Sarah's doing very well. She's been handling stress better for the past week. She's communicating enough now that I'm realizing I need to stress the difference between fantasy and reality (which means she's at a preschool level there). It's not a big deal because she's starting to learn the difference, which is awesome!
I had an interesting conversation with Rachel this morning. For the first time, she calmly tried to make sure justice was kept. It started when I took Sarah's practice pad into our toddler's room (Sarah was okay with this) for him to play with. Now, mind, I'm not used to talking to Rachel about such things because she has never argued with me before like this. In fact, I was stunned for much of it.
Rachel (walks up to me): That's Sarah's drum.
Me: Yeah, it's okay, Rachel. Stephen can play with it.
Rachel (emphatic, yet calm): That's Sarah's drum. It go ih Sarah's room.
Me: It's okay, Rachel. Stephen's not going to hurt it.
Rachel (still calm, still emphatic): But that's Sarah's. It go ih her room. (Points to make sure I understand.)
Me (finally catching on): I'll put it back after he's done playing with it.
Rachel looked at me for a few moments, then turned around and went back to her room. She seemed satisfied with my answer.
She's been more picky about rules lately. It's a sign she's progressed but it's wrecking havoc with the pecking order among the kids. Up to about a year ago, our third-born was the one who acted like the eldest, making sure everyone did what they should. That shifted as Sarah progressed and the two became sort of co-eldest. But now that Rachel is becoming more concerned about the rules and acting like the eldest child (makes sense since she was born first) everything is up in the air again.
And on a completely different note, Rachel's coordination has improved quite a bit since we started giving her the flax oil. Her running is smooth now, though I can tell there's a bit of muscle weakness we need to fix, and she's starting to skip through the house on a consistent basis. And that also looks smooth. :) I'm going to test fine motor skills this week and see if there's any improvement there as well.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Drawing lessons online
For those who are interested, and for those who might know someone who is, here is a link.
Drawspace.com
Drawspace.com
Monday, January 26, 2009
If you knew your child would have autism...
It seems that someone in the UK has figured out a possible pre-natal screening test for autism. (I apologize in advance for the biased website... it's where I got the info and I'm too busy/lazy/whatever to look it up elsewhere... feel free to look the info up in other sources.) It's still very new and relatively untried. However, it's making some people very nervous... and with good reason. The eugenics movement was a horrifying chapter in American, British and, most notably, German history (for more info take a look at War Against the Weak by Edwin Black... I'm looking forward to a better source but he does a pretty good job).
I remember being involved in an abortion debate in college. The debate itself was pretty mundane with only a few interesting facts. It certainly changed my views regarding choice and free agency. But that's neither here nor there. The one thing I remember most clearly was when we were talking about the disabled. In the most intense part of the debate, one of the pro-choice women yelled, "They don't deserve to live!"
You can imagine how silent the room became after that. Every member of the pro-choice side (except the woman who had shouted) either looked ashamed, shocked, or some combination of the two. The pro-life side mostly looked as if they had expected it, though one or two looked as if they weren't sure they'd heard her correctly.
Now that I have two special needs children, I know the answer to this question myself. But for those who read my blog, I think it would be good to ask the question of yourself. If you knew your unborn child would be autistic, what would you do?
I remember being involved in an abortion debate in college. The debate itself was pretty mundane with only a few interesting facts. It certainly changed my views regarding choice and free agency. But that's neither here nor there. The one thing I remember most clearly was when we were talking about the disabled. In the most intense part of the debate, one of the pro-choice women yelled, "They don't deserve to live!"
You can imagine how silent the room became after that. Every member of the pro-choice side (except the woman who had shouted) either looked ashamed, shocked, or some combination of the two. The pro-life side mostly looked as if they had expected it, though one or two looked as if they weren't sure they'd heard her correctly.
Now that I have two special needs children, I know the answer to this question myself. But for those who read my blog, I think it would be good to ask the question of yourself. If you knew your unborn child would be autistic, what would you do?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Videos from the ATC
I decided to put a link to these on my blog because the SR program has a couple of big strikes against it. One is confidence. There are many parents out there who, in spite of any evidence to the contrary, feel experts know their children better than they do. This doesn't mean experts aren't helpful, it's just that I've seen too many parents hand their special needs children to the experts like a child handing over a toy that's broken. (Thankfully, I've also seen many parents who are willing to be the main "therapist" in their child's life.)
