As I have recently announced, my blog has a new focus, preventing autism. This is such a broad topic and I am struggling with where to begin. My initial thought was to follow Gloria Lemay’s 7 Steps For Scramblng the Brain of a Baby. I could go through each item and discuss how it may have played a role in causing my sons autism. But I would really feel like I was riding her coattails if I were to take that approach. I thought, maybe I could just tell the story of my pregnancy with my first child, and what I personally feel may have lead to his Asperger Syndrome. Not sure what the reader reactions would be on that one. Would they be judgmental, patronizing, or argumentative? My desire is to invite neither criticism nor debate, but to encourage my readers to consider carefully each decision they make while they grow their families. Not to simply take the word of your doctor, your mother, or your friend as factual but to research and to own each choice that you make along the way.
Technology can be useful, even life saving. But it is generally not the best approach, in my experience, when it comes to promoting wellness. Health begins with nutrition, but the industrialization of farming has robbed us of what we really need to build healthy families. To make matters worse, our busy lifestyles often coerce us to make poor choices about food.
When I discussed my plans to start a family with my obstetrician, he never asked me a thing about my diet. When I became pregnant with my first child, the only information I received on nutrition was a list of foods not to eat, and a prescription for prenatal vitamins. At no other point during the pregnancy did my doctor discuss what I was eating. But technology was a prominent feature in my routine, low risk prenatal care and in the birth of my children. It is our responsibility as parents, or prospective parents, to learn which foods to eat to build health (and where to buy them), and about the risks and benefits of each test and intervention that our health care provider recommends.
So that is my short introduction. In addition to my new focus, I also plan to move all autism prevention and related blogs to a new platform, which is now located here. If I continue with this platform as well, the topic here will be more focused on homeschooling and parenting special needs children. Stay tuned!
Life With my Kids 
Kristine said,
January 8, 2010 at 12:32 am
I was never told anything except not to eat too many sugars. We’re told so much of what not to eat as pregnant women, but no one focuses on what to do. Serious nutrition counseling is needed.