I am a parent of a child with Autism 

I have a daughter who has autism; it's difficult because for years I blamed myself for her diagnosis and thought I did something wrong. Going to therapy I have learned that it's not my fault and have to let go of that blame that I have. 

I have done the impossible to go in Autism mom chat groups and talk to her teachers and now she is finally starting her 2nd session of private speech therapy weekly. I'm gluten - free with her and refuse to medicate my child. I take her to the chiropractic weekly and always keep communication via phone and email with her school and attend all her meetings. What my daughter was before she has changed a lot and is not as worse as before when she first had her diagnosis of autism (ASD).

With her gluten Free I make sure there is no contamination with the foods we eat and I read all labels and several websites on what contains gluten. I give her Omega capsules and vitamin D plus multivitamins that are gluten Free and buy them from her biomedical doctor. I'm trying as a parent to be the best I can be for my child and of course take care of my other child who is okay and talks too much . 

All I wish is for her words to come out more and for her to express herself more. I know there is no cure but I just baby steps then we will see how it goes. 

My worry is that she won't be able to express herself and half a life on her own later on. I want to improve and I'm doing the best I can . These vitamins and thins are costly but money will never be a issue for my child . I also give her probiotic that are expensive but the best. 

She is going to be 12 years old soon and I just know she can and I believe she can more with this private speech therapy plus school and plus summer school they have for autism kids here. 

Any moms that have ideas or stuff that they want to share are welcomed to let me know and I am a person that is not a doctor but can share my experience with my child. I did cut dairy from her and no sweets or sugar stuff . 

I will share more in the days . 

Almost first week on her biomedical treatments

I totally refuse to listen to the school or any hospital to tell me that my daughter needs to be on medication. It works in the beginning, but then it has bad side effects and makes her autism worse and it makes me as a mom question : Why did I do this to my child?

I have started on giving her the vitamins from her DAN doctor and mb12 injections; it is a lot to give her but they are good for her and I totally stopped temporarly the apple juice and no junk food. I am 80 percent dairy free but I am getting there.

It has been difficult for my child because she is the one that has this diagnosis, but then again it has been difficult and tough on me that I am her mother and it makes me sad and have a lot of anxiety watching my daughter struggle.

She is calm now and it has been like 4 days with this, I see her less stressed and very calm which is great for me. I did take her yesterday to the chiropractic to have her adjusted which I am going to be taking her 3 times per week after I finish working.

Let's see how the week goes with my daughter and my goal is not perfection but just better. 

Removing things and starting from scratch

Decided to remove medications from my daughter and turning completely to biomedical and vitamins for my child & remain still her gluten-free diet. 

I did decide to remove too much sugar: low sugar apple juice and junk food which are gluten-free that may contain too much sugar that might alter her moods. 

These weeks are not going to be easy but it something that I decided to do for my child. 

Prohibit foods: 

- Gluten foods

- High levels of sugar in any type of juice

- Too much things that contain carbs

- Highly salted popcorn and once a month Cheetos; the original one that is gluten free

Currently giving my child: Omega, Pure minerals, vitamin D, Magnesium Calcium, Gaba, Vitamins that contain no chemicals , folinic acid and temporarily her MB12 injection every other day. 

It is something that I am going to try and see how it goes and if it does not work; I will reconsider the vitamin part, but still will keep the gluten free part because I know that makes my daughter better. 

Experiences and difficult stones to pass

I have passed all these years since the diagnosis of my child; thru ups and downs. It is something that as a parent that it affects you and you turn into anything that is going to help you child advance and progress in her life. I have started at first with therapy and then turned to her seeing a Neurologist in Long Island, New York to changing her to a Neurologist in Philadelphia, PA. (keep in mind I live in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania so it's a long car ride for my child)

I have started with them doing head MRI's to making sure she doesn't fall into the category of having seizures; which they had to sedate her for that exam. Then in the end I turned to a Genetics doctor in The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; making sure that there wasn't an abnormality with her. I did turn to medicine, but then gave up because it was making her worse than better. I found a biomedical doctor in Philadelphia which from there I started more than 3 years ago a Gluten-Free diet with her.

I researched what foods,medicine,things she may touch that may have gluten. You would be amaze of the stuff that contain gluten, I honestly prefer shopping for her in Wegman's because it shows me if things contain gluten or not.  Some examples are: some playdough's, soy sauce, some powder garlic, some brand name hot dogs...etc.. 

I have turned into giving my child vitamins and mb12 injections and I can honestly say these things are not cheap; they do cost money but it is well worth it for your own child who needs them. I do love especially the probiotic which is the VSL #3 which you have to keep it in the refrigerator and give once a day. 

I did find out that my daughter these months has another diagnosis to add which is OCD plus her autism. That was something that I didn't expect and it was making her life bad as in the writing and her impulses. I did turn to medication for this condition, but honestly I am trying to find a way to make her life biomedical and get rid of the chemicals and bad things in her body. 

I did talk to this person who reference me on this diet of a woman called Keri Rivera and I honestly am going to see how it goes. I am going to eliminate her sugars and have heard that there is coconut sugar which is good for you. She is 70% off dairy now, but I am trying to make it 100%. 

I try to go in the internet, talk to people in the Autism Team app in my iPhone and they also share information with me just like I share information with them. Sometime doctors turn to medicine and think it is the solution to a child's problem, but sometime it is not like that. Us as adults might take medications for conditions that we have, but we are adults. I could take medications for my fibromyalgia and my migraines, but I wouldn't want my child who has autism and OCD turn into medications if biomedical treatment would help her and eating gluten-free. 

Honestly, I can't say I have been the best of a mother because nobody is perfect, but I can say that I find a way to make my daughter get better and make her autism more lower. 

I blamed myself for my daughter having autism and I blamed myself because I thought I did something that caused this, but I am learning now that it is something that happens and you can't do anything just do the best you can and move forward. My daughter has been in her worse of days when she was first diagnosed and now even though it is not the best; it is much better.

I still remember when my daughter went to see her developmental doctor and she had a bad tantrum and went to the ground in the office waiting room and couldn't stop yelling and was in her own world. I was crying because I honestly felt I didn't know what to do for her, I felt useless as a parent and doing the job alone and her father not around to help me. I remember that there was this lady that told me: Don't worry I passed through this with my child, things look bad now but it will get better... give it time. I still remember her words and now I know it might not be perfect but I do see improvements in my child. 

I do the best I can and only expect that one day my daughter can grow up and have a normal way of living and go off to college and be the best she can be. I know there is no cure for autism, but I do know that there has to be a way to make her life better.