Well, I didn't finish my spring cleaning but I think I had a pretty good excuse. I did get the top cabinets that I had left to wipe down but did not finish the bottom cabinets or the dishwasher (I did clean the inside of the dishwasher with baking soda and vinegar). I didn't clean out the fridge either. I did clean half of the master bathroom though. My excuse is this-I ordered a book on Friday and it came in the mail yesterday afternoon. I ordered the book that Kandee blogged about. You can read her post here and her update here. The book is called Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. I have been reading it every chance I get with a yellow highlighter in hand.

I've had several aha moments while reading this book. The first chapter talks about how during their second year of life, GAPS kids start developing fussy eating habits. Taken from the book- "refusing a whole lot of foodstuffs and limiting their diet to a handful of foods, usually starchy and sweet: breakfast cereals, crisps, chips, popcorn, cakes, biscuits, sweets, bananas, bread, rice, sweet yogurts. Most of these children would refuse to have vegetables, fruit (apart from bananas), meats, fish and eggs." Hello, this is totally Shawn!

It also talks about GAPS kids stools being abnormal; either constipation or diarrhea. Shawn's always had problems with his bowels. When he was 7 weeks old, he developed diarrhea that wouldn't go away and we had to switch him to soy formula. That seemed to help the diarrhea but then when he started eating solid foods, he started having constipation. After trying prunes and prune juice, his pediatrician put him on a pediatric mineral oil to keep his stools soft and regular.

Another point that sticks out is that it says a majority of autistic children have feeding problems. Excerpt from the book- "Some are very fussy and would accept only a very limited range of foods. Some cannot chew properly and would hold food in their mouth for a long time or try to swallow it in a lump." This is what I've been trying to describe to his pediatricians ever since Shawn first started eating solid foods. It was like he could not chew properly, like he wouldn't bite down all the way. He would just try to swallow things without chewing them all the way. I would have to give him tiny bites or things that would slip down his throat easily if he didn't chew it. The book does explain some possible explanations for this problem.

Right now I'm just reading and absorbing the information. I am definitely going to try the diet but I'm going to wait until after his neurology appointment next Friday. I want to get him diagnosed first. I've already started researching juicers. I used to have one but it was a piece of crap and I never used it so I sold it at a yard sale. When I buy another one, I want to really love it so I've been looking at this one. I'm not sure if I can talk Don into letting me spend the money on it but since it is for Shawn, he just might cave in, lol.