WoW....what a whirl wind of excitement we have had the past two weeks. We had our occupational therapy assisting students start almost two weeks ago. We have two students that are working in Hayden's Son-Rise for 37.5 hours each a week!!! Absolutely Freaking Amazing!!! The students teacher is also coming 8 hours a week to assist with the students.
I must say I am still in shock that I pulled this type of externship off. I get to interview and select the students I want to work with Hayden, I teach them and train them the way I want, and continue managing Hayden's Son-Rise the way I want.
I also feel fabulous about the experience the students are getting. I am teaching them about the Son-Rise program, autism, nutrition, communication skills, adopting a "happiness is a choice" attitude, learning how to truly love and accept people, and being non-judemental. I look at the students and I am super excited about teaching them all of these fabulous life changing skills. I also think about all the people that they are going to work with over the years and the impact they will have on them. It seriously gives me the chills in an amazing, exciting kind of way.
Hayden has adapted well to being in the playroom 11 hours a day. Tonight after being out of the playroom for about 30 minutes he asked me to play with him in the playroom. I LOVE how much he loves being in the playroom.
Hayden is changing a lot right now. He is speaking in complete sentences not only to get wants meet but to communicate and have fun in a totally typical way. Hayden has a twinkle in his eyes, dimples in is cheeks, and a smile on his face that melts anyone that sees him. He is such a happy boy!! His average interactive attention span is at 20+ minutes now. Hayden is playing consistently with Ruby and rarely is off in another room playing by himself. He now prefers to be where we are and doing what we are doing. Drum Roll please..............when Hayden is out of the playroom for meals he SITS at the table and eats with us........YAHOOO Hayden.........we LOVE eating meals with you and you LOVE eating meals with us :-) Hayden has become one of the most creative people that I have ever met. He comes up with the best story lines for puppet play and is super passionate about them.
All of Hayden's progress has been made on his own free will. We use Hayden's motivations to teach, model, and encourage him to communicate on all levels. It is absolutely 100% Hayden's decision to be present in our world and boy is he choosing to be present.
I look at Hayden and simply think what an amazing person he is. He has taught several people how to be present, loving, and nonjudgmental in life at the tender age of 5 years old. I am truly blessed to be such an amazing persons Mom. I have learned so much from Hayden. Simply Incredible!!!
Showing posts with label biomedical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biomedical. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Dentist....OYE!!!
I took Hayden to a pediatric dentist this week to have his cavity looked at and to come up with a treatment plan. Well the one cavity is really a mouth full of cavities one of which needs a crown. He said that Hayden would have to be under general anesthesia to have his teeth fixed. I really liked the dentist that we seen. He LISTENED to me!!! I mean the man seriously LISTENED to me and HEARD what I was saying.
We talked about where the procedure would be done and who would be his anesthesiologist. There is only one anesthesiologist and one hospital in this area that I would even consider taking my son to. Which neither of these two things are an option. I also talked with him about wanting to have Hayden's blood tested to see which materials would be safest to use in the fillings for his teeth.
The decision was made and we are headed to Indianapolis to see a pediatric biodentist at Riley Hospital. I am nervous....I have cried...and I have vomited just thinking about it. I am absolutely terrified of putting any kind of chemical in Hayden's body. I am completely terrified of having Hayden go under general anesthesia.
We have worked so hard to get my son back. I don't want to loose him again!!! His body is so fragile and sensitive that anything and everything effects him. We go in two weeks for the initial consultation with the dentist and will develop a game plan then. I know when we have a date for the actual procedure I am going to loose it. The day of the procedure I am not even sure how I am going to pull it together and not freak out for Hayden's sake. While he is in the procedure I am pretty sure I will have a nervous break down.
I am not one to just hand over my child and trust people with him. Especially Hayden........I don't leave him and when I do it's with Daddy or his Grandmas. To trust medical people with him alone.......FREAKS me out!!! I hope they are ready for me detailed list of do's and don'ts. Some may say let them do their job..............well I have done that before and look at the boat we are in now.
On a good note Hayden did amazingly well at the Pediatric Dentist. He let him get a good look at his teeth and even voluntarily laid in the chair. Hayden has come a long way from being super oral defensive and screaming bloody murder while getting his teeth brushed.
We will be going back to him for check ups and cleanings. The dentist is going to give me a list of ingredients of what is in the polish to clean Hayden's teeth to make sure that it is compatible with Hayden's needs. He was also on board with me not wanting Hayden to have fluoride.
The dentist said that Hayden's teeth are like they are because of his vitamin deficiencies, inhaled steroid (he takes for his asthma), his teeth being so close together, and genetics. I have been super diligent all his life about brushing his teeth, going to bed with water to drink only, and not feeding my child crap.
I am completely kicking myself for not adding Hayden to our dental insurance this year. Ugh....why didn't I do this!!!!
We talked about where the procedure would be done and who would be his anesthesiologist. There is only one anesthesiologist and one hospital in this area that I would even consider taking my son to. Which neither of these two things are an option. I also talked with him about wanting to have Hayden's blood tested to see which materials would be safest to use in the fillings for his teeth.
