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September 7
Had a great team meeting last Wednesday. I have to admit it was the best behaved I've ever seen Luke. I had talked to him earlier about not hanging on me the whole time and being quiet, and he was really really good! No screeching or crying... kept asking for something to eat, but that's just typical. At one point he said "Snack Time", so I asked him "What do you want?" and I waited and waited and waited... and he finally looked at me and said "I want a kiwi." It was amazing to have him "perform" in front of everybody and make me so proud. He got his kiwi :).
Luke's been "regressing" a bit which has made me quite sad and blue; however, one of the BCs explained to me that the "rolling things off the table, etc." are just Luke's ways of coping and turning to something that comforts him, much like we "twirl our hair" or "bite our nails" when we're anxious. He has had some serious diarrhea lately and I can see that his tummy must hurt while we're purging the "bad-yeast" again. Hopefully he'll pull out of this soon and excel again. He has not been as obsessive about "lights/screws" I think since we explained to him that this is not interesting to anyone else and it is "all done/finished".
At our trailer yesterday Luke initiated "I want to go in boat"... so daddy took him for a little boatride. We usually go to the big rock 1/3 way down the lake and this time Luke said (without anyone else mentioning it) "I want to go to big rock". Isn't that so amazing!?!
Just another note about Friday afternoon. We took Luke to see the local craniosacral specialist and she spent an hour with him... feeling his neck, head and spine. He has a tight membrane that is putting pressure on the skull which is typical of children with autism. She will work to release some pressure. Dave and I decided to see her every two weeks until November when we will discuss her therapies with our two naturopaths. If there is a change/improvement, and based on their recommendations we will continue the therapy. At that point I will probably be asking Cops for Kids for more money for this therapy to continue as it's $70/hour. We'll see how this new treatment works. I have some more books to read about it.
September 14
Not sure what to update except that Luke continues to play the "fall off" game which is becoming repetitively annoying. We've talked to him about this and are hoping this phase passes quickly as he had been doing so well just a month ago. His pee is still cloudy, although his poops are getting a little better. Hopefully this "bad yeast" goes away and he re-emerges again. On a positive note, he smiled from across the room at Grandma this weekend, which warmed her heart. He is also eating very, very well and is retrieving things from the fridge and running simple errands quickly for us. He is jumping more and more and becoming more daring, always looking at us for approval. This is a Luke-ism: he often needs a "go-ahead" look or word to proceed in pretty much everything. Ms. M at preschool is realizing this, so we'll need to address how to get Luke to do things more independently and fluidly, without always seeking "permission". Luke has been copying Joel's phrases more and more lately... "What happened?" "What's that noise?". Cute to hear, but a little hard to find out if he understands what he's asking. Oh well, it's new words. His enunciation of the word "Yes" today was almost startling it was so well spoken. In the morning I've been doing "Eenie-Menie-Minie-Mo" to see who gets dressed first and apparently Luke kept saying "eenie-menie" all afternoon :).
September 22
Just got back from swimming... haven't been in a really, really long time. Luke LOVED it. Took his time walking around in the wading pool getting used it, but with a big smile on his face. The PT came and was shocked by his talking ("I want yellow ball") and how comfortable he was in the water. He tried almost everything she asked (sometimes he'd just say "No"). He was jumping in the water, and pulling himself up onto the ledge with strong fingers. She said he was a natural floater and she was impressed with how relaxed he was. Towards the end, "free time" he wanted to walk and do his own thing. At one point his face fully submerged in the water and he came sputtering up, but NO TEARS... we were so quick to praise him :). He wanted to pick something up off the bottom of the pool, but once again sputter in the water and finally we showed him how to pick it up with his foot. We'll be going back every two weeks for a while to get him more used to the water. When the PT left, Luke easily said "Thank you, B" and made her smile!
In other areas, Luke seems to have come a little more alive. We had his cholesterol tested and he was still quite low... same level as in March. Our naturopath advised us to go from 2 capsules a day to 4 and the difference in Luke has been amazing. If there's one thing I can tell other families, it's to ask your pediatrician for his cholesterol levels... this has been the one supplement that has brought the most and quickest changes in Luke's demeanor. It's absolutely amazing.
The preschool class is equally enjoying Luke. He's running with the kids during "Go, Go, Stop" (last year the assistant had to run with him)... although he still needs prompting from the assistant. He's standing in line to wash his hands without direction, and going to the circle right away after without being told. He is eating big snacks. He is allowing other kids to play with him for short periods of time. He is not at all disruptive (which is the biggest deal to me!), and he follows all direction quickly. It's so great. Every day is a new experience of Luke's achievements. Ms. M. loves being with him and discovering all his new capabilities... she often does not have time to write down everything! His talking is the most exciting of all... one day there was a fire drill once and he said "What that noise?"! Luke also had preschool photos taken the other day, so it will be interesting to see if he smiled or not. He's been smiling so much lately... when you look at him and smile, he actually smiles back! It's so beautiful. Apparently he "scowled" a grumpy face at one of the BIs as well... nice to see him using facial expression to show his emotion. He sees my grumpy scowl often if he's misbehaving... mom's "look"... which really works, thank goodness!!
We've had another sacrocranial session and Luke was amazingly obedient. This time he wanted to stay on the "bed" and allowed Ms. C. to manipulate his body, neck and spine. He was fairly cooperative (still moved around a lot and stood up a lot), but he was nice and quiet when she did her work. A quick explanation of what she does: some children with autism have a tightness of their cranial membrane (below the skin on the head) and it pulls the cranial bones too tightly together. Ms. C. releases and relaxes this membrane. Children also have a higher craniosacral rhythm, so smooth light touch helps the body to self-correct and function in a more healthy way.
September 30
Luke has been flying through some of his programs... especially recognizing lower case letters. It takes 3 times of getting it "right" (5 out of 6 times on his own with no prompting or modelling), and he's been getting the letters in 3 tries. Usually things take months of tries... so this is exciting. I think he started early September and he's already on "o" and "p". Unreal. He's also been doing extremely well with actions to songs and filling in words. Yesterday I sang "The Bubblegum Song" at least 20 times (Joel's a huge fan too!) and Luke filled in many words, "nickel, pickle, dime, lime, quarter, recorder, bubblegum, and POP!" It was so much fun to sing "with" him. He's also finally comprehending "sorting into categories" which has been a very complicated concept for him for whatever reason. His fine motor skills are more advanced (peeling stickers, picking up small objects with chopsticks) and his focus on a particular project is much longer... he can stick with an activity for more than 15 minutes. In preschool he's been trying to do the actions to songs in circle time, where last year he just sat there and Ms. M. would try to move his hands.
I wanted to mention again about Luke's eating habits, for those parents who are still debating the GFCF diet and their children's limited foods. In the last few weeks Luke has eaten: curry chicken, thai shrimp curry with prawns, pizza pasta with mushrooms, turkey with all the fixings, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, bacon-wrapped scallops, potato pancakes, empanadas (with peanut butter and jam inside). He's amazing and will eat pretty much anything. It's so great. Joel, on the other hand, is starting to exert control over what he will and will not eat, but we use the "two-bite" for a "two-year-old" rule and he always complies and will eat the minimum. It's great for him to see Luke not being fussy. Luke is also now eating some things whole like chips (he will either break them himself or actually bite into them); same with cookies. We do still cut his meals into bite-sizes that he either pokes with a fork or eats with his hands. There were a couple lunched last week (pancake-cakes, which he loves) that he ate the entire meal with no assistance. This is a VERY BIG DEAL after 5 loooooonnnngggggg years of helping him eat. Yay Luke.
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