Family vacation time! Cancun, Mexico. What a blast!
Chase had a great time. We are starting to overcome his fear of water. With a lifejacket on we were able to bring him out into the ocean, and hold him by the hands only, while he would lay on his belly and kick trying to swim. It was awesome! Closer to shore he would stand into the crashing waves, let them knock him down, get water over his head (very key) and do it again. What a great feeling. This summer we will do more of this and hopefully by fall we can get him enrolled in swimming lessons.
The slippery slope on this trip was his diet. We knew before going that we could only control so much. We brought breakfast foods with us, and even found a local supermarket to buy some more. Found some almond milk, and even some gluten/dairy free cookies there. So with breakfast and snacks taken care of, we were in good shape. That’s the issue. Good isn’t great, and certainly not excellent.
When it came to lunch and dinner we did our best, but you can’t always avoid it. Gluten and some dairy ultimately seeped into his foods. By the end of the week, the flapping was constant. His sensory issues off the charts. On our last day at dinner we had to “hug it out” multiple times.
Even our friendly room neighbour mentioned that our son was quite full of energy, and even made mention that “all these GMO foods can’t be good for him”. This gentle eastern European didn’t know Chase had autism. We continued our conversation, mentionning that we try to eat non-GMO food as much as possible because Chase does have autism, however when on vacation we can’t always do what we want when it comes to the ingredients in the food you eat.
This is for all you naysayers out there. This gluten free, dairy free diet we are following is absolutely the right thing. The change in his behavior from the beginning to the end of the week was like night and day. Even other people noticed it. Of course we now need to unwind what just happened, and he will be back to his normal diet when this plane lands and we get back home in a few short hours.
This past week, we went down a slippery slope, and I have even more confidence that we are doing the right thing by diet and supplements to help my child overcome his greatest challenge. Sometimes you need to take a step back, understand your landscape, and charge forward to conquer the challenge that lay ahead.