The first was during a trip to the pediatrician that gave Fox his diagnosis. I honestly haven't found the medical community very helpful at all when it comes to autism, and that seems to be the consensus among the other parents of children with autism that we meet along the way. That being said, he did help me understand why it has been so difficult to a) determine what causes autism and b) find a cure for autism. He said that autism is just a symptom that can come about many different ways. He compared it to a headache, a headache can be caused by dehydration, missing out on a cup of coffee in the morning or a brain tumor to name a few. So in the first 2 instances take some tylenol to cure the headache, but tylenol is not going to cure a brain tumor. So if they tested a drug or therapy or anything on 10 kids with autism, it might work great for 1 of them and not work at all for 9 of them so it would be deemed a failure, but it's possible that that 1 success had a different kind of autism then the others. The problem now is that they don't know what the different kinds of autism are or how to tell them apart. Anyways, it made sense to me at the time :)
The next aha moment had to do with our RDI program and just understanding communication in general. When we first started RDI we were told that we need to change the way we communicate with Fox. That we should be using 80% declarative language and only 20% or less imperative language. This didn't make sense to me at the time, I really didn't understand how you could do that with a child, I mean don't you have to tell them what to do! Then little Ruby came along, and she started showing an interest in everything and started pointing things out and looking back at me as if to ask me what it is. She takes an active interest in books when we read and is just so curious about her environment. So when I spent a couple days just taking note of how I communicated with her, it was probably 90% declarative language and only 10% imperative. It was just amazing to me and really opened my eyes to what I needed to do with Fox. It's always been hard to just talk to him about the things around him because it was like talking to a wall, he just didn't seem to care at all. I don't want to take all the credit for this, but I like to think that my change in communication style has helped this along, but he has started labeling things (with signs) and also pointing at objects and looking at me to tell him what they are! This is so exciting, because up to this point he has only communicated to make requests, not to experience share. He is also taking more of an interest in books, he'll actually look at the pictures on the pages now instead of just stimming off the page turning.
The final aha moment that I'll share with you is about something I thought was a problem, but turned out to be a very positive turn of events. A little while back, Fox started to ask me for stuff as soon as I came in the room, almost like a reflex. Then if I didn't bow to his every command he would get very upset. I found this distressing because it felt like he would be having a good time with his Dad and then I would come in the room and ruin everything. I mean who likes to be whined at all the time! Anyways, Fox's OT was visiting and she pointed out how Ruby would take Fox's favourite tractor and walk back and forth in front of him with it until he noticed, got upset and took it back from her. This is the only way she knows how to get his attention and boy does it work! His OT pointed out that that is exactly what Fox is doing with me, he knows how to request things from me and it is his way of connecting with me and getting my attention. It's interesting that she has caught up to him in some ways developmentally, and now hopefully they can start moving forward together. It's also nice that something that use to bother me now puts a smile on my face.
Now on to the new discoveries! We've been going to a lot of workshops lately and have learned of some new therapies that look interesting. We're always a little skeptical of things, but we're going to give a couple of them a try because they sound too promising to pass up. You never want to take on too much and end up stressing us out and Fox out, but we can always slow down again if that starts being the case.
The first thing we're looking at is something called Neurofeedback, which is offered through the Integrated Centre for Optimal Learning (http://www.icolsolutions.com/) here in Waterloo. We're going to check it out tonight, so I'll have more to say about it at a later date. My sister-in-law gave me a book about Neurofeedback a while back and it sounds very interesting (http://www.amazon.ca/HEALING-YOUNG-BRAINS-NEUROFEEDBACK-SOLUTION/dp/157174603X). It's all based on the idea of neuroplasticity and how you can always improve the neural pathways in the brain, it's never too late. When I spoke to the centre about it, they said it often helps with anxiety issues, which I think would be great because Fox has been showing signs of stress again lately, there's a lot of teeth grinding going on.
The next thing we're looking at is Talk Tools therapy (http://www.talktools.net/). I'm very excited about this because it makes so much sense to me. It's all about training the muscles of the mouth to strengthen them so they can do what they are suppose to do. It's suppose to help with speech and feeding. I've ordered the starter kit and am hoping to get it soon, so we can get started right away. It doesn't replace speech therapy, just supplements it with some muscle strengthening.
I'll also be attending a 4 day workshop on Reflex Integration in a few weeks. From what I gather this may be able to help Fox with his motor planning/coordination problems. I haven't found anything in the many therapies/treatments I have researched that can help with motor planning, so hopefully this will be the answer. We'll know soon enough I guess.
Lisa
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