The other problem, true of all the developmental approaches in treating autism, is time. ABA (both kinds), RDI, SR, etc. all supposedly demand a large time investment initially from the parent or a therapist... at least, if you want the ideal. It's not unusual to hear of 20-40 hours a week devoted to "therapy". In fact, the ideal in SR is to be in the playroom the moment the child wakes up and spend, in essence, all day in the playroom. Sometimes, if the playroom is a room separate from the child's bedroom, they recommend letting the child sleep in the playroom for a time to minimize transition problems.
Now, obviously the playroom is temporary. Over time the amount of time spent in the "distraction-free environment" is going to diminish until the child "graduates" (i.e. doesn't use the playroom anymore). This is also true of the other therapies as well. But that intial investment can be very daunting to parents. So daunting, in fact, that they don't even try.
That's what I like about these videos. They don't just introduce the program. The one called, Creating a Distraction-free Environment tells you how to get started creating a playroom environment out of what looks like a living room and makes it clear that even a half hour a day is great. Jonathan Levy's book does the same though he recommends an hour.
The point is, even a small amount of time every day helps. This is what I've learned doing little bits of therapy/school throughout the day with Rachel and Sarah.
The other problem, true of all the developmental approaches in treating autism, is time. ABA (both kinds), RDI, SR, etc. all supposedly demand a large time investment initially from the parent or a therapist... at least, if you want the ideal. It's not unusual to hear of 20-40 hours a week devoted to "therapy". In fact, the ideal in SR is to be in the playroom the moment the child wakes up and spend, in essence, all day in the playroom. Sometimes, if the playroom is a room separate from the child's bedroom, they recommend letting the child sleep in the playroom for a time to minimize transition problems.
Now, obviously the playroom is temporary. Over time the amount of time spent in the "distraction-free environment" is going to diminish until the child "graduates" (i.e. doesn't use the playroom anymore). This is also true of the other therapies as well. But that intial investment can be very daunting to parents. So daunting, in fact, that they don't even try.
That's what I like about these videos. They don't just introduce the program. The one called, Creating a Distraction-free Environment tells you how to get started creating a playroom environment out of what looks like a living room and makes it clear that even a half hour a day is great. Jonathan Levy's book does the same though he recommends an hour.
The point is, even a small amount of time every day helps. This is what I've learned doing little bits of therapy/school throughout the day with Rachel and Sarah.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
TV back on... kind of
Just a quick note to say that the kids have barely watched TV today. We had a movie going this morning but no one was watching it, so we turned it off. We did watch a collection of animated music shorts this afternoon but that has been it for TV watching today. And even during that the kids danced and played to the music... they didn't actually watch TV.
I wonder if they might enjoy listening to some of the old radio shows that are on CD now. They like listening to stories and that's essentially what those old shows are. Something to think about.
We are definitely sticking with this rule next week. :)
I wonder if they might enjoy listening to some of the old radio shows that are on CD now. They like listening to stories and that's essentially what those old shows are. Something to think about.
We are definitely sticking with this rule next week. :)
Friday, January 9, 2009
Day Four of No TV (during the week)
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. And what's crazy is that the kids are doing great without the TV. My husband has noticed their focus has increased and they're calmer. Even my firstborn son has settled down. And yet, I'm really looking forward to turning the TV on tomorrow. I have no idea why.
Just FYI
I'm going to post this on Homemaking Cents as well (Monday from the way my schedule looks). It makes more sense there, I know, but I'm posting it here because many kids in the spectrum struggle with immune system problems.
Flu in U.S. Found Resistant to Main Antiviral Drug
I'm a bit cynical about this article because I've read other articles that question Tamiflu's abilities as an antiviral in the first place. However, whether you're big into allopathic or holistic or whatever healing, prevention is the most important thing. Around here, that means a greater emphasis on washing hands, taking baths, good nutrition, exercise, and fresh air. I've found charts that outline the steps very helpful, especially if they have pictures. We have the one for washing hands up right now and it seems to help. I try to supervise hand washing since it gets Rachel used to putting her hands completely under the water. If I don't, she only washes her fingertips.
Can't say I blame her. That water is coooooooold... and the hot water takes too long to show up.
