I moved from Colorado to Las Vegas, NV when my first son was only 3 months old in order for his father to pursue some employment opportunities. I was unsure that I was going to like my new environment, and dearly missed the beauty of the place where I grew up. Over time, I grew to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of the desert, developed friendships, and had more children. My desire to support my children’s health naturally and provide support for their allergies and behavioral problems in ways that actually solved them, were the final factors that fueled my decision to deepen my involvement with alternative medicine and holistic solutions.
When my oldest son was just a baby, he showed evidence of food allergies, even though he was being nursed full time. I made the connection between what I ate and his projectile vomiting. I determined that he had problems with dairy. Dairy is problematic for me as well, so it is natural that he should manifest similar symptoms. Once I cut out dairy foods, he began to calm down. His daily colic symptoms abated, he no longer regurgitated everything, he slept better, and he was generally better in his temperament. He was still a very “hyper-active” child by today’s standards and very much a challenge. As he grew, he began having more and more problems holding still, following directions, getting along with others, and settling down to sleep. He had become a very picky eater as well, and it was difficult to get enough nourishment into him. By the time he was in school, things were getting uncontrollable. He was unable to sit and listen or get along with his classmates. He was constantly making noises and demanding attention with his disruptive behavior.
It was at this time that I began to make a connection between his extreme intelligence, his learning patterns and methods, his anti-social behaviors, and his food consumption. I knew there had to be ways to identify and address the problems he was having. About this time, I was exposed to a form of Educational Kinesiology called Edu-K. Using this process, I could now identify some of his *“dyslexic” patterns, and make a connection between foods and his behaviors through “muscle testing.” Through the use of these tools, I was able to determine that some of the electrical messages from his brain to his body were scrambled, and that this was partially due to yellow dye, red dye, and some preservatives in foods he was eating. Once we removed those substances from his diet, and we did some electrical “corrections” for the mixed brain signals, his behavior was much improved. He was able to settle down to learn.
We determined that he was a kinesthetic learner, rather than one who learns by listening or seeing. If he could put his hands on things he needed to learn, he learned exceedingly quickly. We also confirmed his very high IQ (150 in third grade), which made it difficult for him to relate to his peers and to much of his schoolwork, which bored him.
Things that I learned from these experiences, I later implemented in my work with children who are “learning disabled,” “attention-deficit,” and “dyslexic.”