Decision

Wow! We've been busy! I'm sure everyone feels that way this time of year. It's been a good busy, though.

Our church recently had its Christmas program. Cade was in it more than he has been in past years. While they're in pre-school class, they are sheep and sing "Away in a Manger". This year, Cade (being a "big kid" now) was Inn Keeper #2 and a Shepherd. He actually had some lines. He did a great job and was not thrown off by the crowd. In fact, he not only knew his own lines, but also almost everyone else's. At home, we were treated with Cade and his sisters reenacting the whole story for us with Cade as the narrerator, angels, Joseph, the Inn Keepers, and the shepherds. He graciously let his sisters be Mary and also some shepherds. :) We're excited that all three of them seemed to really be learning the Christmas story.

In our last post, I talked about our dilemma regarding continuing Cade's medication. I thought I'd share what we've decided to do.

We are going to leave him on his medication for now. We had his teacher complete a behavior profile so that we have a base line. In May, we'll slowly take him off of his medication and then have his teacher complete the same behavior profile. This way, we get objective information from his teacher who knows him and how he is in the classroom. If it turns out that he has a rough time without the medication, it will be at the end of the school year so it shouldn't throw off his progress significantly. We will also have the summer to continue evaluating how he's doing, and to get him back on the medication if need be.

We've been so appreciative of Cade's doctor and his teachers who have been willing to collaborate with us to find the timing that would be best.

Well, we're off for some more holiday fun tonight :) Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!!

Merry Christmas,

Becky

To medicate or not to medicate?

We really want to be honest with this blog about the challenges we face with Cade as well as the positive things. Right now, we are really struggling with whether or not to try taking Cade off his medication. He's on a very low dose of Tenex to help with hyperactivity. He started it in the spring and we did notice a difference. His teachers also noticed an increased ability to sit still, follow directions, and less impulsiveness. These benefits have carried over into this school year, but to a significantly greater extent due to the diet.

So, the questions we are struggling with are:
- Is the diet enough to negate the need for medication?
- Is this the right time to try? His teachers at school are concerned that, if it turns out he really does still need the medication, going off of it right now might jeopardize the fantastic progress he's made this year.
- If now isn't the right time to try, when is the right time? We have thought about trying this over Christmas break, but the downside to that is that Cade's schedule will be very disrupted over break and if he has a hard time, we won't know if it's because he's not taking the medication or because his schedule is off. The other possibility is waiting for summer vacation when we can get into that routine and then make the change.

This is one of those times, which I'm sure every parent has, when we wish there was some way to know what the "right" answer is. Isn't there a book somewhere with all the information we could ever need about raising kids? Ug!

I find myself being reminded that our faith really isn't in medication, or even this diet. Our faith is in a God who loves Cade even more than we do, and if we ask Him, He'll guide us. We may not get to hear a voice from heaven saying "Here's the plan...", but He is faithful to work things out for the good of those who love Him. When I find myself getting anxious about what the "right" thing to do is, I need to remember to turn to the One who really does have all the answers and trust in His wisdom and goodness.

We'll keep you updated on what we decide to do.

Sitting in the unknown,
Becky

Conferences

Last night we had parent-teacher conferences for Cade. I have to say I was cautiously optimistic, but was also trying to prepare myself for the possibility that Cade could really be struggling in several areas - after all, he is in a regular classroom for the first time this year.

What I first heard from the teacher was this: "Oh, my sweet Cade! You have to tell me more about this diet of yours because I've never seen anything like this!". Well, that certainly was an encouraging start to things!

The summary is: He's doing awesome!

The details are:
Attention to task - He's sitting at the table and completing his work just as well (or better) than the other kids in his class. He remembers to raise his hand. His teacher sometimes needs to direct his attention to her and make sure he's looking at her, but once she has his attention, he can follow directions well.

Social Skills - Cade is making friends and interacting well with his peers. Just recently a friend was sitting very close to Cade at the table. The teacher asked Cade's friend to move over some and give Cade some personal space. The friend's response was, "But I love him!".

Sensory Issues - Cade's teacher reported she's seen hardly any sensory issues in the classroom. No hand flapping or tip toe walking at all. Just in the last couple of days as the weather has changed and has been wet and cold, he's been a bit more sensitive and needing personal space a bit more. When friends crowd him, his response has been minimal, but enough to let the teacher know he needs some help getting some space. Once she helps his friends back up a little, he's fine and can carry on with whatever it is they're doing.

