Gluten free??? Are you kidding me!

If ever there was a time in my life that I needed to change my point of view... it's now... For years I have held the assumption that nutritionists, health food junkies and the gluten free craze were all a complete crock... I have held this opinion since I was a child. These food concepts were for beatnicks, hippies, tree huggers and PETA people... I stand corrected. No offense intended to the aforementioned. My twin autistic sons have been plagued by an inability to communicate their needs (especially my Nick). His fits have become notorious, no... legendary to my friends, my family, my co-workers, my neighborhood, and yes, my local Wal-Mart, Post Office and Gas Station. I have spent the last ten years in the endless pursuit of locating somewhere else to buy groceries, other routes to get there, other places to play, other places to pick up fast food, other jobs, other places to eat out and the list goes on, for fear of repeat offenses, cast aspersions, and limitless criticism from peers, family and even the fantasy characters that should be my dreamland retreat but instead often plague me with pent up guilt when I close my eyelids... Needless to say, I do believe that the Gluten/Soy/Dairy free diet is going to be my saving grace. The crux of the matter is that I have been dreaming of the day when communication ceased to be torture and instead was effortless for my Nikki... A day when he spent the better part of his waking hours with a smile instead of the weight of the world. Well people... that day is today! He has been gluten free for 4 days and counting and already I have seen countless changes... his fits have gone from 4 daily, to one in the four day period. He has gone from communicating his thoughts in grunts and growls, to sharing complete thoughts with careless abandon! I am elated... God is good.