The special diet 2

In my first special diet post, I briefly talked about food our special kids should be eating. Diet is one challenging issues with parents with a special needs child and I keep getting questions on what I should or should not give a child especially kids on the spectrum, ADHD and other learning disabilities or generally picky eaters.

I was also asked about foods that don’t fall under the Casein (protein found in diary products that many people find difficult to tolerate) and gluten free (protein found in wheat, rye, barley and other grains).

I decided to ask some parents who have really researched on these and we came up with lots of Nigerian meals that are healthy rich and delicious in these series. You don’t need to import your food or drinks, besides you don’t know if they have preservatives added to them and are quite expensive.
Please send other recipes too if you have....

The next food post will contain cooked recipes, cereals (very important meal which parents find really challenging), local healthy drinks,snacks,smoothies,local healthy sweeteners and locally made seasonings.
Let us begin…..

Now lets get back to our balanced diet. I shall proceed to list out basic foods under these especially protein and healthy carbohydrate. I would advise watching the carbohydrates especially high caloric ones.

List of healthy Nigerian food that we shall be drawing out recipes from that fall under the 3 classes of food  include
Yam
Sweet potatoes
Irish potatoes
Beans
Soups and stew
Acha/fonio (this helps a lot because it’s a very healthy alternative to eba and since we love to eat lots of eba…)
Millet 
Meat
Fish
Cocoyam
Eggs
Brown rice (local ofada rice or Abakiliki rice) that has not been fully processed. Please limit intake as much as possible and be careful when buying!!!
Plantain

WHAT NOT TO EAT
Sugar and sugar based products
Processed food- white rice, pasta, macaroni, sausages, lots of sealed imported food especially cereals and canned food fall under these.
Milk and cheese 
Junk food- doughnuts, meat pies, puff-puff, chin-chin
Processed seasonings
Fried foods.
Soda and other processed drinks.
The secret of this diet is to, as often as possible, use plant based natural food, not overly cooked. Don't stuff your child with carbs.
 

I shall be having some foodie guests from time to time.

I would also appreciate any recipes you know are generally healthy for children. 

Thanks...

Image courtesy: thefitnessdish.com, nationofchange.org, kumbuja.com, naijatowncrier.com, mayihavethatrecipe.com, wikipedia.com, thepaleodiet.com, woman.thenest.com, coreperformance.com, farafena.com, nigerianfoodtv.com, simplyrecipes.com, africanbites.com, 247frolic.net

7 ways to help a child with delayed development

As a continuation of the previous post, here are some tips for parents...

1. Learn the milestones and ACT EARLY: Always know the skills to expect at a certain age so you will be able to spot any lags in development and talk with your doctor or early intervention specialist right away. 

2. Download a milestone checklist or chart or get one from the hospital and document all progress: Compare with kids his or her age, however, it is important to note that some kids are slower than their mates in reaching their milestones. Premature babies are also often slower to meet milestones so you have to consider gestational age instead of chronological age. To know more about children developmental milestones, check here.

3. Seek the early Intervention of a specialist: Try to get a diagnosis and then seek one of the early intervention specialists to get a thorough developmental assessment. Make sure the specialist knows his onions because a developmental assessment gives you the “big picture” or road map for IEP. For more on assessment check here.

4. Communication: Always talk with your child’s therapist, doctors or special caregivers. Be an active participant in the child’s therapy session (though don’t be in the way, I see that all the time), try to become a sort of mini therapist who would do help in drawing up reasonable targets and follow up.

5. Understand the IEP [Individualized Education Program]: Ask questions if you don’t understand IEP drawn up and be comfortable with IEP drawn up. Make sure it fits the child. Learn more about IEP here.

6. Keep track of progress: Document, minute on the report books and always go through them.

7. Be informed: Attend workshops, Parent forums or join online groups to share experiences, give or be given support.