Improvements continue!

Some excerpts from the notes coming home from school lately:

1/18:  ..."Matched shapes and colors from a field of 6.  Matched big/little."

1/23: ..."Nathan worked on cutting.  We are moving on to receptively identifying 3 colors and shapes.  He was very compliant today."

2/6: ..."Nathan was receptively identifying shapes today.  Hurray!  Cut on a line [with scissors!] a number of times for 5-6 inches."

2/8: ..."Worked on receptively identifying colors and shapes.  He is doing great.  He did well cutting and making a pig from hearts."

2/9: ..."Nathan worked a long time today.  He is cutting with scissors better.  I will increase the length he must cut consecutively."

At home, we are seeing unbelievable progress on communicating with his iPad app.  He uses it so much it's almost like he doesn't have a communication issue!  He regularly tells us he wants a popsicle...and not just any old popsicle, but a GREEN popsicle!  And if I tell him we are all out of green and only have purple and red left?...He says "PURPLE".  He tells us he wants the "BUS" and "SCHOOL" and sometimes even says "GOODBYE" before we walk out the door.   He tells us he wants "BREAD" and "BANANA" and comments "BREAD" if he is eating it.  He asks for the "UPSIDE-DOWN" game and says, "I-WANT-MORE."  He even asked for some Sierra Mist soda by saying, "WATER + JUICE" when he didn't find an icon for "SODA".  Even my husband is marveling over this. 

As you can tell from the notes home, his cognitive progress (at least what he is aware of and cooperates in showing to teachers...we know it's in there!) is exploding!!  Colors, shapes, cutting with scissors??...is this still MY child we're talking about?

I asked Nathan to smile...and he did!!  Isn't he handsome? :)

  I'm so proud of how far he's come...

...and to think we've only been at this for the past few months!!

We are waiting for the school district to reevaluate his Assistive Tech needs.  He needs more than PECS.  He does so well with the iPad that it's a pity he can't use it at school.  We are hoping his teachers will see he is ready and recommend a change. 

Today will be the beginning of Round #14 in our AC chelation journey.  I'd say it (and our supplement regimen) are doing wonders...wouldn't you? :)  Will keep updating as we see more!

OH, NO...NOT BIOMED!!!

Since starting biomed in August, we have worked hard to get Nathan on all the supplements ordered by our local DAN!, Dr. Baptist.  At first the task was daunting...here is the list of supplements he ordered for our son:

probiotics
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Vitamin D
B-50
CoQ10
Acetyl L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine
Iodine
Biotin
Natural antifungals/antivirals
Selenium
Glutathione
Calcium
Magnesium
....and yes:  I typed all that from memory! 

It was strange jumping into biomed.  It was like marrying your sworn enemy...ever read or seen "Pride and Prejudice"?  And I assure you:  I did not go into it willingly.  Seeing test results can change things like that.

We have finally gotten past the crazy "honeymoon" phase...no schedules are needed, and things are automatic.  I learned to discriminate between the supplements that Nathan really needed and which were questionable in helping him.  The ones that were questionable and gave no improvement have been weeded out.

Here the thing:  I learned that DAN! doctors, much like the rest of the medical community, do what they have been taught or what they think they "know".  They, too, can have their focuses and biases and may not look at the "whole picture".  So, unfortunately, it's up to me, Nathan's mom, to figure out what pieces are missing.  Yes:  I have to play doctor.  And No: I don't like it. 

Enter chelation.  Let me be more specific:  ANDY CUTLER chelation.  This is not the chelation most drs speak of.  The motto of AC chelation is "go low and go slow".  It is VERY SAFE, the parents are in control of how long and when a round is, and it is cost-effective.  Until chelation, we did not have any "wow" moments with Nathan.  It is the one treatment we have done that given us what we craved most:  PROGRESS. 

This weekend we are on Round #6.  Since starting chelation, we've seen immense improvement in receptive language.  He can't stop looking at people.  He "gets" inference.  He sat down and did puzzles with me last week and played with his sister in an indoor jungle gym at the mall...and he climbed all the way to the top for the very first time.  We are emotionally holding back, probably from the fear of it all being coincidence...but we all know that the frequency of coincidence creates causation.  The causation being that chelation is actually WORKING.

I maintain an attitude of healthy skepticism about all of this...but I'd LOVE to be proven wrong. :)