Many kids with special needs suffer from sensory input on overdrive. This is especially true when it comes to chemical smells. For some, exposure to certain smells can cause a downward spiral.
Some kids are overly sensitive to the smells of household cleaning products. For others it’s the fumes given off by new carpeting and paint. My son was sensitive to the fumes given off by polyester fabric, as well as others.
One family I know of suffered a setback when their child was put on a school bus that had just been cleaned on the inside with harsh chemicals. They had made incredible gains with their child, only to see him revert to his shell after exposure. At a church my family used to attend a mother came to look at the bathrooms in the Sunday School area. She knew that depending on the cleaning products they used in the bathrooms her kids might not be able to attend the classes.
Just because you can’t smell anything offensive doesn’t mean your child can’t. One time we had a new fleece throw on the back of a couch. My son had sat down next to his mother to watch TV. After a few minutes he told her that he was starting to feel that sick feeling he sometimes gets. She ended up removing the fleece throw and low and behold he quickly felt better. His body picked up on the off gassing of the polyester. My wife & I couldn’t smell a thing from the fabric.
Another time we flew somewhere and rented a car. The car was fairly new, and still had a bit of that ‘new car smell’. We had to put the windows down for my son to tolerate riding in the car. There were just too many plastic smells overwhelming his system.
Just as our kids systems may be sensitive to the smells around them, we need to be sensitive to what’s affecting their environment.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Does your child have food allergies?
Diet
Does your child have food allergies? Are they on a restrictive diet? Are you supporting them, or tempting them?
When it was suggested to us to cut lactose out of my son’s diet my wife & I didn’t blink. We started gradually, first eliminating milk from the refrigerator, and then we didn’t re-supply other dairy products as they were used up. We explained to him what we were doing and why, and probably the biggest factor was that we participated with him.
In other words, we all went lactose/casein free. For my wife and I we figured it was for a short while, but we knew it would make a difference for our son if we did it with him. We were in for a surprise...
For years I suffered from minor digestive problems that would come and go. Guess what? They went away while we were all lactose free! After about 3 weeks I realized the situation and decided to test it. I went to Starbucks, drank my latte, and had problems. For the better part of 10 years I didn't know that I was lactose intolerant. So now my son & I enjoy being lactose free together.
In about a month we eliminated all lactose/casein from our home. We bought cartons of soy, rice, almond milk & others and let our son make the choice of what he liked. He chose the almond milk, so that's what we put on our cereal. Try using the chocolate almond milk when you mix your hot chocolate!
Six months down the road we decided to eliminate gluten from our son's diet. This presented a bigger challenge. My wife is a great cook, but this looked like a daunting task to her. Again we took it one step at a time. The key was not only telling him what we were going to do, but asking him which meal to start with. He chose breakfast. As each cereal box was emptied it was replaced with a gluten free cereal. When it came to cooking, we would all eat the same food. We didn't want our son to feel excluded.
We did not eat regular gluten pancakes, pizza, pasta, or other favorite foods of his in front of him for several months. As he got used to the new foods we were able to substitute foods for him if we were eating something he couldn't have. If we ordered pizza, we made him a custom gluten free pizza. We never tempted him with the foods he couldn't have.
It's been several years, and now he's fine if we eat foods in front of him. We've also taught him what to order in restaurants and how to read labels. After the first 6 months on the diet change the doctor suggested trying a small amount of gluten in his diet. We did this without telling him. In his case it makes him feel sick (not as severe as Celiac). We told him after a couple of days why he was feeling ill. At first he was mad, but he realized what will happen if he eats the wrong foods.
What did we learn though all of this? By joining with our son, and not forcing him to change his diet on his own, we had success.
Recently I ran across a dad whose son was gluten intolerant. The mom was angry that when she was away the dad would give his son the wrong foods. I asked him why he gave his son the snacks loaded with gluten, and his reply was that his son liked them. I asked him if his son was addicted to a certain drug would he give his son the drugs. For many kids giving in to their food cravings is literally giving their bodies a substance that is poison to them. We all need to support our kids as much as we can, which could mean we may have to give up something we like to help them accept the change they don't like.
Does your child have food allergies? Are they on a restrictive diet? Are you supporting them, or tempting them?
When it was suggested to us to cut lactose out of my son’s diet my wife & I didn’t blink. We started gradually, first eliminating milk from the refrigerator, and then we didn’t re-supply other dairy products as they were used up. We explained to him what we were doing and why, and probably the biggest factor was that we participated with him.
In other words, we all went lactose/casein free. For my wife and I we figured it was for a short while, but we knew it would make a difference for our son if we did it with him. We were in for a surprise...
