The Scoop on Nate- Latest Developments

First of all, to those of you who have donated to Nate's medical fund- I want to make sure I say thank you.  Some of you I don't even know, some I haven't spoken with since high school.  I can't begin to express how touched we are.  So here's what we know so far, I submitted all of the paperwork to take both boys to Dr. Usman; I decided it just made more sense to take them both at once, and plus, the last few posts that have been about Jack have made me really think about how much his life is impacted at this point- it's a lot.  I didn't hear back for quite awhile, so I emailed the office staff, who informed me that she hasn't gotten to our intake sheets (she will then decide if she will "accept" the boys- although when you have two kids with the same developmental diagnosis few practitioners can resist), but she also shared this pretty piece of news- new patients are currently being scheduled for spring of 2015.  Sigh.  I should have expected this.  It doesn't change my level of disappointment though.

So clearly, if you have met me you know that I am not one to sit twiddling my thumbs for one of the most important years of my child's development whilst "waiting" for an appointment.  Not going to happen.  I have been looking at other, more homeopathic treatments to try while we are waiting, and am very enthused about some options.  Maybe someday I will talk about this, but not right now.

About a week ago I decided to give Nathan a break from his diflucan and antibiotics.  He's been on them for two months with no break, and I worry about his little system.  Three days later I found him standing on his head (one of his major sensory seeking behaviors from when he was first diagnosed- we would find him this way in his crib).  Not a coincidence.  And further confirmation that an unbalanced gut and immune system are significant contributors to his behaviors.  This actually gives me hope though- that's the world I live in- I just want to know how to help him.  Even if it means confirming a new problem- who am I kidding, finding a solvable problem is a big victory.

He continues with school, speech, OT, Cisco Center, etc.  I think he is in a very good place with his therapies actually.  Working with Carla "officially" for speech (she was always "working" with him, just not one on one) is very beneficial for him.  Not only is she able to sit down and work on the methods that she employs during a session, but she is able to reinforce this on a daily basis when they are working in the classroom setting.  Consistency is key for these kiddos. 

Today he was playing with Carla a little bit right before we left- they were doing some singing and then peek a boo.  Nate literally said "I see you".  I heard it clear as day.  When these phrases pop out it's like winning the lottery.  The one unfortunate part of that is that recurrence is not likely (at least not in the near future).  But Carla pushes him- she is not afraid of pushing his limits, I think that is part of what makes her such an effective practitioner.  And even though Nate often ends up crying in frustration, he is always happy to see her the next day.  It's a great balance.  Anyway, Nate continues requesting things consistently at home- he will point to which cabinet the item he wants is kept in if verbal attempts are not effective.  I guess the point of this is that he is trying, he is really trying.  His repetition of familiar words also continues.  He is still working with PECS as well, but because of how much effort he is making verbally, it's hard to decide how much to use them.  I don't want him to get frustrated, but I don't want to take away the incentive to use words (since he seems to want to use them).  So we are finding our own balance, as I guess every family does.  He will say "watch" if he wants a program on TV.  We put on netflix and he walks over and points to the program he wants, and says "want".  This is great progress, especially since it doesn't involve his biggest motivator- food.  The other day, I was giving him a "grain free cookie" (don't judge, I am an awesome mom, lol), and I said "just one".  Swear to God the kid looked right at me and said "two".  Luckily John heard it too- so either I'm not crazy or we both are ha.

This is his last full week on the Aricept trial through NIH.  He will stop taking the medication next Friday night, at which time we will go through a battery of tests- developmental, blood, ecg, and a sleep study (only one night this time, thank GAWD).  Then they will follow up with us for the next year.  I have mixed emotions about stopping the medication.  His speech has definitely progressed in the last six months, and I do think that Aricept must have something to do with that.  On the other hand, we have been very consistently treating his yeast issues also.  The positive part of stopping the medication is that we are free to try other interventions.  I have held off on certain things because we didn't know if they would interact with Aricept.  So we shall see...either way, I would highly recommend NIH to any parent who is looking for cutting edge treatment for their child.  They have been an absolute pleasure to work with.  At least from mommy's perspective. 

