Fighting the Effects of GFCF - What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger!

For most people, the breakdown of dietary protein into smaller and smaller peptides (amino acid chains) and finally into individual amino acids is a process that is smoothly completed as food travels through the digestive system. However, for an individual with autism, it has been found that partially broken-down components of the original proteins are able to pass from the intestine into the bloodstream. This is caused by an intestinal lining defect and/or incomplete digestion – (source: internet). As said earlier on, by removing sources of gluten and casein from the diet of Japs, we were gradually having immense success in at least alleviating the symptoms of autism. I love the bible reference in the book of Hosea 4:6 that states; “My people perish because of lack of knowledge”. My son almost died because we were ignorant about his condition, I thought that his frequent diarrhea that sometimes got him hospitalized was normal and his constant constipation that no medication could relieve him of were just  unfortunate isolated conditions. Japs was suffering, a very unhappy boy 24/7. I was daily pumping his digestive system with lots of wheat, sugar, milk and orange juice. Little did I know that his intestinal lining had a defect that was causing an effect manifested in the symptoms of Autism. As we were on GFCF (Gluten Free Casein Free), we also enrolled Japs for Sensory Integration Therapy.  Sensory integration therapy is essentially a form of Occupational Therapy (OT), and it is generally offered by specially trained occupational therapists. It involves specific sensory activities (swinging, bouncing, brushing, and more) that are intended to help the patient regulate his or her sensory response. The outcome of these activities may be better focus, improved behavior, and even lowered anxiety (source – internet).With our employment medical scheme we were out to give Japs the best in therapy, unfortunately none of the medical service providers in our town  - Kisumu had an Occupational Therapy unit. The next option was to seek for these services at the Government hospital. This took us to the Provincial General Hospital and we were amazed at how well equipped and competently staffed this unit was - there was hope.  We started the routine process of Occupational Therapy, this is where we met Boaz, the in/charge of the OT Unit at the Governmental Hospital..…