Korben's GF/CF Diet

A few weeks ago we decided to try the gluten free/ casein free diet with Korben. I wish I had a simple explanation as to why I am undertaking this huge feat. I have read numerous books and every website I can find on the diet and its effects on autism. All I can really say is that there is enough evidence out there that it works, so I feel like it would be silly not to try it.

A simple explanation of the benefits of the diet come from "Changing the course of Autism; A Scientific Approach for Parents and Physicians"
by Bryan Jepson, MD:

"Over the years many parents have reported that their child's behavior improved measurably after gluten and casein were removed from the diet. Gluten is a protein found in grains and casein is a protein found primarily in cow's milk. These proteins have been shown to be highly immune-reactive in children with autism.

Dr. Goodwin and colleagues were among the first to document an abnormal brain response to gluten from food in autistic children. Starting in the mid 1980s several researches showed that children who maintained a gluten and casein free diet did much better neurologically (improved cognition, language, etc.)
than those who did not."

Of the thousands of parents who filled in the Autism Research Institute's survey concerning dietary intervention, 66% said their child improved on a
gluten and casein free diet.

As far as Korben's doctors are concerned they mentioned alternative treatments such as diet and told me there wasn't enough research done yet to show exact results, so to just use my best judgement. There is so much unknown about autism still that I often feel alone. Luckily I have found some wonderful people through Jenny McCarthy's Rescue Angel program to help me out. One lady took me shopping to help me find all kinds of foods for Korben, and another made an autism took kit for me to help me get organized, provide me with tons of information, and basically has become a constant resource and place to direct my questions. These women are not doctors, but mother's of children with autism that have found alternative treatments that have helped their children.

So 2 weeks ago when I felt armed with enough information and had two wonderful women cheering me on, I started Korben on his "special diet". I wondered if I would have to do a lot of explaining at Korben's school and therapy, but both have been extremely supportive. His school even wrote up a health plan for Korben so that all the teachers know not to feed him anything other than what I send with him. His teacher told me they have many students on the same diet and she is excited to see what the results are for Korben. At therapy they even have a GF/CF shelf of food for the kids on this diet. They were also excited and very supportive and have given me even more information about the successes they have seen from the diet. I have felt very blessed to have the school and therapy help with Korben, but even more so now that I know I have their support on alternative treatments as well.

Some observations in the first two weeks:

* Korben seems to have better eye contact. I wondered if this was in my head, but his therapists that only see him once a week have both mentioned to me that his eye contact is doing much better, so yay Korben!

* There have been less temper tantrums...in fact Korben has been very calm. I also wondered if this was my own wish full thinking, but I had my suspicions confirmed two days ago when Korben got into the marshmallows (not gluten free). He was able to get one in his mouth and swallow it before I got the bag from him. Within 2 hours, he was throwing a tantrum that would have scared Nanny 911 right out the door. He continued to have tantrums for the rest of the night as well as the next morning. I gave him an Epsom salt bath that night to help him calm down, and by the next night he seemed back on track, so...you think what you want about it, but I think I'll keep him off gluten for a while.

* I wish I had taken a picture of Korben 2 weeks ago. All of you know that he is skinny and always has been, but his ribs were sticking out and he looked sick. He weighed 31lbs. Since we started the diet, he is looking more filled out and healthy, and currently weighs 35 lbs. :D

* The diet is easier than I thought it would be. It's not convenient, but it is doable. I have found lots of recipes that are making it easier, and basically I am just having to get back to the basics of cooking. I am getting really good at reading labels and recognizing hidden sources of gluten, such as "modified food starch and caramel color, etc." (I challenge you to try and find something in your house that is gluten free other than fresh fruit and veggies...best of luck :D)

* It IS possible to duplicate McDonald's fries and nuggets. However, even though the nuggets and fries looked identical to the fast food chain's, Korben wouldn't touch them. A stroke of sheer brilliance came and I called McDonalds to see if I could purchase some nugget and fries containers from them. They actually gave them to me for free...and now Korben will eat both foods. WooHoo! (I am putting that discovery up there with Santa, and the Tooth Fairy...sometimes deceiving your children is simply for the best and done completely out of love. :D )

* I don't want to brag, but my nuggets can run circles around good 'ol McDonalds. Last night Korben ate a grand total of 12 nuggets compared to the 3 he normally ate from our favorite fast food place. As you can see, I think he is going to do just fine on his special diet.

I'll keep updating as things progress. Thanks everyone for your help and support, your prayers and phone calls.
We love you!