For those who want a little motivating reading, I recommend two Laurie Garrett books: Betrayal of Trust and The Coming Plague. Sometimes Ms. Garrett jumps to conclusions (especially when it comes to vaccinations) but most of the time she sticks with facts and deals only with what's known. Great reading for those who want to know how much impact public health has on the community. I especially enjoyed Ms. Garrett's recollection of her uncle in the beginning of The Coming Plague: he was a doctor before everything got sent to a lab and he worried that a time would come when a doctor might have to diagnose without a lab again. He felt a time would come when doctors wouldn't be able to diagnose by sight... very necessary when time is of the essence. It's a fascinating and increasingly timely topic for debate.
Flu in U.S. Found Resistant to Main Antiviral Drug
I'm a bit cynical about this article because I've read other articles that question Tamiflu's abilities as an antiviral in the first place. However, whether you're big into allopathic or holistic or whatever healing, prevention is the most important thing. Around here, that means a greater emphasis on washing hands, taking baths, good nutrition, exercise, and fresh air. I've found charts that outline the steps very helpful, especially if they have pictures. We have the one for washing hands up right now and it seems to help. I try to supervise hand washing since it gets Rachel used to putting her hands completely under the water. If I don't, she only washes her fingertips.
Can't say I blame her. That water is coooooooold... and the hot water takes too long to show up.
For those who want a little motivating reading, I recommend two Laurie Garrett books: Betrayal of Trust and The Coming Plague. Sometimes Ms. Garrett jumps to conclusions (especially when it comes to vaccinations) but most of the time she sticks with facts and deals only with what's known. Great reading for those who want to know how much impact public health has on the community. I especially enjoyed Ms. Garrett's recollection of her uncle in the beginning of The Coming Plague: he was a doctor before everything got sent to a lab and he worried that a time would come when a doctor might have to diagnose without a lab again. He felt a time would come when doctors wouldn't be able to diagnose by sight... very necessary when time is of the essence. It's a fascinating and increasingly timely topic for debate.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Day Two of No TV (during the week)
Now the withdrawal begins.
Sarah has been asking all morning for a particular movie. Everyone seems a little jittery, as if they aren't quite sure what to do. Thankfully, Becky and Sarah were resourceful enough to go play pretend with their dolls.
Ironically, the one who is having the worst time is our toddler firstborn son. He's been more sensitive than usual, more likely to act aggressive, and more clingy. It said in The Plug-in Drug that video games produce dopamine, and in the Mars & Venus Diet & Exercise Solution by John Gray it says that guys tend to be low on dopamine and therefore tend to crave whatever produces it: according to Gray that means activities that encourage service, risk, challenge, etc. Maybe TV and movies also provide a certain amount of dopamine, like video games? I don't know. It's just a thought. I just know that ordinarily my boy is not this insecure. We'll see where we are by the time Saturday rolls around. If he relaxes the moment TV comes on, I'll know something is wrong.
Rachel is the one taking things in stride. She doesn't seem to crave TV, though she loves music. I've discovered that most of the time when she watches a show, she's watching it for the music, not the story. That's changing, but the music is still her favorite part.
Sarah has been asking all morning for a particular movie. Everyone seems a little jittery, as if they aren't quite sure what to do. Thankfully, Becky and Sarah were resourceful enough to go play pretend with their dolls.
Ironically, the one who is having the worst time is our toddler firstborn son. He's been more sensitive than usual, more likely to act aggressive, and more clingy. It said in The Plug-in Drug that video games produce dopamine, and in the Mars & Venus Diet & Exercise Solution by John Gray it says that guys tend to be low on dopamine and therefore tend to crave whatever produces it: according to Gray that means activities that encourage service, risk, challenge, etc. Maybe TV and movies also provide a certain amount of dopamine, like video games? I don't know. It's just a thought. I just know that ordinarily my boy is not this insecure. We'll see where we are by the time Saturday rolls around. If he relaxes the moment TV comes on, I'll know something is wrong.
Rachel is the one taking things in stride. She doesn't seem to crave TV, though she loves music. I've discovered that most of the time when she watches a show, she's watching it for the music, not the story. That's changing, but the music is still her favorite part.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Day One of No TV (during the week)
Well, today is the first full day of no TV during the week. I seem to be having a harder time with this than the kids. I swear it feels like there's something physically wrong in my head.
The kids are doing great. After I finished my morning routine and we had all finished breakfast, I got out the books and we read for a while. Then, I worked on laundry. Thank goodness because one of my (bored) sons had decided to explore a box, found a bottle of maple syrup and decided to paint his brother, and a 3 ft. radius around his brother, with it in their room. I threw the clothes in the wash, bathed the boys, did what I could to clean the mess, Mr. Vinca finished up while I worked on (a late) lunch and then I just relaxed for a bit.
