INSIDE OUT

I have to repeat that this diet is not for the weak. It takes "fanatical adherence" (Elaine Gotchall). Before we started this diet, we had been through elimination diets for J, our 4 year old, trying to eliminate the chronic eczema, various face rashes, mild asthma, and circular patches all over his trunk and legs (ringworm)?

We then entered the world of autism and at the same time, were already initiating a gluten free/casein free diet for other reasons (chronic ear infections with the suspicion of milk allergy and we eliminated the gluten for reasons of tummy aches). We had no idea, at the time, what road we were going down when 3 weeks later, a new boy began to emerge.

But then we read about a diet called the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet". With seventy years of scientific research backing it up and the realization that we were merely putting a "bandaid" on our autistic boy's intestines with the gluten/casein free diet, we decided to move ahead into "healing" his intestines instead.

Today is the best my son has ever been. This diet moves in waves. It's although he has some sort of "die off" for a couple of days, followed by similar symptoms manifesting where he was before the diet, only to be at his OPTIMUM a couple of days later. It's amazing to watch him climb this mountain. The science and countless case studies follow the pattern like this:
1. Start the intro diet
2. Pathogenic (bad) bacteria start to die as they are not being fed the food that keeps them alive.
3. Once they die, they release a toxin into the body, causing a Herxheimer (die off) reaction.
4. The die off fades and a boy emerges from his cocoon just a little more each time.

The cycle continues as each new tougher strain of bacteria and yeast continue to die. This is also where replacing the bad bacteria with good bacteria (probiotics) is so important.

The AMAZING effects of this diet cannot be measured! It's a you-won't-believe-it-'til-you-see-it kinda deal. It's an extremely difficult restriction and it can be scary when you have serious die-off reactions like vomitting. But when you see your boy emerge into a new boy the very next day, you know this diet is not playing games. You KNOW this is no joke and you KNOW this diet works.

Just look at this list that the SCD has changed in him:

BEFORE SCD
-Eye contact minimal (glances at best)
AFTER SCD
-Full eye contact without staring "through" me. Eye contact with others getting longer and more frequently.

BEFORE SCD
-Picking his nails until they bleed
AFTER SCD
-Seeing "whites" grow on his nails for the very first time in YEARS!

BEFORE SCD
-Playing with himself obsessively
AFTER SCD
-Merely "catch" him every so often (normal)

BEFORE SCD
- Vocal Tone "high"
AFTER SCD
-Vocal tone more grounded and lower (hard to explain if you are not familiar with this type of vocal tone).

BEFORE SCD
-Professor-like speech
AFTER SCD
-More appropriate tone

BEFORE SCD
-A lot of repetitive speech.
AFTER SCD
-Rarely repeats the same word or idea in the same sentence.

BEFORE SCD
-Drooling (needing to "suck in" his saliva)
AFTER SCD
- No longer drooling!

BEFORE SCD
NEVER initiated cuddling (before the gluten/casein free diet, if we wanted to cuddle with him, he would turn away).
AFTER SCD
*ASKS* to cuddle with me many times a day!

BEFORE SCD
-Climbing over everything and stepping on whatever was in his path
AFTER SCD
-No longer climbing or stepping over everything! Walks "around" objects and sits ON the couch appropriately rather than on top of it.

BEFORE SCD
-Drawing the same subject over and over
AFTER SCD
-Pages filled with various ideas and stories

BEFORE SCD
- Basic conversation in "self"-interests
AFTER SCD
-more "other-centered" conversation and more mature.

BEFORE SCD
-Needing to ask him to care about others if he saw them hurt (he would run away and keep playing as though nothing was wrong).
AFTER SCD
-Stops and goes to his friends without prompting. Genuinely shows care and support.

BEFORE SCD
-Needing to remind him over and over to help
AFTER SCD
-"Offers" to help each day to clean around the house. Organizes appropriately (this one was unbelievable to me. It was as though he finally "got it" and started to care about his books and toys and other things around the house.).

BEFORE SCD
-*NEVER* asked "why" questions
AFTER SCD
-Asks "why" questions *often* and "what does that mean?"

BEFORE SCD
-Ignored people when they came to our home to visit.
AFTER SCD
-Invited people to look at his toys, drawings, etc.

BEFORE SCD
-Short, one word answers to questions asked to him.
AFTER SCD
-Back-and-forth Conversation

BEFORE SCD
-Minimal vocabulary (3 year old equivalent or less)
AFTER SCD
-Vocabulary typical for his age.

BEFORE SCD
-Joined in running games at the park with various kids without talking or giving eye contact. If a boy tried to talk with him, S would turn away and sometimes walk away.
AFTER SCD
-*Initiates* games with other kids and shows confidence and leadership!

BEFORE SCD
-Preferred to play by himself over siblings. Siblings would play with each other in imaginative games, knowing S would rather play by himself. 3 yr old only called for J when she wanted to play.
AFTER SCD
-Asks and calls for S to play with her. I now see all three of them playing together often.

BEFORE SCD
-Did not play "imaginative" games with siblings or friends (unless he was a dinosaur. Yet, did not comprehend that there was any context to the "story").
AFTER SCD
-*Creates* the games to play and initiates imaginative story lines!
BEFORE SCD

There are more on this list that I'll probably add as I remember them. There are a few things that are forming without any therapy whatsoever. There is still some articulation issues becoming eliminated without the help of any therapy whatsoever:

Before SCD
-Could barely understand one or two words (unless you were his parent or around him often). We had to pick out what he was saying based on those one or two words. Strangers could not understand most, if anything at all, of what he was saying. His 3 and 4 year old siblings were easier to understand at one time.
AFTER SCD
-Strangers at grocery stores are having back and forth conversations with him without any "translation" from me whatsoever! This is truly amazing to watch.

Keep in mind that this is *MERELY* one-and-a-half months on this Specific Carbohydrate Diet!! If you are not a believer, I understand. I would never have believed it if I didn't see it.

Skeptic. Am. I.

...not anymore.