11.10.2004

Autism Interlude

Leelo celebrated his birthday by taking a sharp turn into loopy-land. He's still there. Chattering away, difficult to get his attention. His three-week-old cold has suddenly become more pronounced as well. Coincidence? I think not.

We have finally taken away his high chair (which I loved for its containment factor) and are having him sit on a stool at the counter like everyone else except the serving wench (me). He can do it, but on days like today his compliance is not great.

I am not so well able to deal with him as I am wrecked. Not ill like Badger, poor dear, but still almost gone. Tuesdays are our hyper-busy sucky schedule days, I was on the snack committee for last night's Iron Gate meeting (6:30 - 10:00 P.M.), Iz was up most of the night with tummy trouble, Seymour has very cool but time-consuming work responsibilities and couldn't help prep the monsters for school, and then I worked in the Iron Gate nursery this morning. I am pooped. Time for a short nap. But first, a mixed bag of autism items that've been piling up:

Tomorrow I'll be interviewing a new pediatrician candidate. She seems too good to be true: She is a board-certified pediatrician as well as a certified homeopath, and is treating several DAN protocol patients. She says she is completely comfortable with our desire to reduce or eliminate vaccinations for our kids. She is happy to correspond via email, and so far has been very prompt about doing so. She is here in Deadwood, near Iz's school. Did I take some sort of hallucinogenic? Can she be real?

The only potential snag is the insurance side of things--I am used to the smooth processed world of our HMO (yes, they did swallow that MRI bill), whereas she only works the PPO angle, meaning I'd need to be the one to process and stay on top of all the paperwork. Barf. Worth it, though.

Here are Supervisor Andil's thoughts on Leelo's neurology evaluation and its EEG spikes. (FYI, the "Super" in supervisor comes from her being able to do things like write this less than one week after giving birth.) Anyhow:
Squid and all...As far as the EEG in my opinion it is not so bad. Blanking out is common with people with autism and may be seizure activity or other just lack of attention. If you see an increase in blanking, a decrease in progress, or most important when kids are having seizure type activity they lose skills they just mastered. It mostly affects short term memory. So, we would see this show up in the data. Typically, if seizures do develop of a more severe nature these do not usually emerge until adolescence (hormone related) and are most likely seen in more severely autistic people. I agree with the doctor that there is no reason now to start medication. As far as the ADHD meds--if he can make progress and is able to attend in his ABA program and preschool I would wait until school age where being seated for lengths of time is required.

Reassuring.

From MB, recently back from the El Lay DAN! conference:
There is substantial backing for the DAN! theories. Many, many studies by credentialed people from prestigious institutions, in peer-evaluated studies published in respected journals. They are thinking a particular polymorphism within a certain gene interferes with that individual's methylation pathways - which screws up everything. That polymorphism must have been around a long time; it's the last ten years of heavy metal exposures in both vaccines and other places that are showing up now in these kids, who are exposed to much more than, say, we were as kids.

Happy notes about Leelo's progress. He was doing magnificently last week, and through Monday. Maybe turning four flipped some cuckoo switch.

Encouraging notes from Therapist F about his progress at Iron Gate Nursery School.

Finally, a very cool autism article, courtesy of Seymour. The research is coming along, breaking through...and hopefully will come to fruition soon enough to help our kids. Fingers crossed.

And now, to bed.

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