Sarah's playing piano. Because no one is watching TV, there's no extra noise to annoy anyone, and there's no one complaining that they can't hear their movie because Sarah's "being too loud". Rachel's in her room playing quietly: soon we'll be doing her therapy/school (the two often combine) and then math and journal work with Becky and Sarah.
As for the flax oil, we've kept up on that for the past few days. For the first time today, Rachel asked me to put a hairband in her hair. She hasn't tolerated her hair pulled back for a few years now, and she has never, ever asked. I'm more than a little stunned and I wonder if the flax oil has something to do with it. Or it could just be a natural part of her growth, or one of the results of therapy or something else entirely.
I will mention that Rachel tolerates flax oil: she doesn't really like it. Personally, I enjoy it. I like the nutty taste. It goes especially good with yogurt but works all by itself, too.
Follow up: as for The Explosive Child, I wasn't able to finish it before I had to return it. Therefore, my review will have to wait. Just thought y'all should know.
The kids are doing great. After I finished my morning routine and we had all finished breakfast, I got out the books and we read for a while. Then, I worked on laundry. Thank goodness because one of my (bored) sons had decided to explore a box, found a bottle of maple syrup and decided to paint his brother, and a 3 ft. radius around his brother, with it in their room. I threw the clothes in the wash, bathed the boys, did what I could to clean the mess, Mr. Vinca finished up while I worked on (a late) lunch and then I just relaxed for a bit.
Sarah's playing piano. Because no one is watching TV, there's no extra noise to annoy anyone, and there's no one complaining that they can't hear their movie because Sarah's "being too loud". Rachel's in her room playing quietly: soon we'll be doing her therapy/school (the two often combine) and then math and journal work with Becky and Sarah.
As for the flax oil, we've kept up on that for the past few days. For the first time today, Rachel asked me to put a hairband in her hair. She hasn't tolerated her hair pulled back for a few years now, and she has never, ever asked. I'm more than a little stunned and I wonder if the flax oil has something to do with it. Or it could just be a natural part of her growth, or one of the results of therapy or something else entirely.
I will mention that Rachel tolerates flax oil: she doesn't really like it. Personally, I enjoy it. I like the nutty taste. It goes especially good with yogurt but works all by itself, too.
Follow up: as for The Explosive Child, I wasn't able to finish it before I had to return it. Therefore, my review will have to wait. Just thought y'all should know.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Long Chain Fatty Acids and TV
It has been quite a weekend
Over the weekend, after a binge at the local library, I was reading a book called The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet by Marilyn C. Agin, Lisa F. Geng and Malcolm J. Nicholl. It's a pretty good book overall. Its strength is in apraxia, but there's also some really good information on autism spectrum disorders as well in it: many of the suggestions for apraxia work for autism as well. This is also the only book I've read that talks about insurance codes and how important it is that your provider enter the "correct" code (a topic that highlights just how crooked the whole insurance scam is no matter how useful/necessary). If you want inspiration about working in the system to get your child help, this is a very useful book.
But the part I found most fascinating was a chapter devoted to omega-3 fatty acids and their effects on children with speech delays. The book was published back in 2003 but that means little to me. The book that helped us figure out how to keep Rachel from screaming for hours in the middle of the night was published back in the 70s/80s. I only mention this so that anyone reading has an idea of how old this information is.
Anyway... at the time of the book's writing, no one knew why it helped children (just like many parents aren't entirely sure why a GF/CF diet seems to help their child). It was speculated that long chain fatty acids are one major part of myelin, the insulation around nerve fibers. If myelin is damaged, the ability of neurons to "talk" to each other is damaged as well. A lack of myelin also affects gross- and fine-motor skills.
Well, when I read that, I thought of Rachel. Her delay spreads across many areas (for example she didn't start jumping until she was five).
I'm still going to do research on it through the week to see if anyone else has followed up on this, but because it won't hurt anything, I'm giving her some flax oil I've been using for myself. I started Saturday and already I'm noticing she's calmer and a bit more interactive than usual. We'll see where we are in another month or so. If I don't see any increase in progress... well, I won't make it one of my "must have" supplements in her diet, like wheatgrass (currently given as part of Kid-e-Mins) or calcium.
In line with language acquisition, we have decided to make a new rule: no TV on weekdays.
