Dear Dr. Reid,

I want to thank you for the important work you are doing. For years, my 8 year old son has suffered from dysregulated behavior- emotional outbursts for no reason that would last for 1-3 hours. This fall, it became so severe that our naturopath was suggesting we admit him to the hospital. I was not ready to do that and so began our search for the cause. We found vitamin deficiencies and a MTHFr mutation, but it was not until we received our neurotransmitter test that I was introduced to glutamate. My doctor gave me a list of additives to avoid (most of which we were avoiding already) and it was not enough. On December 31, in desperation, I hunted on the internet for more information. I found your TED talk and on January 1, it was truly a happy new year when we removed gluten, casein, soy, processed corn and all additives. By day 5, he was so much better. It wasn’t until I removed even organic corn that I was popping myself that his mood swings stabilized completely. My life was filled with so much anxiety, fear and hysteria that the difference between then and now is immeasurable. Without your work, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get to a solution. I have told so many people about your talk and I will tell many more. I have yet to meet someone who knows what I am talking about and I see so many families suffering with various symptoms and I just wonder how reducing their free glutamate load could help them. I feel like, for the first time, I truly know and understand my son. Now that I have seen him healthy I know what I was fighting for and it is the sweetest victory our family has ever experienced!