Wednesday, April 16, 2008

So much going on

Gus just turned seven this week. And even beyond that lie has been...eventful. We went to the autism fair, and while I didn't learn much in the way of new information, I did see some of his old teachers/therapists and that was wonderful!

I have been gathering a great deal of information from other sources mostly about dietary changes, nutritional supplementation, yeast, yada yada. It's too much to go into until I can process it all, but I'm working on doing just that. Processing.

I've started experimenting with probiotics a little - just soy yogurt and now acidophilus. There's a panel that I will be attending tomorrow of therapists, DAN doctors and nutritionists regarding the biomedical take on autism. Apparently the buzz these days (at least in that field) is that autism, ADHD, asthma and allergies are all treatable and reversible with diet, supplementation and detox. I don't know how comfortable I am with some of the detox methods, but I feel like I have to at least be informed.

The other issue I find myself having is that I wonder where one draws the line between trying to help your child and trying to 'fix' your child. Where does acceptance come into play? How much unpleasantness do these children have to experience all in the name of making them 'better?'

Speaking of unpleasantness, I will be attempting to have Gus's bottom from teeth pulled on Monday. Hopefully, nitrous oxide will help keep him calm enough. The permanent teeth are fully in and growing into (toward the tongue) his mouth. If we wait too long, they may not come forward on their own. I am not looking forward to this, but it seems necessary.

We've tried a couple of karate classes in the past 2 weeks and Gus did better than expected. I don't know if we'll sign him up for the year - that will be determined after a few more classes. But he seems to like it.

So that's where we've been. Hope all is well with you & thanks for reading!