The decision was made and we are headed to Indianapolis to see a pediatric biodentist at Riley Hospital. I am nervous....I have cried...and I have vomited just thinking about it. I am absolutely terrified of putting any kind of chemical in Hayden's body. I am completely terrified of having Hayden go under general anesthesia.
We have worked so hard to get my son back. I don't want to loose him again!!! His body is so fragile and sensitive that anything and everything effects him. We go in two weeks for the initial consultation with the dentist and will develop a game plan then. I know when we have a date for the actual procedure I am going to loose it. The day of the procedure I am not even sure how I am going to pull it together and not freak out for Hayden's sake. While he is in the procedure I am pretty sure I will have a nervous break down.
I am not one to just hand over my child and trust people with him. Especially Hayden........I don't leave him and when I do it's with Daddy or his Grandmas. To trust medical people with him alone.......FREAKS me out!!! I hope they are ready for me detailed list of do's and don'ts. Some may say let them do their job..............well I have done that before and look at the boat we are in now.
On a good note Hayden did amazingly well at the Pediatric Dentist. He let him get a good look at his teeth and even voluntarily laid in the chair. Hayden has come a long way from being super oral defensive and screaming bloody murder while getting his teeth brushed.
We will be going back to him for check ups and cleanings. The dentist is going to give me a list of ingredients of what is in the polish to clean Hayden's teeth to make sure that it is compatible with Hayden's needs. He was also on board with me not wanting Hayden to have fluoride.
The dentist said that Hayden's teeth are like they are because of his vitamin deficiencies, inhaled steroid (he takes for his asthma), his teeth being so close together, and genetics. I have been super diligent all his life about brushing his teeth, going to bed with water to drink only, and not feeding my child crap.
I am completely kicking myself for not adding Hayden to our dental insurance this year. Ugh....why didn't I do this!!!!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
What's new with Hayden and his Son-Rise program?
The month of February I had a Pampered Chef Fundraiser for Hayden's Son-Rise. Drum Roll please.........we raised a grand total of $4,900.00!!! Thank you to all for the support even if you were not able to purchase your words of encouragement and prayers are a blessing as well. We are going to use that money towards the Intensive Program at The Autism Treatment Center of America. Here is the link if you would like to learn more about Son-Rise: http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/index.phpg/ We only need $7,500.00 more which is a far cry from the $18,500 that we originally needed!!!
We are also working on getting a certified Son-Rise teacher to come and work with us and Hayden's Son-Rise Team.
I am also going back to the Autism Treatment Center of American in April for the Maximum Impact Program. I am excited and nervous. I know that Brandon will do great with the kids while I am gone. They are just a lot to take care of make sure that Hayden gets all that he needs.
Hayden continues to change every day. He is so much more "present" in the world and actually enjoys interacting with others. Hayden has an incredible bond with his sister Ruby. They actually play together and share things. When she is upset Hayden tries to comfort her. He use to want nothing to do with her. We were at the mall yesterday evening and he asked her to hold his hand :) It was so sweet....I cried!! It reminds of the time I was told that the odds of him speaking and relating to others were slim. I guess Hayden showed them :) One day when he is 100% recovered I am going to make a video of Hayden and mail it to several people that doubted him. Then I am going to educate them in hopes that they can help other families faced with autism.
That same evening we were sitting at the food court eating Chick Fil-a at the mall. Hayden had just gotten a new car and was playing with it while eating. A little girl sat beside him at the apple table and was looking at his car. Normally this would start an instant freak out by Hayden. His cars are his prized possessions and he does not want any one near them. That's when the magic happened.......he said to the little girl while looking at her face, "Hi friend." He then preceded to show the little girl his car and what it does. He even blew the little girl a kiss :) I shared with the girls Mom a little bit about Hayden and we were both in tears.
MIRACLES are HAPPENING at my HOUSE!!!
We are also working on getting a certified Son-Rise teacher to come and work with us and Hayden's Son-Rise Team.
I am also going back to the Autism Treatment Center of American in April for the Maximum Impact Program. I am excited and nervous. I know that Brandon will do great with the kids while I am gone. They are just a lot to take care of make sure that Hayden gets all that he needs.
Hayden continues to change every day. He is so much more "present" in the world and actually enjoys interacting with others. Hayden has an incredible bond with his sister Ruby. They actually play together and share things. When she is upset Hayden tries to comfort her. He use to want nothing to do with her. We were at the mall yesterday evening and he asked her to hold his hand :) It was so sweet....I cried!! It reminds of the time I was told that the odds of him speaking and relating to others were slim. I guess Hayden showed them :) One day when he is 100% recovered I am going to make a video of Hayden and mail it to several people that doubted him. Then I am going to educate them in hopes that they can help other families faced with autism.
That same evening we were sitting at the food court eating Chick Fil-a at the mall. Hayden had just gotten a new car and was playing with it while eating. A little girl sat beside him at the apple table and was looking at his car. Normally this would start an instant freak out by Hayden. His cars are his prized possessions and he does not want any one near them. That's when the magic happened.......he said to the little girl while looking at her face, "Hi friend." He then preceded to show the little girl his car and what it does. He even blew the little girl a kiss :) I shared with the girls Mom a little bit about Hayden and we were both in tears.
