food for thought

 I apologize for the long lapse between my last blog and this.  I've had a very hard time coming up with what I really thought was what people needed or wanted to know about some of the "controversial" issues that I pledged to talk about.  I want to kick of the week with a little background on that struggle.

I am not very active politically.  I do research on issues I care about and vote accordingly, but that's about as far as I go.  I'm not one to stand on the lawn of the statehouse, nor do I write many letters to my elected representatives.  I believe the real way to move towards change is to educate.

I want to educate the schools and other parents-teaching them lessons that I've learned from the school of hard knocks. I would love people to look at how practical things they do in their every day lives can change the course for their families and children.

Recently, a new statistic came out: 1 in 50.  If you live in the world of autism, you know what that means.  One out of every 50 school-aged children currently have a diagnosis of autism.  Some people want to say that it's increased awareness, some people believe that the numbers have increased due to the identification of higher functioning kids.

Here are my thoughts on why we are looking at 1 in 50:

Before we had meters that could read gases and indicate the safety of the air quality in mines, the miners would take a canary in a cage down with them into the mine.  When the canary stopped singing, the miners knew that it had succumbed to low oxygen levels or poisonous gases,  and they would leave the mine immediately.  The theory was, the canary, which is so much smaller and more sensitive to gases and has a more rapid heart rate compared to humans, would get sick much more quickly than a grown man.

Our children are an indication that something is wrong with the air we are breathing, the food we are eating, and the medications we are putting in our bodies.  I came across this new "political party" on Facebook called the Canary Party.  The clever naming of this group of individuals likens the children with auto-immune problems to that canary.

Check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCanaryParty?fref=ts

In my next entries, I will be discussing some very polarizing topics:  vaccination, school choice, and dietary intervention. I'm not going to spout my opinion, because we all know the opinions are like belly buttons (everybody has one).  My hope is I will give you some food for thought-things to think about and to do some research on so that you can have an informed opinion as to what is right for your child.  I am looking forward  to diving into these topics with you!