sue1957

We've taken the school on over holidays in term time, and its just gone to LA review. (Not that I'm a member of the awkward squad you understand ) http://www.wiganmbc.gov.uk/pub/educ/ews/ho...me_brochure.pdf has a pretty good summary. It wasn't the decision, we agree the HT has a right to say no. But it was that our HT refused to even consider holiday, even with a 100 per cent attendance record, no exams, etc. We're arguing that it was unlawful to threaten us with social workers and fines, without considering our reasons for wanting term time holidays, without reviewing other attendance, achievement etc and without calling us in to discuss it. Since then the schools authorised holidays for other parents (perhaps ones who didn't ask awkward questions ) The attendance policy quotes the Education (Pupil Registration)Regulations 1995 but when we read that it says under leave of absence (3) Subject to paragraph (4), on application made by a parent with whom the pupil normally resides, a pupil may be granted leave of absence from the school to enable him to go away on holiday. (4) Save in exceptional circumstances, a pupil shall not in pursuance of paragraph (3) be granted more than ten school days leave of absence in any school year. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19952089_en_1.htm is where its from. Quoting the regulations as the authority for an attendance policy and then stating something completely different in the policy itself we think breaches crown copyright. Then there's the Attendance Codes guidance, the Dfes website and leaflets..... Mind you it has helped that they mucked up the complaints procedure and Phasmid was helpful about getting us some minutes But its been a huge strain, and we've been banned from speaking to the HT without the CoG present since November (for daring to complain). Its gone on so long now that rumours are flying around that my husband cant see the HT because he's subject to an ASBO. I'm so stressed I think I need a holiday............

Yes I have, but first I removed some of the factors that damage enzymes. Then used supplements for a short time, now try and do it through diet and only supplement occasionally. Being nosey, what's the book?

Well, I'd sooner give my children a B12 supplement than let them play with a bowl full of mercury. Presumably this person quoted the science on the safety of skin exposure rather than swallowing? B12 is a nutrient. Some of the possible deficiency symptoms might be a factor in some of the health problems of autism. A B!2 supplement isn't cyanide. You can overdose on nutrients, and sometimes they are better not taken singly etc, but that doesn't make them poisonous at the right dose and in the right circumstances. http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitaminb12.html has an article on B12 as a nutrient, with a list of potential deficiency symptoms, and factors that can lead to deficiency. According to this website there looks like there's going to be some trials on B12 and autism. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00273650

I've read that carrier pidgeons who have their brain's magnetic sensing interfered with, are disorientated and veer off from their homeward bound course. So when I went north up the motorway instead of south down the motorway last week when I have done the journey before, perhaps its not because I'm stupid its because I was temporarily electromagnetically disorientated. (I can wish ) Apparently they have found magnetite in the human brain and adrenal glands, which may be a potential reason for why frequent or ongoing exposure to adverse electromagnetic fields from any source may especially cause adrenal fatigue and reduced ability to cope with stress etc.

For anyone working at improving metabolic function through diet and supplements, who uses a microwave, the following article from the Mercola site might be worth a read. http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm

I used to eat a lot of soya, thinking it was good for me. Although I breastfed, I also supplemented with soya infant formula. Then I read about the possible negative effects and now avoid all but small amounts of fermented soya. From many articles on the Mercola site here's a couple for anyone interested. http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm http://www.mercola.com/2005/mar/23/soy.htm

From the age of 18 months til about 4 and a half, my son started by getting faddy, finished up food phobic. Had to eat same breakfast, same lunch, same tea, all white or off white food, done in a certain way, absolutely no crust on bread, cut in squares not triangles, certain plate etc. If a pea finished up on the plate then nothing on the plate would get eaten. Found out he was sensitive to fluoride in toothpaste, (we don't live in a fluoridated water supply area). When we changed brand, within a few days he started to improve. Started eating a wide range of foods. At 8 he eats just about anything - except peas which he leaves on the plate

