I'm pretty sure I have a touch of Asperger's syndrome myself, which makes it especially difficult to relate to him most days. I'm not terribly empathetic toward my autistic two-and-a-half-year old and have trouble seeing things from his perspective. Moreover, I get frustrated often because this doesn't fit my master plan where he learns to read at 3, is doing arithmetic at 4, gets accepted to a prestigious and highly selective preschool, and everything just falls into place until he goes to college when he's 10. When he's spending an inordinate amount of time opening and closing doors, my frustration sets in. This is a time for grace.
Michael is special. Not just because of the autism.
Michael is special. Not just because of the autism.
- He has a pure heart. I have never known Michael to hit or bite or kick any other children, even when they provoke him. Every other child his age that I've been around has shown these aggressive behaviors. I don't begrudge them because I know it's normal, but Michael's gentleness is very noticeable.
- He's very loving. He loves to ask for "kees!" and put his forehead near our lips, and he randomly hugs and kisses Ben and me.
- He gives. He shares his toys, he gives back toys to others, he feeds me. It's in his nature to nurture.
We are bumping up therapy. We're doubling his private therapy from 2 to 4 hours a week, and we're adding in ABA therapy in his ECI protocol for another 2 hours a week. Add to that the hour each with (on average) with his other ECI therapists. We're limiting screen time.
Of interest is this article, Summary of Biomedical Treatments for Autism . Ben actually found it. It's an overview of the effectiveness (according to parents) of various drugs, diets, and supplements in the treatment of autism. The last page has a nice summary, and one of the first pages lists their recommendations:
"Treatment Order:
We have listed the various treatments in approximate order of what is typically recommended, [...]:
- Improve Diet
- Food Sensitivities
- GFCF Diet
- Vitamin/Mineral Supplements
- High-Dose Vitamin B6 and Magnesium
- Essential Fatty Acids
- Gut Treatments
- Antifungals
- Probiotics
- Digestive Enzymes
- Amino Acids
- Melatonin
- Thyroid Supplements
- Sulfation
- Glutathione
- Chelation
- Immune System Regulation "
We're basically working our way down the list. He's on GAPS (a variation of the SCD diet, which was one of the most effective treatments listed), GFCF diet, and we're currently playing around with some vitamin and mineral supplementation (especially since he's dairy-free; need those bone-building minerals!). We haven't addressed food sensitivities yet. There's actually a multivitamin for autistic children called Super Nu Thera that our doctor recommended, but even with fructose as the #1 ingredient, it's pretty hard to get down. I made some banana soft serve tonight (frozen mashed bananas; has the consistency of fro-yo) and mixed it in, and he had some of it then, but that's the only way I've gotten him to take it. And even then he didn't finish it.
