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Update: I haven't updated this in a while... Zachary is
doing great... he is now 10... home schooled... our story involves so much that
I refer you to my 4 books for more. I didn't want to delete this as
it is a good record of many issues. END OF UPDATE POSTED NOV. 2007
Note To Visitors:
Some search engines define my site as a "Journal of an Autistic Child".... this
site is MUCH, MUCH more than this... go to the home page and you will see
videos showing neurodegeneration due to mercury exposure,
secret
reports from behind closed door CDC, Immunization program meetings,
and a ton of other valuable
information for parents of children with autism.
Parents who really want to understand the many, many
issues of autism are encouraged to read - especially - "Book 3" which I have
written and posted in full on my website. You will also find a book
dealing specifically with language issues, parent teaching tools, etc.
Zachary's continuing progress is of course, very much a part of all 4 books I
have written... The
"journal" is but a very, very small piece of this site... and one I have not
updated in a little while due to the fact that I have written 4 books in 2 years
- in addition to the research found on this site...
I very much encourage all families to take the time to
surf the home page of this site. On it, you will also find the
amazing parallels (over 160 of them) between autism and Alzheimer's... and
between autism and schizophrenia (over 140). This
"comparison" was provided to Dan Burton for the Dec. 10th, 2002 vaccine
hearings. Amazingly, all three of these disorders -
autism-schizophrenia-Alzheimer's - also
share a very, very
strong link in terms of their history...
understanding all these issues will help parents to very, very clearly
understand a great deal... again, "Book 3" is the book I strongly encourage all families to read!
Note that all my books are posted
in full on my website
and are available for free downloading to all families of children with autism
per "Terms of
Use".
Journal Of Zachary's Progress - Exciting Stuff!!!
| Date Posted - Date Updated |
Comment |
|
May 2005 |
Water - Our most important nutrient - and
perhaps our most important chelator... THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE
WATER YOU DRINK! We had been drinking
distilled water because we live in an area that has a very high iron content
in the water. It appears "distilled" water is considered "dead
water" and that ionized water may be much better for you.
http://www.waternutrition.com/
|
|
May 2005 |
I just found out that
epsom salts can contain mercury...
Epsom salt baths are often recommended for children
with autism... please check with your local pharmacist before giving your
child epsom salts... because just when you think you are doing something to
help your child... you could be making things worse just because the
FDA does not appear to think it necessary that products with mercury in them
be labeled as such ON THE PACKAGE itself! Instead, consumers are
referred to website to find out the contents of certain things that may
contain mercury... in spite of the FDA knowing of the dangers of mercury!!!
One more for the
FAILING IN
DUTIES
ADMINISTRATION!!!
Incompetence at its best when it comes to supposedly being there to "protect
the consumer"... we could go on a long time on "matters of integrity" at the
FAILING
IN DUTIES
ADMINISTRATION...
Reports
posted on this website will give you "an idea" of what I am talking about! |
| July 2004 |
I am happy to report that Zachary's speech is
just exploding... and I honestly think a lot of that has to do with him
finally understanding how pronouns work. I never would have
thought pronouns could be so critical to speech... but the more I worked on
the issue of pronoun confusion in Zachary, the more I came to believe that
this issue of pronoun confusion was truly one of the reasons Zachary's
conversation had taken such a long time to materialize. You simply can
not have conversation without an understanding of correct pronoun usage.
For example... look at this simple sentence... "I want you
to give me that." In only 7 words, 4 of them are pronouns... and
3 - I, you, me - are what I refer to as the "flipping pronouns"... they
change based on WHO IS DOING THE TALKING... and this was a huge issue for
Zachary... a child who truly lived "via reference communication"... and if
the "references" - the pronouns - were "moving targets", how could he
possibly understand how they worked unless this was explained to him.
I know for a fact that proper pronoun usage played a huge
role in his development of conversation. I could give many
examples of this... but, over and over I saw Zachary "testing out pronoun
usage". For example, when he saw his father at the counter one
day, out of the blue he asked: "Is dad him or his?".
