February 8

Wow. 9th year of the blog.

Tics are still here, but have recently subsided. It sounds crazy, but 3 different naturopaths believe tics originate from parasites in our body (we all have them), I know, ugh, right? Anyways, we don't notice them for the most part because they are "in control" and know their place in our bodies. In Luke's case, they were getting out of control. Our amazing physiotherapist / sacral cranial specialist / mother warrior (she has a son with epilepsy among other issues)... has the ability to sense how many parasites Luke has and how many are "out of control". Our "main" (Kelowna) naturopath has vials of the most common parasites and she's able to test Luke's body and find which specific ones are troublesome; and not only that, she's able to test certain naturopathic treatments and see which ones will be most effective for Luke's specific body. She came up with Citricidal, which is basically a product that kills the food supply of the parasites. Because the parasites give off "energy", she also gave a homeopathic solution (drops) to attack them two-fold. Originally the Citricidal given in August took about 3 months to take effect, after which we enjoyed 2 weeks of "no tics" from Luke. But then we ran out of Citricidal and weren't able to get more until weeks later (in January) and the tics came back with a vengeance. The physiotherapist explained how parasites can be very elusive and can "hide" and remain dormant for long periods of time, so the course of treatment (specifically for Luke's body) needs to be at least 7 months. So in January we bought 9 months worth of Citricidal (1 bottle = 3 month supply / 90 capsules, 1 a day). We've been giving this to him since January 21st. The "noise" tics are now gone (I know!? 3 weeks later!?). Our physiotherapist (I'm going to call her "C" from now on)... said at our last appointment that the parasites are all under control, but to continue treatement for at least 7 months. Now when I say the "noise" tics are gone, I mean he's developed a quick blinking tic which I assumed just replaced the noisy ones. However, according to "C", these are related to stomach issues, which in time the Citricidal will also resolve. The blinks are not nearly as disruptive as the noises, so I'm thrilled. Woo Hoo. Thanks everyone for your prayers (including Joel... who would pray for Luke's tics in his class all the time).

C is our phenomenal "sacral-cranial / physiotherapist". We see her every week for half an hour and she is teaching Luke about his body. After the first few months of squirming and minor behaviour issues, Luke now crawls under the blanket and allows C to put whatever's awry in his body, back at ease. She's SO gifted, and I enjoy our weekly conversations. Just a couple days ago, Luke settled in and she asked... what do you want me to work on? And he said immediately... "My back" and she found it was indeed tight and needed loosening. Having him aware of his body, and being able to express his pains/needs is HUGE for Luke.

This winter season we chose not to enrol in any extra-curricular activities. With dad still overwhelmed by homework, I didn't feel like hiking the kids all over Kamloops for hockey, floor hockey, or swimming this semester (although I'm so grateful for these programs!!!). It's just too much. So we're really enjoying quiet, sleep-in Saturdays / weekends. If dad needs to study, we will either go to the 11:00am $2.99 family movie on Saturdays or to the beach for a weiner roast with friends. It's been very relaxing and I love "being forced" to spend time with the kids. They're at such a great age (10 & 7)... so fun and funny and really well-behaved. Not all the time, of course, but for the most part.

Otherwise, Luke is plugging along. His speech continues to improve, as does his piano. He's jumped from printing "LUKE" to including his last name (a really big deal). Luke has ALWAYS struggled with printing and still cannot read (although he's definitely curious... ie he'll point to my shirt and ask what it says— "I already want a nap tomorrow"). He's been a bit sick these past few weeks (and before Christmas) which really slows him down and reduces the amount of learning, but we don't stress about it. I am so happy to be able to work from home and be there for the boys when they're sick. He's colouring more specifically (areas of the picture... knows grass is green and sky is blue and colours them appropriately, but still not "within the lines", but in the general area). Also a BIG DEAL for Luke who's fine motor skills are so delayed and have always been difficult for him.

