Christmas Without Cooking, a GF/CG Miracle

This was the first Christmas since we started treating AJ through diet and biomedical intervention we didn't have to prepare his meal and bring it somewhere. My mom bought and prepared the entire holiday meal for everyone using organic and gluten free, casein free ingredients. The diet has become such a part of our lifestyle I hadn't realized how strange it would feel to not have to worry about "what is AJ going to eat?" Usually at a family party there is a huge spread of food and JC or I prepare his meal separately. We have a bag with GF/CF containers of whatever is being served. Little containers of AJ's special food highlighting the fact his needs are different then everyone else. This time AJ appreciated walking through the line just like anyone else. He picked and chose exactly what he wanted to eat. My Mom also commented that once she got over the scary feelings of the unknown, it was not hard to do. GF/CF really means roasting more veggies, eating more fruit, less baking and less depending on butter to provide the flavor. Now we tend to use more spices, oregano, rosemary, dill, basil. Overall I believe we eat much healthier then we used to.

Thank God for Dr. U and Our Family.

Today I stopped at AJ's Doctor's office to replenish some of his supplements. Today's tab ran $261.23. Insurance will cover none of it. They are not pharmaceuticals. Thankfully my wife and I are not in this alone. This months supplements were covered by an unexpected gift from one of her relatives. As I left the office I saw a man loading an SUV with a baby stroller. They were from out of state, visiting our Doctor. As I looked around the parking lot the license plates reinforced how fortunate we are. Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, parents drive with their kids affected by Autism to seek out treatment for the untreatable. In previous visits we have met people from Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, even as far away as Italy and other countries in Europe. We are blessed to have such a wonderful Doctor, a true healer, 25 minutes from our home. When we contacted her 3 years ago the wait list was 8 months long and because we were local we only had to wait 4 months. We jumped at an open slot with a few days notice, from someone who had to cancel. Now her wait list is at least two years. I prayed for our son to begin his treatment before his 4th birthday and the first week of July an appointment opened up. I took the appointment without question and cried tears of joy. With the support of our Doctor, true science, family, and friends, we are recovering my son. When I am able I will help others recover their children. This blog is helping me focus my efforts for my son and I hope will help others as well. I just received an offer in my email box for a program to teach how to profitably blog.

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

This should be interesting.

Wet Pants, Bloody Noses, and Supplements.

This was a good week for reminders of how important A's supplements are. During the hectic holiday season A's supplements are not always given. We try to keep up the routine, and God bless people who can do it 100%. I admire them. My wife and I stumble at times. Sometimes we run out, sometimes the kids are with their Grandparents and don't get the supplements, sometimes we are rushed and forget. The Omega 3's from the fish oil seems to help with his ability to know when he has to use the bathroom. I noticed a couple of times he had a small accident with wet pants, not a full jean wetting soak, but his underwear was damp. Maybe he doesn't realize he has to go until he feels it on the outside. I don't know why, but making sure he gets his Nordic Naturals will cure that problem. Nose bleeds mean he needs more zinc. When we were shoveling the other day he looked at me holding his shovel smiling, "I'm doing good shoveling. Right Dad?" I looked up to see his eyes shining bright, his toothless grin, and blood running out of his nose down the sides of his mouth. He had no idea. He does not seem to have much sensation under his nose and around his mouth. We've been through this before though. I checked with J later that night and turns out we ran out of his liquid zinc and the powdered form got missed a few times. At least we know what to do, even if we don't completely know why.

Get Everyone on the Same Page to Move Forward

On Friday I went to a presentation at AJ's school called "Supporting the Growth of Positive Behavior in Young Children". Great information from a wonderful resource in Illinois, Star Net Region II http://www.thecenterweb.org/ 1-224-366-8579. The school provided babysitting and at the end of the presentation KJ and AJ were brought into the room. The aide, JD, worked with AJ on zippering his coat. As I watched I realized she was teaching different then I was teaching. Which may be different then the way my wife is teaching, and his grandparents may have a different approach. No wonder AJ still can't zip his coat. AJ needs one way taught across every environment, he will learn with consistency and reinforcement. We gave him different methods in different environments. I have to create a sheet with the goal to teach, the steps involved, the words to use, and the prompts to use. With everyone using the same methods to teach the basics AJ will progress much faster, his frustration level will decrease, his confidence will increase.

Our Dodge Ball Victory

AJ left Indian Guides smiling and talking about the dodge ball game. "I had fun at indan geeds, Dad. I threw the ball." As he talked his hands mimed the act of throwing. I am happy he enjoyed himself and had fun. I struggle knowing by the third game all of the other kids played like he wasn't there. His opponents stopped throwing at him, and his own team stopped trying to instruct him. The kids knew AJ wasn't able to keep up. He didn't have even a basic understanding of the game. I felt a mixture of devastation and celebration. Devastation because he was so obviously at a different level of development. When AJ is excited he rubs his hands together in front of him, scrunches his shoulders up, puts his head down in front of him and hums. Writing it is not nearly as endearing as seeing AJ get excited. When we joined Indian Guides I didn't mention AJ's issues. Part of me fantasized, maybe AJ will just blend in he's progressed so much. No. Not in a sports activity he won't. I would call him over to try and explain the game, but really I wanted him to stop stimming. Three years ago AJ wouldn't go in a gym. He would cry because the noise was too loud, the building too big. Last night the boys ran in every direction yelling. The balls were being thrown and bouncing all over. AJ was in the middle of it all laughing and smiling. He couldn't understand the rules, didn't know he was on a team, and had no idea what the point of the game was, but he had fun in a gym. AJ will learn the rest. And we can celebrate those victories too.

It's Been A While

It's been a while since my first post. I started a real estate career at the same time I started blogging and realised I couldn't learn them both at the same time. My goal is to post 3x a week. My father-in-law was able to get us free tickets to the Barnum and Bailey Circus when it was at the United Center a couple of weeks ago. With my son's sensory issues I would not spend $240.00 on tickets to something like that, not knowing if I would be sitting in the $20.00 parking lot watching the wind blow the trees, waiting for my wife and daughter to finish enjoying the show. It was Awesome. I was never so proud and amazed to see the joy in A's face as the performer's swung, danced, and twirlled throughout the Big Top. The opening minutes of the circus included some indoor fireworks explosions that even six months ago would have sent A covering his ears and crying. My wife and I looked at each other after seeing him holding his ears and laughing. Three years ago we could not take him to Home Depot or Costco because the size of the building and the noise of the forklifts would create a panic attack and screaming fit. Now we were watching fireworks inside the United Center and people were all around us laughing, clapping, shouting and our son enjoyed it all. His favorite part was the dogs, one of the quietest acts. The dog that went down the slide backwards left the biggest impression on him. A is six and still does not use a slide very often. Only with a lot of patience, encouragement, and time. Time is the biggest hurdle. He may take an hour to warm up to the idea of attempting the slide. Then need another 30 minutes to actually use the slide. It is difficult to carve out that kind of time for the slide when he has so many other things to learn.