Although its an article about sugar, there's a negative bit about xylitol in the 2000 article on the Mercola site http://www.mercola.com/2000/jan/9/killer_s...gar_dangers.htm Shame its not referenced though. Dr Mercola adds a footnote about new information about safety, including the bit "In 1996, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), a prestigious scientific advisory body to the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, confirmed that adverse findings in animal studies conducted in the 1970s are "not relevant to the toxicological evaluation of these substances (e.g., xylitol) in humans." " The fact that there were any adverse findings in animal studies concerns me a bit. My concern is that xylitol will be over used, and eventually become the new aspartame. Also " Xylitol is extracted from birch cellulose and is considered to be a carbohydrate alcohol" does that mean its wood alcohol? It's a tin I'll probably need to think about a bit more.

I'm looking for a gravy powder without MSG. http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html gives a list of "hidden" sources of MSG which rules out a gluten free gravy powder I have which contains "hydrolysed vegetable protein." Anyone using one (doesn't have to be gluten free) that doesn't have MSG in it somewhere? Thanks.

On the noticeboard of the informed parent website was a notice asking for people who had taken the decision not to have their children vaccinated or have refused vaccinations themselves who would agree to be interviewed about their views and experiences of health, illness and medical intervention. They are looking at the range of reasons a minority of the population refuse vaccinations. I emailed and was sent information and a consent form to sign. The researcher then arranged to conduct a telephone interview, which was taped (with my consent) and it took about an hour. The researcher wanted my ideas and views on health and vaccinations and how I came to make the decisions about not having the jabs. Also how others viewed my decison and how I feel about decisions I have made in the past. She was probably sorry she asked The study is being done by the University of Edinburgh, Public Health Sciences. It was nice to be able to talk about my experiences and views without being defensive. I don't know what the research will lead to, but maybe the fact that this study has got funding is a hopeful sign?

My husband could snore for Britain. No point going anywhere else in the house, nowhere is safe. No problems with breathing though. He insists he doesn't snore. Sometimes he snores so loudly he wakes himself up, says "What did you say?" I say "Didn't say a word, it was your snoring that woke you up". (Polite version!) "Can't have been I don't snore" he says. Then he rolls over and goes back to sleep. God if I had a quid for every time we've had that conversation. Last night I was half asleep and must have been sort of dreaming, but I suddenly had this feeling there was a wild animal close. Forced myself fully awake and shot out of bed in sheer terror only to find that it was him snoring with a new sound - the blood curdling growl snore. When we went on holiday in January, dunno but it didn't seem so bad, don't know if it was the chill out time, no stress, or being by the sea and all those negative ions. Not even sure if it was that he snored less, or if I just coped better. Bought an ioniser off ebay yesterday, thought I'd try that.

Thanks for that Phasmid, I have gone cross eyed trying to find the Statutory Instrument that referred to this. They have just issued another attendance policy (our original complaint) to parents, which quotes a statute which when I read it, seems to bear no relationship to the attendance policy. It is supposed to make the document issued look legal and official, it makes out that what the policy says is the law which I believe is against crown copyright to misleadingly quote an act like that. They issued a Dfes leaflet with it, which says something completely different to the policy. Having seen the "minutes" I am wondering if any committees meet at all, or if everyone just rubber stamps what the HT wants at a full meeting. I am seriously concerned that a school can be told by an LEA to provide a copy of signed minutes, and come up with the set they sent us. It makes me wonder what on earth they are hiding if they are so desperate for us not to see the real minutes. We were also never provided with any documents that the school might have provided to the complaints panel (convened from another school). The panel conclusions were really strange, I am now wondering what "documents" they were given. If they can risk an offence under the FOI Act with sending us what they did..... Anyway thanks for the info Phasmid. I think that the LEA take the p*** system is meant to force people into trying to find the information themselves and eventually they just get exhausted by it...... But there's a bit of fight in me yet !