Some fun phrases we're hearing:
• We were in the hottub at a hotel (I took them for family weekend to a local hotel for a staycation on the family long weekend).... he put his arms around me and Joel and said "You two come into the pool with me now".
• Playing with his stuffies (they're having a party)... "I love my stuffies, they are so awesome."
• At the end of the day of Valentine's parties/goodies... "I've had a really long day. And wait til you see my Valentines surprise!!!" (As he pulled out his bag full of Valentine's and candy).
• "BA................NAAAA.................NAAAAAAAAAA" ... he grabs a banana and yells out like a minion.
• My button on my shirt was undone... he came up to me and did it up for me, "Your button is undone"... so amazing as it's taken him YEARS to learn to do this... such a fine motor skill.
• Every time I buy him chocolate ice cream bars (dairy-free, coconut icecream), he says "Thanks so much for buying me chocolate icecream bars mom!" I think I buy them just to hear him say this... makes me smile everytime.
• Joel's very observant and we often hear him say "Luke said _______... I've never heard Luke say that before!" We all get excited together whenever we hear new words and phrases from Luke.
• When he sees other kids (okay, usually girls), he looks at me and asks "What's her name?" It's usually a stranger so I don't know, but I think he's ready to learn some social skills. That might be our next course of action.

I'm waiting to hear from the Ministry of Children & Families for a free 6-month support worker who will come 3-4 hours a week (from what I understand) and help Luke with a social goal.

We're heading to Dr. Swingle for neurotherapy again during spring break; I'm looking forward to the further gains Luke will make with this therapy. I have asked for some travel expense support again from the Cops for Kids organization. Probably won't hear before spring break, but it's always worth a try.

Some fun things: Dad's been playing the "memory game" with him, and he's slowly getting it... focusing long enough to remember where some are. It's so fun to be able to play games with him (he's always said "no" before). His speech therapist is starting to play "Go Fish" with him, and he's really doing it; and his one-on-one at school often plays "Animal Dominoes" with him). I look forward to playing more games with him. Joel and I often playing UNO or SKIPBO, and Joel and Dad will play Monopoly or video games (Star Wars Lego Wii is the most recent craze in the house).

The other thing we did was take the boys to "Fly Over Canada" (Christmas Special IMAX-type movie) at Christmas time at Canada Place in Vancouver. I thought Luke would freak out at the freakiness of the flying (your legs "dangle" over the countryside and you fly fast through deep caverns and to the highest mountains, etc... a must-do for everyone, although a bit coinish). I looked at Luke (all buckled in) at one point in the 8-minute show and he yelled at me "IT'S NOT SCARY!!!!" He was loving it, and I was so impressed and pleased. He really rocks. Joel was all over it too! Loving the fly into the North Pole where all the houses are made of gingerbread :). The best part was this was a great family-bonding event for us as we are not always together for fun times (Dad's still studying part-time while working full-time and is often unable to join me and the boys because of his massive amounts of homework... he's done April 17 and we all can't wait!).

Luke has seemed to find his comfort zone with the current Grade 1 class (Luke's 10). He's familiar with the teacher (she's awesome and so inclusive) and it's a smaller and more calm class than the others. He joins them when he can (what he can handle) usually first thing in the morning for praise time, and always at the end of the day for "Sharing". He'll go with them for Gym class as well as Art class and will join them whenever his aide feels he can. He does their memory verses (one a month) as well. Most academics are done one-on-one as he can't always keep up with the teacher's fast talking, so things are slowed done with lots of visuals; and he's getting it. Like they did a "solid / liquid" study the other day... which included a race between 3 liquids (syrup, ketchup, and mustard). Fun things like that, which teach basic science concepts. And for the first time in his life, Luke went up for sharing time! His aide was pleased to tears at Luke's ability to stand up there, show photos of the "Fly Over Canada" experience and talk a wee bit (with much coaching) about his favourite scenes.

Another moment that had all the women who love him at Kamloops Christian School in tears, was when (with Joel's help) Luke performed the actions and sang the songs at the Christmas concert practise. The actual performance was not as successful, lol; but it was still a "tissue time" for all those who witnessed it. Apparently he did this again this past week, as he got up in front of chapel with 3 other children (including Joel) to sing and do the actions to the song "Yahweh". I was told it was another emotional moment.

I am currently feeling the need to look in the effectiveness of essential oils. A client/friend showed these to me a couple weeks ago, and then shortly after the Autism Parent Support Group in Kamloops brought someone in to talk about them (specifically doTerra oils). I was so intrigued by the power of these, that I booked an appointment with the speaker. She will be by on Tuesday. I've got Luke and Joel "testing" a few of the samples and they are open to the idea (some children with autism are over-sensitive to smells), but Luke seemed to be okay with them. These oils are potent! Next update should include a report about what works and if there are any changes in Luke. I'm particularly excited about the possibility of peppermint oil alleviating colds and headaches... so I can hopefully replace my go-to pain medication with something more natural. We shall see.

