You would think that after 4 years I would be more organized than I am, but I'm not. I have a theory that since the entropy of the universe is constantly increasing, every time one of you out in the world get organized, I get less organized so the universe is kept in balance (you can thank me later).
Anyway, with the move coming up (whoa, was that weird to say) and us playing around with Monster's diet, I've put together a food/behavior diary. Now I started one a few weeks ago, but it was more or less just me and Mr. jotting down what we noticed in a free-form way with Teacher filling out what Monster got into at school (his food at home is fairly constant).
I've started McCarthy's new book and she had a really good suggestion for what to keep track of. Being the engineer I pretend to be, I put together a MS Word document and put it in a binder (I swear, I have a million binders breeding in my garage!). Here it is (well, not formatted but you get the idea of what it says, I can email it to anyone who wants a copy, just let me know either by comment or email/PM me):
Date:
1. BM(bowel Movement): Yes/No Size (1=small to 5=large) Difficulty?
2. Supplements: What Dosage AM PM
3. Sleep: Amount Quality (1=good to 4=restless) Number of wakings Problems (explain)?
4. Rashes: Color Size Location Onset/duration Antecedent
5. Evenness of Temperament: (1=even to 3=typical to 5=swinging)
Comments:
6. Irritability: (1=pleasant to 3=typical to 5=cranky)
Comments:
7. Checking out: Type (fixation, staring into space, other-explain)
Frequency/Duration
Comments:
8. Flexibility v. Rigidity: (1=rolls with things to 3=typical to 5=must get own way)
Comments:
9. Self-Injurious behavior:Type (bite/pinch/other) Severity (1=light to 5=severe)Duration (1=several seconds/can distract to 5=several minutes cannot distract) Antecedent(if known)
Comments:
10. Food Diary:What Amount New? Reaction (if any)
We'll see how well this works and how well we can keep it up. Monster is on Day 2 of no gluten and so far so good. He has been very particular (and vocal) about what he wants to do and a bit whiny. I keep telling myself that as his behavior gets a bit grumpier, that's a good sign that the gluten was affecting him and now it is working it's working its way out of his system.
Wow, I'm impressed!
ReplyDeleteMy coach called me today to recommend I read a book called "The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science" as there is a part about autism he thinks I should read. Have you read this book? If not, you want me to tell you what I think after I read it?
As always, best to you and Z and the husband!
haven't heard of it, let me know how it goes. I've been reading about bio-med stuff, but if it's good, I'll put it on my to-do list.
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