When you have a child with Asperger's you sometimes, if not most of the time, come to fear the word 'Change' and what it means for your family. From before we even found out that Josh had Asperger's we had experienced many frustrating times when our plans changed or when we tried to surprise him with something special. For quite some time before Josh was diagnosed we just chalked his tantrums and meltdowns up to him acting like a spoiled brat. We could not have been more wrong. Josh, and kids like Josh, function best with routine and planning. Surprises are a thing of the past for us and planning anything and everything we do or plan to do is a must. It keeps things running smoothly and helps Josh from over thinking everything and not being able to handle the changes.
Before starting this diet, we stuck to routines and planning at all times. We were always very strict about making sure we did not change any plans on Josh and became very cautious about telling him anything until we were 100% certain our plans were set in stone. We refrained from trying to surprise him, with ANYTHING! Surprises always came back to bite us in the butt. Unfortunately learning to live this way is not always the easiest task. Life happens, things naturally change, schedules have to be altered, babies are born, moves take place, schools change, and etc! Starting and sticking to this diet helped to make this task a lot easier.
When we started this diet one of the aspects of Josh's personality we saw a big change in was how he dealt with change and stressful situations. Josh suddenly was able to make certain decisions rather quickly without over thinking them or playing out every scenario in his head. After we started the diet a lot had begun to change for us. We were expecting a new addition to our family, we were rearranging the house, we had gotten a new car, and were working very hard to make this diet as successful as we possibly could. Although these changes might seem insignificant to some families they were huge for ours. Surprisingly Josh dealt with all of this very, very well. We still found it in our best interest to keep him on some sort of schedule/routine, but for the first time ever there was flexibility. We were able to be more lenient with time restrictions and completed tasks. We were also able to give him options and choices without overwhelming him. It was so nice, especially because our hands were very full with a new baby! There were even mornings that got away from us and we slept in on school days, but Josh didn't panic like he used to, he handled it like a champ, just going with the flow. All these changes we were seeing in him could not have come at a better time, it had made expanding our family less worrisome and we looked forward to seeing how else this diet would help our amazing son and the positive affects it would continue to have on our family.
It has now been a year since we started this diet, and even more changes our occurring. We are expecting yet another addition to the family, selling our house, buying a new one, switching schools, and Josh is getting braces. These are big changes and there are a lot of them, but they no longer overwhelm us like they used to in the past. They are just a part of life and we welcome these changes knowing that we can handle them together, as a family. This change in attitude has been one of the most astounding changes we have seen in Josh and are so thankful for this diet and all the positive outcomes we have seen because of it. I don't think I will ever be able to say enough good things about this diet and the amazing changes it has made for not only our son, but our family as well!
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