Today I Fell Over In The Snow

I volunteered today with the help of a good friend to take care of another lady's 2 disabled children.
I did this a little hesitantly because there was no school today so I had my little brood of 6.
I was not sure how they would all get on together and whether or not tempers would flare and as one of them is 19 and has a bit of a history, I had concerns.
But, seriously, the woman really needed a break.
Her daughter had just delivered and she had been at the hospital with her and had had little sleep for the past couple of days. So, knowing how that goes, I volunteered.
There were a little frayed tempers here and there but, once I showed the older girl the bedroom with the video games and closed the door so that the little ones wouldn't walk in front of the tv and annoy her. She was sweet as. Found out that she also likes jigsaw puzzles so we did a couple of those too.
Will have to stock up on those and chocolate chip cookies for next time.
The younger one is sweet.
She is the same age as Kathleen and has the face of an angel.
She tried valiantly to keep up with Rachel and Sarah and made a pretty good attempt at trying to master rollerskates.
I think the coup de grace was when I bundled up the four girls and took them outside to my snow laden back yard and we had a wonderful snow ball fight.
Of course, in my infinite wisdom, not knowing that I was going to be attacked in such a fashion, I was still wearing a t-shirt and no gloves.
Good thing I had my sheepskin slippers from NZ or I would really have been cold.
Incidently, it is possible to skate while wearing those slippers although, the girls thought my pirouette looked a little suspect.
Kathleen took off her gloves as soon as she got around the corner of the house and ran like the wind up and down the backyard, sporting her new hairdo that makes her look a little like Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap.
I don't know about them but, I sure had a lot of fun. But if their giggles were anything to go by, I am very sure they enjoyed themselves.
And the best way to tell if a child enjoyed themselves at your house, when her grandmother came to pick her up, she didn't want to go home.
I have no doubt that there will be a next time.
Respite workers, good ones, are awfully hard to come by in small town America so we may end up getting the company who provides the workers to hire us.

NAET Treatments

Through a friend of a friend, I came into contact with a wonderful lady in Montana, who is a chinese herbalist and accupuncturist.
She has been doing NAET treatments on patients for 3 yrs but, had not tried them on a child with Autism, so when I contacted her and told her I had 3, she volunteered to do the NAET treatments for free as a trial and so that I could act as a reference which I gladly agreed to do.
I chose to do Nathan first as he is the oldest.
He just loves it there. He never gives me a hard time about entering the building.
And today, he could hardly wait for Shirl to make up his bed before jumping on and stripping off to lay there quite comfortably covered in his blanket.
He often throws out words for Kay and Shirley also and answers their questions. Obviously, he feels very loved and welcomed there. It is a peaceful environment.
He goes once a week or as close to it as we can manage.
NAET or Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques was developed by Dr Nambudripad in 1983 and she has been using it quite successfully since then on children with Autism with startling results.
Basically it is a desensitization of allergies which leads to a decrease in Autistic symptoms.
I think it is definitely working on Nathan.
I have seen more clarity with his speech.
Another big change for him was when we were doing the egg allergen removal, he stopped drinking milk which for him was a big thing.
He could down a gallon a day easily and he had a very rotund, firm abdomen.
The next allergen to be removed was milk, but, how could he have known that and weaned himself independently.
Well, since he had the milk allergen removed, his abdomen is no longer firm and distended. In fact, he dropped a pants size in one weekend just because his abdomen shrunk.
He can drink milk now without a problem but, he limits himself and may only have one cup a day.
Dr Nambudripad has written many books on the corelation between allergies and illness.
NAET practitioners can be found at www.naet.com
You know, it wouldn't hurt to approach your local chinese herbalist or accupuncturist and if they do NAET offering your child up and offering to write references once the child's treatment is done. Talk nice, you may be able to get your treatments heavily discounted or free which would be better.
There are many treatments out there that work to varying degrees and I definitely think this is one to consider and try.
There are no side effects.
Check out the book from the library: Say Goodbye To Allergy-Related Autism by Dr Devi Nambudripad.

The Community of Autism

Yesterday I was sent an email telling me to check out a website by a family that has 6 children on the Autism Spectrum.
Yes, 6. That gives you pause for thought.
Doesn't make what you have seem quite so bad, does it.
Website is www.AutismBites.org
I posted a comment and noticed that another person had posted a comment regarding the possibility of a connection between Autism and prenatal ultrasounds.
I emailed her and that started a passing of some very interesting emails.
She is quick to point out that her theories are just that theories but, she certainly gives you food for thought with her reasoning.
Here is the link to the article she had published in a midwifery magazine www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasoundrodgers.asp

It really was very interesting and worth a read.
It would be interesting to hear from any mother that went through her prenatal term and did not have any ultrasounds.
If you would care to post a comment, I can pass it on to Caroline.
Many thanks.