MIRACLES are HAPPENING at my HOUSE!!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
You Sit Here Mommy, You Sit Here Ruby :)
As I was getting ready to prep for dinner tonight I saw Hayden whizzing by with his chairs. I then heard Hayden say,"Mommy." I walked into the living room and he said," Mommy sit here....Ruby sit here." Hayden said this while pointing to the chairs he had placed in front and behind the play kitchen. This was Hayden's way of saying he wanted Ruby and I to play kitchen with him :)
Ruby and I quickly took our seats. Hayden wanted Ruby to sit beside him, which I found odd. Hayden made food for Ruby and I to eat. He enjoyed making Ruby and I coffee the most. He took turns pouring with the tea pot and passing food around. He told me what he wanted to eat and I told him what I wanted to eat. It was 20 minutes of pure heaven!! During this 20 minutes of pretend kitchen play there was NO sign of autism anywhere. Hayden was giving me and Ruby great eye contact and responding to all of our questions and requests. I loved how he would pretend eat and drink. He even made the sounds :)
Fun was had by all three of us!! It was super hard for me to hold back my tears of joy :)
Before we played kitchen we played with Ruby's dollhouse:
Ruby and I quickly took our seats. Hayden wanted Ruby to sit beside him, which I found odd. Hayden made food for Ruby and I to eat. He enjoyed making Ruby and I coffee the most. He took turns pouring with the tea pot and passing food around. He told me what he wanted to eat and I told him what I wanted to eat. It was 20 minutes of pure heaven!! During this 20 minutes of pretend kitchen play there was NO sign of autism anywhere. Hayden was giving me and Ruby great eye contact and responding to all of our questions and requests. I loved how he would pretend eat and drink. He even made the sounds :)
Fun was had by all three of us!! It was super hard for me to hold back my tears of joy :)
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| Hi Mom! |
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| Do you want pizza?? |
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| Hayden giving Ruby a cupcake and Ruby giving Hayden milk |
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| A kiss for Ruby :) |
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| Thanks BaBa for the cupcake |
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| When did my baby become such a big girl? |
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| Future organic gardner |
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| Hayden is going to be an organic gardner too :) |
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Yeast, Yeast, Go AWAY and NEVER Come Back!!
As many of you know Hayden is a hot, yeasty mess on the inside. He have been working hard to get rid of the yeast for the past two years. It has gotten better. It has gotten worse. It has drove me crazy, Hayden crazy, and caused many hours of lack of sleep. I am DONE with the yeast!!
I decided to go with a new treatment plan to rid Hayden's little body of yeast. We are using the Candida Wellness Center out of Utah's treatment protocol. We heard the founder speak at Autism One and have talked with several parents that have used this type of yeast treatment on their children. There is a 95% success rate of curing yeast infections using this protocol. Here is a link to the website http://www.thecandidayeastanswer.com. We are using diet, bionic silver, and hard hitting probiotics to kill off Hayden's yeast.
I think it's working. Hayden is some what of a hot mess. He is stimming more, a little more withdrawn, not sleeping the best, and is getting agitated easier. These are all signs of a yeast die off. We are six days into the new yeast protocol. We were told to expect 7-10 days of worsening symptoms.
Tonight Hayden pooped in the bathtub and put a whole roll of toilet paper in the bathtub. He was also drinking the water.......YUCK!!! I must say all my Son-Rise happiness went out the flipping window at this point. Out of the tub and straight to the shower went my little Hayden. YUCK....I mean YUCK!! If any of you have cleaned toilet paper out of the bath tub you know this is not an easy process and then add poop on top of it.........AAAAAHHHHHHH!! I could tell that Hayden has eaten raspberries by all the seeds left in the tub. YUCK!!
I know this is only temporary and keep reminding myself that sometimes to move ahead you have to move backward first. We got this!! I will say that I am seeing an improvement in Hayden's eye contact and speech.
At 3am last night Hayden came into our room and said, "Mommy my pants are wet." I must say in all of my Son-Rise glory at 3am we celebrated :) I celebrated that he told me he wet his pants and I am pretty sure that he was looking me in the eyes while saying it. So I got up danced and cheered, helped him get cleaned up, got Hayden a snack, and we cuddled on the couch.
On a good note Hayden's speech therapist stop to see us today. It was sure great to see her. I wish Hayden would have shown off for her a little bit more, but that is what life with autism is like. You want in one hand and shit in the other.
I decided to go with a new treatment plan to rid Hayden's little body of yeast. We are using the Candida Wellness Center out of Utah's treatment protocol. We heard the founder speak at Autism One and have talked with several parents that have used this type of yeast treatment on their children. There is a 95% success rate of curing yeast infections using this protocol. Here is a link to the website http://www.thecandidayeastanswer.com. We are using diet, bionic silver, and hard hitting probiotics to kill off Hayden's yeast.
I think it's working. Hayden is some what of a hot mess. He is stimming more, a little more withdrawn, not sleeping the best, and is getting agitated easier. These are all signs of a yeast die off. We are six days into the new yeast protocol. We were told to expect 7-10 days of worsening symptoms.
