Client Success Story with Shawna

Transcript:

Britni: Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. I am Britni Vincent, a registered and licensed dietitian, and today is a very special episode. I have the honor to be talking to Shawna, who is a longtime client at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, and on today's show, she will share her son's journey of getting diagnosed with autism and seeing incredible improvements in just a year's time.

So if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with autism, this episode is going to be full of hope and Shawna’s going to provide some practical insight. And for those of you listeners who may not be as familiar with autism, autism, or autism spectrum disorder refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism now affects an estimated one in 31 children and one in 45 adults in the United States. And autism looks different for everybody, and everyone's story is unique. So thank you so much, Shawna, for joining me today.

Shawna: My pleasure. Glad to be here. Thank you for having me. It's been a long time and coming too.

Britni: Yes. I'm so glad you're here to finally share this journey. So before we dive in, if you just want to tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and your family to get us started?

Shawna: Yeah. Well, I have been a long time client of the founder of Nutritional Weight & Wellness, Dar, and she just really became part of our family. My husband and I were married for 20 years and during that time, and especially in those early years, I think I, I went to a class, it was a community education class on gut health, and I just remember looking at the slide of things not to eat and that was all I ate.

So they had big red x’s through them and that really made me aware, especially when I came in and I started working with Dar and I filled out that, that health history report. And I had so many things going on with me that at age 30, you know, just shouldn't be happening.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: And instead of like most people just living with it, she's like, there can be a different way and it's through food and healing and so, you know, starting with that, we threw away everything in the kitchen and just started over. And luckily my ex-husband's from Germany, and he would eat really fresh.

They'd go to the market. His mom would cook up fresh food every week. So changing him to eating healthy was easy. So, when we didn't do it just part way, we went in full bore. And for me, within a year, I noticed incredible changes in my health. And then it just became a no-brainer. Like, this is how I want to live my life. It's not a diet.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: It's just a way of life now. And so still learning, you know, all the time.

Britni: It’s a process.

Shawna: It is a process, yeah. Yeah. But just so many good things. So we were married for 10 years and then we had our son and I was 41 at the time, which we just waited way too long. And then we didn't want to do any extemporaneous kind of, you know, IFE or anything. So we put it in God's hands and we tried and luckily I am told there's only a 5% chance at that age, and I had been on the birth control pill for 20 years prior. So even that, you know, coming off of that, you wonder will, will it work or not?

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: But we got pregnant. My family had given up on us, so nobody asked questions. It was really nice. And so when we announced it, they were just shocked, like, you're pregnant. How? Yeah. And so he's the only grand baby in the family and just loved beyond belief. He, you know, they would, when you think about like the best way to raise a child, it's with a village around them.

Britni: That is so true.

Shawna: Yeah. He had his German grandparents. And then my parents live locally and so he's just been surrounded by support and love and he's 14 years old now.

Britni: Wow.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: That's great. So, you know, take us back to when he was little. Can you share when you first started noticing that he might need some extra support?

Shawna: Yeah, so I had really researched about Montessori school. I'm a huge fan. Just the way kids learn to be curious and that there's not one right way to do it. And so they can also just sit and entertain themselves and learn and be kind of quiet and just introspective and go deep. And even at very young ages. So Montessori, I was like, I wish I would've had that.

So we put him in Montessori school and he was three years old. He was a super clean eater, so I was gluten-free due to Dar and thanks for all her incredible guidance because I just knew I felt much better on it. And so for my son, it just was natural that right from the get go, he would be gluten-free.

Britni: So you were a gluten-free household?

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: It was ridiculous. Like you would've loved to see him when he was just tiny. We'd make like, like it's a, it's a it’s called Grunkohl. It's a German dish. And it's like a gluten-free oatmeal and smoked meats and mustard and kale. And this little three-year-old boy would just reach his big paw in there and like scoop it in his mouth and eat.

Britni: I love it.

Shawna: That was his favorite food. And my favorite story with, we'd send him to the, the preschool and all the teachers would say we love when we heat up my son's food because it would just smell the whole preschool with yummy, wonderful real food.

Britni: Yeah, real food.

Shawna: Which they weren't, you know, most kids got something sent in a, in a tube or just something like…

Britni: Packaged.

