My Kid is a Damn Nutter

[OnyxCougar]

but...

cheeeese.....

[Clodfobble]

I know, tell me about it.

It is possible to sneak things while they are at school--but its better to go out of the house to a restaurant or whatever to get it, or else they will certainly hunt it down and eat it in the middle of the night.

[Pie]

Speaking as a insulin resistant person myself, let me plug the quinoa. Great, great stuff. It's my go-to for rice replacement.

[OnyxCougar]

do you make it just like rice, pie? what's it taste like? can I get it from the grocery store?

i use soy flour for most my flour needs, and crunched up pork rinds for breading. I haven't been worried about fat or calories, just carbs, and I've lost 15 pounds in 3 months, doing NOTHING differently but keeping carbs to 150g per day.

Now that there are all these studies (and clod's own positive results) with the GFCF thing, I'm really considering trying it. But I know for a FACT that my husband is not going to go for removing cheese. we go through about 3 lbs of shredded "fiesta" blend, a container of parmesean, a block of slices, and a 24 pack of string cheese per WEEK.

[Clodfobble]

Does he do the grocery shopping? Not much he can do about it if he doesn't. Seriously though, Mr. Clod was resistant too, but as long as dinner tastes good, he just kind of stopped noticing that it never happened to have dairy in it... plus he gets his fix while he's out at work. It's really about how resistant your son will be, and how determined he'll be to hunt down dairy if you take it away. Maybe your husband can keep a minifridge out in the garage with a lock on it.

[Pie]

Yep, you can make it like rice -- either 2:1 water-to-grain in a rice cooker or on the stove, or boil in lotsa water till it's cooked enough, then drain. I prefer the latter method myself, as it has a tendency to stick when cooked in my old scratched up rice cooker.

It tastes a little nutty, I think. I have successfully made several great pilaf dishes with it, and tabbouleh (as a sub for cracked wheat) and generally to backstop stir-fries and curries.

Keep in mind that it's not a 'low carb' grain though. It's low glycemic, but not low carb. And it's not wheat.

[OnyxCougar]

i went to this WONDERFUL store today to look for it and it was FIFTY TWO grams of carbs for a 1/2 cup!! 52!

My dietician says low glycemic or not, my carbs have to stay at 150 below, not "net carbs" or fibre carbs, but total carbs. Period.

*sigh*

[Clodfobble]

I guess I don't understand. If you're already eating that few carbs... what are you eating that does have carbs? It would seem to me like you're already the majority of the way there. All you'd have to do is give up dairy, not hunt for carb substitutes, because you're already not eating carbs, right?

[OnyxCougar]

Yeah, but my diet right now is meat and cheese, with fruits and veggies.

Most of my carbs are fruit/veggie based.

Example of my day, today:

Low carb slim fast. 6g
2 sticks string cheese for snack. free
4 wasa crackers + lunch meat and deli cheese, 45g
flavored water, 3g
snack: 1 green apple + cheese or strawbs and truvia + cheese or 1 cup cheese puffcorn. 15-20g
dinner: 2 pieces of fish, big slab o watermelon, 20g OR 1 low carb tortilla with chicken breast + cheese and hot sauce, 25g.
dessert: 4 blocks dark choc with orange peel: 20g OR more fruit (stawbs, melon, apple), 15-20g

[Clodfobble]

Well, I can't find a replacement offhand for a slim fast drink. Carnation instant breakfasts are gluten-free, but I haven't found yet whether they'd be dairy-free. I also don't know how the carbs would line up. (But then again, if your son's not drinking them, and doesn't want to drink them, you could just keep them for yourself.)

The snack could change to anything like carrot sticks, celery with peanut butter, pickles, coconut/soy milk yogurt.

I don't know what wasa crackers are, but these are a good GF cracker substitute, then just make sure the lunchmeat is a gluten-free brand and use a dairy-free dressing (probably something mayo-based) instead of cheese.

Your second snack is already good if you just take away the cheese--substitute peanut butter for the apple, or coconut/soy yogurt. Instead of cheese puffcorn you could try these.

