Friday, October 29, 2004

times they are a changin'

They say that change is the only constant and I guess it's true. I've quit my job--C's need are just overwhelming our family and luckily we can afford it--and, while I'm not bitter about it, I resent all the sacrifices I have to make because of this stupid autism. I mean, I know you have to make sacrifices when you have kids (at least good parents do) but I feel like I joined the National Guard to make college tuition and now I have to serve in Iraq (for a current metaphor). I do my parenting job because I have to, but I'm not liking it very much right now. And I do feel like it can potentially kill me. Sorry, it was a tough morning!

We try therapist after therapist after consultant and C only seems to get marginally better. Now, he's running away (and into the street) and hitting and kicking me during tantrums. He's wet the bed every morning for two or three weeks (he was going whole months with a dry bed.) Needless to say, his sleeping is not great. This whole thing sucks.

So, biomedically, here's what C's currently on
B6 and magnesium (mega dose; Spectrum Complete)
Xymogen (cysteine: glutathione)
Probiotics
Cod Liver Oil
Epsom Salt
Gluten-Casein Free

These are the things we've kept since the last entry b/c we think they're working. At the minimum, they aren't creating any side effects (that we know of!).

We've started Home School with 2 women with Masters in Special Education. Love them! C had his first craniosacral therapy session; a real "laying on of the hands". I'm skeptical but we'll see if that works.

So, now we're doing the following conventional therapies--

Applied Behavioral Analysis (we're in the Verbal Behavior portion)
Relational Development Intervention
Therapeutic horseback riding
One on one home school environment with lots of visual supports

We need to do some social skills stuff and the craniosacral is pretty unconvential. Stay tuned for the next round of changes!