Shawna: Packaged food. Yeah. So he, he was very much a clean eater. Which was great. We did notice that he had quite a few gut issues. He just, he didn't digest well. I could tell he just had tummy aches. And you know what I always read? Like when kids are younger, their, their gut is forming; their intestines. So it can take time to, so I didn't know. But then other things we would start to notice and when you just have an only, you don't really know what's different and what isn't.

Britni: Nothing to compare it to.

Shawna: No.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: But we'd see him raise his little legs up, you know, as a baby, not wanting to touch snow or grass and do these incredible abdominal lifts. Just avoid any of that. And we thought that was odd, but maybe it's just him. He would start to, when he would learn speech, he started to repeat what he would hear on little cartoon clips, like Bugs Bunny would say a line and he'd, he'd run around in circles saying that same line.

And when they're little like that, you think that's cute. And maybe that's just how he's learning. Right? He stopped though, which we did notice right away making any kind of eye contact. And that was unusual and hard to understand because he had always had good eye contact with anybody he was with before.

He also became really kinesthetic in a way where he needed to always have something in his hands and squeezing it like some kind of figure. So he was into the Frozen girls.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: So he had Elsa and Anna one in each hand and they went everywhere. They were just tiny little dolls. And even if he was on a playground, he would hold onto them and crawl up the equipment. So they never ever left his hands.

Britni: They were a comfort for him.

Shawna: Yeah. Some kind of a, a comfort, right? If I took him to any kind of little kid classes, like I remember, gymnastics, where they did just sit in a circle and maybe spread your legs and swish your arms around and pretend you're making a pizza. He couldn't do that. And that had changed. He, before he could sit and follow a simple direction like that, and he couldn't do that any longer, so he would get up. And just kind of run around.

So I knew I couldn't really have him in, in parent, kid classes like that. It, it wasn't working. He started, incessant hand flapping when he would get nervous or anxious. Almost like when he was trying to communicate something but couldn't get it out.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: So it was a way to relieve some stress. And then, he would get fixated on something, which I think they call that ruminating for autistic kids, where they just focus and they go in a circle and they say it again. They say it again and again. Almost like it didn't matter if anybody was listening, it was just him saying it to himself because it must have been comforting.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: We noticed if we would bring him into a public restroom and the toilet would flush, or the hand dryer would go off, that he would go ballistic. Like he'd have to cover his, his ears and kind of crouch. Because it just, it must have really hurt his, his ears. An example too would be we brought him to the old Psycho Susie's restaurant.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: That had the Ferris wheel that's since closed. But they were, I guess you'd say busy inside, right? Like lots of stimulation. They had a train running around the top of the building, all these lights from Christmas decorations everywhere. And I just remember that instance because when we were there having dinner, he went and hid under the table and wouldn't come out.

Britni: It's just too much.

Shawna: And we didn't know what, because we didn't even notice all the busyness around us, but he sure did. And the other thing I would say is that he's really not a typical kid in relation to sometimes you think of autistic kids have a lot of outbursts and they have behavioral issues going on.

He goes in, so he shuts down. And so he, he typically is very unnoticed, especially in a classroom, and that's what really took a while for his Montessori teachers because he just doesn't stand out as, you know, having any kind of behavioral issues. He's going to fade into the background is more how it, how it presents itself with him.

The Montessori teachers noticed though these differences and probably more, and they called us in. And that was when he was three. They just said, we're concerned and we think that he may be on the spectrum, which we had, we had no idea what that meant.

Britni: I bet that was a shock.

Shawna: Yeah, it was really hard. So they suggested we go to Fraser and that we have him tested. And so we did that and he, they at, at the time, so this would've been when he was three, going on four, they didn't tell anybody, you know, a number or high or low even. They just said on the spectrum. And so that, that's hard. I think it's good in a way. Because you don't want to put someone in a box, but it's also hard to know, like, I mean our main question was, is he going to be okay? Like, can, will he have a family? Will he be able to have a job?

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: I mean, and they didn't, they couldn't tell us anything. Because they don't want to promise something. And so we felt really lost. And then just talking to people that we knew in our support network, a lot of people said, he's fine. It's just how he is. He's he'll grow out of it. All kids have things that you know, it was almost like we weren't believed or understood.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: And yet we've got this diagnosis. But we don't really know what to do with it.

Britni: Yeah. So you felt some lack of support?

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: For sure. And there just wasn't a lot of information. I feel like there's more information now and probably more parents that can get help in easier ways. But really that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to come on and do this show and have for a while.

