Above is a phone call that has been uploaded to You Tube and is circulating the internet through various email groups. The caller never identified himself other than by his user name, “greenourvaccines”. He also never revealed the vaccine manufacturer he interviewed. It would be hard to assume which manufacturer this is because at this time 80% of flu vaccines administered in America contain thimerosal, a form of mercury.

Greenourvaccines isn’t the only snooping reporter on the trail. Deborah Kotz of U.S. News and World Report has written a nice constructive piece on flu vaccines, amid a flurry of positive ‘get your shot’ pieces being published by her peers.

She asks the million dollar question: “A spate of news stories with headlines like “Flu shots: What’s your excuse?” and “Time for flu shots, now for 6-month-olds too” tells me that journalists swallowed the CDC’s recommendations hook, line, and sinker. Where, though, is the worry about the fact that flu shots usually contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing compound that was banished from other childhood vaccines several years ago?”

Thank goodness for Kotz. Our kids need good journalists like her to be following this and digging past the surface.

Kotz states: While thimerosal gets flushed from the body much faster than methyl mercury, what remains is more likely to accumulate in the brain, as inorganic mercury, and remain there for a year or more, according to a 2005 University of Washington study of infant monkeys. “We still don’t have enough data to say how long this inorganic mercury stays in the brain, but if you can reduce or eliminate your baby’s exposure, why wouldn’t you do that?” says Tom Burbacher, a professor of environmental occupational health sciences who led the study.

I guess when the manufacturer’s own spokesperson chooses not to vaccinate against the flu it is reason enough not to do so yourself. If you want more clear cut documentation, though, do check out the the Cochrane Collaboration of Worldwide Influenza Vaccine Studies.

Tom Jefferson of Cochrane Vaccines Field, Rome, Italy says, “The CDC has pushed mass use of influenza vaccine in all children without scientific evidence the policy is either necessary or safe.”

NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher said, “Where is the good science to back up the policy? If the recently published CDC-funded influenza vaccine study in JAMA is the kind of flawed science public health officials are using to convince the public the vaccine is safe, it is no wonder that many parents don’t trust what public health officials say about vaccination. The CDC should stop recommending annual influenza vaccination of all young children when there is insufficient scientific justification for it.”

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Start Friday with plenary and seminar sessions that will feature business-to-business connections, spend your Friday evening at food & wine tasting party where you will enjoy delicious flavors of the Midwest, featuring food from local farms, wine and spirits from local producers. Saturday and Sunday are jampacked with cooking demos, interactive seminars and Kid’s Corner. Over 120 exhibitors will offer a wide selection of local food, gifts and lots of useful info. Provision your Thanksgiving table or fill your holiday gift list, while supporting local, family-run businesses.

View complete Family Farmed Expo program and visit main Family Farmed website for more information.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

On October 8 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued its warning when the candy tested positive for melamine.

For more information, visit: Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Consumer Advisory.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Hang this symbol on your door on Halloween to notify trick or treaters that you are an allergy friendly house.

I just received an email alert from one of my allergy subscriptions. Boy was I excited to read this! A new organization has formed to help assist families dealing with multiple food allergies.

Co-founder Erin states, “We started AllergyFreeHalloween.org because we want a world where children with food allergies can trick-or-treat without worry. Please join us in giving out Halloween treats that are fun and allergy-safe.”

All you have to do is purchase the following candies that do not contain nuts, milk, eggs, wheat or soy:

• Smarties
• Skittles
• Starburst
• Nerds
• Runts (original - not chewy)
• Gobstoppers
• Pixy Stix
• Sweettarts (original)
• Bottle Caps
• Fun Dip
• Life Savers (original - not gummy)
• Dum Dums
• Gummy Bears
• Swedish Fish
• Disney Princess Snacks

Then Download their black cat PDF symbol or their Jack-o-lantern PDF symbol and hang it on your door.

While I am happy to support this venture, my son’s corn allergy adds an additional dilemma, as most all candies contain corn sweeteners or thickeners. Additionally, many kids avoiding gluten and casein for cerebral allergies are also avoiding artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. For us this Halloween is going to be about offering non-edible treats. I recently purchased some bargain treats at Oriental Trading Company and plan to pass them out to my kids’ classmates and to trick-or-treaters who come to the door.

