Not a news source, but Oxford’s Jocelyn Alexander’s research is worth reading.

Dosages that are considered safe are disrupting the microbiota. That is a concern. I have friends and family who work for federal agencies, including the EPA, and there are definite conflicts of interest and serious issues regarding studies that don’t show Roundup in a favorable light. They are not merely underfunded and overinvolved, they are controlled by outside influences in certain ways as to what standards they can set.

Glyphosate has been found in a lot of processed foods. One of the dangers is that glyphosate unfavorably alters the human microbiota, the microbes that live in our gut. The microbes in the gut play a major role in our health, for example, the immune system and epigenetics (the microbiome). This is a concern. The federal agencies in the US that should be overseeing and scrutinizing Monsanto are captured agencies, meaning people from companies like Monsanto have taken key, influential positions. That’s a conflict of interest. They also spread misinformation by way of astroturfing. There are a number of problems with the way Monsanto operates. I wouldn’t describe them as seekers of truth. Additionally, in some cases a very small amount of a chemical or the combination of multiple chemicals can do great harm. Babies born today in the US have quite a few chemicals in their bodies that were not there before. We don’t know in what ways those chemicals might act together. Another problem with Roundup is that when it first came out the public was told it would not make its way into the water and then later, it’s found there in unsafe quantities. I’m not anti-chemistry but we really should be more careful.

Go! Mexico is wonderful around Christmas. So festive.

i Used SmartStrip all over my current house. All doors, some trim and parts of bathrooms. Worked great. Start with one door to get familiar with the process. First, using one of those cheapo wooden paint brushes, maybe 2”, slather on about 1/4” of the SmartStrip. It’s very thick and doesn’t run easily.Second, cover the door with a thickish plastic bag. This prevents it from evaporating. Wait about 24 hours. Peel off the bag and paint. Scrape off paint with a flat edged scraper. Scrub residue off with a wet scrubby sponge. Let dry for a few days. Then when you sand, spray the cupboards and use a wet sanding sponge. You don’t want dust in the air because it will have lead. Dry cabinet, clean floor really well using a lot of paper towels so baby doesn’t get any dust or particles. Outside like Katy suggests is good, too.

Have you tried salvage yards/businesses? You can sometimes find really beautiful pieces that no one wants for a lot less than new. I would bet if they knew you needed this for your child, they’d keep their eyes open and help you out. The people I’ve dealt with in salvage yards have been incredibly kind and helpful.

For your online photos, shoot on a day and at a time when there’s a lot of natural light coming in. You may need to set up other light sources in the room as well to remove any dark areas. The cheap LED painter lamps from Home Depot would do a good job for that if you fiddle with the positions. Natural light plays an important part in catalogs like Pottery Barn and home magazines. I think your other ideas are good. Are you going to post any photos for us to see? :)

Patients are not necessarily telling their physicians what to do; rather, they may be presenting options to explore that an MD might not know about that has good research behind it. Some people have tried their doctors’ suggestions to no avail or the treatment may be worse than the disease. That is why they seek other solutions. Personally, I turn to researchers’ advice first. Some are MDs. It’s worked well for my family and me. In fact, just recently, I’ve been able to avoid eye surgery that came with a risk of going blind in that eye. By researching it online, I was able to find an MD researcher at a teaching hospital who has been treating the condition using three types of well-tolerated eye drops for a few months which completely reversed the condition in participants. Had I not done the research myself, I would have been facing the riskier surgery. I also have the beginning of Dupuytren’s contracture — 2 nodules on my hand, some thickening near a tendon — which I’ve been treating with Serrapeptase and SSKI. One nodule is completely gone after several months of treatment. My second choice is a type of oxygen therapy. Should all this fail, then I’ll consider injecting them with Humira, which is showing good results in clinical trials at Oxford. My MD knew nothing about any of these treatments but is very interested especially after seeing one nodule disappear. He has never seen a nodule disappear. There are some incredibly elegant, effective and even free ways to remedy many illnesses backed by excellent research, yet they’re not being used. People suffer as a result.

It was cheaper for my son to live in his frat than to live in a dorm. He’s off campus this year which will cost slightly more. He buys a lot of his clothes from thrift stores as well. No one has to buy the T-shirt’s, etc. My son joined because he liked the other members. He’s been the treasurer, alumni relations liaison and building maintenance guy — a huge job. Learned a lot, made good friends, opportunities to do good things for others. All pluses in my book.

I agree with scholastica. I've tried to encourage my kids to develop multiple friendships and that some people will be closer than others which is okay. I also try to encourage them to work to maintain those relationships. Friends are important, IMO.

