Learning DIR-Floortime

After months of contemplating the purchase of this book, I finally decided that it was time to learn Dr Greenspan's Floortime Therapy. I like the concept, because its not at rigid as doing ABA. Plus when Micah was doing ABA, he did not pay much attention to the drills that his therapists did. Plus I can use this approach for Piper and Micah at home!

If you do not know what Floortime is, basically, it's a play based therapy that parents can use at home with their children. This not only engages us, the parents in our child's world, but we can teach them important skills that are needed to do day to day tasks. Bringing play into the picture is a great way to help the child, but I needed to learn what little things I needed to add into my play session with Micah and Piper so they can learn new skills.

This led me to purchase Engaging Autism: Helping Children Relate, Communicate and Think with the DIR Floortime Approach by Dr Greenspan from Amazon. This will become my basic learning tool to help better teach my children new skills that they were not receptive to before. So I am pretty excited in using these new techniques, so the kids will be ready when they begin school respectively. I will keep everyone updated when I get the book in the mail about how they do with the combination of my new methods of treatment.

For Alexis, I finally purchased Why Can't My Child Behave?: Why Can't She Cope? Why Can't He Learn? by Jane Hershey, the current president of the Feingold Association. I did not think about getting this book, when I ordered the materials needed to implement the Feingold Diet. This is going to explain a lot to me in regards to her behaviors. So over the next few weeks, I will be reading these intensively to better understand things. I will also update on Alexis's improvements and how Micah and Piper improve their behaviors. Anywho I'm out!

*Disclaimer- I am not an affiliate of Amazon, Dr Greenspan, nor the Feingold Association. I am not a Medical professional and these programs do not work with everyone. This blog is written by a parent who is trying to help her children overcome Autism and ADHD. *

We Are Gaining Progress and Food List!

I am sorry it took me so long to post, but we are seeing progress in the kids with the things we already had. The Feingold kit has not made it to my mailbox as of yet, but we received a mini list that we did a bit of grocery shopping from. I also found a few blogs of fellow Feingold followers, which helped us out with our purchase. These had some grocery lists of things they personally purchased that was ok to eat. Here is what we bought:

Annie's White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese
Naturally smoked bacon without added nitrates or nitrites
Potatoes
Onions
Louis Rich Ground Turkey
Looza Pear Juice
Looza Mango Juice
Lemon Juice
Locally farmed chicken breasts from the butcher
Nature's Path Whole O's (GF/CF)
Canned Pumpkin (natural)
Canned Carrots
Canned Beets
Arrowhead Mills Millet Puffs (GF/CF)
Arrowhead Mills Corn Puffs (GF/CF)
Frozen Stew Veggies
Frozen Cauliflower
Frozen Brussel Sprouts
Natural Cheetos Snacks
Natural Lays Potato Chips
Tostedo Scoops Chips
Stacy's Pita Chips
Canned Green Beans ( French Cut)
Borden White American Cheese ( Probably not allowed, but I will find out when I get the full food list)
Crystal Farms Natural White Cheddar Cheese ( 1 pound blocks not shredded)
Nature's Own Wheat Bread ( This does not have any artificial anything in it)
Unbleached flour
Eggs
Whole Milk
Best Choice Real Butter
Sour Cream
Best Choice Organic Pasta (Penne and Spaghetti)
Rice
Best Choice 100% Pure Honey
Sugar
Progresso Natural Beef Broth ( without any additives or preservatives)
Full Circle Chicken Broth (Organic)
Southern Home Pure Vanilla
Best Value Elbow Macaroni
Fresh Tilapia
Fresh Catfish

I think this is the entire list.... I will have to look through the cabinets on here and add what is not listed. Everything is pretty much made from scratch in my house so its learning more of some new tricks to get rid of the tomatoes in certain things. But so far since we have removed the dyes from Kool Aid, and used as natural of ingredients as possible over the last week, has led to a very peaceful house today. I am so proud of my kiddos! I am off for now and will add some recipes that I have come up with to help everyone out who is new to the Feingold program. Talk later!

*Disclaimer- I am not being paid by the Feingold Association or any of the companies listed in my grocery list. When you purchase your own stuff, remember that prices are going to vary by store. I am not a medical professional, so the Feingold Program may not work for everyone, just a parent who is trying to help her children calm down the natural way.*

Feingold Here We Come!

Ralph and I decided to put the kids on the Feingold Diet along with getting some supplements later on down the road. Some people look at diet interventions for special needs children as a quackery, but for some kids certain changes have been positive. For those of you who are looking at this option, it's not just about changing what your children eat, it's changing your entire lifestyle! I think this will help with a lot of their issues, including lack of desire to sleep throughout the night and to get rid of some of the icky behaviors that all three of the kids have been demonstrating!

From time to time, I will be adding recipes that I have come up with, using Feingold approved foods and grocery lists, that we use on a weekly or monthly basis. I haven't decided yet how we are going to go about stockpiling our cabinets ..... I won't be too sure until the entire food list sits in my hand. This will help those who are looking at this method of diet intervention for Autism, ADHD, and many other conditions! Anywhoo, I will also be talking about the positive changes that they are making over the course of this program! Wish us luck and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with the Feingold program.

A Three Year Old Boy and His C-Span....

Earlier this evening, my husband caught Micah watching C-Span from his sisters bedroom. This is not the first time that he has been engaged in watching  news stations and enjoying them. At first, I thought it was slightly odd compared to little boys his age, who enjoy episode upon episode of Thomas the Tank Engine.

What I have also noticed, is that when Micah watches cartoons, he tends to cover his ears and becomes very upset during the show. Maybe it's something to do with his hypersensitive hearing, and the sounds from the show one of his sisters are watching are actually hurting his ears. His dad pointed that theory to me while Micah was catching his daily news dose. He also said that he seemed to prefer the monotone voice of the news station over the cartoons. This actually explains a lot about his preferences. Anyhow it's bed for me and stay tuned on for more with Micah.

Time to Take Another Path

It's been close to a year now since Micah was diagnosed with Classic Autism, and Ralph and I realized that it is time to take a different path. The therapies were not working, then we lost our insurance, and we are seeing him regress again before our eyes. I have finally decided that it's time for a change and am beginning to look into a mix of treatments, that include DIR- Floortime, a Sensory Diet, and biomedical treatments with supplements to help curb his behaviors. These are what has led him to break two windows in a three week period and become extremely aggressive with everyone. We are going to start slow and see how well he progresses. Right now, I am in the process of exploring the supplements that I want to give to him and researching Floortime. I will keep everyone updated to see how this goes.