My reply to him was that he could be both, for example, I could say, "that
sweater is his" or I could say "that sweater belongs to him". I
knew Zachary understood. That same week, as we were all playing
on the bed in my bedroom, he stated to me as he talked about his father...
"I love him and him loves me"... again, I corrected him right away and
stated: "Zachary, you say, "I love him and he loves me"... right away, he
then turned to his sister who was also in the room and said: "I love
her and she loves me".
I would also notice him as he played with the dogs... he
would say the same thing using different pronouns... again, testing "proper
pronoun usage". For example, one day we had both dogs in the house (we
now had 2 Australian Shepherds). They were laying just in front
of the door and my daughter Anika was petting them. Zachary went
to see the dogs too. He started almost right away... testing
pronouns again. He said the following: "That is
Patchees and Freckles"... then he continued... "These are two dogs"... and
again he continued... "Patches has 4 legs"... "that dog has four legs"...
"it has four legs"... "these are four legs"... and on and on he went...
saying basically the same thing but using different pronouns.
This was clearly what he was doing... testing pronoun usage... of that,
there could be absolutely no doubt.
This kind of activity went on for several days... and
since that time, in about the last 2 months, Zachary's conversation skills
have now exploded... actual conversation... with perfect responses and
sentences... and he seems to go out of his way to respond in sentences
instead of simply one or two word answers as he had so often done in the
past. So, this looks like another huge hump we are finally
overcoming... and I am absolutely convinced that it is the failure to
understand proper pronoun usage that is the hurdle that keeps many of these
children from moving more quickly to actual conversation... you simply can
not have conversation without the proper understanding of pronouns!
How can one speak without understanding
pronouns like:
I, me, you, my, mine, he, she, him, her,
his, hers, your, yours, its, their, theirs, who, whose, whom, they, them,
we, anybody, anyone, another, each, either, everybody, everyone, nobody, no
one, neither, one, other, others, someone, somebody, many, both, few,
several, all, any, some, none, this, that, those, these, which, what,
whoever, whomever, whatever, whichever, etc.
These were all words that we used so much in speech... and
I very much suspected children with autism did not understand what these
words meant or represented, because, again, they were "moving targets"...and
could mean "one thing in one instance" and "something completely different
in another situation"! And that, in my opinion, was the key to
"conversation"... understanding how pronouns worked. You just
can not have "conversation" without an understanding of how these words work
and what they represent... and how "what they represent" can change.
Now that Zachary understood pronouns,
his speech/conversation was simply exploding!
For more on this, see Pronoun Confusion section in Books 3 and 4.
|
| July 2004 |
UPDATE: I am happy to report that Zachary
is finally potty trained (at almost 7 yo... trained in June 2004, he'll be 7 on
Aug 12th, 2004). When I finally decided to "try again", it turned out to
be much easier this time around. I had noticed for a while that he
was bothered now when soiled. He would stand up instead of remaining
seated at the computer if ever he soiled himself. My brother-in-law
had helped us to put in a wood floor in the living room. I knew that
taking the diaper off would be key for Zachary. Sure enough, as soon
as that new floor went in and I tried again, Zachary was somewhat stressed when
he had "no diaper" and when it was time to go, he looked for "a place to dump
it"... and this time, he did go to the potty and use it. I knew that
he very much loved trucks. He often stated that he wanted to be "a
trucker". So, I told him I would buy him "trucker underwear" that he would
have to keep clean. I think that was a huge motivator for him.
I also told him that truckers do not poop in their pants... they use a potty to
keep their trucks clean. Luckily for me, when I went to the store to
look for "trucker underwear", Hanes had just put out a new "pattern/design"...
and it was exactly what I needed. :o) Zachary was thrilled to
have "trucker underwear"!
He still had a few accidents, usually when really
captivated by what he was doing at the computer. Interestingly,
visual processing and somatosensory processing are co-located in the parietal
lobe... it was almost as though his visual processing greatly over-rides his
somatosensory processing... when busy on the computer, he could just "forget he
had to go" or he would "wait until the last possible moment". A few
reminders helped a lot. I did not have to use timers or anything
though. He also wakes up dry now... pretty well all the time... and so,
for him, when ready, he was "really ready" and so there was really no "nighttime
issues"... at least not so far. Traveling has also proven to go
well... he can hold it until we get to a rest room. I now have dad
take him into the men's restroom... I called it the "trucker's bathroom" and so
he was thrilled to try it out even though it was totally new for him.