Academics - Cade is doing great academically. He's understanding all the concepts well and completing his work. One day the class was talking about bikes. His teacher had showed the class the words "My bike" at one point in the day. Later, the class was drawing pictures of their bikes. Across the top of the paper, Cade had very clearly written "My bike" from memory and without assistance. He then drew a pretty convincing picture of a bike. Recently the kids were all tested for pre-reading skills. This is a timed test looking at letter and sound recognition (called the Dibble for you teacher-types out there). When the test was administered orally for auditory comprehension and response, Cade didn't do so well. This is pretty typical - he still takes a couple of extra seconds to process information auditorally. Since it's a timed test, he wasn't given a couple extra seconds and didn't do as well. The teacher assured me that when she's worked with Cade on the same test, but given him that little bit of extra time, he gets just about everything right. When the same test was administered visually, Cade scored the second highest in the whole class. No doubt, visual is still (and may always be) his strong suit.

Mom and Dad - It was such a treat to hear how well Cade is doing. At times, we've wondered if our own observations were too optimistic and if this diet really is working for him. It felt great to have some observation and concrete measures from a professional that validated what we've been seeing at home. I felt almost giddy as I walked away from the conference. It was an even better report than I'd expected. We are so encouraged, and I think that maybe our "cautiously optimistic" is slowing becoming just "optimistic" about Cade's future successes.

We are so proud of him and all the progress he's made. Way to go, Cade!!!

Looking ahead,
Becky

Camping, School, and so much more!

It's been a busy month! I'm going to try to hit the high points....

Camping - Cade had a blast! He tried some new things, like going tubing down a small river and swimming in the waves of Lake Michigan. The most notable experience for Cade, in regards to our purposes here, was at night around the camp fire. One of our family "traditions" is to go on a "lion hunt" at night around the camp fire. This involved a story teller taking everyone through obstacles (with motions) while looking for a pretend lion. This year, the kids wanted to do their own versions of the lion hunt, which then turned into telling "spooky stories". Cade fully participated in the "lion hunts", which was a first for him. He then also participated in making up both his own lion hunt and spooky story. His stories were relatively well-sequenced and if he got stuck, we would simply ask a question that seemed to fit his story, and he answered the question to get back on track with his story. All of this felt almost amazing to us. It was such a big step in terms of independent thinking and social participation.

School - Cade has started kindergarten and is really loving it. We usually are able to ask some "who, what, where, when, why, how" questions, and get pretty good information about his day. Often, he is volunteering information about his day because he's actually enjoying telling us about it. The papers that he's bringing home are also showing progress. He is completely coloring pictures, using multiple colors, and staying in the lines. He's following directions to complete his "assignments", like "circle the pictures of the words that start with the letter R". Both his fine motor skills and time on task are definitely improving. Of course, Cade's favorite class is gym - which he has twice a week. We always hear fun stories about the games he gets to play there.

Church - Cade has moved up at church to the elementary class. Since we go to a small church, the kids in his class are K-5th grade. We weren't sure how he'd do with such a wide age range, but he's been doing great. He's able to tell me about the "big idea" each week, and usually can relate the important parts of his story. He's getting into singing the songs from Seed Family Worship. The other night he helped me tuck in his sisters at bedtime. He insisted the he sing "Take Heart" to them in place of the usual bedtime song. It was cute and heart warming :)

Swimming - Cade started swimming lessons last Tuesday. He did very well in going into an entirely new environment and adapting quickly. He listened to his teacher, waited his turn to jump into the water each time, and tried some more new things. He even jumped off the diving board! And while all of this was so wonderful, it was even better to hear him talk about it later and how proud he was of himself for trying new things even though, he said, "I was just a little bit scared." It's exciting to see him step up to new challenges and move forward, even while being a little scared.

So, that's where we're at. We are thinking that in the next few weeks to a month, we may be adding full fat dairy back into Cade's diet. We'll keep updated with whether or not we do, and how it all goes!

Proud mom,
Becky

Some Objectivity

Today Cade had an initial meeting with his Kindergarten teacher. I stayed in the room for a few minutes and then Cade and his teacher had some time to themselves to get to know each other a little. At the end of the meeting, I talked to the teacher briefly about the paleo diet and some of the accommodations we'll need to make for snack time, birthdays, and holiday parties. I explained the reason we're doing the diet is because we'd read about a high rate of stomach irritation and other food-based symptoms in kids with Autism. Her response was "So, he actually does have Autism? It must be very mild because I would never have guessed based our interactions just now". Granted, it was only about 15 minutes, but she asked lots of questions and Cade had appropriate answers. He attended to their conversation well and followed directions. I was so proud of him and it's good to hear someone else give us feedback that points to Cade's progress.

