John has probably improved more in the past two months than he has in the prior 9 years. Or - is the house simply more harmonious because Wendy is on antidepressants? It's hard to say. You can never really change one variable at a time, can you?
For an outsider's perspective, let's see what school has to say. "He is doing much better." reports the social worker. "He's still failing 4 out of 6 classes, but he doesn't refer to his teachers as stupid whores, and he's not calling his aid a f**king bitch any more." It sounds like a little thing, but it's huge. Here at home, he will do about a third of the things we ask, if we don't push it. He use to do nothing we asked. So really, we've made great progress since last I wrote.
What have we changed? The only thing I can think of is my strict adherence to water. "Drink nothing but water." I insisted. "Maybe some unsweetened tea, and carbonated water with lemon, but that's it. If it tastes sweet, don't drink it." This happens to be my number 1 recommendation in the introduction, and I finally decided to take my own advice. Duh!
It's interesting to review all the diets we have tried. Everyone of them allows some kind of special drink. Feingold = Coke, SCD = grape juice, failsafe = pear juice, low carb = diet Coke, and on and on. John drank whatever was permitted, and he drank it by the liter. This makes no evolutionary sense. We've been drinking water, exclusively, for the past million years. Even if you are "normal", drinking your calories, as much as <25% of your calories>, is not a good idea. Your stomach does not recognize it as food, and does not register it in the budget. Food makes you full, but you can drink sugar all day long. And what do your intestines do with these drinks? Who knows! Since it is such a novel substance, and since the gut flora is so delicately balanced, the ramifications are hard to predict, and will certainly vary from one individual to the next. In any case, my #1 recommendation to anyone, anywhere, is to drink water. If you need more fruits and vegetables in your diet, eat fruits and vegetables. Don't buy one of those juicers and drink your veggies. The salesman will tell you it's better than having no vegetables in your diet at all, and he might be right, but for some folks he might be terribly wrong. John is on water and tea only, and he is finally improving.
Beyond this, I'm not watching his carbs like I use to. I still keep sugary treats locked away in the cabinet, but if he goes for a second bowl of spaghetti, I don't worry about it too much, and it doesn't seem to affect him the next day. His improved behavior, plus our relaxed attitude towards his diet, plus our lowered expectations, plus Wendy's antidepressants, combine to make our home a much more pleasant place. The girls can see it, and they are having friends over more often.
Is it possible that John's mind is maturing - that his intellect is finally gaining the upper hand? Meantime, I am ascribing the improvements to the last dietary change in our long parade of experiments. "Of course! That new rain dance we did yesterday finally brought the rains." Sure - it's possible. I could be deluding myself. But I'm not keen to try him on juices or pop any time soon. Would you?
One might wonder why we aren't dancing in the streets. So long we have waited, and so much we have endured, and it looks like some light at the end of the tunnel. We aren't dancing because we have seen this light before, and it has sometimes been the oncoming train. We've been fooled before, and now we are cautious. Beyond this, Mary has thrown us a curve, high and way outside. This has kept us far to busy to worry about John. "What's up with Mary?" you might ask. It's not dietary, and it's not life threatening, but it is life changing. If I think it is relevant, and I get her permission, I'll write about it. Meantime, on we go.