So, looks like this is one issue we can FINALLY put behind us! Thank
you, Lord! :o)
|
| 12-17-03 |
One area Zachary still has trouble with is
certainly "explaining" things. He can't tell a story for
example. So, that is something else I want to work on this year as far
as speech/language issues. He also seems a lot more
easily distracted lately and it makes homework time very difficult at times.
He knows the answers to things and he figures once he states them, that he
should not have to write them down. Working from a notebook is
much more difficult than working on the computer. He can do the
same type of work much better, and much more quickly - on the computer -
based on what I've come to understand about the working of the brain, (see
book 3), I'm not surprised that this is the case. |
| 11-24-03 |
Now that I have a little time to breathe, I
wanted to update this section to provide for readers an idea of where
Zachary is at - at age 6 years 3 months...
Zachary, while he was still 5, learned how to tell time
and count money. By age 6, he now reads quite well (books for
anywhere from 2nd to 4th grade level - varies based on publisher) and knows
all his basic addition and subtraction. He also knows all his
multiplication tables through 12. He is now learning "parts of speech"
and knows that a noun is a person, place or thing, that an adjective
modifies a noun, that an adverb modifies a verb, adverb or other adjective,
that a verb is an action word and he also has a basic understanding of
conjunctions. He understands contractions also (i.e. would not =
wouldn't). He is truly an excellent speller for his age also.
In my opinion, it is critical Zachary understands the parts of speech in
order to truly move forward in understanding how to put together speech...
conversation. As such, I will be doing a lot of sentence
graphing as outlined in "Book 4" this year in order to help reinforce these
concepts of speech. He is also learning the different sentence
types... statement, exclamation, question and is doing much better with
proper pronoun usage... an issue it had taken me a long time to recognize.
Zachary also loves to learn about science and how things work - in general.
On the socialization front, that is still an area that
needs a lot of work, and so, I now have him in a small group once or twice a
week in order to interact with other children - although I "shadow him"
since the supervising adults there are really not familiar with dealing with
autism. I have no doubt that as he progresses in his understanding of
language that socialization will also flourish. I have taken a
great deal of time trying to understand the issues behind autism and with 4
books in 2 years, a website plus all the research I have done, I must say I
am looking forward to a slower paced year this year. I've shared
a great deal about our journey with autism in the four books I have written
(hence the huge gap in this journal), and now, I am in need of "more
observation time". As such, instead of getting up and
researching at 3:00 am for months at a time, I plan on resting a little more
this year and focusing very much on teaching Zachary during the day.
He has almost completed his first grade curriculum - a curriculum I
purchased from a home schooling materials organization.
Although I only recently completed the language book I
called Breaking The Code To Language and Communication: The Ultimate
Puzzle For A Child With Autism!, I find that already, just based on some of
the language exercises I have done with Zachary, that there are many more
very interesting observations I have seen in how his brain processes
information. As such, come spring, I suspect I'll be adding "an
update" in the area of language development... but, for now, I'm truly happy
to have time to just enjoy my wonderful little boy... and to hopefully get
to potty training... an issue we still struggle with and one I put off for
far too long. So, no, Zachary still isn't potty trained...
and I know that even though I've worked on this a great deal in the past, in
the last 8 months or so, I really let that issue go to the wayside as I
focused on writing and researching and was simply too exhausted to address
"potty training" during the day. Caring for Zachary during that
time was work enough as I had to juggle him and all my projects. :o)
Zachary certainly has allowed me to see life very, very
differently, and that, has indeed, been a huge blessing. I
strongly encourage all parents to read "Book 3" especially.