Dar and I talked about this for a long time, and we just, we didn't figure it out until, you know, after she passed and now and now it's here. So everything happens at the right timing though. And I would say after the Fraser diagnosis, then we started noticing more because we watched him actually as they did the testing and we saw things he couldn't do that surprised us.

Like they asked him to cross his right hand to his left foot. So crossline body movement. And he was unable to do that, just not set up that way in his mind. We did notice more about his lack of ability to advocate for himself after that. Like we'd be at a playground and there'd be a line of kids at the slide. And they would just push him out of the way and he'd just keep going to the back, going to the back. And he looked as happy as a clam. Because he just, he's such a great, positive kid, you know?

Britni: That's amazing.

Shawna: But, but he didn't have an ability to like do what I wanted to do, which was, hey, you know, wait your turn. And then like another case where we were swimming in a pool in Florida and there was a kid and his grandpa and the, the, the boys must have been the same age and he was trying to play with my son. And my son just was talking to himself doing what he normally does and kind of in his own world. And then that kid yelled out, what are you stupid or something? And the grandparent got angry, but that broke our heart, because it's just like, how is he going to be interpreted and how will he make it, you know?

Britni: Well, I bet that was incredibly hurtful.

Shawna: Yeah. Yeah. Well, kids can be cruel. We also noticed the Fraser people tested him on, could he follow step by step directions? Like put on your hat and then go put your mittens on. Couldn't do it. Anything past one step, they couldn't follow it. And then just this piece about like not being able to connect with anyone.

They had other kids too, and they were testing him socially to see if he could just talk with them or like play with a toy together with another child. And he just, it was kind of like he didn't even notice anybody else but him. Right? In his own world.

Britni: Yeah. Would he socialize and communicate with you at home?

Shawna: No. No, he did more of it before, before we noticed all this. Especially the eye contact. But that all went away. No, he would just sit by himself and play with something.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Shawna: So that's really, after that, you, you're sad. You're scared, and then you get busy. And so that's what I did. I used to be in TV news and I love to find out people's stories and just research and learn. Then there's always more to learn. I think that's why I like Nutritional Weight & Wellness so much is we are always learning. There's always something you can do better.

Britni: Absolutely. I love that. So your professional background, I think you approach this maybe a little bit differently, so tell me like what was your thought process? You mentioned you really dove into the research.

Shawna: Yeah. Although I will say that anybody can do this. I mean, my main message today is like, I, I really want to empower parents that, A, if you have a child with autism, you know, that's one child. Every kid is different. And so the way that you go about understanding, learning and figuring out what to do, you're going to have so many people in your head telling you what to do, but at some point you have to make a decision.

And, so for us, faith is really important. We spent a lot of time in prayer and really relying on what does our gut tell us is most important here and what's going to work on top of the research? Because there's so much out there and even things that directly will contradict each other.

So you have to, you got to figure out what's going to work best for your child. So for us, we did what a lot of families do. We started with the traditional physical therapy and speech therapy that was recommended by Fraser. And so that would work on some of that crossline body movement or just things that he just couldn't make his body do that just weren't working right, and speech therapy to try to learn to connect to other people.

And also to be able to identify his own emotions and the emotions of others. That was really tricky. So they'd hold up those emotion cards, you know, like a smiley face from real sad to real happy. So Fraser really recommended as far as next steps take a look at physical therapy and speech therapy.

And so we started focusing on those two to really work on how do you do cross-line body movement? So he could start to feel in his body what that's like and just learn it, be almost like learning what we innately know how to do. He had to learn it. Speech therapy focused on how to communicate, how to use eye contact and how to understand your emotions. So they'd show those little happy, you know, sad face cards and he'd have to pick out where he was at each day and then really try to learn and understand someone else's emotions, which was quite interesting to watch because he really didn't know that.

So even at home, we'd work on reading a book and I'd say, do you think that person's happy or sad? And sometimes he wouldn't know. And, and I think a kid reading that normally would know. But he really had to learn like, what are my emotions and how do I identify emotions in other people. The other thing, of course, would be amiss if we didn't mention nutrition.

Nutrition implementations for Shawna's son with autism

Right? So the biggest thing was, he was already gluten-free. And then I had just read a ton, and this still stands today, gluten and dairy-Free for children on the spectrum is a absolute must.

Britni: Yes.