You better believe I will be hanging my Jack-O-Lantern on the door of our house! I really want to thank to the folks at AllergyFreeHalloween.org for getting the ball rolling on this one. Let’s try to get the word out and get as many non-allergic families on board as possible! If every house just bought a few of the above candies, or a handful of non-edibles and hung a sign on their door, then allergic children across the country will be able to politely identify themselves when they trick or treat at that ’special house’.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Education Week is hosting along with the Teacher’s College at Columbia and the National Association of Secondary Schools, a live debate on the education plans of the Republican and Democratic candidates. Their education advisors will be representing the campaigns for this debate – Linda Darling-Hammond for Barack Obama’s campaign, and Lisa Graham Keegan for John McCain’s campaign. It is an in-depth debate that we haven’t had the opportunity to hear straight from the candidates, so here are the plans from their advisors.

To register for this FREE webcast tomorrow night go to Education Week and click the box on the right hand side of the screen describing the debate.

This debate will be available as a video archive the next day by Noon if you can’t attend the webcast live.

You can follow Education Week’s online coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign to learn more about where the major candidates stand on education - check Education Week’s blog Campaign K-12, for more analysis of the candidates’ views.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Mychalina, my mother, would always make the best kolacky’s. She would be in the kitchen for hours on end, making dozens and dozens for holidays, church socials, for birthdays, graduations, you name it. Well into her 80’s she would make them for us, even for the neighbors who mowed here lawn and shoveled her snow. That’s the kind of wonderful and generous person she was. Before she recently passed away my family and I made it a point to get all her favorite recipes. It is a good thing because she never wrote anything down.

Kolacky’s were my favorite recipe of hers. Her prune and apricot kolackys were the best. In one sitting I could eat a dozen. Now since my recent diagnose of Celiac, I thought I would never be able to eat another kolacky again. But thanks to my husband’s niece and the use of her kitchen, we successfully made a GF version of my mother’s kolackys. Trust me it wasn’t easy. After many failed attempts and many long hours in the kitchen, we finally had an edible kolacky that was pretty close to my mother’s original recipe. According to my family, and my niece’s 5 year-old diagnosed son, they were delicious. So if you are gluten intolerant and you think you can’t ever eat a kolacky again, here’s a recipe for you to try. I hope you like it.

Ingredients:

(Dry Ingredients)

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup potato starch
2 TBS tapioca starch
3/4 cup of coconut flour
1 tsp guar gum

(Wet Ingredients)

1/2 cup rice syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 egg
1 TBS evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
4 oz evaporated milk
1 oz (half a package) of Red Star fresh yeast

Directions:

Dissolve yeast with evaporated milk and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. To activate the yeast, add mixture to a small pot and stir briskly on very low flame until lukewarm and take off the stove and set aside. When mixture begins to bubble and peaks (in 20-30 minutes) it is ready for use. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients and sift well. In a mixer, combine the wet ingredients and blend on high for 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides. Slowly add the dry ingredients. When wet and dry ingredients are well blended add the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough forms. Dough should be pliable and not sticky. For best results, refrigerate overnight, covered in plastic. We made this recipe after having refrigerated it one hour and again after refrigerating overnight. The dough improves with time.

To prepare the kolackys:

Cut two pieces of parchment paper. Sandwich the dough between the two sheets (be sure to use only 1/4 of the dough each time, leaving the rest in the refrigerator) and roll it with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thickness. (Too thick and it will be hard to fold, too thin and they will tear). Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut off the uneven edges and make one even square. Then measure out and make 2″ square cookie pieces. Transfer the cut dough (still on the parchment paper) onto a metal cookie sheet and flash freeze it for about 3 minutes. This makes it much easier to peel the dough away from the parchment paper and onto the cookie sheet without tearing.

Place 9 cookie dough squares onto silicone baking mat on a metal baking sheet. Drop a teaspoon of your favorite filling (or make your own) into the center of each cookie square. Carefully fold one corner over the filling and the opposite corner over the first folded corner (see picture). Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool completely before attempting to move them. They are light and crispy and do not crumble when you bite into them.

