ok...it's time for me to get serious...we had a "feeding therapy" appointment with a new professional phd yesterday...i don't get my hopes up anymore as far as professionals are concerned and quite frankly...i believe that i can do most of it better...even my dear husband has made comments believing that i am the best therapist jay-bob could ever hope for...BUT...yesterday...we had a marvelous experience...not only did the therapist obviously love children...she affirmed my choice of montessori education...the gfcf diet...and possibly...drum roll please...homeschooling...WOW...i mean really that almost never happens...
back to the subject...she got me back on track...from this day forward ALL meals (within reason) must be at the table...to include me...not me doing the dishes or continuing to cook...or blogging...but me...the mother...modeling appropriate behavior for my son...
we were supposed to be desensitizing him visually to new foods by adding one new food to his plate per meal...we started with frozen blueberries...he didn't have to eat them...just allow them on his plate..."what's the big deal?"...well...it's a very very big deal for him to have ANYTHING new on his plate...just his body language speaks volumes...he can barely keep his body facing the plate with a new food...anyhow...we had gotten through this important step...and then everyone got sick a few months back...and guess what?? we stopped it all together....
so, now as we are supposed to be starting the next step: plate to face...we are actually re-starting step one...sigh...today it was a TOTAL melt-down over me putting a cherry on his plate (subdivided plate...i must add)...so we prepped (verbal warning ahead of time...best thing ever for ALL children...umm...and me, too!) him for lunch and allowed him to choose what "new" food he wanted...he chose an apple...kind of cheating b/c he has actually been licking and taking very small bites of apple...BUT...beggars can't be choosers...
the therapist modeled sticking out her tongue and allowing the food to sit on her tongue for 3-5 seconds...that's it...that's all he has to do...umm...laughish sigh...THAT'S IT?? really?? well...it didn't go so good at first...but i believe that after one week of being consistent...we'll be cruising right along...
so, now i am being held accountable for not only sitting at the table for every meal and snack...but for also cooking every meal and snack...and not just cooking them all...but making sure they are all gfcfsf...egg free...nut free...for the whole family...b/c why model eating something he can't eat?...and beyond this i need to include...variety...i mean...doesn't this feeding therapist understand...this is america...and really...unless it's processed...fast...and convenient...it's foreign...
so, i am back to pouring over hypo-allergenic recipes...then tweaking them...as it stands jay-bob now eats:
pancakes/waffles
vegan cheese dip
ruffles aka stripey chips
sweet potato french fries
regular french fries
darifree chocolate milk (new)
fruit-a-bu (new)
pizza
home-made darifree ice cream (new)
he would love to eat pretzels, poptarts, and goldfish crackers...but i have yet to find any that he doesn't react to...for the record...we did a "challenge" to the diet a month or so ago...that evening we did the time-out hold twice...he tried to bite me...we both sat on the floor sobbing as the OA stared at us in dis-belief...OA and i wondered how we ever did life like that in the past...AND...thought it was normal??? so...as far as the gfcfsf diet goes...we are true believers...
tomorrow i will post why red 40 is the devil...which it is a chemical...and it's a chemical that's in dang near everything on the wal-mart shelf...and it's a chemical that is not beneficial to anyone...so STOP GIVING IT TO OUR CHILDREN (fda...come on...this is 2008)!!
honestly, too many vaccines, too much processed foods, too much tv, and too much convenience...we are setting our future generation up for disaster...it's terrifying to me...and it's all out of ignorance...i am thankful my son is on the autistic spectrum...it's slowly bringing our whole family out of the ignorant brain fog we've been forcing ourselves into...mainly...due to lack of self-discipline...
it stops today!
ps dr phil can still kiss my arse...sorry...old bitterness issues coming back to haunt...sigh...well...i never said i was perfect...!
2 comments:
Very interesting blog....I knew it all before, but it's always a good reminder. We can totally relate to the food sensitivities. It's such a big deal for them to have a new food on their plate. They just look nauseous with it laying there! The GFCF diet didn't work for us...too bad....but they still have very strict self imposed restrictions.
I also thought it interesting that during an illness, the routine fell by the wayside and wasn't picked up again. Boy, I can so relate! I was thinking about summer vacation for my boys and feeling a bit lazy in what I have been doing for them and not doing for them. I'm going to use the summer to get back to some things I've let slide. Sorry for going on and on....wish we could just "talk" every other day or so! :) Thanks for the post....I'll look forward to the next one about the red.
I got your site on Kalebs blog. This is some post! Home schooling is great. It's not v popular here in Ireland but it is legal. Keep up the good (hard) work and well done.
Ruth
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