NVI & VI

DAN!

I talked it over with my husband and we have decided to go to a DAN! for a consult. Austin's appointment is September 11th.

To gear up for it, I'm currently reading Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies by Kenneth Bock, M.D., and Cameron Stauth. It was recommeded to me by Molly over at Zavier's Journey. It's a great book and has given me some great information on why the DAN! approach can and does help a lot of kids with any of the above mentioned disorders. I see why healing the gut and providing supplaments can help and it's exciting to have something to look forward to and have some more hope although I know it is not a magical cure by any means. Dr. Bock himself says that it is a combination of diet, supplaments, therapy, etc.. that will help our children. Also it is not an overnight cure but rather a marathon instead of sprint.

A Big Surprise

I went away for a few days to meet up with my husband in Baltimore. I took Kaitlin and had my grandma fly in to keep Austin so he wouldn't have to miss any of those therapy sessions I worked oh so hard to get. And when I came home, I got the best surprise ever. Austin is now doing some nonverbal AND verbal imitation!!! This is so huge to me b/c I am so hopefull the sounds will one day become words.

For the "ba" and "mm" sounds they are just asking him if they are using objects or looking at pictures that begin with those sounds, like the Monkey book or playing with balls or getting him to say book. Then they'll say "ah", "oo", "ee", "ssss" and ask him to do the same and he is getting those expecially "ah" and "ee" and he is really trying to do they others. Then for the nonverbal imitation, they do things like patting their heads, touching their lips, opening and closing mouth, and sticking out tongue and he repeated them all CORRECTLY when asked. It's so very exciting!!!

Round 2?

I've been thinking about Austin alot (well actually I'm always thinking about him) but I often wonder if I'm doing a good enough job as a parent especially when it comes to him. I wonder if I need to at least try to see a DAN! so I can make sure that I gave it a shot even if it doesn't work for us. Lately I've really been thinking about going GF/CF again. We did 3 months last time and saw zero improvements but then I always tell myself I should have waited 6 months and I should not have given him soy milk but by time I found out that soy wasn't so great either, we were already 2+ months into the diet. Another reason I've been thinking about it so much is the fact that he has been having little spells of diarrhea ever few days. I'm still debating what to do from here but for now I'm keeping a food journal to see if I can pinpoint a food culprit.

ABA from EI starts tomorrow so now we will be in full swing. 14 hours per week! I wish it was the recommended 30-40 but 14 is more than I ever expected he would get so I am just really thankful. Last week he started PECS both the book and a schedule. He understands checking the schedule but has yet to realize the picture is representative of what is coming next.

Oh and before I forget, Thomas over at the autism experience tagged me to write about 5 of my favorite things so here they are:

1. Spending time with our families back in Texas - I just love it when we are all together. It may sound cheesy but it really does give you that warm cozy feeling inside.

2. Reading - I don't get to do very much of these days, in fact the 3 library books I checked out have been renewed once and they are all over due as I type this and I only made through half of one! But I digress...I love true crime books the most.

3. Going on vacations - Usually just the vacation part though. I hate getting there and leaving LOL. I just enjoy getting to do stuff away from everyday life and love seeing new places.

4. Mexican Food - There is some good places here in California but I still miss Tex-Mex food very very much!!

5. My children - Thomas is very right; There isn't anything better than being a parent. I just love watching them grow, learn, smile, laugh, everything.

ABA update

We start ABA next week, Tuesday to be exact. ABA through EI hasn't started yet; this will be through our special insurance. For now, we will be working with a BCBA named Maryann 2 hours and 15 min. every Tuesday and Thursday. This weekend I'll be working on rearranging Austin's room to be more of a therapy room. Here's hoping to see lots of new progress. I already know that she is planning on introducting him to PECS and will be working with me on how to get those oh so terrible tantrums under control.

We are still horseback riding and Austin is loving it every single time. I think it is still too new to see any results but I'm just happy that he enjoys it for now.

We Love Horses

Today was Austin's first day at hippotherapy and he did so good!! He was a little cranky when we first got there but once he saw the horses he was happy. He didn't even try to take off the helmet! He rides a little pony named Pancho. They start out by taking him riding on a little trail so he gets used to the movement and I get to walk with them. Then they go into an arena and do activities with him and I'm not allowed in there. He has 3 people around him at all times and they do things like blowing bubbles, stacking rings, and tossing balls in buckets and he has to do all those things sitting and keeping his balance. He also has to ride sideways and backwards and laying down. They also work with signs and teaching him go and whoa. He did the go one a few times when they stopped. It's a good motivator since he really really likes riding. And then at the end, he gets off, has to put his helmet away and goes and gets carrots to feed the horse. It's really nice and I'm happy and hope to see some good benefits!! Thanks so much to Thomas over at the GFCF Experience for introducing me to this wonderful type of therapy!

Psych Eval

Austin had his psych eval on Thursday. He's been evaluated by a neuro-developmental pediatrician in the past who diagnosed him but the regional center here in San Diego won't provide autism services unless you see the child psychologist. She didn't do any formal testing but did bring out several toys to see what he did with them. She also watched his eye contact with me and noticed that several times when he was signing, there was no eye contact but he did look at me when she was approaching him and he also responded really well to praise. She said that he was stimming a lot - hand flaps, toe walking, running, and climbing. And then he also had a few of his tantrums and even hit the dr. during one. I was dissapointed that he tantrummed while we were there but later realized I'm glad. As much as I would like for him to be the perfect angel during dr. appointments, I know it is important for the dr. to get an accurate (or at least as much as possible in a short time) picture of who he is so they can recommend exactly what he needs. The result of all this is we are getting ABA 2 hours per day and 5 days a week!

In other therapy updates, the therapeutic horseback riding center that I enrolled Austin in called and his first session is July 2nd!

I finally feel like we are getting somewhere now and I have something to look forward to.