Comments on: Navigating Emma's autism

By: April

April — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:21:02 +0000

It really should be compulsory to try a gluten, casein and salicylate free diet for any ASD kid/ adult. Did you try this for Emma?

By: Cindy Golden

Cindy Golden — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:36:07 +0000

I so feel for parents of children on the spectrum. I work with those students but it is only 8 hours a day. The children have such complex needs that our parents need support because their emotional, physical, financial and marital situations are stressed.
Cindy
http://www.omacconsulting.blogspot.com

By: Stephanie Ward

Stephanie Ward — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:11:11 +0000

This is for Bonnie, about the yeast infections. You need to reduce the amount of sugar and simple carbs that your grandaughter consumes, and replace those with more fruits, veggies, whole grains and plain yogurt. It's not easy to change the diet of a person with ASD, but it can be done. Sugar feeds the yeast, so reduce the sugar! Yogurt helps restore the balance.

By: Bonnie Giordano

Bonnie Giordano — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:50:24 +0000

My eight year old grand-daughter was diagnosed with autism at eighteen months old. It was IMMEDIATELY after having the MMR shot! She now has seizures and yeast infections. The videos of her prior to the shot shows an animated, responsive child. That child was taken AWAY. She cannot read, write or tell you what she is afraid of when she cries for no apparent reason. Her identical twin is fine!!! If there wasn't for the greed of the pharmaceutical companies and the government perhaps there would be a drop in this epidemic. The doctors denied, at first, that there was anything wrong with her. It was our own perseverance through a family friend doing an evaluation that we learned the TRUTH. You MUST be your child's advocate.

By: LorettaDee Latham

LorettaDee Latham — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:38:44 +0000

I am Grandma Dee. I have two "typical" gandchildren and one, very autistic grandson named Alex. Alex is a beautiful 7-year-old boy who lives with me, Grandpa, and most special of all, his Daddy. Alex does not use words to communicate, is still in pull ups. Even so he has came a very long way. Instead of waking up at 3:00 am and going full blast, with the help of his medicine he can now sleep. He is making progress using a picture exchange communication book to communicate. He still has awful melt downs but now they are very selective and mostly limited to not being able to go outside. He goes to winter and summer school in an Autism classroom. I don't think that Jenny McCarthy or any other star can help us unlock why this happens or when it does happen how we can help these children. I strongly believe the answer lies in working with the older children with autism that can communicate to help us understanding our autistic children. This is spring break, Alex is out of school, I am off work and we are going to try for the bazillionth time to potty train! Enjoyed your posting. Very true, without all the drama. Thank you

By: california grandma

california grandma — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:52:31 +0000

my grandson is 6 years old, and was diagnosed with autism/ASD 2 years ago.
he was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 14 months.
it's been very challenging – autism as well as diabetes.
we learned to watch his body language and tested him religiously in order to keep his blood sugar level.
i watch him now, when i tell him it;s time for a shot – he lifts his shirt up, and says: ok grandma, ready for my shot.
but it took a long time to get there, and i had to keep telling him that this (insulin) was 'important'. when he wants something special, like chocolate cake, i tell him he will need insulin to 'cover' it, and he agrees with me that chocolate cake and a little insulin is ok.
he says : my name is Isaiah
he counts to 50
he loves birds, and carries different colored straws around to symbolize the birds he loves: blue ones are blue parrots, orange ones are flamingos...
and he can name almost every bird known to man.
recently, he learned the meaning of "i love you" and must have told me 100 times that first day that he loved me. he;d ocme into the kitchen, put his hands on his hips and say "grandma, i love you" and blow me a kiss and then he;s off to watch his favorite movie.
ever since he's been born, we've spent a lot of time together. when he was diangosed with diabetes, i learned how to deal with it and took him overnights to give my daughter a break.
we have lunch every saturday, and if i have not called him by 10:30am, he'll be on the phone with his mom asking me where i am.
it wasn;t always like this.
he was the screaming, flailing, frustrated child all parents and family of autistic kids have dealt with.
we finally got him into a great school, he's thriving.
at the same time, i got him into a pool when he was 6 months, and we've kept swimming every summer to the point he could float and enjoy it – and was ready for real swimming lessons last summer.
he still wears a diaper.
he only eats chicken nuggets, carrot juice, capri suns, french fries, strawberry bars from trader joes and sometimes pizza and jelly sandwiches. he doesn't know that some of the treats i give him are actually health foods, packed with vitamins.
i honor his sense of order and routine, but i also intentionally mix it up – and most of the time he allows himself to see the humor in what i am doing and plays along with me. the times when mixing it up are not the best for him, i ask him what he would prefer, and he usually tells me to go back to something familiar. and i do, but we try the new thing again the next time i see him.
he tells me jokes, and remembers how to get to my house from anywhere in the town we live in, by telling me to turn right, left, or to go forward.
i could keep going here, but it;s nice to have this blog, i will keep reading and keep in touch and turn my daughter on to this blog as well.

