water, left out & noises

It really heated up this week.  Yesterday and today reached a high of 96 degrees.  For the rest of the week we're back into the mid 60's.  It will probably storm with this cold front moving in.  It was so hot in the house I had to set up a sleeping area in our basement so we could all sleep.  I'd run our air conditioner but our electric bill goes way up.  I switched over to box fans for our windows but from what happened last summer the bill was no different then if I ran the air conditioner.  Why waste the energy if the house doesn't cool down?  Just go downstairs I figure.

Dane loves water unless it involves getting his hair washed.  My sister-in-law bought a water sprinkler system from the dollar store.  She thought that the older kids would have played with it but Dane was the only one.  Allyson, my daughter, stayed in the clear because the water was cold.  Once Dane ran through it once, he had fun with his cousins spraying him with their super soakers.  I originally bought the water guns thinking Dane would play with them but he can't squeeze the trigger.  I'd like to go back and maybe find him a battery operated water sprayer so he can play and get back at his cousins.

Grandma had 5 tickets to see the same circus we just seen last week.  I do not wish to see it again but my nephews didn't see it.  Grandma took my 2 nephews and had 2 tickets left for kids 12 and under free admission.  Dane overheard that they were going to the circus.  I told him that he already seen the circus and now it is Damian and Tylers turn.  He went to our truck and threw the booster seats in the back and then buckled himself in.  There he stayed spinning the wheels on his little car.  I came to check on him from time to time and ask if he was going to come out and play.  He said "No" and that he's going to the circus.  As long as he wasn't getting out of control I thought I'd let him sit in the car until he was ready to come out.

A while later Grandma and the boys left and Dane came out.  He took it pretty well seeing that Grandpa stayed back.  He got out his power wheels jeep and rode around the yard with his sister on her 4 wheeler power wheels.  I got out the go cart and we chased each other around the yard.  Dane wanted a ride because I gave Ally one.  He would have had a complete meltdown if I wouldn't have but it was no trouble.

Dane has his therapy tomorrow and I have FML off of work.  I get to talk with one of the counselors with my wife to discuss how things are going and if we need to work on anything new.  The noises he is making sticking out his tongue and unresponsive when we talk to him is to be of concern.  The counselor wants us to try and capture on video what he looks like during the process.  It may be seizure activity and may lead up to an EEG scan on his brain.

Chelation

When I first got the results that my son was diagnosed with autism, I wanted answers. What do I do now? Who do we go to? Can we do anything about this? Will my child grow out of it?

Thinking back within the last decade, I don't recall ever hearing much about autism. Now, since my son was diagnosed over a year ago, it seems like it's all I hear about. Billboard signs, radio ads, TV, magazine articles, etc. I guess someone who doesn't have kids pays attention to things like that. After kids and becoming parents the first time, you ask yourself, "Is this normal for my child?" You begin to talk with other parents and compare your kids. You need to know.

My sister talked of a woman who has two autistic children who were given something that the woman said, "Changed their children and seen a difference within a week." Could this be a treatment their not telling us? What is it?

Chelation treatment involves chemical removal of metals from the body. Some people say it can help and even cure autism. Chelation has been used for lead poisoning with successful results. The chemicals in the chelation bind to the metals and then are excreted from the body by urination.

Some people think that thimersol, a preservative, mercury based vaccine is responsible for causing autism. By disposing of the metal people hope to reverse the effects of autism caused by the mercury. There may be potential dangers of using chelation therapy and really no scientific research backing up if it is safe and effective. I'm not sure. If your curious about the subject I suggest you do more research.

There are no studies linking mercury to the development of autism or showing that children with autism had greater exposure to mercury than children who are unaffected from what I've read up on.  So, what causes autism?  Genetics being mutated or a link to vaccines?  Someday we will know more about it from studies being done.

I don't know what to think about this cleansing of metals to help autism cases. It's interesting to know that it's out there but I'd have to check into it more before I went through with it. My child's safety comes first over any treatment.

