Care4autism

Children with autism can’t show affection . This is one of the most devastating myths. Autistic children express their love and feelings differently. Children with autism are actually geniuses . Only one in ten people with autism have what are termed “Islets of ability or intelligence”. Like other children, the IQ’s of children with autism range throughout the scale. Children with autism don’t speak . Many autistics develop good functional language while most others learn to communicate through sign language, pictures, computers or electronic devices. Children with autism choose to live in their own world . Autistic behaviors arise from the different wiring inherent to the disorder. Some are hypersensitive to sounds, light, touch.Howe ever with regular intervention and therapies this is necessarily not the case. Children with autism are spoiled kids.   This myth brings the curse of autism back to the parents’ door. In their own words “there are still many parents and, yes, profession...

Sabudana Vada/sago patties Sabudana /sago----50g Potato----1 medium sized Ginger---1/2 ts p grated Salt to taste Coriander leaves finely chopped----1 tsp. Garam masala-1/2 tsp                        Soak the sago for 2 hours . Mix all the ingredients mak e it into a ball. Flatten it with you hand and deep fry. This is a Maharashtrian snack Dal vadas ·          Parippu vada Chana dal-100g Giger-1/2 tsp grated Coriander leaves finely chopped-1tsp Salt to taste.                           Soak the chana dal for 2 hrs. Grind it coarsely to form a paste, add the other ingredients. Deep   fry in oil. ·          Urud dal vada Urad dal vad...

Tofu Koftas. Throw the tofu, the firm one bought from the store into the freezer, overnight. Thaw it completely when you need to use it. The freezing process changes it into a more chewy texture, making it more panner like. It absorbs the marinade in this manner. After thawing remove water by tying it in a muslin cloth. T then placed some weight over it so all the excess water is squeezed out. I set out to make tofu tikkas but after having absorbed the marinade for 5-6 hrs after thawing it was crumbling easily. The marinade is the same as used in Chicken tikka, mentioned in my previous post. Hence I decided to convert them into koftas or dumplings. Serendipity :-)  Marinated Tofu-200g Potato-I large one Greenchilli-1 Ginger-1/4 tsp grated Coriander leaves Chat masala Salt Chickpea flour-2 TBSP Mash the potato along with tofu. Add green chilli, coriander, ginger. Make balls; roll them in chickpea flour and deep fry. The Koftas have a minty flavor. One can throw these Kofta ba...

The other day I was trying a recipe with chicken all raring to go, when my husband chanced upon soy sauce on my kitchen work table and that was the end it. Apart from the obvious like the biscuits, chocolates, cakes and pizzas many of us are not aware of the lurking dangers in our own kitchens. Again GFCF followers fall in a spectrum if I may put it that way, because there are families that use separate utensils to cook GFCF. I follow this in a limited way .I use a separate roti   tawa and rolling pin for him. I use fresh oil or a different vessel when I deep fry things for him, when the recipe calls for the use of GFCF flour. There are some families that allow a cup of dahi. This is so because GFCF diet is a self imposed thing that you have thrusted upon yourself and every family has its own permissible limits. But having followed if strictly last 6 months, I personally feel it has to be a zero tolerance to gluten and casein in any form to see perceivable difference. It is a hug...

To give harish more variety we decided to give cooking non-veg a shot. GFCF chicken tikka To make chicken tikka, marinate 250g of boneless chicken 6-7 hours prior to cooking. The marinating paste is a mix of the following ingredients Pudina/mint leaves 150g Tomato1 mediun size I small size onion ½ inch adrak 2 pods of garlic Salt and chilli to suit one’s taste. Lemon juice 2-3 drops Chat masala ¼ tsp Grind the ingredients together and let the chicken pieces soak in it .Heat some oil in a heavy flat bottom vessel and cook the pieces till well cooked. Garnish and serve. Makes 15 pieces GFCF chicken masala For this the whole chicken can be used. Clean the chicken. For 250 g chicken Make gravy as with any Indian preparation with onion, tomato, ginger and garlic Onion -2 large size Tomato-3 medium size Lasung -2 pods Ginger- 1/2 inch. Bay leaf -1 Clove-2 Cinnamon-2 small pieces Cardamom - 2 pieces Heat o...

