Saturday, February 10, 2007

Why & Willie Wonka


I'm glad I'm not posting on Myspace where I have to say what mood I'm in- because I just don't know. One second I'm happy because Michael said something new like "The buses are leaving soon" when we left school today. And he sat so nice for chelation today- no problems at all. But then he wouldn't leave the office. He was laying on the chairs and refused to leave. Part of the problem was probably because he woke up 800 times the night before, scratching himself. No, not like a baseball player. He has these dry patches on his skin.

He also had a tandrum (again) at school. I really hate hearing about that. Months would go by between negative notes from his teacher- and now I'm getting them daily. The question of the day-- WHY?

I got a test kit for something called the Organic Oat Test. I send in his urine and it tells me if he has a yeast problem. You see many children with autism have yeast problems- and it makes them... uh... alittle.... "off". Sometimes they laugh too much. Other times they don't sleep. Sometimes they have bad gas and poops. But, it's a common problem. We give Michael probiotics- good bacteria- which I think has stopped yeast from being a problem the last 4 years. But, sometimes their bodies become immune from the good bacteria and you have to change formulas. That might be the solution. Again, I just don't know. And as with everything in the autism world- you just don't know until you try.

It's just so hard to hear about your kid misbehaving. Plus, it's time for his yearly review and decision by the school about where to place him next year. Come to think of it- once before he had some behaviors and then the week before the meeting he was ok and it was like nothing bad ever happened. That's one thing that sucks about these meetings. It's "what have you done for me lately". If Michael was 100 percent for 5 months and the week before the meeting hits a kid- that's all they remember.

I'm not sure what we are going to do for the summer. I want to send him to camp, but the school doesn't want to pay for an aide. They just don't get that they are saving money and I'm spending $1500 because THEY don't have a proper placement. So, now I have to fight that. I'm not going to post all the details here so anyone can read them- but I'll keep you up to date after everything is settled- just wish me luck.

Oh, btw- that Oat test costs $220. So, I'm trying to figure out if my insurance will pay for it. This drives me crazy. I can't just get a test that my son needs. I have to see if I can afford it first. I just did another urine test last week- that was only $55, but we do it every two months. I don't even want to tell you what the chelation costs in general- but it's been thousands of dollars so far. Most parents take trips to Disney. I take trips to Center Moriches for chelation. Hey- I'm not complaining. I'm very grateful for Dr. Imam's office and this opportunity. But, I wish the insurance would cover more of it. We sent some paperwork in recently and waiting to hear back. Again- wish me luck.

This past week Michael and I watched alittle of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He really likes it. Which surprised me because most of what he watches is preschool stuff- Dora, Backyardigans, Diego, etc. Little things like that really show me his progress.

So where are we? Michael has dry skin, he's not sleeping well, he's having tantrums, the summer is up in the air... but his speech is still improving, he sat well for his IV's lately, he's being bumped up to a bigger class next year (progress).

On Tuesday we are having the meeting with the school. So, soon I'll have a lot to report- hopefully it will be all good news.