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Hi all,

Have some good news to pass on.  As a reminder, daughter (15 years) was
diagnosed in October last year with multiple chemical sensitivities,
flavouring and additive allergies, and salicylate sensitivity.  In November
she received her CD diagnosis.  She also had two grand mal seizures in
August and October that led us onto the hunt to get a diagnosis of what was
wrong with her.  In February this year she also received her diagnosis of
benign occipital lobe epilepsy caused by her extreme reaction to gliadin.

Throughout her school life I always believed that she was not performing to
her potential - and she was labelled variously with learning disorders etc.
but there was never an improvement.  At the age of 12 I started her with a
private tutor in the hope of seeing some improvement, that is, an addition
to her attending a private school - where she had been since Grade 1.

Anyway, we hung in there and hung in there.  As I am a psychologist I just
"knew" there was something else going on here - like - how could she be a
gifted clarinetist, sit her AMEB and Trinity College of London music exams,
and get high passes in practical and sight reading, and not be able to add
up?  After all, music is really mathematics.

After the initial diagnosis in October - before we got to tackle the real
nasties in her diet - she said that her brain felt "clear".  I now know this
to be a mental fog, as after I received my diagnosis of CD in June and went
GF, I had a mental acuity that I had not had in years.

Anyway, we stuck in there.  Maths were still abominable, D minus in core
mathematics up to last semester (Grade 9) last year.  Her tutor and I
believed that she had a lot more potential than that, that she just was not
able to recall what she had learnt under pressure of exams etc.  I threw
myself at the mercy of the Maths CoOrdinator at her college at the beginning
of this year and begged for her to be allowed to do Advanced Maths - we
would just try it for one semester then review.

 First semester she went from a D- in core maths to a D in advanced maths.
To me that was significant.  A student normally had to have an A or B pass
in core maths to be allowed to do advanced  maths.

This semester she received a B and a C in advanced maths to give her an
overall pass of B-.

So, my message is to stick with it for your children.  Look how much ground
my daughter has made up in only 6 months.  The diets might be hard,
especially hers, but the dividends are worth it.

Regards,
Sylvia
Gladstone...Q...Australia.