Are the Dyslexia Symptoms Improving?

First, I would like to start with some minor improvements I am seeing to the dyslexia symptoms. Of course with so many factors involved I am hesitant to say that the Feingold diet is solely responsible. However, I do feel like there is a direct connection. We are into week three and still no major melt downs. We have had some bumps in the road with behavior. These bumps always followed a food infraction. Hmmmm Most notably, when he has had “illegal” food (my son and I have a joke about calling it illegal) he has a very hard time getting to sleep. We had two straight nights him being awake until 10pm even though he was in bed by 8:30pm.

So now for the obvious, here in the states today is Halloween. Last night I broke the news to my son that we would be picking 10 pieces of candy to keep and trading the rest for money. He was NOT into it and started getting worked up. Because it was close to bed time (poor timing on my part) I said “ok, you may not have to, we will talk about in the morning”. So this morning was going very well. We often have struggles in the morning especially with this week and the late nights. Because he was well on track to be ready when his ride got to our house, I told him he could keep 3 extra pieces, but we would be trading the rest. However, he could choose what he wanted to trade for. This went great and we are all set for a great time trick or treating.

Now I know for many of you, you want to shout at your computer that I should not be using food (illegal or otherwise) as a reward. I totally agree and I am not perfect. We were having a great morning. He asked if he was ready on time he could have more candy. And I said yes before I even thought about it. Oh well, I am still a work in progress. I make plenty of mistakes, but my goal is to always learn from them and not repeat them.

Happy Halloween

So Far, So Good

We made it through the weekend without too much trouble. The only time we really went astray was at dinner. I must say, we have only been doing the Feingold diet for a week and I can already see a difference. It is hard to know for sure if it is the diet or so many other possible factors, but we have not had a major melt down in several days.

I am sure it will be some time before I can tell a difference with his dyslexia symptoms. I am not too concerned about that at this point. We do many things to help with his dyslexia, but my true goal for the Feingold diet is to improve these rage type outbursts. Even if we are not perfect on the diet, it seems to be making a difference.

Grades and Going

So we got our first report card of the year. All A's and B's. Whoo Hooo!! With hard work and a great teacher who understands and recognizes dyslexia symptoms, success is very possible!!

So now we are getting ready to face the first trip while being on the feingold diet. My family of 5 adults and 3 kids 7 years old and under all under one roof. We are only going to be gone Friday through Sunday. I have enough food for 3 weeks. LOL I have several kinds of approved snacks, 2 types of cereal, 2 types of sandwich meat. We are not going to go hungry. I also have a wonderful family who is very supportive of this new road we are taking. They have all called (while in the grocery store) to make sure that anything they bring is either acceptable, or not a temptation for my son.

We are going to do all we can to stay straight this weekend, but I am also not going to freak out about things. This trip is to celebrate my dad's birthday, so we will make the best choices we can, but will also go with the flow when our choices are limited.

If anyone is also a feingold family, I welcome any advise, tips, encouragement you have to offer in the comments.

Here's to a great weekend . . .

Will It Help the Dyslexia Symptoms?

I am not sure if this is going to help his dyslexia symptoms, but I am optomistic and mostly looking for improvements in the self control area.

So far we have been on the Feingold diet for 2 full days. Things seem to be going well so far, although we have has some things that were not allowed. My son has been very good. He is taking his lunch and snack to school each day. Today was the first day that he wanted the "school snack". The good news is that this turned out to be my week to bring snacks for the class (which just means bringing 2 low sugar cereal boxes). I I got two types of approved cereal to give to the class. Hopefully that will help the "being different" aspect.

So far I have seen a small difference. We have not been on it long and not 100% perfect, but we are still going full steam ahead.

More to come...

Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?

For a few years now, I have been watching my son for signs of AD/HD. At the beginning of first grade I asked his teacher if she was seeing signs of it and she said no. He behaves very well at school, rarely getting in any trouble at all. But at home is a whole different story! He has to be moving. He would walk around as he practiced his spelling words. He would wiggle so much while reading, he would literally end up hanging off of the couch upside down. When he was diagnosed with dyslexia, the psychiatrist indicated that she did not observe and impulsive behaviors. I asked his teacher this year and she first said she didn't see any signs of it.

So I have been going through the million question game. Is he trying so hard to make his teacher happy that he is using all of his energy to behave at school and just totally lets loose at home? Am I not providing enough discipline? Am I reading too much into his behavior (after all he is a boy)? Am I not giving him enough attention?

After consulting several people I had almost decided do a short trial (maybe a week) of ADHD medication, but this just was not sitting well with my mommy instincts. I don't hold any judgment about this type of medicine. I am a firm believing in using whatever you need. However, for some reason I just didn't feel like this is what was right for my son.

So I TiVo the talk shows that I like and watch them when I can. As I was getting caught up, I kept seeing Jenny McCarthy promoting her new book. She kept talking about putting her son on a special diet. My mommy instinct bells were going crazy! So I did some research and found great things being said about the Feingold Diet. Basically it is removing artificial flavors and colors, aspirin like chemicals, and salicylates.

So I ordered it and the information came in the mail yesterday! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. My son and I will be doing this together. I don't find the diet limiting in many ways, but I am not looking forward to loosing my caffeine!

Stay tuned and I will let you know how it goes for us.

Understanding Dyslexia Symptoms

When my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, the psychologist recommended a book to to help me better understand what we were dealing with. As we went over the diagnosis, she referred to this book several times. I knew it must have some good information. I went out and bought it the next day.

From that day forward, this has been the most helpful book I have ever read. I told everyone I came in contact about Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. My son's teacher read it and said "Why have I not known about this book!"

Reading this book was like opening my son's brain and letting me in. I learned that so many of his daily characteristics were connected to his dyslexia. Things were finally making sense to me!! Most importantly to me, this book was written by a professional woman with the science of brain scans and research groups to back up her information.

I highly recommend that everyone reads this book, but especially if you or someone close to you may be dealing with dyslexia. It can be found on amazon here:

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any LevelTechnorati Profile