GFCF....My hero!!!

One step forward, two steps backward...

I didn't want to blog yesterday. I felt Miguel was decompensating in his communication when I had picked him up Monday after work and I was crushed. Here I was boasting about his strides in communication over the past week and Monday he was banging his head more, screaming, had increased frustration, was non verbal and fussy. So I held off on the blog to see if Miguel was going mute again or if it was just a bad day. I suspected that maybe daycare or school gave him a non-GFCF snack and I was pissed. I really like this diet for him because I believe his increased appropriate communication is in direct relation to the diet.

A little background on GFCF: It is believed that Autistic kids have difficulty processing/metabolizing gluten and casein, so it acts as a drug in them, hence, the erratic (shitty and intolerable) behavior.

Every day with Miguel is a mixed bag of nuts.

People ask, "how is he with....?", "does he respond well to....?", "what does he think of....?" and I can't answer. The truth is, you never know how Miguel will behave in response to situations, environments, experiences, toys, foods, etc.... He is consistently inconsistent, so I just try everything. One day he may love something and the next day he'll flip out about it....but there is always a chance he may love it.

Good news of the day...

Miguel was awesome last night, despite his unwillingness to go to sleep lately (even with the .1 mg of clonidine). He was chatty and fun. He hasn't responded to a question appropriately since Saturday but I hope that will begin to develop more. Last night Miguel was showing off his mad communication skills for his Uncle Jason (one of his favorite-ist people ever!), repeating words, giving hugs and kisses.

This morning Miguel woke up at 0300 but was is a great mood and fairly quiet. He took himself to the bathroom twice and hopped in the tub the second time, before I could intervene.

While I was getting ready for work, Miguel and I were in the bathroom and our conversation went a little like this...

Me: "Good morning, Miguel."

Migs: "Good morning." (said in a sing-song manner, mocking me) :)

Me: "How are you?"

Migs: "How are you?"

Me: "How are you doing?"

Migs: "How are you doing?"

Me: "Miguel, say "I'm good"."

Me: "Say...."I'm good"."

Migs: "I'm good."

Me: "Well, goooood! That's GREAT!"

Miguel smiles and walks out of the bathroom.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNND SCENE!!

"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam."

--Winston Churchill

Crap...I feel SUPER SUCCESSFUL!!!! :)