Tonight Hayden pooped in the bathtub and put a whole roll of toilet paper in the bathtub. He was also drinking the water.......YUCK!!! I must say all my Son-Rise happiness went out the flipping window at this point. Out of the tub and straight to the shower went my little Hayden. YUCK....I mean YUCK!! If any of you have cleaned toilet paper out of the bath tub you know this is not an easy process and then add poop on top of it.........AAAAAHHHHHHH!! I could tell that Hayden has eaten raspberries by all the seeds left in the tub. YUCK!!
I know this is only temporary and keep reminding myself that sometimes to move ahead you have to move backward first. We got this!! I will say that I am seeing an improvement in Hayden's eye contact and speech.
At 3am last night Hayden came into our room and said, "Mommy my pants are wet." I must say in all of my Son-Rise glory at 3am we celebrated :) I celebrated that he told me he wet his pants and I am pretty sure that he was looking me in the eyes while saying it. So I got up danced and cheered, helped him get cleaned up, got Hayden a snack, and we cuddled on the couch.
On a good note Hayden's speech therapist stop to see us today. It was sure great to see her. I wish Hayden would have shown off for her a little bit more, but that is what life with autism is like. You want in one hand and shit in the other.
I must say that I love Hayden more than I ever thought I ever could love someone. He is a pretty amazing little boy that I thank God for every day :)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Hayden's Son Rise Therapy Room
I have had a few questions about the type of therapy program we are doing and what the room looks like. So here is the answers :)
We are running a full time Son-Rise Therapy Program in our home for Hayden. He is currently getting about 30 hours a week of therapy and my goal is to get it up to about 60 hours a week of therapy.
So what is the Son-Rise Program? Well in my own words it is a loving and respectful play therapy that Hayden loves :) I must say that we LOVE it too!! I truly enjoy getting down on the ground with Hayden and just spending time with him with no distractions. It is honestly a nice break from a very over stimulating world. There are no electronics, no other people. It is just Hayden and I doing what he enjoys.
The main focus in Hayden's Son-Rise program is improving and building on communication and eye contact. We do this through joining him, motivation, excitement, energy, and enthusiasm. Tonight in therapy room Hayden and I had a great session. He usually has me draw the Thomas the Tank Engine characters on his dry erase board. When we started doing this 5 weeks ago he would just say, "Harold" when he wanted me to draw him. Tonight he said, "Draw Harold Helicopter Mommy." I then said, "You want me to draw Harold the Helicopter." Hayden replied, "YES." Hayden never said the word "yes" until about a month ago. It seemed that "yes" had no value to him. He now uses it frequently and correctly. Normally I just go ahead and draw the face, number, details, and get the correct colored marker myself. Well not tonight, a light bulb went off! I decided to ask Hayden to hand me the color marker that Harold is. Much to my surprise he did and told me the color. I then congratulated him and made a big, huge deal of it:) I then went on to draw Harold the Helicopter. I decided to ask Hayden to draw his face. He grabbed my hand and we drew it together. We then went on to draw a few other characters. He drew the face himself on several of them, gave me the right color of markers, and told me what numbers they were. It was beautiful!!! I think we spent 20 minutes on this activity. Hayden stayed right with me and was fully engaged and chatted back and forth with me. Through out the whole activity I praised him and told him how smart he was, thanked him for his eye contact, and told him how much I enjoyed spending time with him and drawing Thomas the Tank Engine Characters with him. I need to work on my drawing skills, but you can see the faces that Hayden drew and he even drew a couple wheels on James.
Hayden transitioned from drawing on the dry erase board to drawing on himself. I thought this was a good opportunity to join him.
At first Hayden was in his own world coloring himself. He then noticed that I was coloring my hands. He had the biggest grin on his face. During this time I am telling Hayden how much I enjoy coloring myself with him (which I do....it is truly relaxing) and making funny noises while doing so. Hayden then looks at me in eyes. This is a green light!!! I then expand on the idea of coloring myself. A little background.....Hayden loves my flabby, nasty, jiggly belly (which it's his fault it is like this). He likes to blow raspberries on it and jiggle it. With out hesitation I lifted my shirt and started to draw a big circle on my belly and asked Hayden to draw the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He was so EXCITED to do this that he could hardly contain himself. We then made my belly jiggle and I would make the smily face talk. He then lifted his shirt and said, "face my belly." I drew a smily face on his belly. Great fun I must say. He was losing interest so I chased him around the room with my jiggly, smily face belly. Oh, how we both laughed and laughed and laughed.
Here is what Hayden's Therapy Room looks like. It use to be an old crapy, leaky sunroom. Not anymore!!
This is a picture of the french doors that we had a one way view mirror put in. On the inside it is a mirror. Hayden LOVES his mirrors!!
All of toys and games are put up high on a shelf on purpose. This way he has to ask to get what he wants.....very motivating!!
The windows have a frosted glass film on them. They let light in, but you can't see out. This aids in providing a distraction free environment.
Here is the slide that we do creative things with. Hayden likes to jump off the top or jump to me from the top. I like it when we roll several marbles down it and they hit the metal door stop and make a pinging noise!!
This is what the french doors look like on the inside of the house. I can see in, but he can't see me :) Observation is great because we can provide feedback on therapy.
