Autism and Hope: Progress and Recovery

Last Friday night Ryan went to a new social setting, which alone was an amazing feat. The incredible part was Nick encouraging his older brother to "be brave; don't be a coward; you can do it". Nick commented to me as we were walking away from Matt, that maybe he should stay and help Ryan. Nick is the boy who expressed suicidal thoughts two years ago. Nick's confidence and tone were foreign to me. Nick is no longer the little boy who needs my protection. Eight years ago doctors said "autism" and "institutions" and "nothing you can do"... Yes, I'm stubborn. I wasn't going to give up on my boys, but I never dreamed... prayers being answered... Nick's autism was more severe than Ryan's... their courage... their potential...

Of course, there were stressful years before the boys' diagnosis of autism. All the years were anxious, stressful, laborious. There were no guarantees that any therapy or drug would help. After eight years since the diagnosis, definitive progress for both boys is evident. YEA! They still have a hard journey ahead...

Last Friday night was so bittersweet, but I'm loving it!

Photo credit:BLW Photography

What To Do When Life Takes Over?

Well, let me know. I have not written because the tidal wave of life keeps hitting. I might need two more days, then I should be back to writing on a regular schedule!

Sheryl

Is The MMR Shot Dangerous?

I can only give my experience with that shot. It changed my son, Cameron, from a normal, spirited, bouncy boy to a lethargic, sluggish, inert child. No motion. No speech. This is from my December 11, 2009 entry:

Cam, like all my other sons, was born healthy and normal. He met his milestones on time. At a year old he was a walking and talking machine.

At 13 months he received the MMR shot. Within two days Cam had lost all motion and speech. He was a blob of tissue. It took him three weeks to start moving. He had to relearn how to sit, crawl, and walk. It took him three months before he started babbling. He had to relearn how to talk.

That shot triggered autism in Cam. He had no tendency whatsovever towards autism before the shot.There is much more about Cam in my December 11 blog entry about his behavioral changes. Witnessing the changes in him within such a short time after the MMR shot convinces me that not all side effects of the MMR shot are known.

I have attached a link to an article that blasts a doctor who warned parents about the MMR shot. I have no knowledge if his studies and practices were done according to any sort of protocol. However, I know of my own experience with those who don't believe in any other source of medical authority, other than mainstream medicine.

Click Here to see article.

My two older autistic boys, Ryan and Nick, were on medication for two years, prescribed by medical doctors. They did not progress. My husband and I dared to take them off their medication, and we saw NO difference. We started to research alternative treatments to deal with the problems as those prescriptions only dealt with symptoms. We found that a gluten-free and casein-free diet worked for our boys. We implemented various vitamins, including B12 shots. They responded positively to these protocols.

Doctors, psychologists, and other professionals told us that we were wasting our time and money. Nonetheless, the teachers begged us NOT to change whatever we were doing because they could see differences in the boys, all positive. Ryan had stopped all tantrums. Nick was more social. Both had less anxiety and more willing to try new things.

I simply question the wisdom of the medical ideology that "one size fits all". I applaud parents who care enough about their children to make well-informed decisions regarding the health of their children. As I have said in another blog entry, I am not anti-vaccine. I do think prudence is necessary when administering them. I do not think exposing a 12 month baby to five vaccines is a good idea. Do one shot at a time to see what side effects may occur.

Parents are the experts of their children, and quite often, the medical profession forgets that. So is the MMR shot dangerous? I can only advise that parents research that specific shot and make a decision, rather than just accepting blindly what strangers recommend.

photo credit:Axel Rouvin

How To Enjoy Raindrops

Ryan could sit and stare at raindrops for hours. At the age of four, he was very content to sit and watch. He could not talk then, so I really had no idea what he was thinking.

I wonder if he remembers. I can only imagine that he was looking at the raindrops like most kids look at clouds. I remember looking at clouds and trying to imagine what those shapes could be... a hand, an elephant, a tree.