Humming & Flapping Arms

My son started flapping his arms and waving his hands in front of his face.  I guess that we are supposed to discourage this activity.  He hums and makes weird noises all the time also.

I remembered watching a 20/20 episode about a girl who was non-verbal who started to communicate at the age of 11 through typing.  When asked a question, she could respond with a computer.  How exciting is that a severely autistic girl taught herself how to read and write and communicate.  When asking her questions, she can answer by typing one letter at a time.

Carly Fleishmann describes what it is like to be autistic.

"You don't know what it feels like to be me, when you can't sit still because your legs feel like they are on fire or it feels like a hundred ants are crawling up your arms."

"It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can't speak."

"I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but if a horse is sick, you don't ask a fish what's wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse's mouth." 

My son bangs his head at times.  I often wondered about that.  She answered this and it is something to think about.

Carly says,  "Because if I don't it feels like my body is going to explode. It's just like when you shake a can of coke. If I could stop it I would but it is not like turning a switch off, it does not work that way. I know what is right and wrong but it's like I have a fight with my brain over it."


About my son when he hums and flaps his arms, I found that this is what Carly had to say.

Carly: "It's a way for us to drown out all sensory input that over loads us all at once. We create output to block out input."

I don't know what made me think of this episode or how I remembered it but somehow it just crossed my mind tonight and I wanted to research it more.  If you go here http://abcnews.go.com/2020/MindMoodNews/story?id=8258204&page=1 you will be able to read more on her or go to her site here http://carlysvoice.com/

Watch Carly's story on 20/20 here http://youtu.be/34xoYwLNpvw

 

Shrine Circus

I woke up this morning crammed in the middle of Dane on the edge by my wife, Dawn.  I was laying on my side next to Dawn and Ally was curled in a ball next to me on the other side.  Glancing up at the clock it read about 6:30 A.M.  I was thinking to myself that I'll try to roll out around 7 and maybe get the house picked up to start the day.

Just then Dane woke up and wanted to lay buy me.  He walked around to the other side of the bed where his sister, Allyson was sleeping.  He said he wanted to lay by daddy and started hitting her in her sleep.  What a way to start the day off.  Ally started crying and Dane kept saying that "Daddy's naughty."  He finally went to his room and slammed the door.  I peeked in and he was gazing at his guinea pigs.  As long as he's quiet and content I'll stay clear from him.

My wife told me later in the morning that Dane's therapist had given her 2 free passes to the circus in town.  I wasn't sure about going and taking the kids but I called up Grandma and asked if she wanted to go.  She said she'd come but have to catch a quick nap first.  That was fine because the show didn't start for 6 hours.  For the next 3 hours Dane kept saying, "Go to the circus?"  I told him it doesn't start till 3.  He wanted to push a chair next to the clock and turn the little hand to 3.  He thinks that makes it 3 o'clock by doing that.  I tell him that's not how time works and he still needs to wait a few hours.

I was surprised how well the kids sat through the 2 hour show.  Dane cupped his ears a lot from the crowd and music.  I didn't like how people kept walking through with snow cones, popcorn, toys, water, glow sticks, etc...The whole first half was people selling over priced junk.  We did buy a bucket of popcorn for 10 bucks, cotton candy for 4 bucks before the show.  During, I bought a snow cone in a lighted cup for 10 bucks for Dane.  He became to focused on the cup that we had to shut it off so he would watch the show.  Later, Grandma bought Ally one so she had a lighted cup also.

Dane with elephant in background

By intermission time, Dane wanted to leave.  I told him that it was almost over.  I think the noise was getting to him but he did tough it out.  Just before intermission ended, he had to pee.  Then Ally wanted to go also.  Dawn and Grandma took the kids to the bathroom while I held our spot.  They didn't miss much by the time they got back.  People were getting rides on the elephants and they were selling more junk to people in the stands.

About a minute before the show ended, Dane had to go pee again.  I got up and started walking him towards the front and then the show was over.  It was probably a good thing we got up when we did because we beat two thirds of the crowd out the door.

It didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep in the vehicle on the way home.  I'm glad we went but I don't think I'll go to another circus for a long time.