Enjoy!

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

I want to preface by saying that I am leery about over supplementation in general. It seems like Vitamin D is turning out to be the fad supplement of choice these days, kind of like vitamin C was in the 70s and 80s when Linus Pauling touted mega doses. Both he and his wife eventually died of cancer. Now a recent study reveals a cancer link to C. So much for the immune boosting factors of C, right? [1].

This made me wonder if they would be publishing similar studies about D in another twenty or thirty years. But I quickly learned that D is another kettle of fish altogether. Suzanne Somers warns about D deficiencies in her newest book, Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness. Many of the doctors she interviews warn that a D deficiency can be very detrimental on the immune system. For example, Dr. Bill Faloon tells us,

“We know that if we take in enough vitamin D, we’re going to control our genes in such a way that we’re less likely to get cancer, and we’re less likely to suffer a lot of age-related problems” [2].

A severe vitamin D deficiency in adults will cause osteomalacia and in children will cause rickets. Individuals with milder deficiencies might suffer from a burning sensation in their mouth and throat, weight loss, a loss of appetite, vision problems, diarrhea and insomnia, all symptoms that can be attributed to other things. As recently as this week I also read an article saying that pediatricians now want kids to double their D intake to 400 IU a day [3]. So the question seems to be how much and not whether or not we should supplement.

Most medical establishments warn that Vitamin D supplements are not something that you want to do naively, as it is a fat soluble vitamin that has known toxicity factors. So what’s fact? What’s fiction? And what is the proper supplemental amount for a kid who’s not drinking milk? I did some digging and this is what I’ve learned.

First of all, our bodies make vitamin D just by being exposed to direct sunlight (not through a car window or on an overcast day); in the summer months it will store excess amounts in our fat to use for the darker winter months. I remember learning from a former doctor years ago that just 15 minutes a day in the sun was adequate. But this is simply not true for everyone. I have since learned that exposure can be hindered by a number of factors, number one being sun screen [4]. Other very significant factors are geographic locations. Anyone living in Chicago or north of it is going to be vitamin D deficient based on latitude from November through February [5]. Furthermore, I also found out that skin pigment plays a role in absorption too. Darker complected folks are more deficient than lighter skinned folks, especially those living in colder climates with less sunlight. But our bodies are pretty efficient and can quickly produce vitamin D even in a few minutes of direct sunlight, as we walk out the door and to our car.

Today most Americans spend their time indoors, especially in the winter months. This includes children as well, so how much milk does a kid have to drink to get 400 IU a day? Are you ready for this? A whole quart! So if you’ve got a kid that doesn’t like milk, or you’re purposely avoiding it for health reasons, there are other dietary forms of D like eggs and fish that can also be implemented as part of a natural way to expose our kids to more D in their diet when they are not getting adequate exposure to the sun. Very simply, a teaspoon of cod liver oil provides about 400 IU of D. I also learned that not all fish oils are equal, and so you must read the labels on your supplement bottles to see which ones have adequate D (some are nominal). As far as D in eggs, you’d have to eat about eight egg yolks a day to get a 400 IU intake. And if your family likes fish, eating salmon, tuna, and mackerel will provide the most D, but for omega 3 intake be sure they are wild caught and not farm raised (which is higher in omega 6s).

Now as far as toxicity levels go, you may want to check out Dr. Mercola’s Vitamin D quiz. I think you may be surprised to learn that typical supplemental levels just aren’t as dangerous as medical science has lead us to believe over the years. Another great source, if you’ve got the time, is Dr. Michael Holick’s video slide show from the European Symposium on Calcification of Tissues entitled, “The Vitamin D Pandemic and its Health Consequences.” This is a humorous and informative presentation that will also surprise you. And his research spans the globe. Dr. Holick links vitamin D deficiency to not only rickets, but to diseases like M.S., Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cancer, and Coronary Heart Disease.