We are running a full time Son-Rise Therapy Program in our home for Hayden. He is currently getting about 30 hours a week of therapy and my goal is to get it up to about 60 hours a week of therapy.
So what is the Son-Rise Program? Well in my own words it is a loving and respectful play therapy that Hayden loves :) I must say that we LOVE it too!! I truly enjoy getting down on the ground with Hayden and just spending time with him with no distractions. It is honestly a nice break from a very over stimulating world. There are no electronics, no other people. It is just Hayden and I doing what he enjoys.
The main focus in Hayden's Son-Rise program is improving and building on communication and eye contact. We do this through joining him, motivation, excitement, energy, and enthusiasm. Tonight in therapy room Hayden and I had a great session. He usually has me draw the Thomas the Tank Engine characters on his dry erase board. When we started doing this 5 weeks ago he would just say, "Harold" when he wanted me to draw him. Tonight he said, "Draw Harold Helicopter Mommy." I then said, "You want me to draw Harold the Helicopter." Hayden replied, "YES." Hayden never said the word "yes" until about a month ago. It seemed that "yes" had no value to him. He now uses it frequently and correctly. Normally I just go ahead and draw the face, number, details, and get the correct colored marker myself. Well not tonight, a light bulb went off! I decided to ask Hayden to hand me the color marker that Harold is. Much to my surprise he did and told me the color. I then congratulated him and made a big, huge deal of it:) I then went on to draw Harold the Helicopter. I decided to ask Hayden to draw his face. He grabbed my hand and we drew it together. We then went on to draw a few other characters. He drew the face himself on several of them, gave me the right color of markers, and told me what numbers they were. It was beautiful!!! I think we spent 20 minutes on this activity. Hayden stayed right with me and was fully engaged and chatted back and forth with me. Through out the whole activity I praised him and told him how smart he was, thanked him for his eye contact, and told him how much I enjoyed spending time with him and drawing Thomas the Tank Engine Characters with him. I need to work on my drawing skills, but you can see the faces that Hayden drew and he even drew a couple wheels on James.
Hayden transitioned from drawing on the dry erase board to drawing on himself. I thought this was a good opportunity to join him.
At first Hayden was in his own world coloring himself. He then noticed that I was coloring my hands. He had the biggest grin on his face. During this time I am telling Hayden how much I enjoy coloring myself with him (which I do....it is truly relaxing) and making funny noises while doing so. Hayden then looks at me in eyes. This is a green light!!! I then expand on the idea of coloring myself. A little background.....Hayden loves my flabby, nasty, jiggly belly (which it's his fault it is like this). He likes to blow raspberries on it and jiggle it. With out hesitation I lifted my shirt and started to draw a big circle on my belly and asked Hayden to draw the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He was so EXCITED to do this that he could hardly contain himself. We then made my belly jiggle and I would make the smily face talk. He then lifted his shirt and said, "face my belly." I drew a smily face on his belly. Great fun I must say. He was losing interest so I chased him around the room with my jiggly, smily face belly. Oh, how we both laughed and laughed and laughed.
Here is what Hayden's Therapy Room looks like. It use to be an old crapy, leaky sunroom. Not anymore!!
This is a picture of the french doors that we had a one way view mirror put in. On the inside it is a mirror. Hayden LOVES his mirrors!!
All of toys and games are put up high on a shelf on purpose. This way he has to ask to get what he wants.....very motivating!!
The windows have a frosted glass film on them. They let light in, but you can't see out. This aids in providing a distraction free environment.
Here is the slide that we do creative things with. Hayden likes to jump off the top or jump to me from the top. I like it when we roll several marbles down it and they hit the metal door stop and make a pinging noise!!
This is what the french doors look like on the inside of the house. I can see in, but he can't see me :) Observation is great because we can provide feedback on therapy.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Is it time to move on??
I can't believe that it is the end of October already!! Time is seriously flying by. Hayden's therapy room is finished and he is getting about 30 weeks of therapy a week. We still need more volunteers!!! We need volunteers to work with Hayden or watch Ruby so we can work with Hayden. If you know anyone send them our way.
Hayden had a check up at his specialist in Carmel this week. Hayden weighs 32 lbs and is 39 inches tall. Overall he had a good check up. We are fading out some of his supplements(thank goodness). Hayden will start seeing the doctor every 3 months instead of every 5 weeks. He got his lab results back and his gut remains a yeasty mess. GRRR!!!! We have been working so hard for the past two years to get rid of the yeast and it just won't let go of my little man.
The whole yeast thing has me. I am thinking about and researching different options to do and try. I am leaning towards a diet change. We are already gluten, almond and dairy free, limit soy, limit sugar, no artificial colors, and an all organic diet. The two different diets that I am looking at is the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet and the GAPS diet. These diets eliminate food that feed yeast. The problem is that they are a challenge to do. I once thought that it was going to be impossible to get Hayden off dairy, but we did and he helped him so much. I am leaning towards the SCD diet because it does not involve going to the butcher and getting bones from animal cut in half to make stock with and eating fermented vegetables is not a requirement of the SCD. However the GAPS diet is amazing for gut healing. I wish someone could just tell me what to do!!!