By: Dee

Dee — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:34:26 +0000

I have a 24 year old son who is autistic. He graduated at 21, and there is nothing available after they graduate. We tried one place and they had no idea how to handle an autistic person. We checked out two other place's, but between being dirty and in industrial area's they where not acceptable for a day program. My son is at home and we are looking for a day program. People don't realize that after the public school system,
there is nothing out there for them. You know your children will grow up and there is nothing available for them later on. I 'm saying this to you so you are able to prepare many year's in advance and be ready. I know that most of your children are young right know but before you know it they will grow up and you will understand what I'm talking about. I think society has to do something now for these children before they grow up and have something available for them as adults
because the alarming rate of autism is growing and they will be adult's someday. As far as my son, he was 3 month's old and got his vaccination and got a high fever and never was the same. If I had known I would have waited until he was much older. His fever was so high that he got a medical for the rest of them.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:33:31 +0000

oh my goodness, my heart goes out to this family, for i am a very big representitive on the autistic community. i believe in them, and my heart goes out to all of them. if i won the lottery, you can bet i would give it to the autistic. ive been this way my whole life. i hope you guys are at least happy, take pride in your daughter, she could change the world and she is a beautiful person. you and your family will go far!

By: joelle

joelle — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:26:38 +0000

Hi Phil
How is Emma doing?at school?(church,restaurant..?)

By: Blanca Acosta

Blanca Acosta — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:24:55 +0000

I have two little silent angels..no they are not twins. Although they weren't diagonsed with Autism, they were diagnosed with Retts Syndrome, it's within the same spectrum. Please log on to IRSF for more information. Your typical Retts Syndrome girl is on a wheel chair. Right when I found out what they had, I decided to pump my girls with lots of vitamins and calcium magnesium (helps to calm them the down, if they are hyper), gave them lots of physical therapy, and I did a glueten free diet for 6 months when they were young. They are now 16 and 14 years old and they both walk. We take them everywhere, camping, swimming, movies, and theme parks. I have two boys 18 and 12 and they are also a blessing in my life. They love the girls and are very proud to have them as their sisters. God intrusted me with two little angels and they completely changed my life, but for the better. We all have worries and battles everyday, for me is double. I have learned to accepted and believe it or not, I love to take care of them. Yes, I would love to hear them talk. I hear them talk in my dreams. In my dreams, they tell me that they understand everything I say. Of course, I believe that is so true. They speak to me with their eyes. I pray that God gives all of you comfort and peace of mind. That you embrace this child as a gift from God and thay you learned from them. Remember, is okay to take a break from our children, just as we do from our so called "normal" children. I am very proud of my girls, Alex and Amanda. Praying helps me to deal with the challenges that our angels bring to our lives. I pray that one day SOON we find a cure for our children.

Blanca