Autism, Aspergers, Rob Gorski,Special Needs Parenting, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Fibromyalgia,

Tag Archive: diet

Dec 11 2012

Coping with #Autism and Food Allergies

The Lost and Tired family isn’t new to food allergies.  However, past food allergies weren’t as serious as what we are now dealing with.

In the advent of Elliott‘s newly diagnosed tree nut allergy, I trying to figure out what the best approach is to eliminate those things from his diet

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I guess my question is, if your child has a tree nut allergy, do you simply remove it from their diet or the entire house?

In our case, Elliott is the only one with this allergy and trying to find a balance between food he can eat and food everyone else can eat has been difficult.

Many times, Elliott simply refuses to eat because he either can’t eat what everyone else is eating or he is afraid that his food will make him sick.

As a child with aspergers and high levels of anxiety, he has a very difficult time with change. 

I’m wondering if we should move the whole family away from tree nuts.

To me, it seems like it would be easier to adjust the meals for everyone than it is to make two of everything.  I also think it might help Elliott to feel safer because he would know that everything in the house was safe to eat.

The school has already made sure that the lunch menu is allergen free and it is. 
We will be meeting with a nutritionist in the near future to further fine tune things. 

I just wanted to know what you folks thought. It’s one thing to hear something from someone who likely doesn’t live with or deal with the same struggles.  It’s another thing entirely to hear from people who are dealing with the same thing, day in and day out. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Also feel free to pose your own questions as well.  This is a very important topic and let’s cover this thoroughly.

Thanks

Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2012/12/11/coping-with-autism-and-food-allergies/

Aug 17 2012

What is your “go to” food for you child with #Autism?

Many children on the #Autism spectrum can be very picky eaters.  I hear from my readers all the time about how difficult mealtimes can be. 

I personally understand exactly what that’s like.  Mealtimes can be an absolute nightmare in the Lost and Tired household. 

This got me thinking.  Do you have any goto foods that you can fall back on when all else fails?  For example,  if all else fails in my house,  we can always fall back on chicken nuggets.  We always,  always keep them stocked and in the freezer. 

If push comes to shove,  I can always nuke some nuggets and the kids are happy…usually.

So what are your goto foods? Do your kids have any one food that they will always,  or at least most of the time,  eat without a problem?

By sharing, perhaps we can help each other out with new options for mealtime. 

**Thanks for reading**

       -Lost and Tired

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This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct is working against me.

Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2012/08/17/what-is-your-go-to-food-for-you-child-with-autism/

Jun 08 2012

Today’s Victory: Trying new food

I want to express my pride in Emmett’s both trying something new and discovering he actually likes it. Jiff has put out a new peanut butter.  It’s actually chocolate hazelnut.  They were on sale for $1 each at Walmart. 

I figured that if the kids liked it great,  if not,  it was only $1.

Anyway, I made little sandwiches with graham crackers and the chocolate hazelnut peanut butter and Emmett loves it.  This is a victory because we can add a new food to his diet.

How much did he like it?  Judge for yourself.

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Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2012/06/08/todays-victory-trying-new-food/

Feb 11 2012

#Autism, overload and the sensory diet

My kids are on complete sensory overload. Gavin doesn’t even have a fuse anymore.  He’s like a really old and very unstable stick of dynamite.  Anything and everything can set him off.

When he goes off to the land of the meltdown,  it’s very intense,  loud and terrifying for his little brother’s.

Elliott is still in a manic state from the reaction to his anti-anxiety meds.  He beyond a handful right now.  His mood is swinging back and forth faster then anyone can react to it.  He took about 6 hours to fall asleep last night and that was with melatonin.

Emmett is bullying Gavin and Elliott both.  He is stealing toys, blankets and even kicking people.  He has even been stripping Elliott’s bed and running away with his sheets.

I have no idea what is going on with the kids.  I mean,  I know what’s going on with Elliott but Emmett and Gavin are a mystery. I suspecting they are overstimulated but I’m not sure what is causing it. 

We have been allowing Gavin to help Elliott with the 3DS and maybe that’s what is pushing him over the edge.

I’m also wondering if the weather is contributing to this as well.  We’re in the middle of a winter storm and so with all the snow,  it’s reflecting a great deal of light.  This is making the house very bright and I know that could be a problem.

We have also become pretty lacks with TV time since the van was stolen.  They have been watching a lot of Rug Rats & Phineas and Ferb.

I think that we are in desperate need of an emergency sensory diet.

This will require making some drastic changes.  These changes will involve removing TV and Video Games. We will also have to attempt to slow everything down. 

Perhaps,  some relaxing music, story time and maybe even a board game. 

The whole point would be to significantly reduce,  lights, noise and anxiety.  I need them to be as relaxed as much as possible. Gavin is in need of this the most right now but I think everyone will benefit from it. 

I’ll let you all know how it goes.

We need to cut out as many sources of stimulation as possible.

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Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2012/02/11/autism-overload-and-the-sensory-diet/

Jan 06 2012

Special Diets

I have never bought into any of the special diets for kids on the Autism Spectrum. Everyone has the right to think and do what is best for their family and I totally respect that.

My mother has Celiac Disease which requires the GF/CF diet or her life is in danger. It’s pretty tedious.

Our lives are complicated enough without having to worry about something that would have little or no positive impact on the boys, aside from the health benefits.

We have a hard enough time with Emmett’s food allergies. He is allergic to milk, lactose and egg.

