“It’s not time to relax” say intelligence officials today. A new video that is presumed to originate from Osama Bin Laden hints of imminent danger and the world is on red alert.

How does this added stress affect you? Are you glued to the TV and are you receiving constant updates so that you are in the know? Are you able to share past experiences of 9-11 with such detail that your avid audience sits in wonderment? Are you, like most Americans, able to recall the exact moment when you first heard about 9-11? Are we destined to see a repeat performance?

If we are filled with fear, you can bet that our spectrum children know it. Not only do they know it  – they can feel it… Our emotions are not only worn on our proverbial  sleeves – our emotions are usually  projected (like verbal projectile vomit) onto our unsuspecting children with such force that they are unable to contain their reactions. “My stomach hurts”,  “I’m too sick to go to school today”, fighting with their siblings, nightmares and even true illnesses all originate from stress.

How often do we recount tragic moment by moment events that happen in our everyday life? Our spectrum children only need to hear them once. Like an audio recorder, they are able to store this data into their think tank for future reference at any given moment. Unfortunately, they are usually not able to control what goes into their think tank or what will trigger the given moment when the information resurfaces… that is our job. Is it fair to feed our children negativity and ugliness and expect positive beauty to shine back?

As a parent I have to be aware of what I say around my children. Their little minds are being formed by my words and actions every single day. If I am feeling fearful or scared the chances are that they are, too. As an adult, I am generally able to deal with these situations in a mature manner. I know that the only way my children will learn to do the same is by watching good examples.

We can not change the past – we can only learn from it. We can not predict the future – we can only prepare for it by being aware and by being the best that we can be. We certainly can not help our children to be confidant if we live a fearful and angry life.

Regarding Osama Bin Laden’s New Terror Tape: I am thankful that our government officials take this kind of message seriously. I’m even more thankful that I am not a government official. I am praying the Serenity Prayer for us all and I hope that you will do the same, too.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Several years ago when my son was going through test after test to determine what had happened to cause him to act so strangely I convinced myself that his problems were due to food allergies.

Despite the fact that test after test came back “Inconclusive” I witnessed strange behaviors on an increasingly “regular” basis… often his strange behavior increased shortly after a meal!

Time and again I would feed my son the healthiest home-made food that was free of sugar, free of preservatives and free of anything artificial. What was the connection? Was food playing some kind of role? My writer friend Carol Fenster, author of several gluten-free books, seemed to think so! I purchased Cooking Free: 200 Flavorful Recipes for People with Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivities and began to understand what food sensitivities really are!

I learned that common celiac disease symptoms include:

• chronic diarrhea
• constipation
• abdominal pain
• gas
• bloating

My son regularly suffered from ALL of the above. According to Carol and countless additional resources that I discovered, wheat could be responsible for causing many of my son’s problems.

Removing wheat seemed like an insurmountable task. Everything seemed to have wheat in it… or at least, everything that he loved! There  just had to be a way to find help for him so I set out to find it!

Before long I determined that my son was not and still is not allergic to wheat. I believe (to this day) that he has an intolerance to the wheat proteins, known as gluteomorphines! After removing wheat from my son’s diet he had better focus within 24 hours! He has since remained on a gluten-free diet for nearly six years!

Although removing wheat proved to be a big step in the right direction I still wanted to know more about the sensitivities he was experiencing. I found a very interesting site that helped me understand food sensitivities and allergies even more!

Dr. Bates newsletter article here : http://drbate.com/Ref/pulse.html is truly a “must-read” for anyone with the desire to learn more about food allergies and intolerances. We tried the the Caveman Diet. I believe that it answered many questions for us.  I still do the pulse test on a regular basis.

Read my newest book, The Journey, Home from Autism. I have all of the above and much more covered so that your journey will be shorter and more successful. Read Carol’s books. She is a God-send with a wealth of information. Also, take time to read Dr. Bates’ newsletter.

I welcome your thoughts, questions and comments.