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Parents who are in full swing taking care of their children with autism, often forget their own health in the process. I've written and spoken at length of this crisis within the crisis; describing parents in our community as the new "collateral damage." And yet, for all of my own preaching about care for the caregiver I have recently found myself once again on the receiving end of my own advice.

I wrote an article for Autism/Asperger Digest titled "Remember to Breathe"(7/2007), which detailed how easy it is to miss the symptoms of a health crisis in the making. Of course I wrote about my own experiences, which eventually landed me in the hospital for stress related heart condition. And yet, even though my son is fully recovered from autism, I find it is easy to slip back into bad habits of not paying attention to my own health issues.

The irony of it all is that I was recently diagnosed with food intolerances and yeast. Yes, all of the diet-related health conditions I fought so valiantly with my son now became a part of my own karma. The underlying cause was an autoimmune disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Yet, I missed all of the symptoms until my immune system began to overtly react to most of the foods I was eating. I had body aches, strange rashes, digestive issues, fatigue and headaches. It gave me a whole new sense of what our kids must go through on a daily basis, only they can't necessarily tell us.

My quest these days is to ring the alarm of this crisis in the making. . .the declining health of the parents. I'm now working to recover my own health and learn from this ongoing process. Gone are sugars, gluten, yeast-making foods, and 35 other foods. In place I am eating a lot of lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Basically, what we should all be eating before a health crisis makes us change.

Just as Daniel is forever GFCF, I realize this latest health wake up call is perpetual. It's saying CHANGE NOW, or realize consequences later. Hopefully this next battle cry will begin to ring universally within our community. Parents, you are important too!!