For years I suffered from minor digestive problems that would come and go. Guess what? They went away while we were all lactose free! After about 3 weeks I realized the situation and decided to test it. I went to Starbucks, drank my latte, and had problems. For the better part of 10 years I didn't know that I was lactose intolerant. So now my son & I enjoy being lactose free together.
In about a month we eliminated all lactose/casein from our home. We bought cartons of soy, rice, almond milk & others and let our son make the choice of what he liked. He chose the almond milk, so that's what we put on our cereal. Try using the chocolate almond milk when you mix your hot chocolate!
Six months down the road we decided to eliminate gluten from our son's diet. This presented a bigger challenge. My wife is a great cook, but this looked like a daunting task to her. Again we took it one step at a time. The key was not only telling him what we were going to do, but asking him which meal to start with. He chose breakfast. As each cereal box was emptied it was replaced with a gluten free cereal. When it came to cooking, we would all eat the same food. We didn't want our son to feel excluded.
We did not eat regular gluten pancakes, pizza, pasta, or other favorite foods of his in front of him for several months. As he got used to the new foods we were able to substitute foods for him if we were eating something he couldn't have. If we ordered pizza, we made him a custom gluten free pizza. We never tempted him with the foods he couldn't have.
It's been several years, and now he's fine if we eat foods in front of him. We've also taught him what to order in restaurants and how to read labels. After the first 6 months on the diet change the doctor suggested trying a small amount of gluten in his diet. We did this without telling him. In his case it makes him feel sick (not as severe as Celiac). We told him after a couple of days why he was feeling ill. At first he was mad, but he realized what will happen if he eats the wrong foods.
What did we learn though all of this? By joining with our son, and not forcing him to change his diet on his own, we had success.
Recently I ran across a dad whose son was gluten intolerant. The mom was angry that when she was away the dad would give his son the wrong foods. I asked him why he gave his son the snacks loaded with gluten, and his reply was that his son liked them. I asked him if his son was addicted to a certain drug would he give his son the drugs. For many kids giving in to their food cravings is literally giving their bodies a substance that is poison to them. We all need to support our kids as much as we can, which could mean we may have to give up something we like to help them accept the change they don't like.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
As Dads, some of us have a tendency to forget that our children aren't grown up yet. When you have a child who has special needs, we sometimes forget this too. In my home it's not uncommon for me to forget that my son doesn't process things the same way that I do. Most often my wife has to remind me.
I remember reading a short story about a dad who gets upset with his son who doesn't always tuck his shirt in, is sometimes clumsy, makes the wrong decision, and acts like a child at the wrong moments. Then one night as he looks in on his sleeping child and realizes that his son is still a child, and that he has been expecting too much from his boy who isn't yet a man.
When your child has a learning disability it can be easy to forget, for the same reason that others may not even know about it. It's invisible. And it’s equally easy to forget that their challenge can affect other areas of life besides just academics.
At the same time we may be impatient when our child isn't healed yet, or that it may take them longer to learn something that came easy to us. Like the dad in the story, we may be rushing our child, when at that exact time we should probably be thankful for how far they've come.
I often pray that I would be a good dad to my son, and I hope that I've set a good example for him to follow when he becomes a dad. And when I get upset for things that might be his fault (or possibly an effect of his disability), my wife sometimes needs to tell me that I should apologize and give my son a hug.
As a man, I can let my pride get in the way. Or I can humble myself and realize that I'm not perfect either...which takes me back to setting that example.
As Dads, some of us have a tendency to forget that our children aren't grown up yet. When you have a child who has special needs, we sometimes forget this too. In my home it's not uncommon for me to forget that my son doesn't process things the same way that I do. Most often my wife has to remind me.
I remember reading a short story about a dad who gets upset with his son who doesn't always tuck his shirt in, is sometimes clumsy, makes the wrong decision, and acts like a child at the wrong moments. Then one night as he looks in on his sleeping child and realizes that his son is still a child, and that he has been expecting too much from his boy who isn't yet a man.
When your child has a learning disability it can be easy to forget, for the same reason that others may not even know about it. It's invisible. And it’s equally easy to forget that their challenge can affect other areas of life besides just academics.
At the same time we may be impatient when our child isn't healed yet, or that it may take them longer to learn something that came easy to us. Like the dad in the story, we may be rushing our child, when at that exact time we should probably be thankful for how far they've come.
I often pray that I would be a good dad to my son, and I hope that I've set a good example for him to follow when he becomes a dad. And when I get upset for things that might be his fault (or possibly an effect of his disability), my wife sometimes needs to tell me that I should apologize and give my son a hug.
As a man, I can let my pride get in the way. Or I can humble myself and realize that I'm not perfect either...which takes me back to setting that example.
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