I am also considering taking Hayden to a different specialist for a second opinion. I kind of feel like our Dr in Carmel has gotten Hayden as far as she can. She is wonderful and I have a ton of respect for her, after all she gave me my son back :) There is just something telling me that it is time to move on. This is not going to be an easy decision. The one doctor that I am considering seeing has an office in Texas and one in New York $$$$$$!!!
I do know this though.....when I switch Hayden's diet I am going on that diet with him. NO more cheating for me!!! If it is good for him it is good for me and I need to be 100% supportive and not cheat behind his back.
I think I have also figured out Hayden's strange bouts of SUPER-DE-DUPER hyperactivity no-sleeping cycles. Back in May after Brandon and I went the Autism One we switched how we were doing Hayden's hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments. We started using a protocol that you do 1.5 hours a day for 30 days and then take 30 days off from hbot. We also started Hayden's heavy metal detox (chelation) at this time. I thought his nightmare of a behavior was from detox and left it at that. Well he have been off chelation for almost 2 months now. Hayden had a round of his freakish hyperactivity no-sleeping period earlier this month. Well this month is a non-hbot month. I started thinking about why, what are we doing differently, did he eat something he was not suppose to??
Ta-Dah.....light bulb went off in my mind....it's the hbot!! Sure enough two sessions in the hbot, Hayden was sleeping better and the freakish hyperactivity was going away. Huge sigh of relief. So we are now going to do one hour of hbot every other day.
I wish I would have video taped his freakish hyperactivity. I mean constant movement with several movements in one and a hot stimming mess. It was HORRIBLE!!! He would be up at 3am and ready to play and not take no for an answer. It is amazing that Brandon and I survived this behavior. Just thinking about it makes me want to hide in a corner and rock back and forth.
We have a teacher from the Son-Rise program coming the first week of December to working with Hayden, answer our questions, and give us some feedback. I am very excited about this. Brandon and I have also decided that I am going back to the Son-Rise program in April for another weeks worth of training. I can't wait to go back. It is such an amazing place. I wish we could just pack up and move there so I could become a certified Son-Rise teacher and help more families. Maybe one day!!
Hayden has been making some great strides with the Son-Rise program. He is communicating so much more. He is actually telling me his emotions. I ask him what is wrong and he tells me that he is sad or angry. He has even told me he is happy :) In the past week we were snuggling and he sang the whole entire song that I made up for him as a baby. WoW...that sure brought out the water works!! Even Brandon had a tear in his eye. His eye contact is also greatly improving.
I am beyond proud of my little man and all of his hard work. It is pretty amazing that we our on our way to recovery. I read a snip it of his evaluation to public school system did when he turned three. It said that Hayden severely autistic. It is always good to remind myself of where we were and to think of where we are now. Hayden is no where near the severe side of autism.
Hayden had a check up at his specialist in Carmel this week. Hayden weighs 32 lbs and is 39 inches tall. Overall he had a good check up. We are fading out some of his supplements(thank goodness). Hayden will start seeing the doctor every 3 months instead of every 5 weeks. He got his lab results back and his gut remains a yeasty mess. GRRR!!!! We have been working so hard for the past two years to get rid of the yeast and it just won't let go of my little man.
The whole yeast thing has me. I am thinking about and researching different options to do and try. I am leaning towards a diet change. We are already gluten, almond and dairy free, limit soy, limit sugar, no artificial colors, and an all organic diet. The two different diets that I am looking at is the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet and the GAPS diet. These diets eliminate food that feed yeast. The problem is that they are a challenge to do. I once thought that it was going to be impossible to get Hayden off dairy, but we did and he helped him so much. I am leaning towards the SCD diet because it does not involve going to the butcher and getting bones from animal cut in half to make stock with and eating fermented vegetables is not a requirement of the SCD. However the GAPS diet is amazing for gut healing. I wish someone could just tell me what to do!!!
I am also considering taking Hayden to a different specialist for a second opinion. I kind of feel like our Dr in Carmel has gotten Hayden as far as she can. She is wonderful and I have a ton of respect for her, after all she gave me my son back :) There is just something telling me that it is time to move on. This is not going to be an easy decision. The one doctor that I am considering seeing has an office in Texas and one in New York $$$$$$!!!
I do know this though.....when I switch Hayden's diet I am going on that diet with him. NO more cheating for me!!! If it is good for him it is good for me and I need to be 100% supportive and not cheat behind his back.
I think I have also figured out Hayden's strange bouts of SUPER-DE-DUPER hyperactivity no-sleeping cycles. Back in May after Brandon and I went the Autism One we switched how we were doing Hayden's hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments. We started using a protocol that you do 1.5 hours a day for 30 days and then take 30 days off from hbot. We also started Hayden's heavy metal detox (chelation) at this time. I thought his nightmare of a behavior was from detox and left it at that. Well he have been off chelation for almost 2 months now. Hayden had a round of his freakish hyperactivity no-sleeping period earlier this month. Well this month is a non-hbot month. I started thinking about why, what are we doing differently, did he eat something he was not suppose to??
Ta-Dah.....light bulb went off in my mind....it's the hbot!! Sure enough two sessions in the hbot, Hayden was sleeping better and the freakish hyperactivity was going away. Huge sigh of relief. So we are now going to do one hour of hbot every other day.