Camping, Part 1

Earlier this week, Cade went camping with his grandma, aunt, and cousins. He's done this before and had a good time, and this time we noticed a few steps forward.

A couple days before leaving, he was going to bed and being very clingy to me. I asked him what was wrong (not a question he can always answer well). Cade said that he was scared about camping because it would get dark and because he'd miss me. We were able to talk about having a light on at night so it wouldn't be too dark, about talking to his grandma if he was scared, and that he could call us and come home if he was really scared. This calmed him down and he started getting excited to go. I was impressed by his ability to tell me how he was feeling and why, as well as engage with me in some problem solving.

While camping, he had a great time with his cousins. He tried new things (swimming under water in a lake and going down a 20 ft. water slide) and shared his beloved ipad with his cousins very well. He got nervous one night, but grandma stayed with him until he fell asleep and he was fine. The next night, he came out of the camper and said "It's 8:00. Time for me to eat my nuts, watch a video, and relax." Communicating his routine and being able to follow it helped his anxiety a lot that night. When he came home he said, "Mom, I just ate my nuts and watched a video, and I wasn't scared!".

When he came home, we asked lots of questions, and he answered them mostly with answers that were pertinent to the question asked. We heard all about swimming in the lake, playing with his cousins, and toasting marshmallows. Oh, and of course all about the giant water slide ("I went down six times!!")

We'll all be camping together over Labor Day, so it will be nice to see first hand how he does and be in a new environment where we can evaluate progress.

Going into the wilderness,

Becky

Measuring Up

We mentioned earlier that we'd post about what measures we're using regarding Cade's progress.  Here's what we've come up with so far....

1.  Questions and answers- Although Cade's language skills have improved significantly over the last three years, he still struggles with answering questions without visual cues.  He often gets who, what, where, when, why, and how mixed up.  He either doesn't understand and answer the question, or may answer the wrong question.  Like answering a "what" question with a "who" answer.  So we are looking for more consistency with his understanding and answers.  In order to do this, we are being more intentional about asking him questions about his day or about recent events.  So far, he seems to be answering a little more appropriately, but it's still hit and miss.

2.  Conversation give and take- Most of us take for granted that conversation has give and take, that words and statements are " volleyed " back and forth between people.  This has been a challenge for Cade.  He may be able to attend to a conversation for one or two "volleys" but then is back off in his own world.  Or, he will talk for quite a while, but has little interest in others' responses and sometimes is unwilling to allow others to contribute to the conversation.  We are looking for him to be able to stay with a conversation for several " volleys ", and to follow more of the normal give and take in a conversation.

3.  Eye contact - Eye contact with Cade is often minimal, infrequent, and short-lived.  We are looking for the frequency and duration to increase.  He is still needing some prompting to initiate it, but it does seem that duration is increasing.

4.  Fine motor skills - I said to Cade's teacher at the end of the school year that it feels like we will be working on fine motor skills forever.  He struggle with gripping a crayon or pencil correctly, making letters, and muscle fatigue.  We currently have him coloring and practicing his letters almost every day.  We keep one sheet per week, write the date on the top, and compare them to see if there is improvement.  Cade is now holding the crayon/marker with the correct grip without needing verbal or physical prompts from us.  His accuracy has improved as well.  He is generally more willing to stick with it for a longer period of time, which seems to be helping strengthen those small hand and finger muscles.

5.  Time on task- If an activity doesn't involve jumping, crashing, running, climbing, or some type of computer or video game, Cade has little interest.  He likes fast paced, exciting activities.  That's great and we're glad he's an active boy.  It's just that not all of life can be fast paced and exciting, and he still needs to pay attention to the other stuff, too.  We're not talking sit still and pay attention for half an hour at a time- we're talking sit or stand still at the table long enough to eat your food, pay attention when using the bathroom so we're not mopping the floor ten times a day, and make sure you're fully clothed before leaving the house.  There has been improvement in this area.  Cade is more able to attend to and follow verbal directions, stay with less exciting tasks longer, and be somewhat less impulsive.

