Author: autismlighterside

I was very fortunate many years ago (approximately 9 to be exact) when I discovered that autism was not a psychological issue but that it was, in fact, a medical issue(s) that needed intervention, just like any other physical illness.

I made the move into Functional (or integrative) medicine as it’s called and I have never looked back. After researching for a very long time on the many issues that my son had, I was able to find my way into the integrative medicine field.

It’s funny how some doctors will never look at physical symptoms of your child but will just chalk it up to autism and not look any further. I guess in all fairness, most medical doctors do not have the experience or training in knowing how to help those on the spectrum. This hurts my heart so much as I know many parents who will not look into anything alternative for their child and will never question their doctor. Fortunately, I did not fall into this category.

Functional medicine is such a unique world and there is no “one size fits all’. It is very personal and not every person who has the same symptoms will react the same way to a treatment or supplements or even prescription — which is very similar to regular medicine. But with Functional Medicine, they don’t stop. They keep digging, trying new things and monitoring things with your child in a very sequential way. Unfortunately functional medicine treatments can be very costly and lots of things are not covered under OHIP so you need to pay out of pocket. I think this is a big reason that deters people, but another reason is that people are just not aware that it exists and the benefits that their child can receive from treatment.

Functional medicine starts you right back at the beginning – your diet. We all know that when we eat “badly” it has an effect on the way we feel and how we act. Imagine feeling that way all the time and being unable to communicate that with someone and having no way to feel better. This can be very hard for both children and parents to deal with on a daily basis. Usually, the child’s symptoms emerge as forms of behaviour that some professionals will try to control with some type of behaviour plan. What this child really needs is to physically feel better so that the behaviours can be diminished.

We have done many positive things with functional medicine and have seen some amazing results! I will talk about more treatments in future blogs.

If you haven’t seen a Functional Medicine doctor, I highly recommend finding one. You will not regret it!

It’s extremely hard to think about the future when you are an autism parent. You know you have to do it, but it can be terrifying to think of. When my children were younger, I used to say “I will figure it out one day”. For us, the one day has now arrived and it is still as scary as before. There are a lot of “what ifs” and “whens” and even ‘hows”. I know I am not alone in my thoughts because I read about this all the time in autism groups.

I think about what will happen when we are no longer here, that’s a given. I also think about setting up things so that they will have financial help in their future, but I also want them to be able to be as independent as possible. I know, lots of things that go through my mind consistently. If I have to be honest right now, I am thinking of if something would happen to us today, where would I want them to be and who would I want supporting and helping them navigate their future? And just because I want something, doesn’t mean it will happen. Agreeing to be part of support for a person with autism is asking a lot of someone and I am very aware that not everyone is equipped to do this or wants to do this.

Of course, they are siblings, so I often wonder, would be they be okay to navigate life together? But then I also think I don’t want to put pressure on either one of them to be responsible for the other one’s life and well being. To be honest, I also think that with both of them on the spectrum would they even want this.

Right now I am thinking about the best possible outcomes that they could have and who would be able to help both of them do this. These are my questions as I set things up financially for them right now. I don’t have all of the answers either at this moment.

Although I am constantly thinking about this, I am also trying to take one day at a time and focus on their skills and strengths and help them with their challenges which are both very different.

I am trying not to panic about the future as they are both still in their “school years” and I will just do the best that I can to help them reach their goals and hopefully have a future where they do hold secure jobs even if this is not your typical 40 hours a week.

If they do need support, I am researching the best possible options for each of them so that they will not have to navigate the world alone but will be able to find a person or a place that will be able to help them with whatever they need and thrive.

This is an ongoing process and has been for awhile, and I will continue to do my due diligence to make sure that their futures are secure.

I have previously talked about vision therapy and how we discovered that our son needed this type of therapy. We have now completed two sessions of 12 weeks each and I am happy to say that he has now finished for the time being!

This therapy is very intensive. You not only have to attend the therapy session each week, but you have to commit to doing homework exercises every single day. It takes a lot of time and patience and you have to make sure you follow through with everything they ask you to do otherwise it will not work.

This therapy is sometimes hard to explain. Our son did get glasses just before he started this therapy, not because he can’t see but because the type of lenses that are in his glasses improve depth perception as well as other areas that need to be addressed. The tools used by the therapy center are really cool. The center has 4 different rooms with different things in them and each week you rotate to the next room to work on activities.

Some of the things that our son worked on in therapy was eye tracking, spatial judgement and fixation through a variety of exercises. These areas all improved tremendously with the process. I used to think in public school that he didn’t want to play some of the sports but through this therapy I realized that he could not judge where a ball was and it made it hard to participate in some of these activities.

I am really proud of the hard work that he has put into this entire process and I was lucky enough to be able to see these sessions in progress and understand what each exercise was trying to achieve and it made it easier for me to facilitate the homework. It was really quite fascinating!

I’m glad that our son is now better able to not only see better but being able to participate in activities including school without so many struggles. Being paired up with the right vision therapist who was understanding and able to work with him understanding his strengths and weaknesses was truly an amazing experience.

If you are a parent or relative of someone who has autism, you may want to consider checking this out!