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Thursday, 29 July 2010

  • I wish my daughter would sleep


    For two weeks - thirteen days to be exact - we had uninterrupted sleep for at least 8 hours a night.  It was heaven. Glorious. I started to feel human again.

    And Ava was not on any medication.  I was taking her to the pool every day - or letting her go in the baby pool on my deck.  She loves the water.  She adores the water.  She is so calm, so happy, so content when she is in the water.  I even get her to float on her back, as long as she feels me supporting her.

    And on the fourteenth day, she was up from 2am - 6am - as were we.  She slept through the night the next night - and since, has been up during the night.  Last night it was from 2am - 5am. More Here...

  • On the Spectrum #86: Neologism



  • Why Can't James Talk?




    James' older sister asked a killer question this morning: "Why can't James talk? Why can't he say things the way I can?"
    We've had variations on this subject before, where I've explained that he can talk, and that he's much better than he used to be ... that most people do things in their own time and way.

    This morning, we talked about how sometimes the parts of the brain that control what we want to say and the parts that control the muscles we use to talk sometimes don't work right or can't talk with each other very well. It got me thinking about aphasia and some people having to be trained to relearn to speak. The people who want to use one word, but have another come out instead. More Here...

  • Gary McKinnon should not escape punishment



    Gary McKinnon is the man diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome who hacked into U.S. military and government networks. It seems many people think his Asperger's should let him avoid punishment. My opinion matches closely with what convicted hacker Adrian Lamo (who also has Asperger's) thinks:  More Here...

  • “TREVOR’S WORLD”




    (Submittals for Chicken Soup For the Soul; Children with Special Needs)

    I have a son named Trevor
    he’s not like you and me
    when he was born he changed our life
    in ways we couldn’t see

    In his crib we hung up mobiles
    he loved to watch them spin
    but his cows never quite “jumped the moon”
    as we sat and wondered when:    More Here...

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

  • A Flash of Normal



    Normal is such a subjective word.  I mean who decides what is normal and what is not?  What is normal to me is most likely not normal to you or anyone else.  But flashes of age appropriate seemed , well weird.  Maybe a better title would have been flashes of typical. But then would non autism people get it.  Wow, a whole paragraph just on the title. On to better matters.

    Logan is well past the flashes stage now.  We see  more age appropriate behavior than we do autism ones nowadays. He still surprises me when he does something completely typical for his age sometimes.  This weekend we were at a pool party celebrating a birthday.  The whole family was in the pool.  Logan was near me and I splashed him.  There is a celebration in itself.  Logan used to HATE to have water on his face and a splash in the past would have ended in a meltdown. This particular instance it ended with Logan splashing me back.  I was so surprised that he would do it that I got a face full of water. More Here...

  • OUCARES Annual Family Fun Day

     

    We attended the Oakland University Center for Autism Research, Education and Support (OUCARES) annual Family Fun Day on a Sunday in March. It is an event put on by the Autism Society - Oakland County Chapter. Every year in the Recreation and Athletics Center at OU, they set up stimulating activities such as a bouncer room, a sensory room (staffed by professionals from Kaufman Children's Center), arts and crafts, a caricature artist, swimming, and vendor tables... all for free. The kids had a great time, and the families learned about the autism resources available to them. The vendors promoted their services and provided a wealth of resources for families of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It was interesting to learn about everything that is offered locally to help kids on the spectrum. More Here...

  • Our specialist appt at CHKD

    I had no idea what to expect.

    Things with Ashton have been calming down, and he's become a lot more pleasant to be around. There are still some lingering issues; mainly having to do with sleep (too much during the day, and the lack thereof at night) as well as some lingering OCD issues. He's also got some major attention/impulsivity issues, but who knows what is tied to the Autism or what is manifesting itself as ADHD or OCD.

    Anyways .... this doctor, is the director of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD). All I knew is he has a specialty in pediatric psychopharmacology (big, fancy term for dealing with children and medications that are used to treat mental diseases and/or disorders).

    I went into this knowing that this isn't a long-term care type place. They help you sort out the issues, treat them, and get your child "evened out" so to speak, so you can go back to your regular doctors and have them manage your care. We get there and they do the whole basic thing of checking Ashton's weight (87.2lbs) and height (4'7") and blood pressure. He was absolutely fine through all of this. It does bare mentioning that we had his portable DVD player (thanks Grandma & Grandad for that Christmas present!) as well as a boatload of snacks. Since Ashton is GFCF, I tend to take a lot of snacks since you never know how long you're going to be gone and what foods will be available.  
    More Here...

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

  • Computer program could detect autism





    Before Saiqa Akhter dominated autism headlines this week, science produced news that could assist developing an objective form to detect autism, marking the second time this year I’ve come across an article that discovers new possibilities.

    The first brought forth the theory of using urine tests to diagnose autism. This time, scientists say they’ve designed a computer program that can distinguish speech patterns between autistic and normal children, correctly identifying more than 85% of its subjects. Scientists working on the study discovered that autistic children mangled their syllables for much longer than non-autistic children, making a diagnosis easy for the computer program. However, those involved in the study recommend caution: the lead researcher doesn’t believe the program should be the sole measurement in determining who is autistic. More Here...

  • All over again



    Even though the writing was on the wall, I was in total denial.  When others raised the question, I resisted.  I didn't make the phone calls, schedule the appointments or fill out the forms.  But finally, after much prodding, the day has come.

    Last week, the Little Stinker went in for an evaluation.  This was suggested by his preschool teacher and members of our in-home team.  You see, there has been some question as to if he might also be on the autism spectrum or have some other "issues."

    As for me, I didn't see it.  Not one little bit.

    He is so different than Big Brother.  He was never bothered by noise or stimuli like my older son.  He loved activity and people.  He's extremely quick and amazingly smart -- and just as cute as they come.

    Yes, he has some anger issues, but I always thought is was because he just happened to grow up in a war zone of a house.  His attention is a tad on the non-existent side, but again, I chalked that up to him being four.  And I, for one, happened to find the fact that he growls at everyone he meets instead of saying hello quite endearing.

    I admit it.  Denial is my friend.More Here...

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