ggorgeous view of table mountain
look top left corner for deqlans name :) at the start of the conference they asked usto write down the names of our loved ones affected by autism and at the very end there was a phsychologist giving us survival tips and she ended off with this photo saying this is are biggest reasons ! of course, i was moved to tears and just wanted to get home to love and hold me gorgeous boy!
some of the grounds at the hotel i stayed at, lord charles - was really stunning! the weather was amazing it definitley doesnt seem to be winter in the cape!
view of strand beach! bron and her gorgeous kids tool me for supper on the sat evening and were so kind to take me past the beach just as the sun was setting, it was truly magnificent!
was so proud to wear my badge!
early morning view from the hotel - cape town is such a beautiful city!
just before take off, dada and deqlan watching the planes- of course mama cried when it was time to say goodbye -dada and deqlan watched me go through the security check and a blew deqie kisses, and by himself without anyone prompting him, he blew me kisses back :) what a stunning gift!
table mountain on my way back to the airport
what a stunning conference! i learnt so very much and wish i could tell you all every single detail but it would take me two days to type!
some highlites;
we had speakers from south africa and two from the usa - all fantatsic in the subject they spoke on.
dr louise lindberg, deqlans dan (defeat autism now) doctor, started with the overview and what the dan protocol would be to treat those with autism spectrum disorders
we had a fanastic , very experienced speech therapist give us insight onto how she treats and helps the kids she see's with asd. she tries to consider every possible thing that could distract their sessions , and adjusts the environment accordingly - using items that specific child relates to. she gave us stories of kids that have sensory issues - for egsample something she had cooked the night before had left a fishy smell around her practise based at home, and her patienr was so overwhelmed by it because of his sensory issues. she loves using the ipad for specific autism related applications and has seen a fantastic response in the kids - mark and i are currently looking into this for deqlan, we have heard amazing things about it!
we then had dr julie buckley from the usa tell us the story of her vaccine injured daughter with pictures of her before her vaccines and after and how her 4 yeard old vaccines triggered her autism. she showed us pictures of what her daughters gut looked like and what normal guts look like - you can not believe what some of these kids stomachs look like, its shocking - some cant express the pain they in , but we lnow all about the gut issues in the form of candida, watching our kids lay on the floor, so that they have pressure on their tummies, what their bowl movements look like and what they should look like - it took them 5 years to get their daughters candida under control and one day she told her mom , my tummy doesnt hurt anymore - she thought it was normal for your tummy to be sore all the time, she didnt know what it should feel like until her gut was healed! she also gave us so many ideas and hints, my favoirte being " cashew creme" - we need to feed our kids brains by giving him the healthy fats like avo and cashews and using coconut oil to cook with - cashew creme is amazing brain food and if you give your child 2 table spoons before their meal you will be giving them such a great gift! i made some today and was very pleased at the outcome - deqlan even had the two tablesppons which i was so pleased about! he was weary of the very smooth texture but did eat it! it tastes a little like reeces pieces to me!
dr buckley also gave another lecture on " care for the caregiver" which i absolutely loved!how important it is for the caregiver of the child with autism to take care of themselves. like the airline safety demonstrations display but the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping others- if you dont look after you, you cant take proper care of your child. she stressed how important it is to sleep enough, eat properly and specific techniques to calm down and go to our happy pplace, before reacting to situations - stress damages our cells and harms our bodies! there are so many caregivers and doctors that are getting sick with serioues ilnesses because they didnt tale better care of themselves. she also made us understand the importance of date nights and conversations not revolving around autism with your loved one, all the time! date night could even be a trip to the shop , just husband and wife, not mentioning autism , at all!
dr peta cohen, from new jersey, actually lived on south africa 20 years ago ans was so touched to be back!
her first lecture was on what you can do if you planning to fall pregnant and are pregnant to prevent autism- of course there are many factors that people believe trigger autism- our enviroment, toxins, genetics - but she had some ideas ( along with studies) on what we can do to make sure we stay away from the things we can. from eating only organic food , not using tinfoil, staying away from soya,not buying products with added vitamins to staying very far away for corn syrup and not letting your cell phone sit in your lap and in your pocket!
hannah kaye, a nutritional therapist gave us the breakdown of all the types of diets parents can try for their asd kids - the most effective and popular one being the gluten and casein free diet which means removing all proteins from wheat and dairy. dairy takes around a week to leave your system and gluten around 8 months!!! the other popular one is specific carbohydrate diet - which basically means a diet of just meat, fruit and vege, nuts and honey. this definitley wouldnt work for deqlan as he doesnt eat vegies , yet, isnt allowed fruit because of his candida issues and reacts to honey! there is also a no phenol diet- phenols are the colours in foods and lots of kids with autism react to them! each and every child is different so there is no one fix for all - you have to see what works for your child and your fanily! i was touched to see how many mommies were on the same diet as their kids !
of course hannah stresses sugar is a no no and wants us to get our kids eating liver once a week!!! eekk! ive gotten mark to agree to make it for deqlan, i cant do strange foods like that and i have a feeling our fussy eater wont be willing to try eat either!she also whole heartedly agrees that food affects our childrens behaviour!! she also said neuro tical kids would need to be given a new food up to 12 times before trying it where kids with autism may take 25, so hang in there and persevere! hannah is based in cape town but consults in jnb to so hopping we get to see her soon!
we had the founder of the snap programme give us a talk on autism in the teenage years and what their school and support groups focus on- so awesome to hear that they have social groups that get together weekly and have real friends they make at them :)
prof hanlie smookman give me excellent advise on preparing deqlan to get his tonsils out, as we know thats going to have sooner then later - and its keys to boost his immune system prior and help him to detox - so we increasing vitamin c and starting milk thistle which helps liver detox
there is already talk of another conference next year which i cant wait for, may just have to turn it into a holiday to, cape town is just so beautiful!
i left feeling very engergised, grateful and blessed and full of ideas for deqie and to share with others
thanks so much to anna and lauren and all at the afa for a great experience!
be still and know that i am god
