Well, it was a very good day for Joey, so maybe that proverbial corner has been turned.  It might be useful to give a short summary here of what has happened to Joey and what we are trying to do.

It is, of course, complex.  Joey has been hit by a number of issues, that became a sort of vicious circle.  The dyslexia we knew about - or have known about for just under 2 years.  It had been hidden to some extent by the fact that Joey had some developmental issues caused, we guessed, by his first year of life, when he was very malnourished, by the moving around and disruptions to his life, and by the fact that his first two years of 'schooling' were in a very basic Brazilian village school, in Portuguese.   All of this led to a delay in identifying the dyslexia.

The dyslexia led to problems with schooling and with Joey's self-esteem and then to his behavioural problems.  Which, I should stress, were not very severe but were serious enough to give real concern.  He never stopped being a lovely wee boy but there was so much frustration and anger there that it did bubble up and out too often.

Eventually, and sadly rather late in the day, we started to think that there might be more than the dyslexia.  This was largely through conversations with parents in the same position who had kids on the 'autism spectrum' and who had come to believe that outside, environmental factors, including diet, might have had a negative impact on their children, who had taken steps with their diets and who reported real progress.  We undertook our own research (or, I should say in all honesty, Anne did) and came to the conclusion that Joey might also be affected by these factors.

As readers will know, we then took Joey to get all the blood, urine and hair tests.  These showed intolerance to certain foods - mainly yeast and dairy - and the presence of certain heavy metals and toxins in his body, which most people are able to excrete.  Not sure why he is unable to do this but it is increasingly common and almost certainly die to some environmental issues that affect the immune system.  Perhaps from the pollution and toxins that existed when his biological mother was pregnant and when he was a baby in Rio?  He has been on the new diet since last Tuesday.  So we had a vicious circle of slow emotional development (caused by that first year, perhaps enhanced by deep insecurity caused by adoption?), frustration and poor self-esteem caused by the dyslexia and then additional problems regarding lack of focus, impulsivity, emotional volatility and poor social skills caused by the food intolerance etc.   Add them up and it is to Joey's great credit that he has done as well as he has.

We now hope for a virtuous circle.  He will likely be a bit immature for a while (and will never be big!) but that should pass.  But the new diet will reduce the impulsivity and the other symptoms  mentioned above.  A calmer, more focussed Joey will do better at pretty much everything, which will in turn give him greater confidence (and note that he has shown real promise in certain areas; his boxing, his singing, his memory and imagination, his energy, his confidence in certain situations and so on.  Despite everything, he gets great plaudits from a number of people for being a great wee kid).  We will not have to be on his case so much, which will reduce stress and tension for all of us.  His teachers will be able to teach him better, so his reading and writing should make better progress, which in turn will boost his confidence, which in turn will reduce the frustration and the negative reactions at times, which in turn will enable him to do better and so on and so forth.

We already see signs of this.  He only had one negative reaction to something today, when I was a bit sharp with him.  He played very well with Izzy and the wee boy next door, Linden, who had previously been rather afraid of playing with Joey.  He played happily by himself for a few hours, drawing and making things, and then with Aaron and Jesse from down the street.  He brushed his teeth off his own bat.  He finished his 20 mins of Mine Craft with no argument.  He want to bed early and lay quietly whilst I read to him whereas before he would be bouncing off the wall and unable to calm down.

One swallow does not a summer make.  But we are hopeful.  The future for Joey will not be without its ups and downs.  As a starter, the diet is restrictive and, whilst Anne is able to do wonders at home (and she does) it will be more difficult when travelling or eating out.  He has to take 8 supplements a day.  These are to make up for the continuing malnourishment that he (unbeknown to us) has still been suffering from due to his body not absorbing his food properly.  One is fish oil, to boost brain functions, four are vitamin supplements and the last three, taken with meals, are binding agents that attach themselves to any toxic elements in his intestines so that they pass through and out, rather than being sucked back into his organs.  Finally, we have been giving his melatonin at night to help sleep.  That one we will stop shortly, even though it is natural.  But the others he will have to continue taking for the foreseeable future.

He will be alcohol intolerant so unlikely to have many father and son pints - but given his mothers schizophrenia, this is not a bad thing. 

Time will tell whether this will be truly effective but the signs from the first week are positive.  We are hoping that we will have our Joey back!

And, to be honest, our own lives.  We are still dealing with Isabela's adoption and unable to return to our ranch, have moved country and house (the move down the street next month will be our our 9th move in 10 years!), I am unemployed (soon to change, I hope!) and seem to have spent most of the last several years dealing with rather stressful issues.  Next thing you know, Joey will be thriving, Isabela's adoption will be resolved and we will return to the ranch, we will love our new home and I will have a great and reasonable stress-free job.  What will we do with ourselves!