Halloween; Bad to Good

Objective:

Help TsukiMoon self-monitor so that emotions don't overwhelm him and bleed into his behavior.

Theory:

A gluten-free, dairy-free food plan helps TsukiMoon remain calm because his body isn't at odds with himself and he can act with more fluidity in the world.

On The Ground:

Halloween 2013; How the food plan all got started.

We live in a larger town of about 60,000 on the outskirts of a large city.  All the houses are close together so trick-or-treating can be a fruitful endeavor, much better then my experience growing up in the country where I went to 5-6 houses.  It is a wealthier town so many of the folks give out full-size candy bars.  In other words lots and lots of sweets.

TsukiMoon is not great at self-regulation when it comes to eating highly-palatable food.  He eats until he gets sick, then goes back the next day to do it again.  We try to keep tight regulation of food so he doesn't get sick.  Like anyone he doesn't like restrictions put on his food choices.  Without us realizing it he absconded with his Halloween 2013 candy.  He hid behind an overstuffed chair and ate all of his candy in two days.  It made for a terrible weekend.

He showed the more extreme symptoms of ASD; loss of words, would scream the word, "NO" at us.   He couldn't control his emotions, and would lash out us physically.  That was it for me.  I had heard that a gluten-free, dairy-free food plan helped with ASD symptoms.  We implemented it that week.

I had read that a gluten-free and a dairy-free diet has helped some with an autism spectrum disorder.  So brought all pasta and bread to the food shelter.  We threw out all dairy yogurt, cheese, replaced the milk with almond milk.  In addition all fake dyes in any food or carmel color was on the toxic list and not let into the house.  The effects where fast.  By Christmas we went to a friend's house for a party, TsukiMoon engaged in a long conversation with the mother, something that he had never done before in his life--an adult, who he considered a stranger (all adults who are not us or his teachers are strangers).  No way it would have never happened.  After that he started to engage with people we would meet at Starbucks and share with them what we were up to that day.  So much better then being afraid of everyone and hiding under tables.  The more pure the food the better TsukiMoon does.

I would like if TsukiMoon ate a paleo diet (also know as the cave-man diet; fruits, veggies, meat, nuts) because I believe grains, even gluten-free ones have an ill effect.  This is based on my reaction to grain and that I have many of the same issues of TsukiMoon around anxiety which are heightened with starches.  Being grain-free helps me regulate my emotions and to better focus.  If only TsukiMoon ate something other then carrots and apples for a vegetable or fruit.

Over the past year we have been faithful to the no gluten, no dairy with only somethings slipping through at birthday parties or peoples houses.  TsukiMoon is a different person.  He regularly talks with people, has friends, and is even-keeled.  We went to Germany and Denmark this summer.  It was too hard to maintain gluten and dairy-free, so TsukiMoon got to eat anything he like.  His actions were good for most of the trip.  I believe that he has, through this food plan has been allowed to create new behaviors, new ways of being and acting so the week and half in Europe didn't derail his new habits.

This year we participated in Halloween this year, 2014.  We went out with friends.  TsukiMoon ran from house to house up by himself or with friends.  He worked out with his friends a rotation for who got to ring the bell next, he thanked everyone he got candy from-- all new skills.  

There was some complaining before the 31st of October because he wanted to keep the candy that he collected.  I listened to his concerns and confirmed his sadness.  Mr. TsukiMoon took away the candy during the night and told TsukiMoon in the morning.  There was grief about not having any.  He looked over the house for it.  We bought him some new models for his war game, Warhammer 40K.  This seemed to help, there was still sadness, but he could talk about it and that was great.