connected to my kid again. I know this time of transition is hard on all of you but wow! you are making great progress. Keeping you all in my prayers.
So glad Anya is doing better! Sometimes it is just hard to figure out exactly what you need to do. I have an older daughter that had to go gluten free and it sounds rather hard to me. Maybe it is just something you have to get use to doing.
So glad that Gluten free is helping your girls!!! I have struggled with ADHD and some Aspergers like symptoms (never diagnosed, though my mother believes it haha), and recently went completely grain, dairy and sugar free (I know crazy) - and amazing symptoms = gone! So crazy!
Sorry to hear about Anya's Celiac disease, but I am glad that the restrictions/boundaries are helping curb the behaviors. And I also think that even though it's not completely necessary for Oksana to go gluten free, if it seems to be helping then run with it! Plus, she is happy with it, so that makes it easier to go along with.
So happy to hear things are going well! :)
We have seen amazing results with a diet free of gluten, dairy, soy, preservatives, and artificial colors. It has totally, radically, and completely changed our lives. I have bio and adopted kids who have various diagnoses, and it has seriously helped them all--even the neuro-typical ones. My kids have issues like autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, adhd, reactive attachment disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, institutional autism, etc...
I understand your feelings of isolation. God has brought new friends into our lives who do understand our kids; what a blessing!
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