The Face of Autism

This is just a fun little project that included everyone in the family. My husband shot this photo while doing an Eli "photo shoot," meaning stalking him with a camera until a picture of his face is obtained. (He also managed to get one with a big smile!) I did alittle photo editing on the photo. (I did tons of photo editing in college... already getting rusty!) It is still overexposed, etc, but I found the end result with his little gaze to be pretty meaningful. I can also imagine my brother at this age looking at me with his own gaze which somehow still looks at me and through me at the same time.

Immunizations

I had an experience afew weeks ago that I have been thinking about ever since.

I went to see a friend who is an autism sibling like me who had a new baby, about one month old. That little guy was such a doll, and so aware. He could tell that someone that was not mom or dad was holding him, but he decided he could tolerate me after afew minutes. I felt such a connection with the little guy, with the exception of weight and looks, he was just like my little boy at that age... behaved in the same ways. I was so excited I told my husband all about him when I got home. Then he asked me, "Have they been doing immunizations?" And that was all it took for me to sit on my couch and cry for awhile. My husband understood what was wrong and just lovingly sat there with me.

I've spoken before about how I sometimes think about things I would have done differently as a parent in my Mother's Day post. Immunizations is one of those things. I wish I had not been so unaware. Maybe my son would have had less symptoms and had been able to enjoy life more from an early age if I had waited and watched him for symptoms first, waited for safer immunizations, or simply avoided immunizations all together.

Eli has been in biochemical intervention for one year this month. Biochemical intervention has made a difference, even though we can't afford even half the therapies we wold like to have him in. None of his therapies are covered by insurance, and his diet and supplements are hard for us to keep up with. Despite this, Eli can interact in ways he couldn't before, and finds happiness in things he didn't before. (During the drafting of this post he signed "dance" along with a verbal approximation and he grabbed my hands and we danced around the living room!)Previous to Eli seeing a DAN! doctor, his father and I read "Changing the Course of Autism" by Dr. Bryan Jepson. The experience of reading this book was amazing. It is such a compilation of research. It explained to me things that I saw going on with my son and my brother, and the autism community in general, and I was instantly converted.

Now understanding the connection between genetics and autism, and also immunizations and autism due in part to heavy metals, I am appalled to admit that Eli has had the "full schedule" of shots up until the age of 24 months, flu shots, plus he was enrolled in one immunization study. (The doctor, who had children of his own, said that the study was one he would do, and I was way too trusting back then.) My son now has an immunization waiver which allows him to attend public school.

To all the people reading this thinking, "this girl is off her rocker," I want to tell you something: I was once you. Consider the big business that has been built around the immunization program, and what the business implications may be to said big business if each child in the country had one less mercury infused immunization. Consider the government all these years in supporting this big business by requiring children to have a full schedule of immunizations in order to go to school. Then consider that the CDC can't seem to recognize the evidence right in front of them. So I put it to you, I am not a professional after all. Tell me, do these dots deserve to be connected?

Here's an interesting video of CDC accidentally admitting there is a link between autism and immunizations. (I am indebted to Ginger's blog, www.advenduresinautism.blogspot.com for this link.)



Parents, please educate yourselves. Let your mother/father instincts guide you.




"The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief [. . .] of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense."
Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Little Lifesaver in a Jar

I'm not talking about the candy. I'm talking about the little jar of stuff pictured above--- Ghee! This great stuff has been a lifesaver for me with my son's GF/CF diet.

I went to my local Good Earth store one day looking for this because it was the mysterious ingredient in some of the recipes in this book. One of the managers knew what and where it was... it ended up being clarified butter. I almost passed it up... butter is not ok on my son's diet. She explained that clarified means that all proteins are removed... meaning no casein is in it.

