Where we are on our Journey

My intentions of this blog were to give people a glance into our lives. I hope that it can provide people with some hope out side of just conventional treatment. I hope that people can relate to our story and not feel like they are alone. I also hope to bring awareness to autism and show people this is not a one size fits all diagnosis.... it truly is a puzzle and no two pieces are a like. I also hope to clear up some of the misconceptions people have about autism.
I feel I must add I am not a doctor, nor do I have a medical background... I am simply a mother that will go to the end of the earth to help my daughter excel.
 What works for one child on the spectrum may not work for the next..................


Today Gabby is 23 months old, and the changes I see in her from 2 months ago are nothing more then a small miracle. Two months ago I had a child scream and cry 75% of the day and have about 20 meltdowns a day. A child that couldn't differentiate one fork from another if the size or color changed. A child that couldn't get words to form and would bang her head and lash around when distressed. My daughter feared eye contact from a stranger or rather just about anyone that didn't live in our home. Even when she struggled the most she wouldn't look for me to console her, she would just tantrum. Gabby would also awaken multiple times a night, sleep was a random thing.
So what has changed you may ask???? EVERYTHING! Gabby can differentiate between multiple objects now. It is a rare thing to see her bang her head, even when overwhelmed or extremely distressed. Eye contact rarely makes her uneasy, I randomly even find her greeting a stranger with saying hi :).  I am now able to defuse most tantrums with offering her big (compression) hugs, while we count to ten. Yes, I said when we count... she can now almost count to ten by herself. Gabby can now says about 40 words spontaneously, while attempting to put 2-3 words together at a time.
I believe a combination of things contribute to her progressing so fast, I will share with you what changes we have implemented.
 First I removed food dyes and high fructose sugars from her diet ( this made huge changes in her temperament). Next I took her to see a Holistic Practitioner, which specializes in Naturopathic Medicines, Homeopathy, Herbal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition. His recommendation was to start her on intact digest, chloroxygen, coromega 3 and trace minerals. This combination of herbs stopped Gabby's random runny nose and congestion, along with her daily loose bowels. Within days of her starting these she had a bust of new words. In the last two weeks I have placed Gabby on a gluten free diet which I have been weaning her on to over a the last 6 weeks. I no longer have to give her melatonin to go to sleep (which didn't really help much anyway). She now sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. Next week Gabby will return to the Holistic Practitioner so we can move onto the next steps of her treatment.
I have seen my daughter make great strides in such a short period of time. We still have our local Birth-Three coming into our home 5 days a week, a long with adding a large amount of sensory play into her day. We have made a room in our house that is dedicated to her sensory needs. It includes a slide, tunnels, sensory balls, textured mats ect.
I honestly can tell you I have seen an awakening in this child, I wish I could find the words to express to you  how profound this really is. I never thought I would see such great results this quickly. I will continue to work on repairing her gut and adding more organic foods into her diet. I will continue to work with the naturopathic practitioner, while continue to utilize our wonderful birth-three program. I also plan to go casein free while implementing a lot of new thing I have read about in The Autism Book by Robert Sears (WONDERFUL BOOK).
I thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope to continue to share our journey with you. I have also made a page on Facebook called The Autism Puzzle... I have added things I found to be inspirational, or just a great resourse. I hope you can find them useful also...