I have been making whispers lately about anoxic brain injury (ABI) following post-cardiac arrest, and a similarity with autistic conditions - especially Asperger's Syndrome.
Honestly, I am as fully unqualified to speak about this, as I am fully convinced that I have EXACTLY the same "Asperger experience" as a pre-school boy whom I know quite well. (Yes, as unqualified a "quack" as I may be, I have assumed the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome for both him and me. And I am not ashamed.)
Here's a link to to a description of Asperger's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
It's becoming quite a common occurrence and you may want to read up on it. Maybe some child in your life, or in your own past, wasn't as much a "behavior problem" as you were led to believe. I have found access to a nursing course on this subject and I am trying to learn what I can. However, my own ABI makes this learning difficult for me, especially in the areas of memory retention, and the motivation to even do it at all. At the same time, I feel so fiercely determined to get this accomplished that you might say I'm becoming obsessed with it.
So, the likeness of Asperger's is asserting itself.
Why is this important to me? Because in addition to wanting to rescue our little children from what seems to be a coming plague, I'd like to know that there is a definite way to treat ABI. For four years, I've been limping along like a Civil War soldier after the surrender. My own battle began with a Sudden Cardiac Arrest, when I was snatched up by Death, like a mouse in the talons of a Dark Owl. It was a surprise attack - viscious, too - and my response could not have been wimpier. It just took me... and took my life away. The fight began weeks later when I arose alive from my hospital bed to return home the winner, but terribly injured and bruised. When my heart had stopped, I was left with a brain injury from lack of oxygen.
So, before this short writing becomes an "encyclopedia", let me bring us back to the title, and the reason for the word "Wheat" being so prominent.
Wheat contains a lot of life-sustaining protein. I suppose it keeps half the world alive. There is hardly a place in our human body where this protein isn't vitally important. In wheat, this protein is a two-part protein and is usually called "gluten" [GLOO-tin]. Rice has gluten as do other grains, but they are not of wheat's "double variety".
Apparently, something about this vitally important wheat-gluten is becoming a digestive issue with the children of our species. When it isn't processed normally, in the intestines, it gets into the blood and causes havoc with the body. The main feature of this is problems with BRAIN functions. In other words, it can provoke mood changes, disrupt thought patterns, and even lead to seizures. For some, with Celiac Disease, it can be deadly. Thankfully, I am not troubled with that.
It's just that this little boy I know, and love more than my own life, has apparently been harrassed by this bully named Gluten for a long time. When problems with behavior became intolerable, and seizure activity became visible, his parents, wisely and bravely, removed as much wheat-gluten from his diet as possible. With them, I am learning to make bread and other good things without the wheat-gluten. Let me just tell you that his behavior has improved so much that it's hard to believe he has been only one child through it all. His good ol' self is becoming visible, again. It's startling that it hasn't taken years, nor even months, for this positive change to take place... but the improvement was obvious in a matter of days. After four to six weeks, it's looking like wheat-gluten isn't the bully that many are saying it is. Something else has caused underlying problems, of which we are not yet aware. But one thing is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN - wheat-gluten cannot be tolerated by his personality. In other words, he needs the life-giving protein but can't live with it. So for now, it's strange breads and even stranger trips to the grocery store; hunting for, and gathering, "safe foods" for him to eat. But happily, he is regaining the once healthy appetite which he had completely lost. And not a day too soon, either, because he has become "skinnier" over time and the effect of under-nutrition on body organs can't be good.
We hope that the health professionals we will be seeing soon, can remove this impediment to his happiness.
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