Autism Journey Day 23-I began substitute teaching as an escape and a way to make some extra money. I only did it about one day per week to start. The grandparents helped by watching Paige and getting her to school. A trusted educator noticed that when my in-laws brought her to school she was much more aggressive. I began investigating. My in laws treated Paige to McDonald’s chicken nuggets for lunch any day they had her. I was told that many times kids with autism have significant food allergies. It doesn’t present itself as hives or throat-closing, but in aggressive behavior. I looked for an allergist that would agree to test Paige and finally found one. He had no bedside manner, but was a wealth of knowledge. I believe he was on the spectrum as well. Paige needed her blood drawn in addition to the skin testing. I had imagined it would be a rough day, but there was no way I was prepared for that ugly scene. They had tools that allowed them to test for skin allergies by only having to press it into her back once instead of individual scratches. The problem was that she had to let those allergens sit on her back for 15-20 minutes. She also couldn’t rub her back up against anything to stop the itching. This is in my top 5 of ugliest scenes. Paige used to kick her toes into the floor when she was upset. This time she did it until she drew blood. She was leaving bloody marks all over his carpet. The doctor sat there and watched her go out of her mind with itching and melting down. He was silent; I was bawling; Brad was being the adult in the situation. When all was said and done, Paige was allergic to pretty much everything. Now the hard work began.