I am a wife and mother of three. My middle child was diagnosed with severe intestinal food allergies (milk, soy, corn and eggs) when he was one, and then diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) when he was two. Food allergies and Autism, a double whammy.
I eradicated the problem foods from his diet, and successfully reintroduced milk and soy by the time he turned two. Corn and eggs continued to be a problem, but we found through experimentation that his intolerance for eggs came from the corn protein being passed from the commercial chicken to the egg. His food allergies were an annoying fact of life for a really long time, but through them I discovered a great outlet for creativity and experimentation in the food I fed him. The Summer after he turned 9, we tested his allergies again and found he was allergy free. He still struggles with what I lovingly call a funky stomach, and I cook very similar to how I've always cooked. However, he is now free to choose anything he thinks looks good on a restaurant menu or even something that catches his eye at the grocery store. This new found freedom is inspiring and humbling to me. I always thought he was cool with eating differently. He would even say he was proud of his diet because he knew it was healthy, but he eats with such enthusiasm now that it makes me sad for the time he couldn't. I'm also very often taken back by his willingness to try new things and his openness to different ways of eating.
While the food allergies (now just an annoying memory) had proven annoying at their worst, the PDD diagnosis was a devastating blow to my mother psyche. Not having a tangible, physical cure (like altering his diet for his allergies), my fixer personality struggled to make peace with the diagnosis and his condition. I can say now, some years later, that I'm extremely encouraged and excited to see what he will do with his life. And looking back over his development and progress, I've noticed amazing growth and development in my life as well, both as a mother and a cook. I learned how to juggle all the home/scratch cooking, 3-4 therapies a week, Medicaid, school, IEP meetings as well as the other amazing little people in my life. Things are different now moving into the higher grades. He's doing well. Some days are still overwhelming. Some days I want to run screaming from my house (although I would only get as far as the neighbors mailbox before I had three kids yelling for me to slow down so they could catch up). Some days I cry. Some days I can't cry no matter how much I feel I need to. And, some days I still struggle with his diagnosis, but I'm learning every day that my purpose isn't to cure him but to guide him into a successful, fulfilling life however that ends up looking for him.
I started this blog to post and share recipes I've discovered or created as well as to document my struggle through this maze of life. I hope that what you find here will encourage you in your own struggle.