Truly eye opening in the issues it addresses - issues with implications that
span far, far beyond autism. :o)
The autistic child - once the forgotten
child - now the key to so much!
|
| 12-06-02 |
IRON OVERLOAD!!! I've done a
great deal of research lately and I have serious concerns about iron intake
for Zachary. Research indicates
autistic children and those with Alzheimer's usually have iron
overload although they may be diagnosed as having "anemia"... As such, they
can be prescribed or given iron supplements when in fact the problem is not
one of too little iron but one of too much iron. What happens is
that rather than going to blood production, excess iron accumulates in the
organs and as such, a blood test would not show that the problem is one of
"iron overload"... not anemia! Before giving any child an iron
supplement for "low iron", I strongly encouraged all families to read this
information on
IRON OVERLOAD in spite of an ANEMIA diagnosis
(see also paper on INSULIN and Research File)!
Note: Insulin and Iron have
a bi-directional relationship - they modulate one another - ... and as such,
DIABETES
also very much fits into this picture!
I encourage all parents to read the
following critical information on iron.
Excess iron causes damage in the brain, heart,
kidneys, liver and pancreas... and as such, can lead to a whole new set of
problems, such as cancer! As such, I will be limiting Zachary's
intake of iron best I can. I am no longer going to provide him with iron
fortified foods - best as I can - and will give him vitamins that do NOT contain iron - even
if that means going to individual vitamins. Note that vitamin C
tremendously increases iron absorption! This area of iron
overload is a huge
area of concern for me. These are some of the articles I have read
of this subject. There are articles here for both autism and
Alzheimer's. Please take the time to read this CRITICAL information.
http://www.childscreen.org/Iron%20Overload%20and%20Autism.htm
http://hemochromatose.tripod.com/0/connor.htm
http://www.ohsu.edu/news/111301alzheimers.html
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag99/mar99_medup.html#3
http://munstermom.tripod.com/IsADironoverloadofthebrain.htm
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2000/oct2000_report_lactoferrin.html
http://www.qimr.edu.au/research/labs/grega/
http://spinwarp.ucsd.edu/NeuroWeb/Text/br-500.htm
|
| 12-04-02 |
I recently completed book 2... the
continuation of our story and much much more. I encourage all
parents of the autistic to read that book along with the updates I posted on
my website. You will be amazed at the information in these materials.
I'm constantly reading to learn more in terms of the supplements I think
will be most helpful to him. I updated that information
on my link entitled:
If I had to
do it all again....
Zachary is doing well.
Even though he is on enzymes, I have decided to remain cfgf for now and use
enzymes to help support digestive functions (i.e., trace gluten, phenols,
etc.). I've come to understand a lot more in my son
and that information is provided in book 2 and updates (top right hand on my
main web page). With the writing of book 2 and the research on
Alzheimer's and caring for Zachary, I've been quite busy. Had I
not written that second book, however, my understanding of my son would not
even come close to what it is today. In trying to help others,
more than ever, I came to understand my own son... and, with that greater
understanding, I can now focus my efforts even more in helping Zachary.
:o) |
| 08-18-02 |
Zachary had a very negative reaction to
Cod
Liver Oil being rubbed on his skin. I encourage all
parents to read information provided here. This nightmare lasted about
24 hours. Given Zachary's reaction, he will NEVER again be given
cod liver oil... I truly believe it has the potential to kill him next
time... that's how bad this reaction was! I'm happy to report he is
fine now... but there is certainly a lesson in this for all parents of the
autistic! Also, recently, I've noticed Zachary's overall conversation
has GREATLY improved... we've finally rounded that bend - conversation is
finally coming! :o) I will now only use
flax seed oil... and rub it on his skin just before I put him to bed.
