GF/CF pecan pie
Pastry:
200g of GF flour mix and 100g of margarine, water (1/2 glass).
Short crust pastry- bake in the oven with beans at 225 F (110 oC) for 10 min and a further 10 min without beans until golden. I don’t always do this step, but if you want to make sure the pastry is well cooked, it’s a good one to include, especially GF/CF pastry that tends to be thicker (as it is less elastic) than ordinary pastry. I don’t always use beans either in this pre-cooking stage. You can also make little holes with a fork in the pastry to avoid it to puff.
Pecan mix:
Coarsely shopped 1 cut of pecan.
Wisk together ¾ cup of dark corn syrup.
½ cup of brown sugar
4 table spoons of melted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 large eggs
(I did mix the eggs with the brown sugar separately and then added this to the rest of the mixture that was a little too thick to be use as such with yet more sugar).
Stir in the chopped pecans and another ¾ of a cup of pecan halves
Poor the pecan filling in the cooled pie shell
Bake until the filling is settled around the edges but it giggles in the middle slightly. 45-50 min. Make sure that this is not too close to heat as the top can become too dark. It is best to arrange the halves of pecan nuts on top of the rest of the mixture.
Let the pie cool.
If you are not sure of how to make the pastry- check this video by clicking on the title of the post.
Development
I always think there is no better way than pictures to talk about things- so I will spare a lengthly and complex description of my son’s developmental history by sharing this video below compilation I have made here of his 15 years of life so far. To view the video, click on the post title.
The keys points are:
Part I: Development until age 5 yr 10 mo. Some difficulties however minor and not sufficient for meeting a diagnosis of autism. In retrospect, my son presented as an Asperger boy with ADHD issues.
Part II: Sudden regression in Autism just before age 6- total loss of language for 12 month, and acquisition of novel autistic behaviours. This was much more like classic autism in presentation, and a diagnosis of autism was made for the first time. Trouble is that the pediatrician in charge should have questioned my son’s developmental history. To fulfill the criteria of autism, according to the DSM-IV one needs to show signs of autism before age 3. Not only, did she fail to question his development, as one should normally do through an Autism Diagnosis Interview (ADI-R), but also the diagnosis was made after only 5 min of observation in a classroom setting. There was not even an ADOS performed. A diagnosis of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) or Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) would have been more accurate though it would not have been more insightful as that what caused the sudden change of presentation.
Part III: Doing very well in home programme and with biomedical treatment. Lost skills almost recovered. 4 years of home education. A more detailed video of the time during this home education programme can be viewed here.
Part IV: Novel and this time very progressive regression with yet other set of symptoms: Epilepsy, tiredness, blood flow issues, low muscle tone, no strength, very quiet, general slow down of function including physiology.
Part V: Diagnosis of Lyme Disease at age 15 and initiation of antibiotic treatment (in addition to biomedical + part time home education + school). Immediate benefits: energy levels, reduced tiredness, communication, better strength. Possible reduction in seizure intensity (preliminary). More work to follow. The diagnosis of Lyme disease has been confirmed independently via a range of additional tests. I will explain the investigations in greater details in the Lyme disease section of this web site.
Note: ACTH was used as potential treatment of Epilepsy- some cases of epilepsy can be caused by inflammatory processes. ACTH is an immuno suppressor. The severe (fortunately reversible) regression experienced is consistent with an infection flare up. At the time the diagnosis of Lyme was not known. The symptoms starting around age 10 are consistent with the Lyme profile; the infection could have occurred any time prior to the onset of symptoms. This type of infection is referred as Cold Infection- meaning that the symptoms are not those of a typical infection (fever, acute immune response to fight infection back). The symptoms are “cold”, systemic, pervasive and involving potentially all organs, basal cell function and body physiology incl. brain function.
The hardest hit
Edinburgh Protest 22nd October 2011.
Our Rights, Our Independence, Our Lives- Join the Protest in Edinburgh.
Fight the cuts to Disability Services!
Disabled people, those with long-term conditions and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they need to live their lives. The Hardest Hit campaign, organised jointly by the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) and the UK Disabled People’s Council, brings together individuals and organisations to send a clear message to the Government: stop these cuts.
People will be assembling at the Ross Bandstand, Princes Street Gardens from 11 am. Speeches will begin at 12pm. Confirmed speakers include Lard Low, Margaret Curran MP and Pam Duncan of the Independent Living in Scotland project.
For more information please contact Caitlin on 0131 652 3140 or email: Scotland@hardeshit.org.uk.
Hope to see you there! Please share and pass along the information.
http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/
If you want to get in the mood of the hardest hit protest- see video (click on post to access embedded video) of the London March 26th Street Protest.
Asperger misdiagnosed as mental health disorder
The story of a young man with Asperger syndrome who struggled for 10 years in mental health services for being misdiagnosed with a mental health disorder. As told by his mother Janette. To view the video- click on the post.
Autism in Scotland
Last week, the Autism Treatment Trust organised a small exhibition at the Scottish Parliament. I took this opportunity to film and photograph the site.
In 2010, there were 6,506 children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in schools (primary, secondary, special education combined). This is just under 1% of the school population. There were also 7,200 children with speech or communication disorder and a further 14,738 children with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties; in total, 28,444 children affected with related conditions, or 4.2% of the school population. Importantly, special education teachers and head teachers have reported children presenting with autism in schools who are still not diagnosed today. These two additional speech and behavioural categories almost certainly include children with an ASD. For information, 9.3% of the total school population is classified as having additional needs. That is almost double the figure of last year, and this does not relate to better awareness or better diagnosis, because many children are still incorrectly diagnosed.
A change of heart… is often all what it takes to make things better for other people.