Carrot walnut cake  1 cup walnuts 21/2 cups finely grated raw carrots 2 cups self raising flour ½ teaspoon salt 11/2 tsp ground cinnamon 4 eggs 11/2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup refined sunflower oil 2tsp vanilla essence/vanilla extract   Roast the walnut until light brown, cool and chop coarsely. Peel and finely grate the carrot. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and ground cinnamon. In a bowl either with electric mixer/hand mixer beat the eggs until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored. Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots and nuts with a spatula. Grease the baking pan; preheat the oven to180 degrees c. Bake for 5-6 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. One can add raisins, it is optional. The first time around I was a little ambitious and added date. The cake got burnt arou...

Never try to manage an autistic; it is easier to engage one. When one is managing one is just clearing up the mess. Instead it is better to keep them engaged. Try not to say don’t do something, instead try and give him alternatives . Be lavish in your praise, it gives their self esteem a boost The initial steps are the most difficult; it only gets better further down. Getting him to sit for 5 minutes to do an activity seems like a herculean task, once the barrier is broken, you will find him sitting longer as days goes by. Making him string the first bead is the biggest challenge. Always think the worst is behind you. When you put a question to him give him choices as it makes it easier for him to answer. Be accepting of his shortcomings, as he is trying harder than you. My personal experience has made me feel it is not always a straight trajectory that zooms once you get started. It is bumpy ride, with lots of UPS and DOWNS. It is important to make him feel he is unders...

As this blog looks at GFCF diet as one of the great ways to make autism manageable it is important to answer this question WHY GFCF from a scientific view point. Diets play a crucial role in every individuals life. Especially for autism as these individuals have lot of mal-absorption issues. They may not be digesting and absorbing well. They may lack digestive enzymes due to many reasons. Gluten is a protein and is contained in foods, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. Casein is also a protein and is found in dairy products such as milk, ice cream, cheese and yogurt. In the intestinal tract, gluten and casein get broken down into peptides; and these peptides then breakdown into amino acids. One popular theory is that when gluten and casein are broken down into peptides, they may pass through imperfections in the intestinal tract. Or what is called the leaky gut syndrome. These peptides are termed gliadinomorphin (breakdown of the gluten protein) and casomorphin (breakdown of the cas...

In todays post the savouries mentioned are south indian. Differnt kinds of savouries can be made using the machine shown in the picture with minor variations in the ingredients. These are essentially rice and dal based preparations.Most of them can be made and kept with a shelf life of 2 weeks.This needs a machine available easily in all steel stores down  south. Nada pakoda Besan 1 glass Rice 1 glass slat to suit taste Chilli powder Ghee 2 tbsp Til 1 spoon Pureed garlic 5 pods                          Add water and mix all the ingredients. To test the consistency of the dough let it pass through the holes of the right plate. There are 3-4 plates with a given machine. Use the plate with two slits in it. Heat the oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot and ready to fry. Squeeze the dough through the holes of the machine. Thenkuzhal Rice 1 lass Urad dal 1 glass chana dal 1 ...

Baking is fun, pure joy when the end products turn out to be wonderful. Fluffy, soft, crumbly in the centre and firm at the edges. Sounds just like some recipes' one gets to read. GFCF baking is a challenge when one has to look for substitutes for the original ingredients. And it can be a bigger challenge when one has to look for substitutes for substitutes! One thing to be kept in mind is that when baking with substitutes, the end products varies in colour, texture and maybe the general feel. The first hurdle was looking for substitute for xanthan gum substitutes, otherwise available abroad easily. I stared substituting gelatin for xanthan gum. As an example substitute 1tsp of xanthum for 2 tsps of unflavored gelatin. Courtesy: receipetips.com . For the strict vegetarians other options include guar gum which may be available in some parts of India. Diary and egg substitutes again is something one looks out for quite often. This information I have borrow...