Infants of breastfeeding mothers, on the other hand, may need vitamin D supplements. This is something I was never made aware of during my nursing days which seemed to last almost 5 straight years between all three of my boys. During this entire time I never considered the issue. After my oldest son’s diagnosis of Celiac last year, I ran across an interesting article by Roy Jamron. He begs the question,

“Do vitamin D deficiency, gut bacteria, and timing of gluten introduction during infancy all combine to initiate the onset of celiac disease?”

after two recent studies raise the potential that this may be true [6]. This may in fact be the very reason we saw our son’s health rapidly decline into a neurological disorder at age 3 1/2. He was born jaundiced in the month of January, was exclusively breastfed for six months, extended breastfed up to one year, and was introduced to gluten just prior to six months of age. I dutifully lathered him with sunscreen and kept him in the shade because conventional wisdom tells us that a baby’s skin is most delicate between birth and 2 and direct sunlight is dangerous. His toddler diet consisted of many glutenous snacks, actually, and he suffered from bouts of croup and ear infections in his early days often enough to require antibiotics nearly a handful of times before he was three.

Jamron says: “Vitamin D has recently been demonstrated to play a role in preserving the intestinal mucosal barrier. A Swedish study found children born in the summer, likely introduced to gluten during winter months with minimal sunlight, have a higher incidence of celiac disease strongly suggesting a relationship to vitamin D deficiency.[3] Recent studies found vitamin D supplementation in infancy and living in world regions with high ultraviolet B irradiance both result in a lower incidence of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease closely linked to celiac disease.”

Well, I’m quite comfortable now, after looking a bit further into the vitamin D issue. We eat plenty of eggs in our house these days, and the kids take cod liver oil daily. They get plenty of sunlight, and since I no longer use sunscreen on them I’m confident their little bodies are D making factories as a result. We also do use vitamin D fortified goat milk in our diets, and they do take multivitamins, so I am confident that our boys are getting enough D without an additional supplement.

Myself, on the other hand, I think I may try taking some D this winter. I don’t get direct sunlight often as I should, and if the experts are right, I can safely take up to 2000 IU a day in the winter if I’m a person that doesn’t get much sun year around.

1. Dotinga, Randy. “Vitamin C Megadoses Hamper Cancer Treatments in Mice.” Washington Post. October 1, 2008.
2. Somers, Suzanne. Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness. Crown Publishers: New York. 2008 (p. 93).
3. Steenhuysen, Julie. “Pediatricians say double vitamin D dose.” Reuters. Oct 13, 2008.
4. “Vitamin D research may have doctors prescribing sunshine.” Associated Press. USA Today. May 21, 2005.
5. Shute, Nancy. “How much Sun does it take to Make Vitamin D?” U.S. News. October 17, 2008.
6. Jamron, Roy. “Do Vitamin D Deficiency, Gut Bacteria, and Gluten Combine in Infancy to Cause Celiac Disease?” Celiac.com. June 16, 2008.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Front of the Class cast with Brad and Nancy Cohen

On the eve of Brad Cohen’s December 7, 2008 debut CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame original movie about his life with Tourette Syndrome, I decided to purchase his 2005 book, co-written with Lisa Wysocky, entitled: Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had to get a sneak peek into the wonderfully inspiring story.

The book is very simplistically written, at approximately a middle school level, and I recommend that parents of children with tics invest in it and either give it to their kids or read it out loud with them. Really celebrate this book together and focus on all the goodness it provides in the long term. I think Brad’s story will have a lasting impression that the movie alone may not fully capture, that is, a smooth and coherent Brad speaking clearly to us without the physical barriers of Tourette Syndrome to distract us. And the book really takes you on a journey that I imagine can’t be captured fully in a 2 hour film. But the Hallmark folks are not going to disappoint.

Brad promises that it is as true to his real life as possible. He says, “Hallmark Hall of Fame decided they wanted to create a family movie and have my story be as authentic as possible. They wanted it to be as real as possible even down to my exact tics I do.”