Why is this so great? Well, on top of GF/CF my son limits his own diet quite a bit. Margarine, even canola marg is out of the question. No one should eat hydrogenated fats. Bottom line is that this Ghee stuff helps my son accept some foods he normally wouldn't. I stir a teaspoon of it in his GF noodles with some steamed veggies and some salt. He won't eat spaghetti, but he will eat this. (I love it that I can get some veggies down him this way!) At $8 a jar it sure is not cheap, but this little jar has lasted a long time and has flavored many meals of pasta and vegetables and some of brown rice. :)

Backyard Pictures

Eli makes me laugh. He is very interested in the camera, and he notices when I take a picture. He wants to see the picture on the little screen of the camera every time. The funny part is that for all his interest, he sure resists being photographed! Here is one of him hiding his face and running around when he saw me with the camera.



I was just lucky to get this next one, I guess. It does drive me alittle bit crazy that he won't just give me one of his gorgeous smiles for a picture, but his pouty face is just as cute! He may still be working on the language, but he is extremely expressive without it. (You should hear his pouty "aaaaoooowww" expression that accompanies this face.)

Signing Time

Signing Time is a series of products that were started by a Utah family in an effort to share sign language, the language of a young family member named Leah, with their friends and the rest of the family.



My son's first words were "car" and "ball" but they were not consistent, and after a time disappeared. His first consistent communications with us were signs that he learned in part from volume one of Signing Time. His first sign was "more." Then came "milk." It was like a mini miracle. Our son was talking to us with functional communication!

www.signingtime.com

If you are not a parent but have a friend, niece, nephew, or grandchild who is struggling with language development, why not surprise the parents with the first volume? I have learned from them myself, and I have been so grateful for the miracle of that first little sign my son made.

My son is still learning from the Signing Time videos at the age of four. (Animals, colors, and letter signs.) We started out with just the regular volume one. We have never used any of the other products, just the original series.

I probably live relatively close to these people, but I don't know them and I am not affiliated with their company, I'm just sharing what has worked with my autistic son's language development.

Image used with permission.

Another Chem Free Idea

Here's my son's used, beat up tube of toothpaste. He has actually been using this type of toothpaste for quite some time. I guess this one was a no brainer for me since it goes in his mouth and he swallows it. It is completely natural, and I opt to give him the fluoride free version. Why? I guess I am skeptical of this fluoride stuff when it comes to my sensitive little boy. I mean, if the label of fluoride toothpastes say that poisoning can occur if more than a pea sized amount is swallowed, it can't possibly be safe for his delicate system. That's what my fears have been, anyway.

Yet Another Book I'd Rather Not Live Without

It's about time I updated that book list of the books I have found helpful. So far I have posted them in the order that I acquired them.

To keep a running total of my book list, the first was Changing The Course of Autism, by Dr. Bryan Jepson. Read my post here.

The second book I blogged about was Life Tastes Good Again, by Kristi Kirkland and Betsy Thomas. Read my post here.

The third book I got my hands on was The Kid Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet, by Pamela J Compart, M.D. and Dana Laake, R.D.H., M.S., L.D.N.



I found this one day while browsing Amazon.com and decided I had to have it. I have been very pleased! Only half of this book has actual recipes. The first half of the book contains these chapters:
Chapter one: Food Reactions: What they are and how to test for them
Chapter two: The Culprits: Glutens, Casein, Soy, and others
Chapter three: More Culprits (this chapter explains diets and who they help)
Chapter four: Eater Beware! Improving your nutritional IQ and shooting down myths
Chaper five: Yes-there is plenty left to eat!
Chapter six: Getting started and bumps along the way
Chapter seven: Dealing with the diet and common concerns

The second half of the book covers the practical side of the diet... what and how to get the right nutrition down our kids! It features ideas, strategies, and recipes straight from parents. I have found it very useful.

I'd have to say that my favorite part of this book are the "blue boxes," the little tidbits here and there that are quotes from the parents, or the children themselves. From those I learned that for some kids there is dramatic, almost instantaneous improvement, and those are the ones I often hear about in many sources. That has not happened in my house, however. But from those parent quotes I learned that many parents also see steady improvements that happen over time... that is what I have been seeing! It has been very encouraging to see others having the same challenges but seeing results as they stuck to it.

My son started on the diet in July of last year. Now he is starting to say 2-3 words together... functionally!