So there you have it.  These are not exactly "scientific", but we hope that they will be helpful in evaluating the benefit of this diet for Cade.

Paleo mom,
Becky

Week Three Updates

A word about normal

Over the last week Andy and I have been seeing some improvements in Cade. Here are some examples:

Fine motor skills and attention

We have started having him practice tracing letters and coloring a little bit every day to help with his fine motor skills (which have been a significant challenge for him). He usually hates these "projects" and in the past it's taken quite a bit of carrot-dangling to get him to do it. Yesterday, I pulled out his sheet to work on. He was actually excited about it because it's a new one his dad made using Pokemon characters. He completed two sheets without me asking him to, and then wanted to paint the characters on the sheets. He and his sisters then spent the next hour outside painting. Cade hardly ever attends to anything that long - let alone a fine motor skill activity. Today, he used crayons to color his Pokemon character (several different colors for different parts - not just one color for the whole thing), and after he was done coloring, he asked Andy how to spell the name of the character. Without Andy realizing what Cade was doing, Cade did his best to write each letter at the bottom of the page as Andy said it, so that the character's name was on the picture.

Social awareness leading to trying something new

While swimming at grandma's with his cousins this weekend, Cade saw one of his cousins do a handstand in the pool. He looked at his dad and said "I want to do that, too!". So he hopped back in the pool and began several attempts. He actually did pretty well, too. :)

We realize that these may not seem like huge accomplishments, and we don't really expect that Cade will be a different kid overnight. But, these are encouraging and we've had some "normal" moments with Cade that we haven't had before. It's got Andy and me asking "What will 'normal' look like for Cade, and how will we really know if he 's making progress?". We are working on identifying some concrete measures we can use, which we'll share later. But the point is, things are changing.

After having Cade, and then twin daughters (all three premature and under some "abnormal" circumstances), Andy and I have joked that we wouldn't know "normal" if it bit us on the nose when it comes to having kids. Now that Cade is making some steps in a more "normal" direction, I've realized that "normal" isn't normal for us at all. So while the progress Cade is making is wonderful and encouraging, it is a change that our family has to adjust to.

Although I've know this for a while, I am also now re-experiencing that with any change comes some fear. In this case, it's not necessarily fear of the change itself, but fear of trusting the change. Is this "real"? Is this permanent? Will Cade be able to sustain this type of progress as he grows up? I know that there is research out there to help me find some answers, but I think it's important to recognize the emotional part of this journey and that it often takes quite a bit of time for our emotions to catch up with the facts.

I also know that, no matter what may or may not change for Cade, that there is a Creator who made him and loves him and knows what every day of Cade's life will bring before it ever happens. This, more than any progress seen, or research read, is what gives me peace about whatever our "normal" turns out to be.

Becky

Substitute treats

Hi there! This is Cade's mom (Becky). I haven't introduced myself yet and thought I'd take a quick opportunity to do that. We are excited to share our journey with Cade through this blog and hope that if others find it, it may be helpful to you.

Andy mentioned in his last post that Cade would be at camp again this week and we would hopefully be cupcake free. After talking again with the staff, they were very accomodating in letting me know that there would be a birthday this week (complete with cupcakes), so we made arrangements for Cade to bring a Paleo-approved popsicle with him instead. One thing we're learning is how important comminucating with those who interact with Cade can be. With good comminucation, we're able to stick to the diet and still give Cade options so that he's not left out.

Signing off,
Cade's dad's wife :)

Week Two Update

We made it through the week with no cheats/accidents (as far as we know.) Of course, maybe he's secretly hoarding cupcakes and donuts somewhere in the house, but if he is, I haven't found them/eaten them myself yet!

Here's a couple hightlights:

1. Hot Dogs
Before this diet, Cade only ate meat if it came inside of a piece of ravioli. Once of the first transition foods we used were hot dogs. Hot dogs are more uniform in texture and he was able to eat them better than regular meat like roast beef, chicken, and sasquatch.

However, I had first assumed that, since hot dogs were made of meat, they were okay and didn't contain anything objectionable. Now, of course, we read labels like legal contracts. We found out last week that not all hot dogs are created equal.

Every normal brand of hot dog we could find contained corn syrup. A couple of them had the tagline "Contains: soy" at the bottom of the ingredients list. I've been told corn syrup doesn't contain gluten or any of the gut irritants this diet is supposed to avoid, but we'd rather be safe than sorry. Plus, added sugar is added sugar, whether it comes from sugar cane or chemically treated corn.