We are in dispute with the school over attendance policy, long story, complaints panel...... etc Anyway in December we asked for the set of minutes of a full governors meeting. They hadn't been approved but we were issued with a draft, by email, with the main headings of each item, with the item about our complaint being read out and discussed being the only item detailed in full. However we were aware that this was the draft, and it was enough for what we needed at the time. We have now requested the same minutes now completed, signed, and which were approved at the next full governing body meeting. The HT said he would need permission from the CoG before letting us have them. We argued that, and called in. He then refused us sight of the minutes or a copy because the governing body had not been sent them in the post. We contacted the LEA and after written exchanges about parental rights, and the FOI Act, the LEA advised us that although technically the school only had to let us see them, the school would be going further than the legal requirement and were sending a hard copy in the post. Of course it was sent second class, and the letter only had a part address, which made sure it didn't turn up til half term. But the problem is that the signed minutes are.......... well unsigned. There is also no address of the school, or where the meeting was held. There is a guest listed who appears to have been there for nothing, and is not recorded as having contributed anything, or having left during the meeting, which implies that they were sat there when our complaint letter was read out and discussed. That item now says that we were going to be asked to attend a Disciplinary Panel. instead of the Complaints panel as on the draft. There is no record of when the meeting finished, and the wording of the other items is really odd, and the quality of the copy is poor. And it isn't signed by the CoG, or dated as approved on... etc. Anyone more cynical than I am might conclude that someone had made them up at home from the original draft email headings. Anyway we have sent a rant off to the LA with a scanned copy of the document and the envelope, noting that its an offence under the FOI Act.... etc. However we are expecting their usual fob off and ignoring any questions we ask that they don't want to answer.... Does anyone know, if an FOI offence is committed does the LEA have a statutory obligation to act? or inform anyone? Or do we need to get a solicitor to do something?

If the raised adrenaline is a one off, I suppose that it would be no real reason for concern, but chronic high adrenaline levels would be, it could lead to adrenal exhaustion. In the short term, if a stress is life threatening, the response is essential for "flight or fight" survival. Chronic and non life threatening stress is the problem. Apart from general life stress from school etc, factors that raise adrenaline include hypoglycaemia, too high protein intake, infections, low calorie and low carbohydrate diets,overexercising, toxins, pain....etc. Very short summary but symptoms of intermittant high adrenaline can be anxiety, bladder urgency, loose bowel movements, nausea, interrupted sleep (either inability to fall asleep or stay asleep), excessive sweating...... Intermittant low adrenaline levels can cause allergies, asthma attack, increased susceptibility to infections, insomnia, mental exhaustion.... Adrenaline/cortisol levels can fluctuate between high and low throughout the day, making some symptoms appear to switch on and off, or be worse at certain times of day. Low adrenaline can trigger cravings for caffeine, sugar etc to "self medicate." Haven't listed all the symptoms of high and low adrenaline, and some symptoms could be a sign of either. Then there's cortisol.... The problem with blood tests for adrenaline (or cortisol) is that to get an accurate picture, you would probably need several, done at different times of day. But if someone is constantly stressed, then I would assume they have adrenaline/cortisol problems. If you can find out the stressors which are lifestyle based, reduce the simple ones first, then work on the others, its possible to reduce "lifestyle based" stress symptoms. The book I'm working from has nothing to do with AS, but if you are interested in reading more about adrenaline/cortisol/seratonin/insulin etc, then PM me and I'll give you the details.

Stephanie, I've done a few seminars at BIBIC which included early intervention, hyper and hyposensitivity etc for ADD/ADHD and AS and I've done a fair bit of research. PM me if you would like anything. Sue

I agree - and add to that the shock to the system (particularly the adrenals) of having the injection, the fillers etc. When my eldest was vaccinated I was asked if he was allergic to eggs, he wasn't weaned so I didn't know. Might have something to do with chick embryo, chicken egg, and duck egg being on the list of potential fillers. What happens when a substance introduced as a vaccine filler is then constantly met in food and toiletries etc? My FIL is sensitive to MSG, and its a potential vaccine filler. My husband is VERY allergic to sheep's cheese (though not lamb meat funnily enough) and "washed sheep red blood cells" is on the list as a potential filler. Makes me wonder. I have doubts that mercury or the measles component or "triples" are the only issues, which is why I won't risk them at all. Too many doubts.