Shawna: And a militant must. You can't like, let it sneak in a little bit here and there. So we completely went all in. And we would bring our own food to friends' homes for him to eat, which we just got used to it being weird. And then it wasn't weird.

Britni: It was your normal.

Shawna: It was our normal.

Britni: It was just what you did.

Shawna: And it for sure was his normal, because we'd go to a birthday party and he'd have his own delicious treat, which wasn't gluten. And sometimes the kids were like, well, why can't I have that? I also did a pretty interesting self-education in essential oils and started to learn which oils would work. And Dar actually helped me with some of that too. So there were a number of different oils I'd use at different points on the body, and put that on at morning and at night. And then, we also got him put onto at that early age. So this was all liquids, supplements.

Britni: Yep. All right, well, we are already at our break time and when we come back, Shawna and I will keep talking about her son's journey and talk about what the plan was after you went to see Dar and, and you brought your, your son in to see her. So we'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. I am here talking to Shawna and before the break you were talking about how your son started off with such a great foundation with nutrition. He was already gluten-free. You’re a gluten-free household. And then you brought him in to see Dar. So what, after meeting with Dar, what type of changes did you make after that appointment?

Shawna: Yeah. She's so wonderful, right? Because intuitively she just would know. And she came up with a plan for him, supplement wise, and remember he had not, besides healthy eating, we had done nothing like that before. So, because he was so tiny, not tiny in size. He is tall kid, but he's little. He couldn't swallow pills, so she came up with liquids.

And liquids are better anyway because that's going to go right into the blood stream. So she came up with a concoction of a variety of different ones that were, you know, custom designed for him. So, magnesium, zinc, vitamin C, Bifido Balance the, the favorite there, right for the gut. And then I had been giving him cod liver oil. You know, because my mom gave me cod liver oil and I not even knowing like that's a great healthy fat, super important.

Britni: Well, it's probably your own intuition to add that in.

Shawna: And then the last supplement that she added, which I really think was, I think all the, all of these mattered, but DHA.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Shawna: Critical because she described how the neurotransmitters of the brain can't work without each cell being coated in a nice, healthy layer of fat. Otherwise, the cells don't communicate to each other. And so increasing in his brain, that healthy layer of fat around those cells with DHA, for his brain and his gut to just work better, was really critical. So we put him on pretty high doses of that. I was surprised by that, but I don't know. I, it just to know her is to trust her. And you guys are experts in what you do. And so I was just grateful for the help.

Britni: So that DHA you felt like made a huge difference. Which makes sense, you know, but 60% of the brain is, is fat.

Shawna: Right.

Britni: And a lot of that is DHA.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: And for listeners, DHA is an omega-3, so our bodies don't make it. We have to get it through fatty fish is the best source or through a supplement. And so I think a lot of people are lacking, including children. So it does make sense that that would help to reduce the inflammation in his brain, and help things to just start firing more efficiently. And then, so the gluten free, that was his entire life. And then the dairy free came after meeting with Dar as well, correct?

Shawna: Mm-hmm. Yep.

Britni: So that gluten, dairy-free, you had mentioned earlier in the show, it's really critical for individuals that have been diagnosed with autism. Because it's going to help to reduce that gut inflammation.

Shawna: Everything happens in the gut, right?

Britni: It does, yeah. And if there's inflammation in the gut, there's going to be some inflammation in the brain. And you had mentioned earlier that you notice sometimes, like some stomach upset. Did that seem to improve after the dairy free and the supplement regimen as well?

Shawna: Yeah, yeah. Coming out of age two and into age three and probably just that piece of that, his intestines forming more too, and then for sure with that diet, he didn't have those issues and to this day he doesn't. He's only vomited like once in his life. He has tremendous health. He's got a great immune system.

Britni: Impressive. I bet eating this way…

Shawna: Because he also avoids a lot of the school bugs I noticed throughout the years that would just wipe out the classroom. It doesn't him.

Britni: Wow.

Shawna: I added elderberry gummies since then. He's been on those for a while too. Garden of Life and the, those are great.

Britni: To support the immune system.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah. So really you took a very holistic approach with speech therapy, PT, working in nutrition as a key component, key supplements.

Shawna: Yeah. And then the last piece of that puzzle was really wanting to get support for him academically. Because not being able to communicate with others that's not, you know, you're not going to survive in school very well with that.