I did find a brand of organic hot dogs, which I imagine sounds like an oxymoron. However, these puppies seem full of the good stuff. They are from Applegate Farms, and are made from "Made from 100% organic grass-fed and finished beef." The taste is a little bit different from a normal franken-dog, but Cade eats them fine.

Though I (Andy) am doing the diet with Cade, I haven't tried one because they cost more. About $5 for a pack of ten as opposed to the normal $1-2 for normal ones. I'll brave the corn syrup since I'm not the one with Autism.

2. Ketchup
Cade has come to LOVE ketchup. He likes it with his eggs, his hamburgers, his ham, and his roast beef. He's asked for it with his chicken. This comes with some positives and negatives.

Ketchup helps Cade eat real meat, which he didn't do at all before. He might see meat as a ketchup-delivery-device, but we see ketchup as a meat-delivery-device. I guess we're both getting what we want in this scenario.

The rub comes from the fact that most ketchup is made with added sugar. Most is made with corn syrup, although major brands are now releasing ketchup made with cane sugar. Either way, all the sugar can add up. There are sugar-free versions, but we're also trying to avoid artificial sweeteners.

I think the danger of sugar at this point is more in the hyperactivity sense as opposed to gut irritation. We'll just have to keep an eye on his intake of the condiment and see how he's doing. He only eats it with real food, so that's a plus.

3. Eggs
Cade hadn't eaten an egg in his life before this diet (except for maybe those baked in a cake). We started with eggs for breakfast maybe a month ago, and he's taken to them like he used to take to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Every morning, he eats three scrambled eggs. I've read that eggs could potentially become a gut irritant, but this was lessened by cooking them thoroughly (scrambled as opposed to fried-with-runny-yolks). I'm not worried about it now, but it's something to think about.

Because he's eating up to 21 eggs a week, and I'm on the same diet, we are buying lots and lots of eggs. I'm wondering if they will be a point where buying laying-hens will actually be something we talk about. I don't plan on it, but IT'S A LOT OF EGGS.

4. Cade's Mom's Husband
Not sure if this bit of clarity can be atrritubed to Cade's diet yet, but I thought I'd mention it. My mom pulled out a picture of me at roughly Cade's age. I was relatively thin back then and had the same thin blond-almost-white hair that Cade has. We showed it to him because, if Cade had longer hair, we'd look like twins.

Earlier, we'd showed the picture to Cade and asked him who it was. He didn't have a guess, so we told him it was his dad when he was a kid. This Saturday, someone showed him the picture again, and he told them this:

"That's my dad when he was a kid. He's my mom's husband."

I was unaware that Cade even knew the word "husband," let alone could figure out who was who's husband. Although, calling me his "mom's husband" makes it sound like I'm not his real father. Becky, do you have anything to tell me?

I think that's it. We're on to week three, which is another day camp week. Becky will explain to them about giving Cade meth cupcakes and Cheerios. Hopefully they'll listen this time.

Week One Update

Last Sunday, July 3, was day 0 of Cade's new diet. It's a big adjustment not just for him, but for most of those he's close with.

Our principles with this diet, at least for the first month, and probably for the first several months are:
1. No grains.
2. No Dairy.
3. No legumes.

The food list for this diet was mainly taken from the shopping list found in Robb Wolf's book The Paleo Solution.  We made a Google doc of the food list to share with family and friends, which you can look at if you're interested.

Eating Updates
1. Eggs
Cade ate two scrambled eggs each morning and has recently begun asking for more. He eats them with a little ketchup, a brand we found without too much sugar and no corn syrup.

2. Meat
Cade doesn't complain when we give him meat to eat. A few months ago, it would have been a chore to even get a single bite into his mouth. He still chews it FOREVER, and it takes him a long time to swallow, but it all ends up in his belly. His digestive system probably doesn't have to do much with it with how much he chews the stuff.

3. Veggies
Pre Paleo diet, Cade received most of his "veggies" from a glass of V8 Fusion, which we eventually discovered was quite the sugar bomb of a drink. The closest thing to a veggie that Cade ate before beginning this diet was a potato, and he still would really only eat instant potatoes.
This week, he's taken a bite of green beans and, at one meal, eaten five whole baby carrots. I boiled the carrots, salted them, and paired them with bites of a hamburger. I think the chewiness of the hamburger hid the carrots pretty well.
A big challenge on this diet in regards to veggies is the lack of dairy. When I was eating low carb, I could put all the butter I wanted on top of my carrots. BUT, I think I came up with a solution: bacon fat!
We cook our bacon on a George Foreman grill, collect the bacon grease, and store it in the fridge. I put a pat of bacon grease, which looked quite a bit like butter, on top of the carrots, and they were AWESOME! I'm not sure if Cade cared, but they helped me eat them!