The New Do

For a while now, I have had the desire to do something drastic with my hair. I didn't really know why because I didn't mind my hair - other than it was in desperate need of a trim. It hit me last week when I was talking to Korben's therapist, that the reason I wanted to do something to my hair was not because it needed to be done, but because it could be done. It was something that I had complete control over.

Lately, I haven't felt like I have had much control over anything. I can't control the silly weather that won't decide if it is spring or not; I can't control Mike's long work hours; I can't control how fast Korben learns, or how often he gets sick, or how long it takes for him to recover; and I haven't had much gumption to control my weight...but I CAN control my hair. So I decided that I was either going to chop it off or change the color. In the end, I chose color.

It's amazing what a 3 hour appointment, a bold new color, and a fresh trim can do for your morale. I feel like now I can take everything on again. It's silly, I know. But I was able to make a decision, follow through, and complete it. It is done; it wasn't wishy washy, it wasn't difficult, it didn't take forever, and most importantly it was entirely within my control. I feel like a whole new woman, with a renewed energy and focus.

So if you are feeling a little down, or just need a little tune up...consider taking control and doing something drastic. :D

John Visit 2009

Last Sunday, John came to visit for a few days. As usual, it was a blast to have the ever humorous, fun-loving, super-tough, John in our home. The first night, we played a lot of games (a new one UNO FLASH was a big hit, and I highly recommend it). In true Fullmer fashion, John and I stayed up till 3am catching up on a whole lot of nothing. :D

On Monday, we decided to go to Powell's Bookstore. John was like a kid in a candy store and spent a bundle on books. I couldn't resist purchasing a few books either. It's a good thing we don't go very often because it's hard to contain myself when it comes to buying books. After the bookstore, Jake and Jess and Mike joined us at Olive Garden for some "real pasta" as John called it. Then while Mike finished up some work, the rest of us rode the OHSU tram. The boys thought it was fantastic and even got tram stickers.

The whole group at the top of the tram.

The boys and Uncle John with the Portland lights in the background.

On Tuesday, I took John to the Candy House in Portland. The best way to describe this house is what your wildest imagination can come up with to match the witches house in the Hansel & Gretel story. The place is incredible...and sells candy and baked goods, so you really can't beat it.

On Wednesday we decided to go to Newport (Oregon coast). It is 3 hours away, so we planned on making a whole day of it. We saw some fun things along the way and stopped to take pictures of them. The funniest one was right outside of Newport where a bunch of old double wides had their own little village. Just on the outskirts of the village was this:

I suppose with so many rainy days,
this is actually pretty clever. :D

The day was perfect for sightseeing...maybe a little chilly, but we were pretty much the only ones out visiting, so it was perfect for us. The boys loved walking along the boardwalk, and watching/listening to the sea lions chatter.

We decided to get he pass to go through the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, the Wax Museum, and an underwater adventure. The boys were amazed with all of them...and so were John and I...there is some really weird stuff in that Ripley's building. :D

I don't think Johnny was as excited
to see me as I was to see him...

John and ET

It was really too cold to take the boys on the beach, but the spectacular view was really enough.
Isn't John a good-looking guy?

One thing I loved about visiting Astoria and now Newport, are the beautiful bridges that they have. Coming from a very inland Idaho, all of these bridges are such a different sight than I am used to. I think they are just awesome.

The boys were troopers through all the driving and loved having Uncle John here. Korben didn't even want to go to school because he was having so much fun with John...and if you have seen my other posts, you know he LOVES school. Both boys cried when John left to get on the plane -
it was really sad to see him go.
Thanks for visiting us Johnny! We had a blast!

Family Visit to Astoria

On Saturday we decided to make a last minute trip to Astoria, OR. It is about 1.5 hours from our house, and we headed out without much of a plan other than spending some quality family time together. It was drizzling all day, but other than that was pretty good weather. Unfortunately, our camera battery died shortly after we arrived, so we didn't get many pictures. Also, because we decided so last minute to go, some of the sites we wanted to see were closed. We still had a wonderful time, and will just have to go again to see what we missed.

One thing that we did find was an old armory that had been used from the late 1800's to just after WWII. It was really neat to wander freely through the structure. The boys loved running around and exploring as well.

We were going to hike to a lighthouse, but opted not to since it was pretty wet. Mike ran up and got a photo of it for us to look at later...

And for any fans of Goonies, we stopped by the Goonies House and snagged a picture before the camera died.

There were many more neat things to see and do in Astoria, but our trip was not as much to sight see as it was to spend some fun time together, and that mission was accomplished. Also, as you can see, we do have some interesting things to see out here, so it might be worth a visit... :D

The Wheels On The Bus...