Which brings me back to the point of this post.

I had to make a run to the grocery store this morning because Emmett would not eat or drink because his mouth hurt so bad.

The only thing we have ever found that he can safely ingest and actually enjoys eating is Coconut Milk Ice Cream. I don’t like coconut but the ice cream is actually really, really good.

This stuff really isn’t even that bad for you either. I also found these little Coconut Milk Fudge Bars as well.

When Emmett hits these flares, this stuff is the only way we can get him to eat anything.

He will ask me for his special ice cream and I’ll go hunt it down.

This stuff is expensive though. It’s like $6/pint and that’s pretty steep. However, it works and provides him comfort, so you really can’t put a price on that.

I don’t remember if it’s GF/CF but it is really good and Emmett loves it. Might be worth a try if any of your little one’s go through the same thing when they have a sore throat or something similar.

On a side note. I welcome open discussion about all things special needs related. I do ask that we treat everyone with respect regardless of whether we agree with each other or not. We can learn alot from each other. :-)

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Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2012/01/06/special-diets/

Dec 08 2011

Getting healthy for Autism

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As a special needs father to 3 boys on the Autism Spectrum and husband to wife that is chronically ill,  I have quite a bit on my plate. For that reason,  I need to take great care in what I put on my plate,  my dinner plate that is.

Over all I’m a healthy guy,  but that doesn’t there aren’t things I need to work on.  I need to get my cholesterol back in balance and a bit lower,  as well as lose weight.

Before I became a special needs parent,  I was is amazing shape.  I worked out with a trainer 6 days a week,  and was built like a tank.  That all changed after I hurt my back on a run as a paramedic back in 2001. 

I never fully recovered and coupled with all my added responsibility,  things kinda went down hill.  I started walking/running about 30+  miles a week last year and dropped a bunch of weight and managed my back pain.

However,  as things got more complicated at home,  I haven’t been able to get away to work out.  I used to walk the neighborhood but in light of everything going on around us now,  it’s no longer safe to do that. 

My inlaws loaned us their unused treadmill,  but something is wrong with the belt so that has been packed up again. 

So for right now,  I have decided to focus on improving my diet as that has a tremendous impact on my overall health and I should be leading by example. So I have decided to go back on my smoothie diet again.  It worked really well when I was walking all the time and helped cut my cholesterol by 30 points.

Like my kids,  I’m not a fan of vegetables,  as the texture has always bothered me.  However,  I can make a smoothie and drink them with no problem.  So I figured,  whatever works,  right?

Basically,  I’m going to have a smoothie for breakfast and lunch and then a sensible dinner. 

Typically, my smoothies contain the following:

Flax meal
Oatmeal
Blue berries
Strawberries
Bananas
Mixed Berries
Broccoli
Baby Spinach
Kale
Various other greens
Carrots
Dark purple grape juice
Water
Egg whites
Plain yogurt

I blend it all together and drink it throughout the day,  in place of breakfast and lunch.  The kids have even started having some with their meals as well. 

I try to find the super fruits and supper vegetables and included them.. As gross as this smoothie sounds,  it’s actually pretty good. Honestly,  after having a smoothie for breakfast,  I feel better than when I would have a bowl of cereal. 

It also curbs my appetite as well,  so I’m not snacking throughout the day. 

It can be sorta tedious,  but it really is helping me. 

For Dinner is cook thing like fish and whole grain rice or even chicken breast. Tonight,  I’m cooking two small chicken roasts,  with potatoes and carrots. 

Anyway,  I just thought I would share what I’m doing right now to help improve health.  My other goal is to either get a new treadmill or a treadclimber by bowflex.  Hopefully,  I can pull this off with tax return next month but a huge chunk of tax return with now be going to the van,  for the second year in a row. 
I’m not going to let that discourage me though.  Anything I can do to improve my health,  will allow me to be here longer more my wife and kids.  That is my motivation. I need to live as long as long as possible so that I can make sure my babies are cared for.  :-)

This has been posted to WordPress via Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G by Samsung, without the use of proper editing tools.

Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2011/12/08/getting-healthy-for-autism-2/

Nov 25 2011

Oh…The Overstimulation

OMG are my kids overstimulated from Thanksgiving. They are each driving me crazy in their own unique way.  :-)

Emmett has screaming for most of the day,  Elliott has been whining and Gavin has been in a really bad mood.  Lizze has still not found relief from her migraine and so she is absolutely miserable.

I think we will be getting Elliott or Emmett over to her parents for the night…hopefully.

Lizze and I have decided that based on their reactions to a very low key Thanksgiving,  we are going to seriously reevaluate our Christmas plans for this year.

While we may still visit immediate family,  we will limit our time away from home.  The boys simply are not coping well with the whole get together thing.  I hate doing this but we have to do what’s best for them regardless of what we or anyone else would like us to do. 

The other part of this comes down to simple survival.. Life is challenging enough with out the fallout.  Lizze can’t take anymore and honestly,  I don’t have enough left to cope with things getting any worse.

We’re implementing a temporary sensory diet as right now,  my main focus is to help these guys to decompress in a way that won’t push me over the edge or have me scrambling for my happy place.

This is vital because my happy place is no longer happy,  so it doesn’t work.  ;-)

How did you fine folks fare yesterday?  Are you experiencing any overstimulation with your kids and if so,  how are you dealing with it?

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Permanent link to this article: http://lostandtired.com/2011/11/25/oh-the-overstimulation/

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