I know that yesterday I was kind of worried that there was a reaction with some new foods. I didn't necessarily think it could already be a reaction with the diet (although I didn't want to rule it out) but I was definitely worried about an allergic reaction given DH's allergies and history. But there was no rash and no diarrhea, just fussiness and a little bit of eye rubbing. I gave him a few more rice cakes today and everything was all good. So yesterday was just a fluke day and Austin was just whiny.
I now have a few more things to research because my ST brought up verbal apraxia as a possibility. From what little I have read, I know that Austin exhibits 3 of the signs of apraxia but that a dx usually isn't given until about age 3 b/c of the difficulty to tell with little ones. He has low muscle tone in his mouth and is almost always using the open mouth posture and drools especially if he is trying to focus on a task. Another thing that I read is that sometimes with apraxia, you will hear the child say a word but then never say it again and that is because they can not make the words form. Something from the brain to the mouth does not connect when they want/need it to. There have been several times where DH and I have thought Austin said a word but have never heard it more than once or have heard it randomly. He can also say "mama" and "dada" but just does not use them appropriately even though if we ask him to point to a picture of mama or daddy in a photo album he can usually pick out the correct person. Finally, with apraxia, the child's receptive language is usually stronger than their expressive language and I must admit that I feel like Austin understand a lot of what we say and do.
She also is positive that all of Austin's sensory issues are one of the causes for his delays. I can't imagine what is going through his mind but I can only hope that this diet will lessen some of those sensory issues so that he can feel more calm and focus more on his therapy and the things that we are trying to teach him.
2 comments:
First of all, big hugs to you. It is so hard to sort through all this information. I just want to tell you what a good mom I think you are.
I think you are wise not to focus too much on "a dx" right now but to focus instead on the areas where Austin needs help. A dx is really only important to get services. (Usually it is pretty important after age 3, depending on your state and insurance company.)
It sounds like you are working hard on ST and I assume OT too? My OT was my best friend when my son was in early intervention. She seemed to have a knack for understanding his sensory needs. Do you have some of the "Out of sync" books about Sensory Integration to use at home?
I don't want to get too personal, but do you have concerns about social, behavior, stimming, anything like that? When my son was small we also had ABA in the therapy mix, and that therapist kind of used her expertise to reinforce what the other therapists were doing. She also taught me a lot. Alas, once early intervention ended we couldn't afford ABA but I had learned enough to continue. It may not apply to Austin, he may just need ST and OT, just thought I'd mention it.
The fact that Austin has high receptive speech is a good sign. You should feel encouraged by that. Take his strengths, and use them to build up his weaknesses, if that makes any sense.
It is a lot of work at this stage, all the therapies. But you are doing great.
Also, remember to enjoy your beautiful boy. If I have one regret, it is that I jumped into "supermom" mode when my son was dx'd and I think I might have missed some sweet moments, due to my worries.
I hope you don't mind me always writing so much, I don't mean to hijack your blog, I just feel connected to you and your friends and understand what it is like.
Katherine
I'm glad it wasn't the rice cakes.
I agree about the sensory issues. I think a lot of the delays Victor faces are because of sensory too. I hope OT helps him eventually.
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