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NOVEMBER. 2008 >

November 15

Luke's been saying a few more words and lots of new sounds. I just re-read the beginning of the blog and he's been doing lots of sounds throughout the year, so I don't get too excited anymore about the potential to talk. It will happen if and when it does. We do our best to encourage him and we continue with signs as well. I've been attending a "Beyond Words" Workshop on Monday nights that is training me (and our two BIs) to help Luke communicate.

Ms. M. at preschool has been excited about Luke's progress. Here are some of her thoughts: "Indigo joined Luke with cylinders. We had a discussion about Luke starting to say 'yes and no', which led to me shaking my head in an exaggerated way and saying 'nooooooooooo'. As I repeated this Indigo and Luke laughed and then Luke started saying 'no'. Indigo was amazed to hear Luke speak. Luke's 'no' starts with his tongue out of his mouth. Later, Luke was putting away his work mat. I knew he was going to need help but I chose to stay at the other end of the room. I thought he might get the help of a nearby child. Instead, he waited to make eye contact with me (surprisingly he did not yell or screech) and once he got my eye, he signed 'help'. I went right away and helped and expressed my pleasure at his clear communication. For the first time at group (circle) when Ms. R. told Luke to go get his coat, he got up on his own. He usually doesn't respond to directions at group time when the teacher is a distance away. A day of many firsts! Exciting!"

One of the biggest accomplishments of late is that Luke is starting to "bounce" (the beginnings of "jumping") on the couch cushions. He's so much more comfortable in his body, and it shows. It's nice to have him lean back against us on our laps, in a relaxed pose and he's been looking at ceilings and lights a lot... like his world has really expanded. Luke's dad and I were talking about how Luke wouldn't see past about 3 feet before; wouldn't even look out the window at a bird 10 feet away.

The screeching phase is still here, but not as bad; and the mouthing of objects has abated quite a bit as well. We had almost a week without therapies so we became more and more aware that Luke needs to be engaged and kept busy, otherwise he's bored and relapses somewhat.

We had a team meeting and have adjusted his program again. We're beginning to teach him about months and days of the week and holidays. I hope he comprehends this new concept. We're also going to decrease his preschool days from 5 mornings a week to 3, and that way we can have 2 more half-days of ABA therapy; all starting in January. We will also be attempting night-time toilet-training beginning in January.

Another week and we're supposed to see some changes due to the Silver Birch homeopathic drops.

November 19

Had a great time going out for dinner with other "preschool moms" the other night. Sat and chatted about the challenges of parent-hood and it felt great to know that a couple moms weren't even aware that Luke had autism. I gave them all the link to this blog and they've been supportive with their comments and are amazed at how far Luke has come. It's a great group of women.

Went to the "Beyond Words" workshop again Monday night and learned some valuable lessons about communicating and conversation. It's important to "OWL" — Observe, Wait, and Listen. The waiting is most important for Luke as he often still needs a moment or two to process our words. The other things to remember are that our goal is an "communication interaction" with Luke, regardless of whether he's angry or happy. In order to have successful conversations we need to: a) get down to his physical level (eye-to-eye); look him in the eye; wait for him to respond to our questions; speak in one, two or three word requests (don't ramble an entire sentence); and learn to creatively sabotage his routine so that an interaction can take place (ie put his shoe on upsidedown, put his toothbrush in a different spot, put two different socks on, etc.) I did the shoe upside down with Luke and he didn't even look at me... just grabbed the shoe and put it the right way... like, "oh Mom".... haha.

After the workshop I got a chance to talk with Ms. M (Luke's preschool assistant) and we were happy to connect about Luke's amazing progress and what we can do on a daily basis to keep Luke learning and focused. He is very happy at preschool, giggling a lot, and sometimes having lots of his little friends "fight over him"... they all want to play with him :), which is so nice to hear. The best thing Ms. M. said to me was "that little boy is going to go places"!

I've been reading this EXCELLENT book by Sally Kirk called Hope for the Autism Spectrum: A Mother and Son Journey of Insight and Hope. It explains the entire biomedical treatment process (down to what chemically happens in the body) in simple terms... so easy to understand! It's quite affirming for us, as it makes us feel as though we're on the right path with Luke's naturopaths. She began biomedical and diets when her son was 11 years old and it's AMAZING what changes occurred, so it's NEVER TOO LATE.

I want to mention that this book is phenomenal in the way it explains the vaccination and mercury question. A lot of people ask for my opinion and I can only say what I'm going to do for Joel. Joel had the 2 and 4 month vaccinations and none since. He has not had any ear infections or any cause for antibiotics which we would NEVER give him anyways. Joel has been fortunate to be on the GF/CF (and soy-, corn-, chocolate-, banana-, and egg-free diet) which I believe is attributing to his cognitive awareness. I will be talking to the public health nurse next May when he's two about a possible staggered plan and only those which seem very important. I'm not too concerned about Joel getting vaccinated at all, so I'll be doing much more research in May when it comes time to make a decision. One fascinating statistic from this book is that the Amish people don't vaccinate and there have been no cases of autism in the Amish communities... hmmmmmmmmmm. The other interesting, eye-opening fact is that all the symptoms of autism are EXACTLY the same symptoms for mercury poisining... hmmmmmmmmmm. We are in the process of continuing to heal Luke's stomach and beginning some gentle chelation of toxins via clay baths and homeopathic drops.

November 25
Enjoyed an "observation" day at Luke's preschool yesterday and it was fun to watch him find and play with different activities (cylinders, stamps, stacking cups, animals). He seemed "at home" and would look to Ms. M. often for help. He seemed a little lost during circle time, especially during the music and signing of the songs. I don't think he can listen and sign at the same time, as it seems all his focus is on listening to the music. He seemed to shut down a little from being overwhelmed. So we just simplify things for him... try to get him to do one sign per song (ie sign "lion" during "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" — they're doing an African theme in November :).

Luke has been going through something though. He's had a lot of diarrhea and tells us his tummy hurts, and so he's also not eating much. He doesn't mind fruit (which doesn't help the runs!). We think he's going through another die-off with yeast. His dad isn't well either, so it may be a virus. You can tell that Luke is a little more reserved and out-of-it. Let's hope this passes sooner than later and he's back to his old self. He has been saying a few more words, inconsistently... like "no" and "more". I went to the "Beyond Words" workshop again last night and we'll be practicing some new routine game to get him to verbalize more.

Today was "Parent/Teacher interviews" and it went well. I asked for a 3-day week starting in January and that will be no problem (M-W-F). They are impressed with how far Luke has come since the beginning of September; and especially now since he's gone from "screeching" to "babbling". He's well-liked in the class and the teachers mentioned that it was quite obvious that he will let others do things for him... and has a special twinkle in his eye when he's trying to get away with naughty behaviour. They will try to hold back more on helping and get him to try harder as he easily lets people step in and "take care" of him. They will also try to encourage his speech.

Tonight is the first Autism Parent Support Group meeting which should be interesting. 7-9pm at the Children & Family Therapy Centre.

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