Author: autismlighterside

My mind goes to seasons now as we are just beginning Spring, which is the promise of something new, fresh, crisp –  new life outside. All of these things come to my mind.

For me, I think of my family, especially my children. I think about things they have to look forward to and how they may handle them. Our son is not only moving into a new season, but also a new season in his life. This season is big for him. It’s his last year of middle school. A new transition and chapter will begin for high school. Lots of changes, but also lots of opportunity for growth.

Previously I would have been dreading and scared of what’s about to come, but he’s shown me he has such a maturity about things lately. He will be okay. In fact, I think he will thrive. He’s adjusted so well with so many changes over the past few months and he’s proved that he is able to handle so much more than I ever imagined.

We move forward with this season of our life with gratitude. Gratitude for all the accomplishments made. Gratitude for all the fun we have together every day. Gratitude for all the people we have met along our journey thus far that we now call our friends. And gratitude for hard work that has paid off in so many ways, school being one of these things.

Our son surprises me every day in the little aspects of his life. But I think the thing I am most grateful for in this season is when he says “I love you Mom” and smiles. That’s all I need to hear in any season and it makes every day so much better!

Surprises can come in many ways shapes and forms to all of us.  For some of us a surprise is a birthday party.  For others it could be an unexpected bonus at work.  It could be a pregnancy.  Maybe it’s seeing someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

For me right now my surprise has been my family.  Especially our son.  As you may or may not be aware having autism can bring with it certain expectations.  These include structure and knowing what to expect.  It is important for lots of people but more for our son.  It reduces his anxiety and allows him to have some sense of control over his day and his time.

Recently in our family our world was turned upside down.  So the sameness and the expectations as well as the changes were huge and they happened every single day.

I wasn’t able to be at home for a few days and when I did return, I wasn’t able to do the things I normally did.  I needed help.

We thought that this was going to be extremely difficult and we didn’t know what to expect but we had to get through it as we had no other choice.

We discovered how amazing both of our kids can be when under difficult circumstances.  We felt our son not only adjusted to others around him but stepped in and helped.  He didn’t complain or get upset.  He just went with the flow and accepted that I couldn’t do very much.

For anyone dealing with autism, this is huge!  Just changing people, routines or whatever can throw a child off, but my child rocked it.  Both my children did!

This could have gone either way…

So when I want to complain about something that our son didn’t do, I don’t because I have to remember all the positive things he has done and is doing.

Surprises or unexpected things will happen in life.  These can throw our organized world into chaos but they can also be a good learning experience for life and this is how I choose to see it.

I’m very grateful and blessed to have two amazing children who love me.

So we found a doctor to treat our son.  Now what?

Well since I had already done lots or research I had some idea what to expect.

Prior to our first appointment we were given a whole lot of paperwork to complete.  The doctor needed a full history from the time of birth.

The forms we received were very comprehensive, which I liked but it was also emotionally overwhelming.  As I have discovered since being on this journey that you literally have to take each step very slow as there are so many complex issues.

The first appointment we didn’t take our son.  The doctor just wanted to meet with my husband and I.  The bonus of our doctor is that he only 20 minutes from our home.

On the initial visit we went through all the paperwork and had some discussions.  He had a pyramid of how things would work and what would be targeted first.  The first thing that needed to be addressed was the diet.  He had to be gluten free and dairy free and sugar free.  He was already dairy free but now we had a lot of changes to make to get him gluten free which was going to be challenging.  That was our first goal before our next appointment.  He explained that all kids on the spectrum did better without gluten whether they had an allergy or not.

So we began……

It wasn’t easy as we were already dealing with a picky eater, but over the course of a few weeks we managed to make these changes.

It continues…….

Transitions are hard for many kids and adults alike.

We like to know what is happening, when it’s happening, where we are going, how long we will be there, what we will eat etc. etc.

We’ve had a lot going on in our house the last few weeks and sometimes you don’t know or realize how much your children can handle until they are put to the test.

Our son has had a lot of transitions to make in the last 3 months.  One of his support people that worked with him for many years left the school.  He’s had to work with some different people — people who don’t know his as well.

He’s had to make adjustments at home because I have been out of commission for the last few weeks and unable to do what I normally do.  I think sometimes we don’t give our children enough credit, especially children on the spectrum.

Our son has stepped it up.  He’s been able to copy with many different changes and done extremely well.  It’s also helped me realize as a parent that I need to let go of control of things (which I have been learning a lot lately) and let both my children take more responsibility in whatever aspect of their life they need to.

I think through the latest transitions that our son has experienced has brought about tremendous growth for him and for me as well. I see more of his independence and his ability to accept situations that have changes or differences. Things like this have been extremely difficult for him in the past and I’m so happy to see the progress he is making.

Progress is different for every person and you cannot compare any two people.

In the last few weeks with my own personal struggles and my inability to perform my usual tasks, I feel so grateful and blessed at the gains I have seen each day — even small positive changes in each of my children.  I quietly celebrate their growth and it gives me a feeling of joy as a parent knowing I have done something right.

 

Biomedical.  What is it?  Do you know?

As I take you through this journey, I am going to explain everything. When I entered this world I knew absolutely nothing and I had to research and ask a lot of questions to be able to figure things out.

Here is one definition of biomedical that I found.

“The application of natural sciences especially the biological and physiological sciences to clinical medicine.”

And,

“Biologic and medical, that is, encompassing both the sciences and the art of medicine.”

So people who are familiar with this in the autism world when looking for answers usually go to people who are functional medicine doctors, homeopathy doctors, ND (Naturalpath doctors), MAPS (medical academy of Pediatric Special Needs, or DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors who help families dealing with autism.

Usually people with autism have complex medical conditions that need to be dealt with and all of these types of doctors can be instrumental in figuring these things out.

Just going to a regular medical doctor unfortunately won’t help you figure out the complex issues that a child with autism is probably dealing with.

So step one is actually finding one of these doctors you feel comfortable with and will take you on as a patient.  Or did I forget to mention, if you do find one of these doctors, more than likely everything you are charged will not be covered.

For us, this process was extremely difficult.  We did find someone (after searching and researching) whose entire practice is kids on the autism spectrum.  That was the good news.  The bad news is she was located three hours away from our home and her waiting list to see new patients was 1.5-2 years.

We decided to get onto the waiting list because she had very good reviews and she was the only one we could find who was an MD as well as dealt with the functional medicine aspect of autism.

As a parent, having to wait that long and lose crucial time was a little cray but we didn’t have another option at the time so we got a referral from our family doctor and proceeded to get all the paperwork in.

Then I waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.

I am not very good at waiting.

Finally when I could wait no longer, I had to take matters into my own hands if I wanted to my child to start getting better.

This is when I found another doctor. (An extremely long story)

And this is how our journey began……

Next up, how we started treatment for our son.