Maybe Ryan was playing the connect the dots in his mind, or maybe he simply just watched the drops to see where they went. Could he have imagined that those drops were mini-worlds?

I do know that those drops kept Ryan entertained for hours. He quietly observed. He dared to touch a few drops. He quickly dried his fingers. He listened to the rhythm as the rain dripped. Then he repeated the pattern with his own fingers on the ground.

Some people could call this obsessive-compulsive behavior. I would like to think he was learning about his environment.

At this point in my life, I would love to take the time to watch raindrops for longer than a few seconds. Maybe Ryan was onto something much bigger than just watching raindrops. Maybe he found a few moments of peace.

photo credit:tibchris

Patience

We are in the middle of painting--waiting for the new floor to get installed. Maybe this weekend the floor will get done. I have been amazed at how well the boys have adapted to our unpredictable way of life for the last two weeks.

They need more time to accomplish certain tasks, but overall, they have adjusted well. Ryan has adapted the easiest of the youngest three boys. He allows more time to do each task. Nick gets frustrated, but he persists. Cam wants to jam through everything; consequently, a second time is usually required.

Keeping calm is the name of the game. SIGH.

How To Channel and Develop Touch: Sensory Board

Kelly, our occupational therapist, strongly suggested we make a sensory board for the boys. The purpose of this board was to channel their tactile sensitivity. Our goal was to educate them about touch, literally direct their sense of touch. We did not want to desensitize; we did not want to deaden their sense of touch.

Now getting the boys to cooperate was a different matter.

We started simply: a plain piece of white cardboard. We asked the boys to look at it. The boys looked at it. No problem. Then we asked them to touch it. The boys had no problem touching it. Those were huge steps. Each step was followed by praise.

Over the following weeks, we slowly attached different materials to the board, adding only one at a time. Each material had a different surface. We included sand paper, silk, velvet, denim, wool, and plastic. Each piece was about three inches. Each new piece presented trials for each boy.

I touched the material first. I had to show the boys that I would not get hurt. Then I usually did a hand-over-hand with the boys. That means I took their hand and touched the new sample gently. I quickly let their hand go. Then it was up to them to willingly touch. Sometimes it took several attempts over months to get the boys comfortable to touch each sample.

We did not spend a lot of time in this activity. It really was a few minutes three or four times a week. I am not really sure how long it took for the boys to master the "touch" of the board; I think it was a year.

We then ventured into more surfaces, such as wood, sand, metal, and glass. We talked about the uses of each as the boys held the sample. We also cautioned them about the hazards of each.

As they adapted to these new surfaces, we tried going outside. Grass, trees, sidewalks, anything that was in their environment posed tactile problems. So the next step was to introduce more surfaces in a controlled environment: a sensory room. I'll write about our sensory room next time!

How To Change Chaos Into An Adventure

On January 5, I wrote that our water heater broke. Three areas in our house were damaged: the garage, kitchen, and bath room. We had to change our daily routine. We changed how we cooked and where we ate. We relocated many items from our pantry. In short, we had organized chaos, which autistic children do not like. As stated in a previous post, autistic children prefer a predictable routine.

I had to think creatively to ease the transition for Ryan, Nick, and Cameron. For meal times, I suggested we "picnic" on the living room floor. They thought that was really "cool". They spread out towels on the carpet. Plastic forks and paper plates were the rage.

Since we had minimal cooking facilities, we ate via candlelight to complete the "rugged" atmosphere. Fire and flame were also "cool". They each had a turn lighting the candles while I cringed with a water bucket in hand. All went well.

To find items that had to be moved from the pantry, we simply hunted. We never "looked" for an item; we hunted. Again, that really appealed to the primitive conditions of our house. Hunting was "cool".

I had to think outside the box quickly to keep this whole disaster in check. If I could stay calm, the boys had a better chance of staying calm. This was critical. I simply switched from the pessimistic point of view to the optimistic point of view. I was very careful with my words and my tone.

So what started as a nightmare turned into a wonderful adventure.