An Event Not To Be Missed- Avergan Hush-Hush Speakeasy!

I have mentioned this foundation in the past, but wanted to elaborate a bit and share an upcoming event that should be lots of fun!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/avergan-foundation-hush-hush-speakeasy-tickets-10796810551?ref=ebtnebtckt

Avergan Foundation- they are a godsend to Anne Arundel County in Maryland.  Their primary purpose is to provide scholarships to Cisco Center, which is where Nate goes in the afternoons.  They have also started a new program to provide date nights to autism parents, which is something that rarely happens in our worlds (trust me- our last one was our anniversary last December).  I have touched on how much I love Cisco Center in the past, but also mentioned just how difficult it has been for us to send the boys there.  They provide amazing services, but of course those services cost money, and rightly so.  It's the crux of the special needs parenting situation- you want the best for your kiddos, the best costs money....which, well, you don't have, because your kids have special needs, and everything they need costs money.
Description from Avergan website:

Cisco Center is a non-profit education center serving children and families with special needs.  Their Special Needs Intervention Program focuses on developing a child’s individual needs in the areas of: Early Childhood Academic and Readiness levels, Speech/Language Therapy, Oral Motor Skills, Eating/Feeding Skills, Socialization Skills, and Fine Motor/Gross Motor Skills.  They specifically handle children with Autism, Communication Disorders/Delays, Sensory Processing Disorders, Social/Emotional Delays, Oral Motor Disorders, Down’s Syndrome, Behavioral Disorders and Attention Deficit Disorders.

Cisco Center serves about 100 families a year, but there are never more than 10 to 15 children in the center at one time.  They maintain a 1:2 staff to child ratio and sometimes 1:1, if needed.

Their programs are amazing and the success stories and personal stories of Cisco and his wife Carla, and the impact they have had on so many childrens’ lives is astounding.  But, this type of service does come at a cost and some families are not able to afford to send their child to the center as much as they would like, or even at all.

This is where Avergan Foundation can help!  We will be providing a scholarship program to help ensure that families that want to come to Cisco Center will not be impeded by financial limitations.
http://averganfoundation.org/ourcauses/2-scholarships-to-cisco-center/

Avergan is helping to defray some of these costs for families.  They are providing scholarships for little guys to go to Cisco, and these kids are now getting services they they weren't able to have before.  For instance, our Nate was not able to have private speech for several years.  Our insurance would cover only 60 sessions of combined speech and OT each year, and frankly 60 sessions was not enough for OT alone.  He really needs to go twice a week, this is one of the areas where he struggles the most.  I recently was able to take Nate in to speech at another center because of the new habilitative services mandate in Maryland, although don't ask me if our insurance has actually paid any of these claims because you may actually see smoke come out of my ears.  Literally.  In any case, the only time they had an appointment available to him was at 1pm on Wednesdays.  So this mama was taking her lunch break, grabbing Nate from Cisco Center (away from the speech pathologist he has known and loved for over a year) taking him to the new therapy center and watching him scream and throw himself on the floor for an hour, then taking him back to Cisco where he would do more of the same.  Gotta love routine changes for our kids.  How productive was that?  Avergan stepped in.  Now Nate is able to have his speech sessions with Carla at Cisco, thanks to a speech scholarship.  And he is actually getting something out of it.  And frankly, mommy isn't going through hell torturing her poor son every Wednesday either.  This may seem a small change to someone not experienced in this area, but to us, it is huge. 

Please come out and support Avergan!  Have a look at this event- it looks like it will be a blast- but more importantly this is a cause so very near and dear to my heart.  It's going to be a long time before the standard of care for these kids catches up to what they actually need- this foundation is trying to bridge that gap- please support their efforts!