HOW MY SON’S SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER CAUSED MY SEVERE HEALTH DECLINE

tired womanHaving a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me.  He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.

This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.

I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby.  [Read more…]

WHAT IS GUT DYSBIOSIS?

fungal myceliaGut dysbiosis — this topic is the motherlode.  It’s one of the two core (in my opinion) reasons for the explosion of chronic childhood illnesses we see today.

Gut Dysbiosis:  A Common Link Among the Epidemic of Children’s Chronic Illnesses

First, let’s discuss the numbers behind this epidemic:  How many kids did you know when you were growing up that had autism, ADHD, acid reflux, allergies, asthma, developmental delays and/or mental health issues?  [Read more…]

FAILURE TO THRIVE

“Failure to thrive” is when your child’s weight percentile falls to the 3rd percentile or below or when it crosses 2 or more major percentile curves.  When either of these (or both, as in the case of my older son) happens, it’s an indication that the child is not growing as he or she should be.

I could scream every time someone tells me that I’m not that big or my husband’s not that big, so my sons’ failure to thrive is something I shouldn’t worry about.  Or how about when I’m told to stop comparing my kids to fat American kids?  [Read more…]

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICITY AND AUTISM

Pollution of environmentHave you ever wondered WHY there’s such an epidemic of autism these days?  Why is the rate now 1 in 50, when it was only 1 in 10,000 a couple of decades ago?

Not only that, but WHY are there also epidemics of developmental delays, learning disabilities, ADHD, allergies, asthma, mood disorders, sensory processing disorder, OCD, Lyme disease, autoimmune diseases and ear infections?

One of the reasons, confirmed yet again, is that environmental toxicity plays a role.  Epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto’s research says that a mom’s proximity to car pollution raises her risk of having an autistic child.

Dr. Phillip Landrigan and his team at the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center have been saying much the same thing about the detrimental effects of certain toxins such as lead, mercury and flame retardants on the neurodevelopment of children.

My friend and colleague from Epidemic Answers, Beth Lambert, has written an excellent book about the multi-factorial causes of these epidemics.  In her book, “A Compromised Generation“, she has written about the perfect storm of causes, including environmental toxicity, leading to these epidemics.

Have you looked into how toxicity might be related to your or your child’s chronic illnesses?

 

HOW MY SON’S SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER LED TO MY SEVERE HEALTH DECLINE

Having a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me.  He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.  This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.

I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby.

His sensory processing disorder turned him into a barnacle.  I felt as if he were permanently physically attached to me.  It wasn’t so bad when he was younger, but after his brother was born, it was extremely difficult to deal with two small, crying children at the same time, who both wanted to be picked up and held at the same time.

And then when our nanny left to have her own baby when my older son had just turned 3, his sensory processing and anxiety went full tilt.  He was used to having someone always there immediately to meet his needs; now he had to share me with his baby brother. [Read more…]