Children and adults can suffer from food allergies and they tend to be under diagnosed by physicians. An allergy is an unexpected reaction to something and can show up by an unexpected change in your skin, your intestines, your respiratory passages, and/or your brain in behavior changes.

The tricky part is that food allergies can show up immediately or days later making them difficult to recognize. Food allergies can cause the following conditions: fatigue, migraine headaches,... more

If you’ve adopted or fostered an older child you may have had to deal with a teen smoker. The first time our daughter came to live with us we told her she absolutely could not smoke. This resulted in her sneaking cigarettes in the barn, which is a fire hazard and coming up with numerous excuses to go places so she could smoke. If she couldn’t get away to smoke she would become hostile or sleep. I guess you could say we put her into a position where she had to lie to us because she either wasn’t able or willing to quit. The second... more

The TheraSuit™ (Soft Proprioceptive Orthotic- protected by a patent as a “Neurological Motor Therapy Suit”) is a suit with built in bungee type(elastic rubber bands) mechanisms that is worn by children during one-on-one therapy so they can feel how their body should actually be aligned. Forcing the body into correct posture and causing the proper function of postural muscles encourages the patient to learn (or re-learn)... more

If you have a daughter you’ve probably heard something about a vaccine now available to help prevent cervical cancer by offering protection against the virus that is responsible for most cases. The virus HPV, human papillomavirus, is spread through sexual contact and the vaccine actually blocks two types of HPV before they can even begin. Researchers are recommending the vaccine be given to girls around 11 or 12 years of age, in three separate doses, so their immune... more

St. Jude’s Hospital investigators have discovered a possible breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and they say it offers some insight into the currently unexplainable cases. An enzyme called GST pi is the molecule that prevents damage to the part of the brain, substantia nigra, which can lead to the disease. The article found on St. Jude’s website and also the February 1 early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy... more

I was telling you the other day about a little girl with bone cancer that is in Chicago this week for surgery. She’s the reason I have the two extra children this week that I’m providing respite care for. Her mother didn’t want to accept the treatment that the children’s hospital here in Michigan wanted to provide for her daughter, which was amputation. Three years ago when she was told that amputation was the only possible solution she got on the internet and searched for an alternative. That was how she found out about a treatment... more

LuLu finished her FastForward for Language training in mid-March. Fast ForWord is a brain-based software that improves auditory processing, language processing and ultimately reading skills. Scientific Learning Corp, the makers of Fast ForWord, claim that their program helps 90% of all children. I’m happy to report that LuLu is in that 90%. On her initial post-test (there will be another post-test in three months), she showed significant gains in phonological areas, especially Word Discrimination and... more

There is much going on in the world of autism lately. Information and misinformation abound. Controversies arise. And one thing is for certain…whatever causes autism, however it’s acquired…it’s on the rise. The CDC itself now acknowledges that 1 out of 150 children have an autistic spectrum disorder. Something this widespread is finally getting a great deal of attention. While many behavioral interventions, such as ABA are found effective for many, what may be even more effective (and is definitely more controversial) are the biomedical treatments... more

Why am I doing respite care for two children when I already have nine children at home? I'm a sucker for a sob story. You see the foster parent that called asking for respite care has a seven year old daughter with bone cancer. She is on her way to Chicago, about a three hour drive from here, so her daughter can have a leg saving surgery. She said the doctors here in Michigan just wanted to amputate her daughter's leg to cure the problem, an alternative she wasn't willing to accept. She said she had called every family on the respite list... more

A few years ago we applied to adopt a special needs baby who had retinoblastoma in both eyes. The agency spent several months deciding with whom they would place the baby so we spent several months studying the disease. When I saw this article I was intrigued as I still think about that baby sometimes and wonder how she is doing. This article says that the typical “cure” for retinoblastoma is to remove the affected eye. However, at the time we applied for the baby, she was being treated with Chemotherapy and her progress... more