It can be readily absorbed through the skin and since he hates the taste of
it, that is the best way to go. |
| 08-08-02 |
I noticed Zachary had dark circles again
today... could be due to cheese from yesterday... so, I'll be watching that
carefully. |
| 08-07-02 |
Well, since Zachary has been on enzyme for
about 5 months now, I figured it was time to do a "first test"... so, today,
I gave him a huge chunk of cheddar cheese to see how he would react... NO
REACTION whatsoever... no red ears, no red cheeks, no abnormal behavior...
nothing! I had given Zachary two peptizide enzymes
capsules (in his rice milk) just prior to giving him the cheese. I'm thrilled. I will continue to monitor
him closely and will only reintroduce other milk products very very
slowly... perhaps spreading them apart by weeks rather than days... but,
this first test with cheese and enzymes has been very very exciting to say
the least. :o) I decided to start with casein because it takes 3
days for it to leave the body... gluten can take up to a year. |
| 07-16-02
12-04-02 (update) |
Today, I came up with a couple of good
thoughts on finger pointing and
potty training. You'll find these
under. I've also come
up with very interesting thoughts and observations on
"spinning" ... I will post in a week after I return from a trip
to Canada. I included these in book 2. |
| 07-15-02 |
I took Zachary off the TMG.
He had been on it for just over 2 years. This is the product Kirkman
Labs recommended to help trigger speech development.
Here is the really interesting thing... Zachary has
only been off TMG for 3 days and during that time, I've noticed much much
better ability to converse. Is it
possible that TMG helps with initial speech development but that after a
time it actually hinders speech dealing with conversation?
I have no way of
knowing. I haven't seen any studies looking into this issue.
This is simply something I have observed in the last couple of days...
something others have noticed as well. I'm very puzzled
by this. Nothing else has changed in Zachary's diet in over 3 months.
Zachary knew many many words... but conversation just wasn't coming...now,
it is coming fast... just since I've removed the TMG.
There were many short sentences before... but now, the conversation is
showing up... finally! He is also less hyper than he used to be.
This is all very interesting and exciting. :o)
I have also discovered the best way to teach
Zachary many many coping skills...the whole concept of "parts" making up
"the whole" as explained via FRACTIONS. |
| 07-07-02 |
I have not written in this journal for a
while since I was working on my "Parent Nuggets" and "Signs of Autism" file
and reference materials, etc. for parents... more time savers for my readers
.... and I've been enjoying life in general. Zachary is talking
more and more in sentences...still a lot of use of short command phrases,
but the sentences are coming along. Last night, he had a hard
time sleeping and came into the office and said: "Mommy, I can't
sleep". Of course, as soon as he went to "mommy's bed", he fell
asleep right away. A few days ago, I gave him rice ice cream
with a cfgf cone. The cone was cracking on the bottom.
I showed him that and told him to be careful. As he walked away
with the ice cream he said: "Thank you for the broken ice cream cone."
That's his longest sentence ever I think... 8 words! I find the
"sentences" are there... he just chooses to let me know on his own time that
he can speak this well. We also discovered "water balloons" yesterday.
That was great fun for him. I have found, however, that
there is more regression in some areas... seems to want to spin more lately
and such... and there has been diarrhea lately too. I don't know if
it's from swallowing water from lake MI or if it is more yeast die off.
My gut tells me yeast die off but, not 100% sure. I gave Zachary
some dreaded raisins (used to go into major fits within 2 hours) along with
some No Fenol... he was fine. :o) So that was really good.
I also introduced soy cheese... that could be the source of his recent
problems too... I believe a lot of kids don't take well to soy, so I'm going
to remove that for a while and see. Overall though, Zachary
really enjoys interacting with people a lot more. His use of
pronouns is excellent. He can read better and better each day...
his reading really flows well...so, I'm thrilled about that.
This month, I'm going to stop the TMG and extra Folic Acid. He gets
enough Folic Acid from his multivitamin (just a regular gfcf chewable... no
longer on mega vitamin doses). I encourage all parents to read
the "Parent Nuggets" file on my site... you will learn a ton of stuff
there... summary of parent discussions on many many topics... kind of helps
put a lot of pieces of the puzzle together. :o) The only
new thing I've done is I started to put cod liver oil on his skin at night
when he goes to bed... so that he can get that much needed vitamin A
absorbed through the skin. Finally, most people now say
that unless I told them Zachary was autistic, they would not know it... I
know many people still can't even recognize autism... but, at least now I am
seeing most people seeing him as a "regular kid"... if they are around him
very long, then, they could pick up on some of the tendencies, but, to most
strangers, he looks normal. I'm one of those "really hard to convince
myself" persons... and I know a lot of that is simply because they don't
KNOW how to recognize autism... so, I take some of these comments with a
grain of salt... I know Zachary is still a ways from being "normal", but, he
has come such a long long long way! |
| 04-26-02 |
Zachary had a major breakthrough today as far
as breaking order is concerned...I finally figured out the key to the train
puzzle! Please read this link to learn more!
http://autismhelpforyou.com/UsingPuzzlesInNonsenseWay.htm.
