How do children on the spectrum learn to interact with other children in appropriate ways? What is it that “clicks” their gears into movement? It’s hard to understand the way their processing works and even harder to guess what may or may not interrupt their thought patterns.

Sometimes I see my son tackle challenges that could stop another child in his or her tracks… coming up with a science fair project titled “How to Replace Fossil Fuel with Kelp” stops me in my tracks! Was it always this way…? Certainly not! Getting him to focus long enough to learn how to tie his shoes was once a challenge bigger than climbing Mount Everest!

My son used to live in a confusing world of Autism… from the day when he was mercury poisoned at nearly two-years-old until fairly recently when the transformation of improving his immune system really took effect. Thanks, in part, to improving his immune system with the glutathione accelerator, (full details under The Supplement on my main menu) he has become much more cognitive and it is much easier to connect with him and to watch him learn.

But, is having a healthy body enough? It is a fabulously good start and, for my son, it has literally changed our lives as he is now able to focus and think clearly. The next step was to connect with this renewed focusing ability. The basics are always good: games the focus on teaching him to think for himself; reading books that are interesting to him; physically challenging exercises and social events that broaden his awareness.

But, what happens to parents with special needs children when the opportunities are simply not available?

Recently my sons and I have had the opportunity to review an answer to this question for many! Mary Beth Palo, the Founder and President of Watch Me Learn, is the mother of an autistic son who is a visual learner and the sole reason for the creation of the Watch Me Learn videos.

Classic videos teach children how to interact with others, understand appropriate actions and how to thrive in a world that is often otherwise confusing and uncomfortable to them. These videos are very appropriate for younger children and will hold their attention for the duration of he videos. The accompanying workbook will further build a lasting impression from which to build upon.

Mary Beth Palo has taken a situation that affected her son and has turned it around in order to help countless children – shouldn’t YOUR child be one of them? Learn more about this amazing learning series and Mary Beth Palo here: http://www.WatchMeLearn.com

Every year we celebrate Christmas by visiting a different country – right in our own home! We eat that country’s traditional food, decorate and dress to fit the part and, best of all, we all learn more about traditions celebrated by others around the world! This year Sweden was the chosen country so we started the morning off with Swedish pancakes. They are more like crepes that we know. The traditional filling is often sauteed apples with cinnamon or the fruit filling you like. Unsweetened whipped cream is then added on top. Yum!

Because Tanner can not eat wheat I came up with a recipe for him. The results were met with a big smile. He ate three crepes with apple filling.

Here is the recipe:

First, take two large apples and thinly slice them. In a small pan add the apples, 2 T of butter (or margarine if you can not have dairy) and 1 t cinnamon. Place the lid on top and simmer on low while cooking the crepes.

Crepes:
Blend everything together well in one bowl. It just doesn’t get much easier than that!

3 eggs
2/3 C Amaranth flour
1/3 C Coconut flour
1 1/2 C Milk (we used Vances DariFree)
2 T Sugar
1 T Cooling Oil
1/2 t Baking Powder

Using a small (9″) round pan, I sprayed the bottom of the hot pan with cooking oil. Pour 1/2 C of the batter into the center and rotate to spread it out. When the top is covered with air bubbles it should be read to flip. Carefully turn the crepe over (they tend to stick just a bit – it’s best to do this slowly so that they don’t fold). Cook the second side for about a minute or so. These probably won’t store real well because they are so thin but I was able to store the left overs between parchment paper until lunch. My son had the remaining few left-overs with more apples for desert.

Whip cream (NOT Casein-free) can be added on top for those who can have dairy products.
Enjoy!!

It has been a month of cold, colds, germs and viruses… more so than I can remember in a long time! I simply have not had the energy to keep up with everything and I apologize that the month has gone by with only one blog post! My newest book The Journey, Home from Autism has arrived and the response is amazing. I had a woman comment to me just yesterday that she had just read my book and she said to me, “Your book taught me how to understand my son and, even better, how to understand myself!” Interesting. Many more comments can be read on my new LinkedIn site here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondaspellman.

Yesterday my eight-year-old son Oliver wanted to make and decorate gingerbread cookies. I have yet to find a gluten-free gingerbread cookie for Tanner (my ten-year-old) so I started with Oliver’s recipe and (after mixing things up a bit) came up with this one:

Mix all together:
1 1/2 C Amaranth flour
1/2 C White Rice Flour
1/4 C Tapioca Flour
1/2 t Salt
3/4 t Ginger
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 t Cloves
1/2 t Cinnamon

Beat together in separate bowl:
1/2 C Margarine or butter
1/2 C Molasses
1 egg

Blend two mixtures together. Let sit in refrigerator for about an hour to firm up. We tried rolling the dough out on parchment paper (floured with rice flour) but when we used the gingerbread men and the Christmas tree cookie cutters the cookies wouldn’t hold together well. We might have had better luck adding a bit more flour or letting the dough cool for awhile longer. Oliver’s cookies were done and Tanner was ready so we came up with plan “B”:

We rolled small balls of the dough and flattened to about 1/3 inch thick. The boys decorated the faces after they cooked. Or, even better idea – with the ball idea – they made snowmen with three balls of dough.

Bake them at 350 for about 15 – 20 minutes. Because the dough is dark it’s somewhat difficult to see that they are browning. Watching near the edges of the cookies is a good indicator. Give them plenty of room to spread and let them cook on the cookie sheet (directly on the parchment paper). Let them cool for about 5 minutes before removing them. Decorate them after they’ve cooled and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy them and Merry Christmas to one and all!

The Journey, Home from Autism has arrived! This book started out as a 30 page hand out and now is a 312 book that covers everything we learned, did, experienced and found to be helpful.

Funny how things work though… the books arrived the day before Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a houseful of company on Thanksgiving and had even more fun on Friday – spending most of the day at Ocean Journey, here in the Denver area. The sad thing – I came down with a cold virus on Saturday and the boys followed. First, Tanner came home early from school on Monday. Second, Oliver stayed home today.

We all had a bit of a fever this morning so going outside didn’t sound appealing. Instead, the three of us put up the Christmas tree today, read a silly book about Chester the Cricket and cooked orange chicken with rice for dinner. All in all, we are feeling better and our fevers have broken – many thanks I believe, due to taking Grapefruit Seed Extract. I add 15 drops to a glass of orange juice for myself three times a day and five – ten drops for the boys.

The orange chicken recipe:
2 cups rinsed long grain rice
4 cups orange juice
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix the rice and orange juice together in a baking pan. Lay the chicken on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about one hour. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 5 – 10 minutes. Everyone loves this recipe and it couldn’t be simpler!