Why? I'm glad you asked. Guilt. Lots and lots of guilt. See, when the TV is off, I've noticed Rachel interacts with her sisters and brothers more... Sarah definitely interacts more... and interaction is key to increasing language and social skills. When the TV is on more, I've noticed less interaction. I feel I would be a bad parent if I took away an opportunity for the girls to increase their language acquisition.
But the thing that pushed me over the edge was reading The Plug-in Drug by Marie Winn. There's so much wonderful information packed into this little book it would take a while to write about it, but I do want to say that it makes an excellent case (matched by my own observations) that TV, because it caters primarily to the non-verbal side of the brain, actually diminishes language acquisition. In fact, the most frightening part of the book is when Winn points out a study that showed the original studies on Sesame Street were flawed. The children cited who made progress watching Sesame Street also had increased interaction with and rewards for learning from adults. The heavy viewers (not publicized) who didn't have this interaction started to fall behind in language acquisition.
Like I said, this info matches my own experience and turning off the TV was also the advice given to us at the Autism Treatment Center because they had discovered the same thing. So, TV only on weekends.
It won't be hard. We don't have cable, we don't have good (if any) reception, and DVDs are easy to stash/hide. What will be hard is the withdrawal. :( I'll let you know if we're still alive at the end of the week. :)
Over the weekend, after a binge at the local library, I was reading a book called The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet by Marilyn C. Agin, Lisa F. Geng and Malcolm J. Nicholl. It's a pretty good book overall. Its strength is in apraxia, but there's also some really good information on autism spectrum disorders as well in it: many of the suggestions for apraxia work for autism as well. This is also the only book I've read that talks about insurance codes and how important it is that your provider enter the "correct" code (a topic that highlights just how crooked the whole insurance scam is no matter how useful/necessary). If you want inspiration about working in the system to get your child help, this is a very useful book.
But the part I found most fascinating was a chapter devoted to omega-3 fatty acids and their effects on children with speech delays. The book was published back in 2003 but that means little to me. The book that helped us figure out how to keep Rachel from screaming for hours in the middle of the night was published back in the 70s/80s. I only mention this so that anyone reading has an idea of how old this information is.
Anyway... at the time of the book's writing, no one knew why it helped children (just like many parents aren't entirely sure why a GF/CF diet seems to help their child). It was speculated that long chain fatty acids are one major part of myelin, the insulation around nerve fibers. If myelin is damaged, the ability of neurons to "talk" to each other is damaged as well. A lack of myelin also affects gross- and fine-motor skills.
Well, when I read that, I thought of Rachel. Her delay spreads across many areas (for example she didn't start jumping until she was five).
I'm still going to do research on it through the week to see if anyone else has followed up on this, but because it won't hurt anything, I'm giving her some flax oil I've been using for myself. I started Saturday and already I'm noticing she's calmer and a bit more interactive than usual. We'll see where we are in another month or so. If I don't see any increase in progress... well, I won't make it one of my "must have" supplements in her diet, like wheatgrass (currently given as part of Kid-e-Mins) or calcium.
In line with language acquisition, we have decided to make a new rule: no TV on weekdays.
Why? I'm glad you asked. Guilt. Lots and lots of guilt. See, when the TV is off, I've noticed Rachel interacts with her sisters and brothers more... Sarah definitely interacts more... and interaction is key to increasing language and social skills. When the TV is on more, I've noticed less interaction. I feel I would be a bad parent if I took away an opportunity for the girls to increase their language acquisition.
But the thing that pushed me over the edge was reading The Plug-in Drug by Marie Winn. There's so much wonderful information packed into this little book it would take a while to write about it, but I do want to say that it makes an excellent case (matched by my own observations) that TV, because it caters primarily to the non-verbal side of the brain, actually diminishes language acquisition. In fact, the most frightening part of the book is when Winn points out a study that showed the original studies on Sesame Street were flawed. The children cited who made progress watching Sesame Street also had increased interaction with and rewards for learning from adults. The heavy viewers (not publicized) who didn't have this interaction started to fall behind in language acquisition.
Like I said, this info matches my own experience and turning off the TV was also the advice given to us at the Autism Treatment Center because they had discovered the same thing. So, TV only on weekends.
It won't be hard. We don't have cable, we don't have good (if any) reception, and DVDs are easy to stash/hide. What will be hard is the withdrawal. :( I'll let you know if we're still alive at the end of the week. :)
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