The lunch and  dinner options are usually rice,dal, sabzi and rotis with an ocassional GFCF pasta cooked in Indian style.                        Rice is simple plain steamed rice. There are different rotis/parathas that we make for Harish. Raagi parathas                            Mix raagi atta,a small boiled potato and1-2 tbsp rice,both mashed to a paste. Add salt, garam masala powder, dhania(coriander powder),fresh cilantro  to this.Bring to dough consistency,preferably  knead  it  by hand . There should no lumps..There is no need to add water.Roll into balls  and use a rolling pin to make it flat.                            To make stuffed gobi( Cauliflower)/mooli(Radish)  raagi parathas.Roll out  two  small parathas.Sandwich the...

GFCF INDIAN BREAkFAST Harish breakfast comprises the following. IDLIS and DOSAS Idlis and dosa are primarily from  the south indian cuisine. There are variation to these. Raw rice- 3/4 glass Parboiled rice-11/4 glass Urad dal ---1/2 glass       Soak the dal and rice for 3-4 hrs .Grind the urad dal till it increases in volume and is of asmooth consistency that it drips easily off from the spatula. Grind the rice together.Mix the urad dal paste and rice together,then add 2 tbsp salt and leave it to ferment for 7-8 hrs hrs.In a cooler climate it takes a little longer,preferaly leave it in a warm palce in the kitchen.                                          I use this batter for the first day for idlis and the left overs for dosa the following day.                        ...

An Indian GFCF regimen can be successful all the way,especially with the diverse traditional dishes various parts of this country follows. I have try to include some of those receipes as some of them in their original versions,some modified to suit the regimen.One has to make allowances for cookies and cakes,for more often than not my son would prefer a cookie over moong dal halwa.Children have also issues with texture,colour and the presentation.All of a suuden a favoutite snack is out of favour,and one is again scrambling for a new receipe.This is basically a collections of receipes that have been put together from various sources for the benefits of parents who want to give GFCF a shot. In the receipes section, I shall try and classify the various preparations under easy to follow regimens as GFCF breakfast options GFCF lunch and dinner options GFCF desserts GFCF savouries GFCf soups and starters                                           An Indian label Sunira foods , based at Kolka...

We dithered on taking the Gluten Free Casein Diet for a long time and did it half heartedly for many years. We asked why GFCF? Today after 6 months of strict GFCF, I ask why not GFCF? Even if it has no benefits whatsoever, why not try it. OK, the usual feeling, why deprive our child of some nice things. After six months, I am convinced, that a good diet can ensure that our children get everything they need, good taste, good variety and most importantly all the nutrients and vitamins. So why not ? And if I add, that our son , ' I mproved 'PHENOMENALLY'  would you still not want to do it. Yes, it will take a little effort on the parents to get used to the diet, get the alternatives, avoid placing any thing that is not given to him at home ( at least for first 2 weeks ) and subsequently, being 100% committed to it. When we started, it was tough, tough to get him to sit and take what we offer, tough for us to keep searching for substitutes to esp wheat flour, tough...

I have learnt ( or more precisely been taught by Harish)  that ' t o believe that it is possible' is the key to achieving success in handling Autism. Learning to ride a bicycle is not an easy task for any kid, let alone someone with Autism. Harish first got his tricycle when he was, I think around 3 years. Getting him used to sit on it was the first target. It was his mom who felt we should attempt this feat. I was not sure if I had it in me to brave the world outside with his tantrums and screming. I was not yet a trained 'Autistic Parent' by then !! So the starting was executed by his mom who would pull him as he sat and enjoyed being dragged. His legs had to move in a circular fashion as the wheels rolled and that was a good exercise too. It was very hard to teach him to paddle. He would put equal pressure on both his feet and hence the cycle would never move. It needed a bid of physical work and I stepped in and focussed on Harish, the cycle and the road. It did n...