Ben's Day

Today was a typical day for Ben. He went to school at 8:15, did his school stuff, had lunch and I picked him up at 1pm. He's been pretty happy and affectionate, but still stimming and yelling as usual. I worked with him for a little while this afternoon, doing a couple of puzzles at his work table and then doing some floor play. He actually built a tower with his blocks when I showed him how to do it and then asked him to do the same. He was only mildly interested in it but it's a start. We jumped on the trampoline, sang the ABCs (just me and Caroline) and then banged on the toy drum while we sang row row row your boat. I was testing his imitation skills by asking him to copy me as I tapped on the table. He didn't do everything I asked him to, but I can't deny that Ben understands me, he just doesn't know why he's doing these silly things.

Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

Ben didn't do so great at school or his therapies this week. He was antsy, uncooperative and very stimmy. I don't know whether this has anything to do with the diet or not, because theoretically, there's nothing in the diet that should disagree with him. I guess I'll hold out for a couple more weeks, as long as I've gotten this far. He's been chewing on his shirts lately, and ruined the collars of two shirts at school on Friday. I've heard that Zinc supplementation can reduce the desire to chew, so I'm going to try that as soon as the Zinc I ordered comes in the mail. At least he doesn't seem to be chewing wood anymore. I did find what I think was a crayon in his mouth last night. Definitely not on the diet. We're going to try going to church as a family this morning and Ben can go to the nursery. I always feel like I should stay in the nursery and watch Ben, because he's so noisy and drops things all over the floor. The other kids and parents don't quite know what to make of him. Sometimes they ask me why he yells all the time! Wish I knew. But I'll try to get away today so I can sit with Rob and the girls. I feel like I should be spending more time working with Ben, I know I really don't spend enough. I need to make it a higher priority. My excuses are not important. *sigh*

Still Doing SCD

Well, Ben's still on the diet. I've not noticed any real improvement yet, but his teacher said he was noticably calmer at school on Thursday and he did great at his therapies this week. At home his is pretty much the same, and if anything, his yelling has gotten a little worse. But he is making some interesting sounds and I think he has been saying nananananana when drawing my attention to the bananas on the refridgerator. Ben's Occupational therapist told me on Saturday that she would classify Ben as being moderate to severely autistic on the Autistic spectrum judging from his functionality. I've been thinking a lot about that lately and trying not to let it depress me too much. He's definitely not a mild case, she said, and I know she's right. Perhaps I have not been willing to face the severity of Ben's impairment. I will have to think about things some more and decide how I want to approach things from here, whether I want to continue pursuing biomedical treatments or should I devote myself to education and therapy. I need some more education on the ABA technique, and something called Verbal Behavior, which is a method used to teach language to autistic children. So many things to read about. I'm finding that I cannot do everything at once, though. I have to take one day at a time.

We've Taken the Plunge . . .

Well, we did. I finally put Ben on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Saturday was his first day and he's done okay so far, but this morning he slept until 10 am (VERY unusual for him) and he's been lethargic all day long. We went to the mall today and he just let me push him around. He hasn't yelled once and his stimming has been minimal. It's kind of worrisome, but I have it from some other parents who've tried the diet that this lethargy is actually normal, and it will go away in a few days. His diet is actually very healthy, when I get him to eat it. He seems to like the turkey meatballs I've been making him, and tonight I'm sneaking some grated zucchini in them. I'm really hoping this diet makes a difference, but I'm preparing myself for the eventuality that there's a good chance that it won't. Here's to hoping.

More News From the Front

Well, Ben bit his teacher on Thursday. They sent her to the doctor and everything and now her doctor wants to make sure Ben has no infectious diseases. I feel bad that he bit her, but sheesh! Anyway, Ben has been so oral lately, chewing on absolutely everything. I wish I knew what's going on. I'm gathering everything I need in order to put him on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet on Saturday. I'm crossing my fingers that this will help his negative behaviours.

Immunzations . . .

Luckily, I don't have worry about this right this moment, but I don't know what I'm going to do when Ben's vaccinations come due. Both Rob and I have agreed that we definitely don't want to put anymore vaccinations in him. I read an interesting article on the internet today about a place called Homefirst, a health care agency in metropolitan Chicago, that has treated 35,000 children over the years. A lot of the children (all races) who it treats are homeschooled and unvaccinated. The doctors there say that there isn't a single case of autism in an unvaccinated child. Not one. That's kind of interesting because the Amish of Pennsylvania have recently been in the news because of this. They don't vaccinate their children, and their children don't have autism. The doctors who treat them can verify this. The only two cases of autism in recent years among the Amish came from children who were adopted and vaccinated. Kind of weird, huh? But this leads to my problem. If I want Ben to go to school, I have to have some kind of exemption, and I don't know how to do that yet. If I claim religious beliefs (which some say is my only option) well, it wouldn't be the truth, and then how can I justify having Caroline vaccinated? I could homeschool Ben but I really don't think I'm the best teacher for him . . . I hope Headstart doesn't give me a problem about this next year, but at least he doesn't have to go to Kindergarten until age 5. He was so sweet today, he hugged me all the way down stairs when he woke up this morning. Such a love.