Given the recent Measles outbreak in Disneyland, I feel like I need mention vaccinations. Luke is almost fully vaccinated, we only skipped the "5 year old" one. Joel was 6 months old when Luke was diagnosed with autism (Luke was 3.25 years old). It was the week that I had read Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder than Words". I know there's a lot of hate-on for Jenny, ayiyiyi... but the truth is her book was INSTRUMENTAL in Luke's progress at the time. She gave me tools that I could use immediately (gluten- dairy- soy-free diet) at a time when I felt incredibly helpless as Luke continued to have seizures despite years of medications. The combination of diet and DAN (Defeat Autism Now) protocol with our naturopath (probiotics, and a slew of other supplements specifically for Luke's body) were the key to Luke's awakening. Within 6 months the seizures were gone, he started signing/talking, he was toilet-trained, and he started to really look at me, and smile (I still remember the day he was way across the room, he looked RIGHT at me, and he really SMILED at ME for the first time... he was around 4 years old). My heart melted. At the same time we researched the crap out of autism/vaccination; and chose not to continue the standard vaccination schedule for Joel. It was a horrible time of fear if we did, fear if we didn't... so please don't judge me for our educated decision (I'd like to think I'm not ignorant, silly, or selfish, but I'm not sure if I can change people's minds). Eventually, we chose some specific homeopathic vaccinations for Joel, realizing they are not as effective, but it gave us a little sense of peace. I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home mom who works from home, with the added privilege of keeping my children home as soon as they are sick (as much as possible). All we ask is for some compassion for what was obviously not a decision taken lightly, or stupidly. The article I posted on Facebook was just to state the "other side" of the story... I'll conclude with the last paragraph of the article which summarizes: "Let's embrace these people [those who have had adverse reactions to vaccines] with compassion and empathy and work together to get more transparency in the research that is going on so that we can learn more about what type of person is more susceptible to side effects, helping us to move forward and develop safer vaccines and medications."

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Joel... math whiz and smart speller. He came up to me one day all disappointed and said "I didn't get 10/10 on my spelling today"... then he shoved the test at me and yelled "I got 11/11!!!!!" (apparently there was a bonus word to spell). He really loves to trick and joke. He was wondering what his "gifts" were the other day and concluded that he's "nice"... nice to everyone, trying to be inclusive of everyone. That makes me smile. He's very sensitive and caring to Luke, even at school (so the teacher says). He is thrilled that on the first Tuesday of every month he gets to join Luke and his aide in Luke's special room for crafts or learning. This past week, his aide invited 4 boys, including Joel, to Luke's room to have lunch ("Stone Soup"). She's trying to include more kids into Luke's room in the hopes of teaching him how to socialize. Joel also loves joining Luke for his "therapy-dog" times... every other Tuesday a therapy dog, Ivory, comes to the School Library and reads with specific kids. Joel and I love to play card games... he's a quick player and we have fun, without caring about who wins or loses. I got to spend "date night" with Joel a couple weeks ago and I took him to his first live hockey game (Kamloops Storm). We had so much fun... although the snacks were the biggest highlight (of course). I'll admit he was slightly annoying when he chanted "Go, Toronto, Go!" 100 times in the lineup at the concession stand... and he keep yelling Tramboni instead of Zamboni... ayiyiyi ;). He's got a wiggly tooth (we get a daily report on where it's at), and we do our best to curb the sugar intake. Both boys are getting taller, and recently Joel's face has changed somewhat... losing his baby face. Joel has many, many questions every day that we do our best to answer. I think he's sweet on someone in his class... he plays with her sometimes... he said they play with their feet... I said "What? Eachother's feet?" He said "No, our own." I said "Show me." He said, "You both need to have shoes on." (It was bedtime, too late to get shoes and demonstrate). I said "Show me tomorrow?"... He said "I never should have said anything." LOL. I need to go ask him and find out now!!!

Update: they try to step on eachother's feet, lol.