Haven't started yet

I was planning on starting the SCD this weekend after Shawn's neurologist appointment. He hasn't been diagnosed yet but I suspect borderline Autistic and ADHD. I want to wait until after he's diagnosed before changing his diet.

Here's some background info on Shawn. First off, he just turned 6. I've suspected that there was something more going on with him besides his speech for about 2 years now. Looking back, I can definitely see early signs of autism but they are so borderline I think other people overlook it. After reading "Gut and Psychology Syndrome" I went back through Shawn's baby book and had an aha moment. Most of his problems started after his 2 month check up and had his shots. The day after his shots he developed diarrhea that didn't go away after 10 days so his pediatrician had us switch his formula to soy formula. That cleared up his diarrhea but he had major vomiting issues (more on that later). Two days after his shots he got really fussy. No, I take that back...it was much more than fussy. He basically started screaming like he was in pain and we couldn't get him to stop no matter what we tried. Then all of a sudden he would stop screaming and be happy and smiley for about 10 minutes before he would start screaming bloody murder again. Some people questioned whether he was colic but he was never like that before that day. We called his pediatrician who had us take him to the emergency room. Of course when it was our turn to see the doctor, he was all smiles. The doctor said she couldn't find anything wrong with him but she was going to call our pediatrician before she discharged us. She leaves and guess what happens? Yep, Shawn starts screaming. She came back because she heard him and asked us what we did to him. Ummm, nothing! Anyway, she still couldn't find anything wrong with him but told us to give him some Tylenol and low and behold his screaming stopped. So back to the vomiting...Shawn used to power puke. You never knew when it was going to happen. We used to place a beach towel on the floor in front of where we were giving him his bottle just in case. I mentioned the vomiting to his pediatrician but she didn't seem concerned so I thought it was normal. Ok, not exactly normal but not anything to worry about. Shawn reacted to the next round of shots the same way but this time I gave him Tylenol immediately when he started screaming and it did the trick. He stopped screaming and pretty much slept most of the day. The next sign I saw was trying to get him to eat. I had friends tell me it was ok to give him cheerios when he was 6 months old and when I gave him one, I thought he was going to choke, lol. He eventually got it but even at 9 months old, he gagged on a cheerio and threw up. He ate cereal, and most of the baby food veggies but would not eat any meats or fruits except apple sauce. He also wouldn't drink any juice, only formula and water (which was fine by me). I really didn't think too much of his eating habits except for the gaging and vomiting until we tried to introduce solids. I don't really have it recorded in his baby book but he was older than the average baby when we tried to give him solids. It was at this time that he developed constipation. After trying prunes and prune juice (both worked temporarily), his pediatrician had us give him Kondrumel. When we moved to Florida, I asked his new pediatrician if he should still be on it and his ped said yes to keep him on it.

He never did take to the stage 3 baby foods. He would gag on those but we started out with foods that he couldn't choke on like mac and cheese. As long as the food was soft, slippery, etc. then Shawn could eat it. Anything that had to be chewed, forget it. That is where Shawn had a problem. It was like either he didn't like to chew or he didn't know how to chew because he would just try to swallow the food without chewing which would cause him to gag followed by vomiting. Again, I mentioned this to his pediatrician and she told us not to worry and to just make sure we give him foods that will slide down his throat if he doesn't chew his food. So again, I didn't worry about it and kept on doing what we were doing.

I would also like to comment on his other signs that I didn't really know were signs until recently. I remember getting down on the floor to play with Shawn and he would stop playing with his toy, get up and move away and start playing with another toy. This really didn't bother me and I never though twice about it until recently when I started suspecting he might be autistic. For a while, I thought he had a hearing problem because he never responded to his name but there was a certain commercial that he liked and every time it came on, he would stop what he was doing and watch the commercial. He could be no where near the t.v. but when that commercial came on he would come running (I think it was a spaghetti sauce commercial). they also tested his hearing during his initial early intervention appointment. I should also mention that he's never had an ear infection (to my knowledge). He was also VERY active. I had to hold him when we left the house because he would just start running as soon as I opened the door and keep going out into the street since he didn't respond to his name or stop or wait. He was fast too. Then during his doctor's appointments, his ped would get to the question "is he saying any words?" and the answer was always no. At 18 months old, his pediatrician recommend us having his speech tested through the state. During his initial appointment with early steps, I was told that he doesn't seem autistic. I guess because he was able to do what they wanted. He qualified for speech and we had a therapist come to our house once a week. I guess I should also mention that Shawn never babbled not even when he was playing. He never pointed to things. We had absolutely no communication with him whatsoever. I used to just feed him when I thought he should be hungry. If he wasn't hungry, he would turn his head when I brought food to his mouth but he never let me know when he was hungry. After a few therapy session, Shawn learned his first sign which was "more". After a couple more weeks he learned the sign for eat but he didn't say his first word until he was 2. He continued speech therapy and when he began EELP at age 3 1/2, his vocabulary was still under 20 words and he wasn't putting more than 2 words together. No one in Early Intervention in the state of Maryland or Florida ever said to me that I should have Shawn tested because he displays signs of autism. It wasn't until his second year in EELP that I was talking to one of the other moms that I started suspecting. I found out her son was a highly functioning autistic. I never would have known if she hadn't told me. He was friends with Shawn and he made eye contact when he talked to you. Those were the things I thought autistic kids didn't do. She explained more about autism and some of the signs her son had. Every since then I had this nagging feeling. I finally asked our new pediatrician how to find out if he is autistic and we set up a consultation. After the consultation, he told us that Shawn does show some characteristics of autism but also shows signs of ADHD and recommended we see a specialist. Which brings us up to date waiting for his neurologist appointment.

Honestly, besides finding out that Shawn's friend was autistic, a big part of why I started suspecting something else was going on with Shawn is because of Joshua. Joshua is not quite 2 yet and we've been communicating with him since before he was one. He repeated sounds, pointed to things, responded to his name, craved attention, and didn't have problems eating. I know all kids are different but seeing Joshua's development really made me take a second look at Shawn's.

Shawn is in regular kindergarten now and has been doing good academically. He's practically reading by himself and can add but he's definitely had more behavioral problems this year. Mostly due to talking, disturbing others, getting out of his seat, etc. He's still in speech therapy but he has improved dramatically since he started EELP 2 1/2 years ago. Most people just see how much progress he's made but I see how much he struggles when he's trying to talk. He talks out of order sometimes. He often asks me what certain words mean when he should already know what they mean because he uses them in sentences. He has problems with pronouns and tense. He will call a girl he or him. He will often ask "what I having for dinner?" or "I can play with the computer?" instead of "what am I having for dinner?" and "can I play with the computer?" I can see the gears turning in his head when he's searching for the right word to say. He still doesn't respond to his name if you are calling his name from across the room. You have to be right in front of him for him to even notice you. I can be talking to him sitting right next to him but unless I turn his head so he sees that I'm talking to him, he won't hear a word I said.

I am anxious to start the diet. I just know in my heart that we will see a huge improvement, especially the ADHD part. Well, that's our history. Thanks if you made it this far.