This is so very very exciting for me! This link is under
the "Simple Exercises I Do At Home" link
on my web site. There is a lot more there for parents who want to try
some of these things. A major major breakthrough for teaching
Zachary! Zachary has now been on enzymes for about a month...doing
absolutely wonderfully on them. I've been reading a lot on
chelation (removal of heavy metals) and am thinking I'll probably end up
doing that too...but, still need to learn much more on that before I try it!
I encourage all parents to read about Chelation on mercury and autism
message board... you'll learn a ton of stuff. Both this and the
enzyme board are excellent! I am starting to believe that yeast
will always be an issue to keep under control until chelation is
done...seems that until heavy metals are removed, yeast will keep popping up
over and over again. There are risks to chelation (in terms of
liver, kidneys, etc.) so, I want to make sure I am very very informed before
I undertake this. I may not do it for a year or so...want to see how
much progress I get with enzymes first. But, chelation is definitely
on my "radar" screen! For more info on chelation, or to hear what parents are saying, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-Mercury/.
The moderator of this board, Andy Cutler, has several files parents can read
on line that provide excellent information on chelation and protocols for
doing it. |
| 04-04-02 |
I will be putting Zachary on enzymes to break
down phenols.. new product from Houston Nutraceuticals (http://www.houstonni.com/.).
Zachary's disposition is so much better since he is on enzymes.
A happier child overall with much much better eye contact. Motor
coordination also improving greatly. I bought him a bike
today...within 2 hours he was riding like a pro...except for "brakes" ...
LOL. |
| 03-10-02 |
Zachary has been on enzymes about 3 weeks
now. His eye contact is NOTICEABLY much better and his
disposition is also better...much happier child. I also find his
skin color to be better than it has ever been. Still continues to
amaze me with spelling...almost any word I write, he can figure out.
He has also grasped a lot of math concepts a lot more as far as computer
based learning. Things he used to have a really hard time doing,
he can now do just fine...like counting out the appropriate number of
pellets to feed fish in the Early Math program I have. He used
to always want to take them "ALL OUT" (the all or nothing thing)...now, he
can take out the right amount, and so, when that happens, the fish open
their mouth and can be fed. I find he is not always "all or
nothing" anymore...getting to be much more flexible. He still
has his days/times with that...but, overall, doing much better. |
| 03-03-02 |
Read on enzymes and autism thread that probiotics (i.e.,
acidophilus) should not be given at same time as enzymes...just wanted to
mention that. Suggested that enzymes be given before the meal...probiotics
after. Also mentioned that fluoridated
water can also negate enzyme effectiveness, as can chlorine (swimming pool -
water absorbed through the skin). |
| 03-01-02 |
Today, Zachary took a pencil, scratched out
the letters V-A-W-L-T on a paper and then said: "violet". That
is the first "word" he has ever tried to write out without any prompting
from me...he can easily write the easy ones...cat, dog, hat, mouse,
etc....this was the biggest one yet, and it was totally on his own.
:o) I also gave him grapefruit seed extract (GFSE) liquid for the
first time yesterday...2 drops in a cup of diluted juice. He
took it fine. GFSE is supposed to be a great natural yeast
inhibitor....tastes terrible though, so you have to mask it in juice or
something else. He will get 2-3 drops twice a day. It cost
me $11.00 for a 2 oz bottle...should last a while though. If
you/child has a heart condition, you/child should NOT take GSE without first
checking with your doctor. |
| 02-17-02 |
Got my first "I love you, mom" today.