So I did ask the state, to come and push IEP services in for him at the Montessori school. And normally those are just offered in public schools. So I got a lot of flack from that. And that's why one of my main messages too is like, be a tiger, be an advocate for your kid. It's your kid. You know your kid best. And a no is just a let's figure out a way we can make this work to me.

Britni: Keep pushing until you get the answer you want.

Shawna: Because some rules are just silly and, you know, meant to be changed. So eventually that worked out with a lot of pushing on my end, and they did bring someone in that supported him throughout the day at Montessori, but it was like an hour, hour and a half.

I remember. It just wasn't enough. And it would be like creating a schedule so he would know; he'd have to understand what we were going to, they were going to do the whole time in the class. First we're going to do this, then we're going to do that. Otherwise it would cause more hand flapping, more anxiety. He had to understand what the structure and the schedule was going to be like.

Britni: He was very routine oriented.

Shawna: Right. And then even taking him out after, you know, some of the playtime or work projects at the Montessori, and then talking about what his emotions were and noticing what the other kids' emotions were. So, and then working on advocacy. So all those different pieces, it just, it was great, but I knew it wasn't enough.

And so they told me, the state, that if I wanted to continue to have support, because he was going to be going to elementary school by that point, that I would have to move him into a public school, which was so hard because I really wanted to keep him in Montessori.

I saw the benefits of that kind of education, but I wanted that full support and individual education plan and IEP. And so he was enrolled in public school the following year, and then he received that full support with an IEP that was meant to go all the way through 18.

Marked improvements along the way

Britni: Wow. That's great that you got that support. You felt like he really needed that. And so at what point in, in this journey did you start to see some improvement and what were some of those signs?

Shawna: Yeah, it's so, you know, it's hard to think back because it's a long time ago, but yeah. Because when I look back now, I know it was a year where he had, he had a complete transformation.

Britni: That’s amazing.

Shawna: If you were to walk up to him and meet him today, you wouldn't know he's on the spectrum.

Britni: Incredible.

Shawna: He's fully mainstreamed now and he's rocking, he, you know, straight A student. He’s almost a black belt in karate. So he’s sure figured out that crossline body movement.

Britni: Yeah, no kidding.

Shawna: But what we would start to notice over time, then it would become normal again to just have those things fall off. But things kind of fell off that, that he was doing before. He could start to make eye contact. And so it's, it's too hard for me right now to watch videos from back then, but I will at some point.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: And I'll be able to watch directly from when he wasn't able to make eye contact and communicate to when he was and just see that on video is going to be pretty powerful. But from memory he could, he could make eye contact again. The hand flapping just went away. Like that was such a relief because that was hard. Because you don't know what to do with that and it makes you stand out as a kid too.

Britni: So probably a sign that his internal anxiety started to really reduce. He was able to find maybe other coping mechanisms.

Shawna: Yeah. His sensory issues went away too. So, we just noticed one day he could bring him in a bathroom and he didn't cover his ears.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: He, he just, he was okay with that. He would stop running in circles and just talking to himself. He would walk up mostly to adults, is how it started. Because he's an only too, so he is a little adult like. The other thing too is he started to advocate better for himself. I'd say that's still an area that we're working on, but I'm not entirely convinced that's the autism now. It might be just I'm in middle school and advocating stuff.

Britni: Yeah. I think, right, that's a hard thing to do as a kid, especially going into to middle school. It's a tough age.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Yeah, yeah.

Shawna: Yeah. So all of those signs. And just incredibly great at connecting with people, looking at them, talking to them.

Britni: Wow.

Shawna: He, like I said, it, it started mostly with adults. We would notice it got better with kids at school, but by age six, the school came to us and said we think we should take him off the IEP. He doesn't need support anymore academically, so we can't justify him, you know, needing it.

And that was hard too, because I knew when we lost that, then it's gone. You know, you don't get any more support and that was supposed to go to 18. But we did, and he, he's been able to be, like I said, fully mainstreamed and just on his way.

Britni: And the fact that at age six, so after a year, he made that amount of progress that everybody was recognizing that.

Shawna: Right, right.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: Yeah. Just phenomenal. And I, a lot of people don't associate with nutrition as having the power that it does. And so, you know, many, I mentioned earlier, people in our support network sometimes would say, well, he just grew out of it. Well then that's what happened in their mind. But, I know differently.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: Fraser knows differently. Anybody who's been on this journey and it's, it's really been a team of people around him. That's the other thing I'd say to parents is form your team, get your team active, and bring them along and figure out all the different players that you need to help support, because it does take a, a team.

