Autism, Africa and an 8-year-old boy

This is just a very sad story, but one I couldn't stop reading.

Grieving mother plans autism school

By MICHELLE MOLZ
For the Courier-Post

MOUNT LAUREL

She traveled thousands of miles from one of Africa's poorest countries to seek help for her autistic son.

Now, after her 8-year-old boy died unexpectedly, Sabelle Jelani is preparing for a new journey. The 39-year-old township resident plans to open a school for autistic children in Dakar, capital of Senegal, as a memorial to her son, Hakeem.

It would be the first of its kind in Senegal, Jelani's native country. She left her homeland and spent the past five years here caring for her son and educating herself about autism. She hoped to return to Senegal to share her knowledge with families who have no resources to help them cope.

Plans for the school were under way when Hakeem suddenly died in his sleep in Dakar on Sept. 8. They had been visiting family for the summer.

"We laid down, and I rubbed his head, his chest, his hands, and he was stroking my cheeks, my nose, my eyes. He fell asleep and never woke up," Jelani said in a telephone interview from Dakar.

"I was his shadow, he was my shadow," said Jelani, who with her husband, Ahmed, 59 have two other healthy boys, Osman, 11, and Habib, 7. "He was a sweetheart. He was a wonderful soul."

Read the rest at the Courier Post.

Strawberry ice cream - gfcf, soy and rice free

This gfcf ice cream is based on the original recipe for ice cream, using coconut milk, which you'll find in the recipes section of this blog. Again, very easy. And, this time I bought lite coconut milk, which has less fat.

Ingredients:

2 x 14 oz cans lite coconut milk (I bought organic)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pureed strawberry

I bought a pound of strawberries and pureed them in the blender until smooth. I mixed all of the other ingredients in a bowl, whisked together for a minute, and then poured it into an ice cream machine. I use a Rival machine. I know you can make this without the machine and use a blender. I added 1 cup of the strawberry to the recipe.

Redesign!

Hope you all like the new look of the gfcf recipes blog. It's not entirely complete, but the biggest changes have been made. If you're having any problems with font sizes, colors, etc., feel free to let me know.

jim