First of all, I've edited my 2009 book list for the last time. I read 60 books this year! Wow. That's a new record for me.

This year will be a little different, because I have a Sony Reader. I will still list my books, but I'll have to rethink the way I list them on my spreadsheet, because the format is different. Number of pages, ISBN numbers, etc...everything's changing.

Three great days in a row at school. Yesterday, one of her teachers woke me up to tell me what a good day she was having.

O.o

THAT has NEVER happened before!

And, it has been 10 days since there has been any kind of meltdown. This is certainly cause for celebration.

I'm not delusional enough to think that we will never have another one. But if there can be 10 days or so between them...you know, I can live with that. Especially if she is as happy as she has been lately. It's pretty unbelievable.

What's going on, you might ask? Why this change?

Well, personally, I believe it's the enzymes. We started giving Stephanie "Peptizyde" with every meal almost a month ago. This was in reaction to reading a book called Enzymes for Autism and other Neurological Conditions, by Karen DeFelice. This woman has two sons who are autistic. She started studying up on these enzymes and giving them to her sons. They are no longer considered on the spectrum! And she does not have them on any "special diets," such as the Gluten-Free Casein-Free diet that so many autistic kids are on.

The premise all has to do with something called "leaky gut syndrome." The idea is that our kids' intestines are damaged (for whatever reason) and need healing. The author's experience was that, when people start the GFCF diet, they wind up eventually dropping more and more foods off on the diet, to the point that there is hardly anything the kids can eat. This, of course, is bad, nutrionally, and gets really expensive, because the foods are hard to find, and they have to take so many supplements to make for the nutrients that they are not getting by not eating all those foods. Karen sarcastically calls it the "Food-Free Diet."

For her, enzymes changed everything. Just giving her kids enzyme capsules before meals made the difference. The reason, in a nutshell, is that enzymes help break down foods into smaller particls so that the digestive system can digest them. This means that the kids get more nutrients from the foods that they do eat, and it makes things easier on the intestines, so they can heal. Plus a bottle of enzymes (Peptizyde can be found for $18 for a 90 ct bottle) is much cheaper than all of those special foods and other supplements.

Well, we're trying it, and so far, my testimony is that it works. I wish I had heard something about this treatment years ago.

Gotta wonder...why aren't more doctors talking about this?

Anyway...gotta go do my devotional diary, now.

TTFN, y'all!

Missed anything?
The Beatles--Abbey Road/Alice Cooper--Killer - July 04, 2012
The Beatles Eponymous Album - June 26, 2012
Autism's False Prophets - February 12, 2011
Santana--Guitar God? - November 11, 2010
Tribute To the Red Sox - September 29, 2010