Britni: Dedication.

Shawna: Mm-hmm.

Britni: That's beautiful. And I mean, the nutrition part, we know. It is truly life changing. It changed your life.

Shawna: Yep. Yep.

Britni: In your thirties. You said you as well, within a year, your health concerns were gone.

Shawna: Yeah. It's funny, I never even connected those dots. Like, I mean, we have the same story in a way. Right? I mean, this was much more radical.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: Lives are short, but yet they're long, you know? And you can choose to live in a really painful way. Or with, you know, a, a diagnosis like this, or you can make it better. Not every child is going to have the same experience that my son did, but I guarantee no matter what symptoms that your child's facing, they can be improved by making some of these changes with nutrition and understanding supplements, and then you being just an advocate and making sure that you're helping to support that. There can always be something that's made better. And I think that's the hopeful part of this.

Britni: I love you said that, you know, when we talked earlier too, there's always something else you can do. And like you said, everybody's so different and in the world of nutrition, no matter what your diagnosis is, everybody is different and what our needs are.

Navigating social situations after going gluten & dairy free

So it might take trying different things, but the nutrition part, you know, so going back to the gluten-free, dairy-free, I know that can be very overwhelming for anybody, but I think thinking of having your child go gluten and dairy free and all those social situations. So you kind of talked a bit about that. How did you approach school lunches and especially, you know, in public school and birthday parties and all of that?

Shawna: Yeah. Well, and the other thing too is once you put a child on gluten and dairy free, that means you have to cut out a lot of the processed foods and a lot of the sugars. One thing that was absolutely astounding about him, so he's 14 now, when he was 12, he came to me and said, I really don't want to eat sugar anymore.

I don't feel good when I ate… You know, and it wasn't like he was eating tons of it, but he didn't want snacks like that sent to school anymore. Like gluten-free cookies. He didn't want any of that anymore.

Britni: Oh, that's so cool.

Shawna: Isn't that amazing? So that he's kind of an old soul too though. But he's stuck with that now and so that's, that's impacted me too, because we live together, so I'm not eating any sugary stuff either, which I don't need. And, and, and that's awesome. But I think it's just you make your own normal, it's like a new normal. Because he was so young. That's another key. The earlier you can do this, the younger they are, the switch to changing nutrition, the easier it is.

Britni: That's true.

Shawna: Mm-hmm. And just forming new habits. Right? Because it's almost to the point now where he knows if he eats something that isn't super healthy, he doesn't feel good. And he won't choose that again then, so he's, it's not just mom saying eat this. He's making his own choices now. So when we, when he was young, we would just bring food. Even at a friend's, if I knew it was going to be a lasagna full of gluten and, and cheese, dairy, then we'd bring something awesome that he loved to eat and he would just have that. It was no big deal. Parties, same thing; I mentioned that earlier. He could just have his own treat and then moving on.

Britni: That's great.

Shawna: Oh, and if they had pizza, I would bring a gluten-free pizza.

Britni: Perfect.

Shawna: And then now in his school, they have gluten-free, dairy free lunches offered. And are they the best? No, but they're much better than just, you know, the, the, a lot of the processed foods that’s served in the regular line. And it's, it's also not odd to just go pick up a gluten-free.

Britni: No, it's not anymore.

Shawna: Right. Like, kids do it all the time. It doesn't make him feel different in any way.

Britni: So some kind of themes I'm hearing: you approached it as a household.

Shawna: Right. I don’t think it would work otherwise.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: You can't have a cheater in the group who's bringing stuff in.

Britni: Right. Because it that much harder for a child. And then you know, you, you kind of educated him and empowered him. And I think kids are so intuitive and I see that when I work with children, counseling one-on-one. If you educate them a little bit, they will tell you they know how food makes them feel.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: And unfortunately for many adults, we've kind of gotten away from that intuition. But if we fuel that in children, I think like your son, they start to decide like, it's not worth it. I don't want to have that.

Shawna: Just like adults do.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: You know, we make those choices. And the other thing we have to keep thinking about is that sugar is chemically addictive.

Britni: Absolutely.

