Isaac's Diet

Isaac is now on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as implemented for autism found at http://www.pecanbread.com
When he was diagnosed in March of 2006, I learned of the gfcf diet (gluten free, casein free - no wheat, rye, barley and no dairy) we saw immediate progress in that he stopped biting his arms and pulling his hair when he got angry....I watched the first time he went to bite his arm and it was literally like he had felt the pain of it for the first time!
HOWEVER, after a couple of years on the gfcf diet....we saw some disturbing behavior imerge and some behaviors that got worse. The biggest thing was that he would spin a sock in the backyard for HOURS! It was as if he became a shell of himself, regressing in his emotions and ability to communicate....he was very monotone and robotic one minute and then laughing hysterically over nothing the next. The only words he was using was to repeat something that he saw in a movie. Conversation was limited before, but then it had become non-existent!
So, I scrambled to learn about more ways to help him. I started putting him on every vitamin and enzyme that I read about helping autism and he improved slightly.
Then I stopped panicking and really got down on my knees and prayed for guidance....I was guided (yes, guided by God...I know this and no one else could tell me otherwise) I was guided to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as found at pecanbread.com and I got the book, researched it and got started right away.
Through months of trial and error, trying to figure things out as I went and learning about Isaac's individual needs, for example I learned that he has a phenol intollerance and that it was linked to his yeast overgrowth somehow and that yeast was the main issue. Isaac has horrible boughts with what is called 'die-off' reaction, when the yeast is killed off in the gut and gets kicked up and makes his symptoms worse! He was so defiant and irritable that I thought I was going to lose my mind! There was even a moment that I thought, I can't take care of him...I can't be his mother, it's too hard! Someone else will do a better job, I can't handle him! It was bad! But, I kept feeling so strong that I needed to be patient and keep pushing through and not give up. I'm so grateful that I did'nt give up!!
Over a course of about a year, I kept trying to give him the home-made yogurt that is required on the diet as part of the healing, just starting out with an 1/8th of a tsp! I would give that to him and his symptoms got so bad, at times I thought he was slipping further away. So, I figured he wasn't ready yet and just stayed on the diet without the yogurt, just occasionally trying the 1/8th of a tsp. every couple of months....and for about a year is was the same thing! THEN I found out about what is referred to as 'the low and slow method' found at pecanbread.com...if they can't tolerate the 1/8th of tsp of yogurt.
Here is that method:
http://pecanbread.com/p/slowprobiotic1.html

It is because of using this method that now Isaac has slowly worked up the amount of yogurt he can tolerate....about every week I would increase it by a tsp. and then after 4 tsp. I increased the amount by 1 tblsp. every week. We are now currently on 8 tblsp. of the yogurt everyday and I've noticed that he can even have a bit more with his treat, like in a smoothie or a baked good of some kind. Since being able to incorporate the yogurt, he has made the most progess ever in his life! It's like we are starting to see the real Isaac imerging and not a shell of himself.

I will post his daily menu and all of his treatments in the next post.