Today was Korben's first day riding the bus to school. I wasn't too worried about his first time, because each day I had picked him up from school he was begging to ride the bus home. Still, I spent much of the morning preparing him for what to expect (with the Little People bus) just in case. :D

His bus comes between 11:45 and 11:50am. We waited on the front step so Korben would be able to see it coming down the road. It was raining pretty hard, and Korben thought it was funny to run out into the rain and "get wet" and then run back to Mom. He also kept singing the part of Mary had a little lamb that says, "it followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day..." I have never seen Korben wait in anticipation for anything that he couldn't see; it was a real treat to see him so excited.

This is the picture of him excitedly waiting for the bus to come...

When the bus arrived, Korben didn't even glance back to see if I was following him. He walked very purposefully towards it.

He climbed up the steps...
still not bothering to look back at Mom...

...And he tried to head straight for a seat- until the bus driver had him turn around to look at the camera.
You can see how stoked he is...

All buckled in and ready to go - still beaming with excitement...
(Each of the kids are buckled up in a booster seat so that they can't escape.)

His bus only holds 6 passengers plus a wheelchair. It is the cutest little bus I have ever seen. He was dropped off at 3:00pm, and the bus driver said that he didn't cry once. He looked out the window, sang with Mickey Mouse, and loved the whole experience. Yay Korben!

Korben's First Day of School

Korben started school last Thursday (the 19th). Woohoo!

The night before, we went to Target to pick out a backpack for him. Mike liked the Elmo one, but gave Korben a choice between Diego, Thomas and Elmo...and Korben agreed with Dad. :D He loves to help get his bag ready, filling it with diapers, an extra set of clothes, a sippy cup, and a snack each day. It is so cute to see him zip his bag up, try to swing it over his shoulder and announce that he is "ready to go!"

He has attended 3 days so far. I was able to take him to and from school all 3 days because the bus driver wasn't ready for him yet. It was nice to get to see his classroom and meet some of the teachers before sending him off to school all on his own. He has had glowing reviews after each day so far. He plays really well with the other kids in his class (he can have up to 12 in his class, but the teachers have to keep a maximum of a 4 to 1 ratio), enjoys learning, and hasn't thrown a tantrum once. His teachers are really pleased with how excited he is to learn and I am really pleased that after 4 months of waiting, we are finally able to help him learn.

Korben attends from 12:10pm - 2:40pm, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Each day he has a 20 minute session alone with the speech therapist, a 30 minute session with the occupational therapist, and the rest is class time. We are keeping him in his private therapies as well and the therapists are working together to make all of the time spent with him effective.

Ready for his first day

Trying to show off his backpack

His Elmo backpack

Proud as a Peacock

Yesterday was visiting teaching day. Which also means: drag unhappy kids around, try and keep them entertained, their hands off everything, and appear to have it together as a mom day... (You all know what I'm talking about).

One of the women we visit is an inactive elderly lady that lives in an assisted living home. She has a memory loss issue, so never remembers anything about us (including our names) when we come. She is a total sweetheart though and we love her dearly. We usually just visit with her and her husband for about 10 minutes, sharing a short lesson,
and then we are on our way.

I was nervous about taking the boys into their little apartment, with good reason, since Logan thought that the oxygen tubing was the most amazing toy in the world. It was also nearly 100 degrees in there, so trying to keep both boys on my lap while wearing a sweater resulted in some serious perspiration on my part. In my mind I was wondering what in the world I was even doing there since the Spirit couldn't possibly be present with all the craziness going on around me. Somehow I got a short lesson out, we were able to exchange pleasantries and my partner asked if we could leave with a word of prayer.

Whenever Korben hears the word prayer, he yells out "prayer, fold your arms" which of course is very cute (but can be a tad embarrassing when blurted out before a sacrament prayer or something :D ) We followed Korben's lead and all folded our arms - all except me, who was trying to shush Logan so Nikki could say the prayer... And then it happened.

A little voice said, "Heavenly Father".

We all got quiet and watched in amazement as Korben said the entire prayer. He said "thank thee for this day", and "please bless the food" :D and then closed "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was one of the proudest moments I have had as a parent. We have practiced the prayer over and over, but he won't say it for us...yet something clicked and he was so excited to pray for this couple. Of course there was cheering and high fives afterward to show him how proud we were, but inside I was crying with happiness. My sweet little boy knows how to say a prayer...a huge milestone for him. But more than that he was able to bring the Spirit into their home-
something I wasn't able to do.

I am one proud Momma!