I wish I would have video taped his freakish hyperactivity. I mean constant movement with several movements in one and a hot stimming mess. It was HORRIBLE!!! He would be up at 3am and ready to play and not take no for an answer. It is amazing that Brandon and I survived this behavior. Just thinking about it makes me want to hide in a corner and rock back and forth.
We have a teacher from the Son-Rise program coming the first week of December to working with Hayden, answer our questions, and give us some feedback. I am very excited about this. Brandon and I have also decided that I am going back to the Son-Rise program in April for another weeks worth of training. I can't wait to go back. It is such an amazing place. I wish we could just pack up and move there so I could become a certified Son-Rise teacher and help more families. Maybe one day!!
Hayden has been making some great strides with the Son-Rise program. He is communicating so much more. He is actually telling me his emotions. I ask him what is wrong and he tells me that he is sad or angry. He has even told me he is happy :) In the past week we were snuggling and he sang the whole entire song that I made up for him as a baby. WoW...that sure brought out the water works!! Even Brandon had a tear in his eye. His eye contact is also greatly improving.
I am beyond proud of my little man and all of his hard work. It is pretty amazing that we our on our way to recovery. I read a snip it of his evaluation to public school system did when he turned three. It said that Hayden severely autistic. It is always good to remind myself of where we were and to think of where we are now. Hayden is no where near the severe side of autism.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Today I pretended to be "normal"
Well, any of you that know me knows that I am not "normal" ;) I am just me...I laugh at things that are not funny, and say the most random things. I eat strange foods and do strange things with my kids.
Today Ruby had her two year old well baby check up at the new pediatrician's office. I was excited to see how much she has grown and to show off my amazing little girl.
We got up today and I was excited to dress up my little girl for our big day out together. Ruby wore tights, denim skirt, panda shirt, a striped cardigan, and her brown boots. I fixed her hair just so. I must say she was looking super cute :) I even fixed my hair and did my makeup.
Off we went. On the way to the doctors office. I thought of the questions that they were going to ask me about her development. I smiled as I thought of the answers. All of my answers pointed to a perfectly normal, healthy, thriving little girl. What a gift my little Ruby is. She truly amazes me every day.
We arrive at the doctors office and we walk in together. Ruby stays right with me and is happy to have Mommy all to her self for her big girl check up. We are chatting away about all the things she is seeing. We sign in at the desk. Ruby is calm and smiling. She takes her coat off and throws it on the floor. I ask her to pick her coat up and hand it to me and she does. Ahhh......success, my child is doing what I asked of her and not trantruming on the floor.
We sit in the office and Ruby points to the pictures of animals on the wall. I pick her up and we walk around look at all the animals. Ruby is telling me what they are and making the sounds of what they make. The secretary complements me on what a smart and well behaved little girl I have. I stand a little taller. A little boy drops his toy in the waiting room and Ruby picks it up and hands it to him. Check, Ruby has compassion for others.
It is then our turn. Ruby jumps up when she hears her name and heads towards the nurse. She smiles at the nurse and says "hi". The nurse weighs Ruby and measures how tall she is. Ruby is 27lbs (50%) and 37 inches tall (75%). The nurse asks me the developmental questions......which I am super eager to answer!!!
I know that Ruby is right on target and this makes me feel like I am doing something right. That my child is "normal" so I get to be "normal" Ruby is right on developmentally (which I already knew that, it just feels good for someone else to acknowledge that).
The nurse practitioner comes and does her assessment on Ruby. Ruby opens her mouth and lets her look in, she turns her head to let her look in her ears, she sits still to have her heart and lungs listened to. Ruby even asked to have her mouth looked at again. At this point I don't believe what is going on!!!! That's right people my child is well behaved and I am an awesome mom to a normal child. I feel like I just won the lottery!!
The NP then asks some questions about Ruby's health history and vaccination history. I proudly speak up and say that Ruby has only had the stomach flu and a cold. She has NEVER been on antibiotics and has never had an ear infection. I then take a breath to share that Ruby is NOT vaccinated. I told her that I am going to re-evaluate my vaccination decision for Ruby when she turns three.
Her response was great!! She asked me why I was going about Ruby's vaccinations this way and when I told her she listened. She then told me she supported my decisions as a parents. WOW!!! Woot....woot...woot!!!!! I think we have finally found the pediatrician's office that we are going to stick with.
The NP tells us that everything looks great and that Ruby does not need to be seen for another year. I help Ruby get dressed and he head to the check out desk. Ruby didn't want to leave. She said, "I stay."
As we were checking out I seen a stack of brochures. One of the stack of brochures was about what to do when your child is diagnosed with. SMACK....there went my morning of pretending to be normal!!!
Seeing the brochures quickly brought back to my mind all of the things that I felt and feared when I first suspected that Hayden was autistic. It also brought up the list of things that I was told he would never do and what to expect. It reminded me of what trips to the pediatrician were like with Hayden. I can't even put into words how it feels to have your child to be chronically ill and to have a disability. It use to break my heart to take him to the doctor. I didn't want to hear what he was not doing......I already knew it. I didn't want to be the person that everyone started at because my child was on the floor screaming or doing odd things with his cars.