I felt like you for a time, but bit the bullet and having warned them, left the dirty washing where it was. When the favourite top or jeans wasn't clean when they wanted it, things improved. I haven't ironed for years, and I don't sort clean washing. Eveything is put on the bed in the spare room (eldest has left home) and it can be collected from there. (I also don't buy clothes that look a pig to iron, I know they will go out of fashion before they come out of the ironing basket). I find the "do you want to wash or wipe up" or the "do you want to take the rubbish out or hoover?" etc plan works best. Give two options, both of which you want done- they are less likely to say "neither."

Such an unshellfish family

Ian, a group of complementary therapists I'm involved with has contacted 300 local schools, and 500 childminders to date with details of 4 workshops, including one on nutrition for ADD/ADHD/AS, stress management for children, massage therapies for children, (including those with sensory problems). So far the results are nil. After what you've said, I think I'll give up marketing any more today and go back to bed

We didn't have our request considered at all, it was an outright no from the HT having previously stood up in front of new parents and intimated fines of ?1000, which we think was a figure he pulled out of a hat. We were not so easily intimidated, but there are other parents who we know are, and some are just intending to throw sickies. I don't know how the school can get away with it when the Dfes attendance registration document says "Parents should not normally take pupils on holidays in term time. Each request for holiday absence should be considered individually, taking account of: the age of the child; the time of year proposed for the trip; its nature and parental wishes; the overall attendance pattern of the pupil; the child's stage of education and progress. Schools should invite parents in to school to discuss any proposed holiday in term time." We had work reasons for going, our kids have no other unauthorised absence, had no SATS etc etc, and there was no problems with stage of education or progress. As for inviting parents into school to discuss any proposed holiday in term time...... perhaps its time the HT was asked for a few appointments......... I think we should request a meeting to discuss another holiday - just to get over the stress the school caused over the last one you understand.

Hev, I'm working on the theory that its a good idea to remove nasties like aspartame, MSG, caffeine etc either before or as well as supplementing. By improving blood flow to the brain, there's the possiblity you may increase brain uptake of some of the nasties at the same time. By removing the nasties, there could be better results from the supplementation.

A website about aspartame http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/up...NCE%20v1.51.doc Found something about it on this document. Registration codes F, G and H. The Dfes definitions of the codes for authorised family holiday and unauthorised holiday make interesting reading. The school wouldn't even consider it, and certainly didn't invite us into school to discuss it, just told us if we took it we would be reported. But the additional useful information bit suggests that June and July aren't included in the survey figures (anyone know why not?). So presumably if I take my children out of school in June/July the school's performance tables will look better than if I take them out in January? Not that I'm being cynical but perhaps thats what they mean by the "time of year proposed for the trip"

My youngest 2 aren't vaccinated at all, because my eldest went down within severe ear infections within hours of his first 2 jabs, and I didn't buy the "coincidence" theory. I've managed to avoid the surgery (apart from checkups before starting school) for 7 years now (we've had nothing but minor illness I can deal with myself ) but it wasn't pleasant being pressured by the GP and HV when they were younger. If I was going through the same thing again, to be able to make an informed choice I would first be asking for a full ingredients list of the vaccine. If I was OK with that I would want a full medical done, including adrenal function. Only then would I even consider it. If they weren't prepared to do that, then for us the risks outweigh the benefits.

There is a strong rumour in our school that one of the staff is taking a week off in the summer term. I've read somewhere that Dfes don't count attendance from a date in May to when school finishes in July, so maybe that's got something to do with it. I wouldn't put anything past 'em. But I'm watching. We went on holiday in January because it was less disruptive to our children's education than going later. Another thing that gets me is that the school organises trips each year - they can take our kids away on holidays in term time this year but we can't. My daughter's 4 day "educational trip" this year is an out and out holiday, and not cheap either. Complete hypocrisy. I put my views on a questionaire they sent out about the school trips, but they missed out my observations in their summary of the parents opinions. Strange that.