This past week, I had the great privilege & honor of conversing with one of the most brilliant and passionate human beings I have ever met, Dr. Temple Grandin. Her work with Autism and with animals has an unparalleled and organic humanitarianism (or animalitarianism!) This is surely not a week I will forget soon, and the best part for me was getting to ask Dr. Temple Grandin what her thoughts were on Gluten-Free diets.

The heat is ablazin’ here in Texas, leaving no room for argument that summer is in full swing. Moms everywhere are packing up their coolers of sugar-pouch drinks, oily chips, cheesy puffed sticks, and cream-laden cones and setting up camp with a poolside view. On a yeast-free, cheesy-puff-free, ice-cream-free diet, it is easy to feel like your left in the shade. It’s a good thing that the shade is exactly where you want to be right now!

A mother’s work is never ending. It is ever nurturing. It is all-consuming in the purest of ways, and every mother would have it no other way.
But a father, with cool and collected abandon, holds steady his ship like a weathered sea captain. He is the net for which his family will fall to. He is the strength when the swinging needs swung higher. He is the courage when the spider is too big to stomp on. He is the scout when the living room tents must be pitched. He is the finder of the fallen teddy bear. And in our house – he is the very patient and ever-gallant gentlemen of our gfcf-life!

A few months back, I was on Facebook and read a quip posted by a good friend [yes, still a friend] - “organic foods are a scam…they aren’t getting that extra fifty cents out of me!”. I sighed heavily and shook my head. This is an intelligent man with three beautiful children, and I couldn’t help but wonder why the obvious escapes so many of us. My question to him and to all of you is this: How much is your health worth to you?

Greetings and healthful eatings! I am thrilled to be a new addition to the blogging team here on AutismSpot. My name is Kendra Jean Finestead. I am the mom of a daughter with Autism and the founder of Greater Tots Organization. I am a living, walking advertisement for the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free lifestyle, as it has turned the sitcom that was our life trying to fix our baby from a black-and-white loop of cliché script into an action-packed high-def. full-COLOR adventure!
Our personal experience with our special diet reaped rewards fairly quickly; within about 3 weeks of removing Gluten, Casein, and eggs, our daughter’s system very clearly swithced off of autopilot. Seemingly overnight, she was significantly more focused, could follow multi-step functions for the first time ever, and seemed to have much more control over her obsessive-compulsive tendencies. I was amazed. And then I was inspired.

Autism: How gluten & casein affect your child