Some frats are better than others. My son's frat has a budget set aside for members who cannot afford it but want to belong. Most pay but the option is there for those who can't. Their dues are paid discretely. Ds's frat is racially diverse and has members who are also openly gay and bi. One guy has dwarfism. Another has been treated for cancer multiple times including once in college when he had to go away. They do not do any hazing whatsoever and have been against it since the fraternity was formed. They're a very accepting bunch of brothers who do charity work and have fun together. My biggest concern is that some of the kids do engage in binge drinking but that is unfortunately the case all over campus.

The Center for Healthy Minds at U of Wisconsin Madison might have done some research in this area. Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence might have something as well. David Elkind and Vivian Paley might also be worth checking out. Some of (National Institute for Play) Stuart Brown’s interviews and talks are available online where he might explain the neuroscience.

If you Google Rhonda Patrick autism microbiome, you can see what else she has written about autism. Really interesting.

The effects of low levels of Vitamin D. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140226110836.htm Rhonda Patrick, researcher mentioned in the link above, studies autism. She has a number of interesting articles about it. There’s also a triple-board certified doctor who has written about glyphosate and autism. Can’t recall his name.

You can order a home testing kit. One source is Grassroots Health. You prick your finger and put a drop of blood on a card and send it to their lab. Results are emailed to you in about 2 weeks or so. Everything you need is included in the kit. Be sure to read instructions thoroughly and maybe watch a short video showing how to do it to get best results. They also sell a test that will analyze your omega 3 index, which is good to know. Depending where you live, Walk-in Labs will do these tests as well. Can’t do them yourself in some states, though.

Vitamin D and serotonin in the gut may play a role in autism. Glyphosate’s effect on beneficial gut bacteria by way of the shikimate pathway may play a role as well.

If you tend to get lung infections, getting your vitamin d into a healthier range is a very good idea. It's easy to test. You can even do it yourself.

Four rounds of antibiotic in one year is very hard on your microbiota. It takes several months for your microbiota to normalize after one round of antibiotics. Taking excellent probiotics can reduce that time but it would be best to be taking them at proper times while also taking antibiotics so as to preserve strains of beneficial bacteria. Then you’d want to continue the probiotic for a few months after. VSL#3 and Visbiome are two used often in research. Adding the probiotic is the first step but the second is to feed the beneficial bacteria with a wide variety of mostly vegetable fiber. They will not flourish without the fiber. Ghee is a good source of butyrate and that could also help you. A good quality fish oil also increases beneficial bacteria. Walnuts might also help. Avoid sugar, artificial sugar and simple starches. Fasting from 5 pm (or earlier) until the next morning can also increase beneficial bacteria. Fatigue can occur after taking certain antibiotics. I would guess it has to do with the synthesis of b vitamins. The dizziness could be low b12. Go to bed early and sleep/nap when you can. You need some serious self care until you feel better. Do you monitor your vitamin D levels? I used to get lung infections when mine were low.

Some more: Drink 9 grams of beet root powder mixed into water daily. Beets are high in nitrates which convert to nitric oxide (NO) which leads to lowered blood pressure. Improvements are often seen in a few weeks.. Humming and breathing through your nostrils produce NO, too. Most in the US are not eating enough potassium-rich foods. Very few meet the daily requirement. Same with magnesium but you can use a lotion/gel on your skin as well. Both might help.

Chiggers often bite exposed ankles outside. Are you sure it’s not that? Otherwise, food grade diatomaceous earth might work. I’m not 100% sure though, so research first.

The Sonnenburgs, husband and wife who run the Sonnenburg Lab (studies the microbiota) at Stanford, have written a book called The Good Gut that discusses the human microbiota. It's easy to understand and has helpful suggestions and recipes. Here they are with Rhonda Patrick, a scientist who among other things, has studied Vitamin D, serotonin and autism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOZcbNw7sng

Antibiotics definitely affect the microbiome. Other medications do, too. For someone with autoimmune conditions, Valter Longo is worth following. He is doing human studies using fasting or a fasting-mimicking diet (specific nutrients) to treat individuals and is seeing very good results. The first video is from 2016 and the second is more recent, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PyyatqJSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evGFWRXEzz8

Support, even if found later in life, helps to mitigate the damaging effects of high ACE scores. If a person experiences multiple traumatic events but has a supportive network of family and community, that can prevent and heal problems. Also cardiovascular disease and certain cancers are high in people with high ACE scores even if they don’t appear to have any other unhealthy coping mechanisms. Quality of food, consumption of sugar, when and how often we eat have also changed since WWII and are probably contributing to rates of obesity.

Angus began to feel better so he decided to continue fasting. He didn’t need much willpower because he wasn’t hungry. Hunger pangs are the worst usually around day 2 of a fast and then begin to diminish. Many people also feel energized. Jason Fung explains this on his blog if you’re interested.

Exterior paint should hold up. I’m going to look into that, too. ??