Shawna: You know, it's not just kids running around, wanting it because they want it, it, it's chemically, if they're on a lot of sugar, their brain's going to register. I need that like a drug.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Shawna: So that's hard as a child to try to regulate that if you're already chemically addicted to it.

Britni: I, that brings up such a great point. I think a lot of us as adults can resonate with that. Right? You get that boost, you feel great. It's so short-lived. That is happening in a kid too. They're getting a dopamine boost. And then those dopamine levels go even lower than they were before ate sugar. So thinking about that with anybody but an individual that has an autism diagnosis, how that might impact their symptoms.

Shawna: And then they're supposed to take really hard tests while they feel that crash. Think about that. That's what drives me always, is like, how can I perform at my best when I feel the lowest and have the lowest energy?

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: And that's really what we're asking them to do when we send a lunch filled with all kinds of just sugary things. Right?

Britni: Yeah. We need to be nourishing the brain. Fueling the brain.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: It's interesting too, because he's getting ready to sign up for high school and the most popular class they offer at this massive high school is. Culinary 101, like kids can't even get into it.

Britni: Wow.

Shawna: Isn't that so cool to talk about?

Britni: That's amazing.

Shawna: And so I think about like, I wonder what they teach nutrition wise in there, but he could come and like lend some thoughts.

Britni: That is so cool.

Shawna: Yeah. Yeah.

Britni: Huh. And you know, for those of you listening that you know, you're thinking about having your child go gluten and dairy free, we have tons of great resources on our website. We have lots of recipes on there that kids really enjoy. So weightandwellness.com, and then I think you feed them what you're eating,

Shawna: Right.

Britni: You know, the idea of kid food, it doesn't need to be that way. Food is food. And if you're all eating the same thing, I think that makes it so much more doable. And then they learn to like different foods.

Shawna: Right. So my son is 14. He's six foot two.

Britni: Wow.

Shawna: And if you take a child at age two and double their height, that's pretty accurate. Generally that puts him growing to six foot eight. So he eats three dinners a night. There's no way I would be cooking a separate meal, we eat the same thing, but he eats mass quantities and he's so thin still, I, I mean, I was like that at his age too.

But, but he just needs so much nutrition now. So, one thing I, I did that really, really helps is I signed up for a, one of those services that, you know, they, they send you food and you can put in, I don't want any dairy, I don't want gluten, I don't want soy.

And then they send the food in little pre, preset amounts and it takes me 15, 20 minutes to whip up a really balanced food with a complex carb, a protein and healthy fat. And so that's been a, a lifesaver. My only challenge now is that like if they say it's for two people, he could eat that. I have to double it.

Britni: That makes sense. A 14-year-old who's that tall and continuing to grow.

Shawna: Yeah. Yep.

Example food ideas

Britni: So what is, just give us an example of what he might have for breakfast.

Shawna: Oh yeah. Well that would certainly classify us into the, well that's odd category by most people's standards, but not with Nutritional Weight & Wellness. I mean, we have dinner for breakfast, so it's the King's meal. We have generally sweet potatoes, and then he'll have eggs and then, some line caught, you know, pole-caught salmon and some kind of fruit. And then I'll put a big wedge of butter on the sweet potatoes, and then he'll ask me what, what else he got

Britni: Gimme more.

Shawna: Yeah.

Britni: Oh, that's great. And so he's just setting himself up for balanced blood sugar throughout the day, nourishing his brain, and he feels good and he likes it.

Shawna: Yeah. And he'll eat the school lunch that's gluten and dairy free. But I think they pull things out, because it, it, I don't know. I, I mentioned many times now how, how much he eats, but he'll come home just starving, which I think is natural for kids that age.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: So I'll feed him a full on dinner right when he gets home, and then he'll do another one at night. And then sometimes, we, we really like the nighttime treats that, you know, Nutritional Weight & Wellness talks about. So we'll do a little bit of almond butter with an apple or his favorite is probably like organic berries with a little protein powder on there and some heavy cream.

Britni: Oh yeah.

Shawna: And cinnamon on top and a little honey. And that's like ice cream to him.

Britni: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Great. Well those are some good examples and I think it helps listeners to get some ideas and know it's totally doable. It takes some time, some effort, dedication, but it's doable. Absolutely.

Shawna: Well, and even if you don't have a child who's on the spectrum…

Britni: 1mm-hmm.

