One More...

(for now that is..)

An angry mum from across the Pond wrote this. And I am sure if I asked around, I could find a Dutch or German mommy or two or three to write something very similar (or I could get a few folks from across the Pond that worked in special ed for a long time to comment on how things have changed over the course of their career.. hint, hint..).

This paragraph in particular cut me to down to the deepest core of my soul. It's how I feel every single time I end up in a gathering with a lot of *our* kids. It's how I feel in the morning when I drop Salamander off at his camp:

"That was an awful thing to see [ ..], such a throng of autism, in one hall in one school in Shropshire. Young boys who should be able to do the simplest tasks but can't, should be playing football with their mates, going off camping, bursting out of school ready to climb trees and soak up the summer fun but instead are being led out by the hand or hands to their buses by carers. An utter waste of beautiful children."

[Yeah, you could say that this whole *Joy of Autism* thing is completely lost on me]

It's happening everywhere, people. It's not just *the hysterical and self-obsessed American mommies who want perfect babies* (THAT was a lovely little expression tossed my way about a year ago ... funny thing is that the issuer of said comment KNOWS I am NOT American) who are speaking up.

To all parents out there with little ones (and even the bigger ones):
Please, please, please, do your homework. Don't just consent to something because the doctor says *it's a good idea*. Ask questions, do not accept a dismissive attitude.

And please, if you have any any concerns at all about your child's development, take action NOW. Don't wait. Have your child evaluated (and fire the doctor who tells you: "Don't worry. Boys just are a little slower."]

And while you wait for your appointments, there are things you can do NOW. One, relatively easy, intervention is changing your child's diet. And don't give me the 'Well, I can't take little Johnnie's yogurt away, it's all he'll eat' excuse. THAT is YOUR excuse for not getting off your butt and taking action. If I can get an, at that time extremely rigid and extremely stubborn 6 year old boy that was only eating Lunchables, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mozzarella sticks and apples to change his diet, you can too (not saying it was a fun thing to do, but it was necessary. PERIOD).

And while you make dietary changes for the child you are concerned about, make them for the whole family. I truly think that every child (not just the affected ones) could benefit from an artificial crap free and GFCFSF diet.

[and if your kids are perfectly *normal* and perfectly healthy, count your blessings. And the next time you moan and groan about how hard it is to keep up with the kids' social and after school activities calendar, remember that there are SO MANY of us that would gladly have THOSE kinds of issues to deal with]