4. Cupcakes and Cheerios
Cupcakes and Cheerios? Isn't that the opposite of the Paleo diet? You're right, but Cade had both of them this week! Cade attended a pirate themed day camp. We informed them ahead of time that he was on a special diet and should only eat the bag of cashews we sent with him. However, Cade told us that he had shared a friend's Cheerios on Tuesday and on Thursday, he had a cupcake that was brought in for another child's birthday! Needless to say, my wife had to reiterate that he wasn't supposed to have anything the other kids brought in!
It's a bit frustrating because we tried really hard to stick to the diet strictly for this first week and BAM! We're starting from scratch. So, in terms of being fully grain-free, we have to start counting at Thursday.

5. Cashews
Cade likes cashews and since we've removed all the processed snacks he loved so much, we gladly give them to him. They are filling and full of fat. But, while cashews are allowed on this diet, I would imagine the fact that the ones we bought were covered in peanut (AKA legume) oil would be frowned upon! This was another frustration on top of the cupcake revelation, as we were trying our best to follow Cade's diet to the letter!
I simply thought that a cashew was a cashew, but apparently not. My wife looked through the grocery aisle and found very few options of cashews that had no added oils. We found these cashews on Amazon which have no added oils and ordered them. Interestingly enough, Amazon has a subscribe feature for food and pantry items where they'll automatically send however many you want every month or two or three. We ordered two three-packs in order to qualify for free shipping and set the reorder date to every two months. We'll let you know if this system works out.

Cade Updates
1. Swimming
Cade's grandma has a decent-sized kid pool in her backyard. Not sure if this is a result of eating better, but Cade went from very gingerly walking around the pool in swimmies and always staying above the water to jumping off the ladder and going under the water in a few day's time. Today he even started swimming under the water!

2. Language
For a child with autism, Cade is very high functioning. He's the type where people who don't know him well would say, "He can't be autistic!", but he struggles with understanding conversation, as well as expressing himself.
This week, returning from his swimming escapades and coming into the house, Cade said to me, "Daddy, mommy said you'd be so proud of me!" I asked what he thought I'd be proud of and he relayed the story about jumping under the water. This doesn't seem like much, but it sounded odd hearing him say it because he sounded so much like a regular kid.

Okay, I think that's it for week one. Now on to week two! Main priorities are: no Cheerios, no cupcakes, and no peanut-oil soaked cashews!

An Introduction

Its probably best to start this blog off by letting you know who we are and why we decided to take up space in this corner of the Internet. On November 12, 2005, my wife Becky and I were blessed with our first child, whom we named Caedmon (Cade, for short).

Fast forward through a couple of long years to May of 2009, my wife and I sat across a table from a group of professionals who placed our boy on the spectrum of autism disorders. Cade is enthusiastic and full of life, but has trouble with language, social skills, and regulating his emotions, amongs other things.

In February of this year, his father (that’s me) decided to go on a low carb diet after reading Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat. The weight quickly began dropping off me and the only effort I had to put in was to not eat things loaded with sugar and starch. As of today, midway into July, I’m down 55 pounds and my bloodwork has come back fantastic.

Continued reading on the subject of carbohydrate restriction, buoyed by my own body’s reaction to the diet, eventually led me to this post on robbwolf.com called “Real Life Testimonial: Scarlet’s Turnaround” which references Paleofreedom.com. While testimonials of how Gluten-free, Casein-free diets had “cured” autism had never impressed me in the past, the intriguing science behind the Paleo Diet did. Since getting rid of processed junk and eating real food seemed to really help out his old man, we thought we had a good chance of it actually helping Cade.

So we decided, “What the hey?” Let’s give this Paleo thing a shot for 30 days and see where it takes us. And that’s the point of this blog, to chronicle our adventures and struggles. It isn’t going to be all rainbows and gum drops, as autism is often characterized by a love of routine and a hatred of change. Hopefully, at the other end of this long journey, some of the fog hanging over our Paleo Boy might be lifted.

So, watch us, join us, and for heaven’s sake, pray for us!