I just wanted to be normal and to have a normal, healthy child!!!
I am beyond great full that todays events made me realize that being normal doesn't matter, it doesn't make me a good mom or a bad mom, it doesn't define who I am. Those brochures were placed on that desk to seriously smack me in the face and say, "Hey...it is what it is." Be true to yourself!!
Yes, I have a neuro-typical child and a non-neuro-typical child. We do strange things. We have a slide in our living room, a swing in our hallway, and trampoline in our kitchen. I am a crazy person when it come to my children's health. I know every ingredient in every bite of food that my child eats. I am a warrior for my children and will never give up on them.
So I say screw NORMAL :) I love my family and myself just they way we are and I don't want to pretend to be something or someone that I am not.
Today Ruby had her two year old well baby check up at the new pediatrician's office. I was excited to see how much she has grown and to show off my amazing little girl.
We got up today and I was excited to dress up my little girl for our big day out together. Ruby wore tights, denim skirt, panda shirt, a striped cardigan, and her brown boots. I fixed her hair just so. I must say she was looking super cute :) I even fixed my hair and did my makeup.
Off we went. On the way to the doctors office. I thought of the questions that they were going to ask me about her development. I smiled as I thought of the answers. All of my answers pointed to a perfectly normal, healthy, thriving little girl. What a gift my little Ruby is. She truly amazes me every day.
We arrive at the doctors office and we walk in together. Ruby stays right with me and is happy to have Mommy all to her self for her big girl check up. We are chatting away about all the things she is seeing. We sign in at the desk. Ruby is calm and smiling. She takes her coat off and throws it on the floor. I ask her to pick her coat up and hand it to me and she does. Ahhh......success, my child is doing what I asked of her and not trantruming on the floor.
We sit in the office and Ruby points to the pictures of animals on the wall. I pick her up and we walk around look at all the animals. Ruby is telling me what they are and making the sounds of what they make. The secretary complements me on what a smart and well behaved little girl I have. I stand a little taller. A little boy drops his toy in the waiting room and Ruby picks it up and hands it to him. Check, Ruby has compassion for others.
It is then our turn. Ruby jumps up when she hears her name and heads towards the nurse. She smiles at the nurse and says "hi". The nurse weighs Ruby and measures how tall she is. Ruby is 27lbs (50%) and 37 inches tall (75%). The nurse asks me the developmental questions......which I am super eager to answer!!!
I know that Ruby is right on target and this makes me feel like I am doing something right. That my child is "normal" so I get to be "normal" Ruby is right on developmentally (which I already knew that, it just feels good for someone else to acknowledge that).
The nurse practitioner comes and does her assessment on Ruby. Ruby opens her mouth and lets her look in, she turns her head to let her look in her ears, she sits still to have her heart and lungs listened to. Ruby even asked to have her mouth looked at again. At this point I don't believe what is going on!!!! That's right people my child is well behaved and I am an awesome mom to a normal child. I feel like I just won the lottery!!
The NP then asks some questions about Ruby's health history and vaccination history. I proudly speak up and say that Ruby has only had the stomach flu and a cold. She has NEVER been on antibiotics and has never had an ear infection. I then take a breath to share that Ruby is NOT vaccinated. I told her that I am going to re-evaluate my vaccination decision for Ruby when she turns three.
Her response was great!! She asked me why I was going about Ruby's vaccinations this way and when I told her she listened. She then told me she supported my decisions as a parents. WOW!!! Woot....woot...woot!!!!! I think we have finally found the pediatrician's office that we are going to stick with.
The NP tells us that everything looks great and that Ruby does not need to be seen for another year. I help Ruby get dressed and he head to the check out desk. Ruby didn't want to leave. She said, "I stay."
As we were checking out I seen a stack of brochures. One of the stack of brochures was about what to do when your child is diagnosed with. SMACK....there went my morning of pretending to be normal!!!
Seeing the brochures quickly brought back to my mind all of the things that I felt and feared when I first suspected that Hayden was autistic. It also brought up the list of things that I was told he would never do and what to expect. It reminded me of what trips to the pediatrician were like with Hayden. I can't even put into words how it feels to have your child to be chronically ill and to have a disability. It use to break my heart to take him to the doctor. I didn't want to hear what he was not doing......I already knew it. I didn't want to be the person that everyone started at because my child was on the floor screaming or doing odd things with his cars.
I just wanted to be normal and to have a normal, healthy child!!!
I am beyond great full that todays events made me realize that being normal doesn't matter, it doesn't make me a good mom or a bad mom, it doesn't define who I am. Those brochures were placed on that desk to seriously smack me in the face and say, "Hey...it is what it is." Be true to yourself!!
Yes, I have a neuro-typical child and a non-neuro-typical child. We do strange things. We have a slide in our living room, a swing in our hallway, and trampoline in our kitchen. I am a crazy person when it come to my children's health. I know every ingredient in every bite of food that my child eats. I am a warrior for my children and will never give up on them.
So I say screw NORMAL :) I love my family and myself just they way we are and I don't want to pretend to be something or someone that I am not.
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