Shawna: Try two weeks of it.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: That would be my challenge. And keep a journal and just like, how do I feel each day? Right? And watch what happens. Write down what you notice. Ask your child what they notice, or your spouse and see what they notice. Because even in two weeks, that's what they, how long they say it takes typically to wipe out a big sugar craving too, right? I know that's true for me. I would just challenge you to try two weeks and see how you feel better.

Britni: You're right. It, I mean, it is amazing when class participants in our Nutrition for Weight Loss Foundation class. I just taught week two last week, and people are noticing big changes already. And I think it does sometimes take that paying attention and really thinking about how you're feeling. Because we just get used to it. Everything's relative and we're busy. But yeah, take the time. Pause, how are you really feeling? And then if you feel better in two weeks, think about how are you going to feel in a year?

Shawna: Yeah. After a while, you can't imagine going back to how you felt. Then it just becomes the way of life, right?

Britni: Yes.

Shawna: And you know what's really cool is that when you clean up the way that you eat, not only do your kids benefit, and that's going to really benefit down the road, and you think about like disease prevention and just mood and avoiding all the things we hear about with anxiety and depression and, it's going to help so much with those pieces, but you also become an example, and especially when you stick with it to your friends and to your family.

I never thought my 83-year-old parents would make any changes. They're like, on a Friday night, we're having pizza and beer. But they've made a lot of changes actually. And they even eat kale chips with my son right now. So it's just been fantastic to see how when you make good choices, it just is like a ripple effect in water to those all around you.

Britni: Yeah. I mean. We know talking to family members or partners about making changes sometimes doesn't go so well. So leading by example. It really does go a long way and people start to notice like, what are you doing differently?

Shawna: Right.

Britni: You seem different.

Shawna: Oh, and then just that like I don't have ups and downs with my mood.

Britni: Mm-hm.

Shawna: And my son doesn't either.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: I take that for granted now because I just live that way, but when I hear people talk or I see friends, that's not the case.

Britni: Yeah.

Shawna: They've got the highs and the lows and the ups and the downs. And if you want to live a really even life, you know, eat the right way and supplement the right way.

Britni: Yeah, that's, you know, a lot of that goes to blood sugar. Which we talk about a lot at Dishing Up Nutrition.

Shawna: And the reason you need help too is because when I started the journey and I took that first class and then I came in to see Dar, I had already been buying multiple supplements that I just read about were good, this or that, or E or D, or, but I didn't have any idea what interacted with what, how much to take and what I individually needed.

And so to get that individual plan, I'm just a firm believer that every person needs a coach, and that's a nutritionist along your side to know exactly what is the right amount and mix for my body to feel good.

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Britni: We, we are here to support you through the journey and help to adapt it as, like you said, Shawna, a way of life. I mean, I think if you go into it saying, this is just my lifestyle. This is the way I live now. Instead of, like you said, a diet which feels in our brain short term. This is, this is for the long haul and throughout that journey, it is a process of learning about your body, but yeah, we are always here to support you through that.

And you know one of the reasons you wanted to share your journey on Dishing Up Nutrition was to give hope to parents. So if there was one last piece of advice or a summary of advice that you want to offer a parent with a child that's been diagnosed with autism, what would that be?

Shawna: I would say to never settle for anything less than the knowledge that you can make this better. Whatever that better looks like is different for every single kid, but it absolutely can be better. And you as a parent are a huge, pivotal part in it. And not only are you going to be helping ton help that child alleviate some of the symptoms and live a better life, but you're just putting them on a better path and trajectory for their health overall.

I have so many relatives that have, you know, rheumatism or cancers or just gut issues, and I see how they live their older years in a lot of pain and misery and some that even know the changes I made in my family have said, I wish I would've made those changes earlier. My elder years here would've looked a lot differently had I done that.

So we all get one body. We get to choose what we put in it and how we take care of it, and I would just encourage you to know that you can make it better for you and for your children. And you've got a great guide in the nutritionists here to help you do that.

Britni: Well, thank you of course so much for being here, sharing your journey, sharing your son's story. I absolutely know it's going to provide other families hope and, and some inspiration. If you are caring for a child or a loved one with autism or you yourself have autism and you do feel like you want a little extra support, we are here for you. That's what we do. We help to figure out what does your body need individually, and you can set up a one-on-one appointment, either on our website, weightandwellness.com, or give us a call: 651-699-3438. And we do accept a variety of insurance providers as well. So thank you so much for listening today and have a great day.

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