Brad’s story is uplifting. He coaches us to hang in there, fight the fight, never give up and above all else, celebrate this distraction as a “constant companion”. The book reads much like I imagine Brad speaks, minus the interjections of his occasional vocals. Who he is in your mind’s eye is Brad, the truly centered, determined, confident Brad that he desperately tries to display to the folks in the real world. But ironically, it is the folks in his literary world that really get it, get that part of him that only his real friends get. The other folks in his life– his childhood teachers, elementary classmates, and later the restaurant workers, theater managers, sports fans, even 24 school principals who interview him but refuse to hire him, these folks just can’t see past his involuntary interruptions long enough to get to know him as a living, breathing, intelligent thinking human being with basic rights. But still he plugs on, often times showing empathy for the very people who ridicule him.

“My life with Tourette’s has made me realize that everyone has a ‘thing’ that haunts them in some way. It might be prejudice or chronic illness. It might be physical limitations or life circumstances or ego or pride or jealousy or hate, but everyone has their thing. When we can control the thing, we feel empowered and optimistic. But when the thing wins, we travel the road to despair. The key is to find a road that leads around your particular limitation, a road that maybe has more bends in it but gets you to the same point in the end” (Cohen, 83).

This book is a secret treasure that your struggling child with tics will embrace and identify with. Brad has gumption, and he takes us through his life, from the time his first symptoms surfaced through all the years of struggle with educators and peers, family, and community-wide misunderstanding. Parents at odds with their older, angry, disillusioned kid will get an insider’s glimpse into what’s really going on, especially if the lines of communication are down. Unlike clinical books which are treatment and symptom driven, or forums which often times focus on the problems we face in dealing with tics and Tourette’s, Brad takes the lead and tells us to take the road less traveled, to embrace these differences and celebrate the disability as it has the power to make our children stronger, empathetic, and mature beyond their years if we could just involve them in positive experiences, surround them with folks that will love and accept them and above all else, inspire them to achieve their own greatness in spite of and because of the tics they endure.

The movie promises to deliver an authentic story that will complement the book in many ways.

Brad says, “The actors were simply amazing. Jimmy Wolk plays me as an adult and Dominic Scott Kay plays me as a kid. They both had to study me and my tics. They created their own “Tic Script” because in shooting the film they had to have the same tics in the same place every time they shot the scene in order to be consistent with editing. I quickly noticed that they were doing the tics better than me which really upset me because I’m been practicing my tics for 25 years while they had been doing them for 1 month. They were good actors. Jimmy, Dominic and I bonded right away.”

Brad’s book shows us how to weather the bad times and celebrate the good with appreciation and humility. He tells us about the struggles folks with severe Tourettes often face in day to day life when doing what everyone else just takes for granted: going to the movies or out to dinner, sitting in a concert or attending a funeral.

Brad’s not the only one that has had to weather the bad times. So did the cast and production crew of his new movie- literally!

Brad explains it to us,

“I visited the set in Shreveport, LA 2 times with my wife and my family and we were all impressed by the time and dedication the actors and crew put into the making of the film. Peter Werner, the director, told me it was the first time he had ever had to direct a film through not one, but two hurricanes (Gustov and Ike). The day we lost power because of Ike, the crew didn’t even flinch as they powered up the generators and created their own light and forged ahead.”

And the movie picks up where the book left off, so readers can see how Brad’s life has changed so dramatically since his publishing debut.

I asked Brad to give his readers a sneak peek on what his life is like now, as it has been nearly four years since his book went to print.

“I am now happily married and have been for 2 1/2 years now (to his wife Nancy, pictured above). Right as my final drafts needed to be submitted to the publisher, I met Nancy. I continue to teach but instead of technology and 2nd grade, I now teach the teachers as I do all the staff development at our school, which is hopefully a step towards administration. I continue to interview for assistant principal positions but nothing has worked out yet.”

I can’t wait until Brad’s movie airs. I want to vicariously meet the man that has written such an uplifting story for young people with special needs and celebrate on behalf of all the folks I have met over the last two years who share one very special commonality with me. They’ve been blessed to care for some terrific kids who happen to tic. We often look at those twitches as unwanted flaws, intruders into our child’s otherwise dreamy and ideal lives. We focus, often tirelessly, on trying to fix them, eradicate them, destroy the thing that causes them to be. Brad’s message is evident. Sometimes the affliction that we so condemn is the very thing that molds our children into terrific human beings that not only we, but so many others love as well.