Fish and watermelon are okay, and there are gluten-free tortillas. I can't remember the brand name right now, but they're rice-based.

I don't know about your particular brand of dark chocolate, but there are several dairy-free options for chocolate as long as it's not specifically "milk chocolate." And of course more fruit is always okay.

[Clodfobble]

Got another video of his progress posted last night.



The name thing is a particularly huge step. It's hard to explain, but it's kind of like an acknowledgement that there is him, and there is the world, and admitting they are separate is the foundation to social interaction. And aside from the awareness of identity, it's also a direct response to a question that has no practical purpose other than social interaction. "What's your name?" is actually a terrifying question to many autistic kids.

[Clodfobble]

I lost a friend this week. Not a good friend, but an old one, someone I've known since 7th grade.

We haven't kept in touch very well, and when we have gotten the chance to, it's been obvious (to me anyway) that we have less and less in common each time. She's been going to medical school, and is just now finishing up her fellowship as a child psychiatrist. I've worked several vastly different jobs, gotten married, had some stepkids, had some kids; and she's... been in medical school some more.

When she emailed me out of the blue the other day, I knew exactly how it was going to play out, but I couldn't stop myself. She's a child psychiatrist. Her whole career is (I was guessing, and I was right) completely devoted to believing the exact opposite about my children's condition than I do. She asks, "So what's been going on in your life?," and my only options are 1.) bald-faced lie, don't even mention my kids have been diagnosed and pretend I've been skipping along happily these last seven months; 2.) tell her what's been going on, but leave it at "they're showing a lot of improvement" and let her believe it's due to whatever she wants; or 3.) tell her.

Number 3 is the only ethical choice, as I see it. I feel an overpowering need to tell people what I know, what I see happening before me every day, because it is a freaking crime that people, especially medical professionals, don't know it. The debate of what causes autism aside, people must be told that there are treatments, that children can and do recover from this nightmare. And yet, I know that no one will let you put the causation debate aside, because there are only two sides--either autism is completely genetic, and there is no recovery; or it is caused, and there is recovery. Any acceptance of the possiblity of recovery by definition puts you in the camp with the crazies.

So the question became, "is this friendship worth it? Do I care enough about it to keep my mouth shut, or do I let it fall victim, knowing that every parent that stands up to her is one more drop in the eventual flood, and maybe as an old school friend my word might even count as two or three drops before she permanently writes me off?"

Well, the answer was no, this friendship was pretty insignificant as far as those things go, so I went with my conscience. I told her, in a very casual and optimistic way, what a truly miraculous change we've seen with biomedical treatments. And as I expected, she has not replied. (And no, there is no chance this is just a delayed response--when we catch up with each other, we always get at least 8-10 emails back and forth in the course of just a couple days, before drifting apart again for another year or two.)

But like I said, I'm not really upset about the loss of this friend. The real problem is that I'm not sure how far I'll go. My relatives and three close friends have been supportive, but I've studiously avoided the topic with everyone else I know (which to be fair, isn't that many people,) because I'm sensing a big self-destructive streak in all this, and I can't figure out what's ethical and what's me just slashing and burning my old life out of frustration with this new life I didn't ask for. I spend all my social interactions now desperately hoping that the topic doesn't come up, so I don't have to find out how many friendships I'd be willing to sacrifice. I'm pretty sure the answer is "any and all," because I just can't handle any negative people in my life right now. Seriously, who wants friends who feel compelled to basically call you a liar to your face?

[ZenGum]

Does your friend have an open mind? Does she at least respect your intelligence and experience?

If the answer to both of these questions is "no", well, it is regrettable, but you aren't losing much of a friend. You did better to keep your conscience and integrity, IMHO.

[Clodfobble]

Well, her lack of a response would seem to indicate "no." The problem is, I've found that many, many people who would otherwise respect your intelligence and experience are ridiculously quick to write you off once you join the "wrong" side of the debate. You're right, I don't want those people as friends... but on the other hand, I do kind of want at least some friends.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Send her a link to this thread. It's all documented her, including people questioning your views and proof of your progress.

And what good are friends if you can't borrow ten bucks or get 'em to babysit.