About
My name is Lori Brienesse-Frank. I’m a mom to two wonderful boys age 6 and 7 years old and a wife to a wonderfully supportive husband. I live in Victoria, BC.
I’m also the caregiver for a joyful young woman who is disabled and lives with us full-time.
And now, I am the owner of Apples to Oranges Dietary Coaching for Kids with Special Needs.
When we first realized that our son Jacob was autistic we were overwhelmed. And despite my many years working with children and adults with autism, my husband and I weren’t sure where to begin.
So, we started researching…many, many hours of bewildering research. I’m sure you’re familiar with this process!
There is just so much information out there to wade through. And the biggest challenge is to figure out what therapies for autism seem to make the most sense to you and then jump in with both feet and hope for the best.
The GFCF diet was the first therapy we decided to try. There were literally thousands of anecdotal reports from other parents that they had seen such positive results after starting their autistic child on this diet.
Now, 4 years later we continue to reap the rewards of our hard work in implementing this diet for our child.
The results we’ve seen have inspired me to start this business and share my experience and expertise with you.
I hope that this blog is informative, entertaining, inspiring and most of all lets you know that there are many of us out there going through the same thing as you and we’re here to support each other in this journey.
Hi Lori! I was speaking to Shirley Broback this morning and she told me about you. We suspect that my son (3.5) has SPD and we are finally getting some help from an occupational therapist and trying some different strategies with preschool. I am at my wit’s end about how to help him control his frustration, temper, short-circuiting, etc. I am sure you understand, parenting a son with autism. I have come to the conclusion (frankly have been too lazy until now) that I should at least try changing his diet to see if it has any effect on him. He loves dairy and eats a lot of carbs and bread, and really eats a very varied and healthy diet (loves salmon and chicken, etc.) but I think I owe it to him to try. I just booked an appointment with a naturopath for this Saturday – wondering, do you think this is a good place to start? I will have to go through your site and do some more reading but our family has so much on the go right now that I really need guidance on WHAT to cook and feed him if we are going to change his diet… it sounds like that’s what you do?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Lena
Hi Lena,
Sent you an email.
Lori
Wow! I am glad that I came by your website. We got an ASD diagnosis a year ago. I wish I had known about your website back then. And your local too which is great! I have thought of going gluten free, but haven’t undergone the changes yet. I am a soon-to-be single parent (with shared custody) and with work and p/t school in the mix, I am not sure how I can pull it off. I am quite handy in the kitchen and my boy loves his carbs and dairy.
You wouldn’t happen to know of a good daycare in the area that may be a good fit for a high functioning ASD preschooler would you?
Listened to your webinar. Loved it.
Hi Jen,
Thanks for stopping by the site and for watching the webinar. Glad you enjoyed it!
I totally understand what you mean about finding it hard to fit dietary changes into a busy schedule. That’s exactly why I got started with this because I would talk to so many parents who wanted to give this a try but just felt it was too overwhelming to get started without some help.
As for preschools, I have heard that Island Montessori House is wonderful with preschoolers with autism. I’m not sure what their rates are like compared to other centres. Otherwise I’ll ask around and see if I can get some other recommendations for you.
I’ll send you an email.