I asked Brad if he could possibly give away a few production secrets. Of course he was more than obliging….

“During my 2nd visit, Peter, the director, pulled me into his trailer to view some of the rough edited scenes and I was truly amazed and the product. It was ten times better than what I thought it would be. The word “powerful” might be an understatement…….tissues nearby for sure. Either way, I was happy in the direction this was going and I can’t wait to see the finished product.”

Oh, yes, Brad also admitted that Nancy has made it into the film as well, and she is being played by Sarah Drew of Everwood and Radio.

Brad also promises that if his cameo doesn’t get cut on the editing room floor, viewers will be able to spot himself and his wife in the background of his middle school orchestra concert scene. They have no speaking lines so folks will have to keep an eye out for them and try to spot them. I know I will be watching for them!

Visit Brad’s website classperformance.com for more information about his book, movie, and speaking engagements.

Or for more information about the movie check out Brad Cohen’s personal blog.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

If you have found yourself here after a Google search about “tics,” you may have already been to a doctor about a few chronic twitches or muscle spasms that won’t go away. After a consultation, you may have been given a diagnosis and possibly been disappointed too when you discovered that there is no known medical cure. If you are like us, and have a child diagnosed with a chronic multifocal tic disorder (tics in different locations on the body), you could have also been told by your doctor that medication, while available, does not come without side effects, and that the best treatment is to ignore the tics and carry on with your life, business as usual and hope that they fade over time.

This is basically what happened to us two years ago when we took our then almost 4-year-old son to a neurologist after he began to exhibit noticeable ticcing behaviors during the Christmas holidays. This is our story, and I attempt to tell it in hopes that other folks who find themselves reading this narrative may find a bit of usable knowledge and above all else, hope.

About 20 percent of children may develop tics at some point during their prepubescent years. Usually mild cases involve eye blinking or nose scrunching and are pretty benign in nature. I was never aware of them, quite honestly, until my oldest son developed tics about two years ago after we took him for his preschool vaccines.

Since the fall and winter of 2006, I’ve noticed that mild tics are fairly common in the public. Most kids who develop them are pretty good at creatively making them a discrete part of their lives. Most folks who have kids with tics notice that they wax and wane in unpredictable cyclic fashion, often times correlating with allergy seasons or viral and bacterial outbreaks. Some see waxing and waning correlate with diet. For others there is no known correlation between tics and environmental or dietary influence. Others claim that stress is a major factor in the development of tics. If you pay attention to folks while at the airport or a crowded shopping mall you may find one or two twitchy ones passing you by.

In our case what we saw was an increase in tics that seemed to pick up speed and intensity, like a snowball rolling down hill, over the course of three months. What started with a chronic sniffing that we originally missed as a tic, was soon combined with a mild, benign eye blinking tic. When the sniffing and eye blinking was accompanied by a slow exaggerated blink and shoulder shrug we knew we had something serious we were dealing with. More movements and sounds followed: teeth grinding, lip smacking, sleeve pushing, grimacing and neck twitching. Now our son had whole host of dysfunctional movements and sounds that began to impede on his daily activities. He began to develop very real fears, anxieties, and routines that seemed uncharacteristic of his little developing personality.

Our original neurologist told us that despite the severity of our son’s condition, because his tics were only present a few short months, we would need to wait a full year from onset to diagnose him with Tourette Syndrome and begin our prescription of Topamax. She advised us to just ignore the tics and do the best we can. In her defense, she claimed that oftentimes tics disappear and don’t return (also known as transient tics). So she was hopeful that we would see a reduction in the behaviors and movements without the need to diagnose or medicate our very young child.

I left the office with such fear and disappointment pumping through my veins. I was unnerved and felt completely helpless. So I fought back by making it my business to read as much as I could about this condition and try to help my son as much as possible before coming back to the neurologist in the summer for our prescription. What happened over those next six months was nothing short of a miracle in my mind, as our son made a slow and steady recovery. We never did make it back to the neurologist’s office, and our son has never been prescribed medication for tics.