Golden! I've waited a long time for that one. I put Zachary on
digestive enzymes after reading quite a bit of information from the yahoo
groups called:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enzymesandautism/
A lot of parents say their children
can eat more normal diets with help of these enzymes. I am going
to try them for several months (5 or 6) and then try to reintroduce certain
foods with casein and gluten. I encourage all parents to
read/join this thread. A lot of good info. A lot of
parents say eye contact is one of first things they see improvement in once
their children are on enzymes. Zachary has been taking some for
just over a week (I'm starting him very, very slowly though) and I do also
notice better eye contact now. :o) I use enzymes from company
called Houston Nutraceuticals (http://www.houstonni.com/.). Zachary is on Peptizyde
and HN-Zyme Prime (I try to give 1/3 of each capsule 2 or 3 times a
day...just to "build up" for now). |
| 02-08-02 |
Zachary figured out how to pour himself a cup
of rice milk today...to my surprise. I had seen him look in the
refrigerator before, but never thought he'd get to the top shelf and "help
himself". How funny! I'm also noticing less "all or none
behavior" in certain things. When he "colors" pictures on the
computer for example...in the past, the entire picture had to be ONE
color...now, he uses multiple colors. So, that's good! He
has also discovered how much fun it is to throw snowballs at family members
and I've shown him how to wave goodbye - a new favorite thing to do!
:o) I noticed he had a "goose bump like" rash...found a web site on
skin rashes and added it to my web site...seems to be due to low zinc or
vitamin A. I only recently started to give him zinc and only
sporadically. I'll be doing that more regularly and check
vitamin A too. |
| 02-05-02 |
Yesterday, for the first time, Zachary
actually seemed to understand the concept of asking for help. He
needed help with a computer game, and this time, he actually yelled for help
instead of just saying it "quietly". So, now, I just need to
make sure he knows to yell when faced with danger too. Also, I
have been using play dough a lot lately. At first, Zachary
always wants all of it in one big pile. Breaking order means
showing him that it "doesn't all have to be together"... that it's ok to
have it in a bunch of different areas. Yesterday, as he played
with his play dough, he had it "all in one pile"...as I walked away from the
kitchen, I said: "make mommy a snowman"...to my utter surprise, when I
returned to the kitchen, there was a snowman (with about 8 snowballs stacked
one on top of the other). The good thing though was that there
were a bunch of clumps of play dough all about the table too...he had not
used 90% of the play dough...he had simply "left it"....I was thrilled! |
| 01-17-02 |
Today, while working with "wooden blocks"
that were stacked in a "disorderly" fashion, Zachary said the words "smoke
stack" as he looked at them. He is actually starting to
associate things with "real world" objects... even when those things (i.e.,
blocks) are "not perfectly ordered". I'd say that's progress
because he is slowly beginning to accept "non perfect order" as he learns to
associate it to something in real life. The whole exercise is still
stressful for him, but, I still do see these utterances as very positive!
Perhaps "labeling" funny stacks as "smoke stacks" or something else on my
part will better help him deal with the "unusual". I still find
Zachary wants to spin more than he used to though... I know these exercises
are hard on him and he is constantly looking for that "order fix".... making
these "meaningful task order fixes" will be key, but difficult! |
| 01-13-02 |
As I work on "breaking order", Zachary's need
for spinning seems to be increasing. I know he wants his "order fix"
and as I suspected, this will be my biggest challenge as I work with him.
Also, when he feels we are "bothering him", he now says, "go away" or "leave
me alone". I know he is making progress. I see
him less frustrated with "Easter egg" and "wooden block" exercises geared to
"breaking order". He had a long bath tonight and played a lot with
Anika. When I put him to bed, I closed the door. I
heard him trying to open it. When I put him back to bed, he
said, "it's a mommy"... I said, "yes, it's mommy, now you go back to bed".
He stated: "open the door". I told him I'd leave it open
if he stayed in bed. On my way back to my bedroom, I hear him
say: "Thannnnnk you". I reply, "you're welcome" as I smile and go to
bed myself. He went to sleep. |
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