Instead, we chose to visit a pediatric physician who practices at the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Warrenville, IL. This doctor uses much of the protocol developed in the Defeat Autism Now movement.

Our son is now in what I consider remission and is developing normally both physically and mentally. We have a special diet and supplement regime that we have tailored specifically for our son’s needs based on blood, urine, hair, and genetic testing. Much of what we learned has been researched and reported by many doctors and specialists in several areas of medicine and nutrition.

We know that the improvement is from these efforts because we have seen increases in his tics when he has been exposed to his specific triggers, such as gluten or corn, and improvements in his condition after we made these specific changes.

If you would like more information on natural treatments for adults and children suffering from chronic multifocal tic disorders or Tourette Syndrome, check out the following resources:

• Natural Treatments for Tics & Tourette’s : A Patient and Family Guide by Sheila Rogers. This is a new release. We purchased her original book two years ago and it was instrumental in helping us devise a strategy for our son’s recovery program.
• Bontech Supplements by Bonnie Grimaldi (although we no longer use these vitamins because we get a special compounded vitamin for our son) we started on this brand and found it very helpful while we were searching for the causes and cure for our son’s condition.
• Latitudes Online, a publication of the Association for Comprehensive NeuroTherapy. This is an online-based magazine that highlights articles by experts, includes research updates, environmental tips, succcess stories, book reviews, and more. A subscription to Latitudes Online is a great way to stay updated on the latest findings for treating tics. Annual membership costs as little as $40 and includes a synopsis of all the latest journal abstracts available so you don’t have to compile the research yourself.
• Healthy-Family Forum, our own home-grown support group for folks wanting to use special food and supplements to help curb or eliminate their child’s tic disorder. Our forum is specific but certainly not limited to gluten-free diets if you discover your child has another major dietary trigger. It seems like many folks who test for food intolerances find their ticcing child has issues with gluten, and many recent studies have shown a correlation between gluten intolerance and neurological disorders. On the forum we encourage folks using natural treatments and remedies and newbies that are curious about how we do it and what kinds of results we get. This is not a forum for drug therapy or PANDAS treatments, although folks who have tried those treatment protocols without success or find them too risky are welcome to visit our forum to learn about natural alternatives and to consider whether or not they could make a difference in their child’s condition. We do not have medical staff involved in this forum so diagnosis and specific therapy advice is not a part of our group. We welcome any new folks to view our archives for free. Membership is also free, and required for folks who want to post a question or view our private threads.

All content copyright © 2008 Healthy-Family.org. All rights reserved. Visit the author for more great content.

Just received a bag of organic apples yesterday through our co-op. Rather than make a whole pie, I decided to do a quick cobbler. The filling wasn’t too moist and the topping was sweet and crunchy, just the way I remembered it when my mom used to make it with Bisquick years ago. This recipe takes about 45 minutes and includes a few extra steps but I think it is worth it.

Ingredients for filling:

1 3 lb bag of apples: peeled, cored, and sliced

1 TBSP lemon juice (to prevent browning)

2 TBSP water

1/3 cup of organic evaporated cane juice

Ingredients for Topping:

1 cup of GF flour (your favorite corn-free mix is fine)

1/4 cup of packed organic brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp of baking powder

1 TBSP cinnamon

1/4 ghee (which is casein-free milk fat) or spectrum palm oil (the ghee makes a nicer flavor but both work)

1 egg

1/4 cup kefir (we use goat milk kefir, but any kind will do as would a non-dairy milk)

Directions:

Lightly grease an 8×6x2 glass pan and set aside. Mix sliced apples with lemon juice, evaporated cane juice, and water then place in a pot and bring to a low boil. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. While that is simmering mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and ghee in a mixing bowl until it looks like fine crumbs.

In a separate bowl whisk together the kefir and egg. Add the kefir and egg to the crumbs and mix until it is uniformly wet. Take the apples off the stove and strain in a colander. Mix the apples with about a tablespoon of your GF flour mix and toss. Then pour the apple mixture into the glass pan. Spread the topping evenly with either your fingers or a spatula. Bake the cobbler in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until the crust browns and the apples appear bubbly.

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