belated post...

Yes, I know, I’m behind in updating ya’ll.


Its been a very steady couple of weeks. Dominic is holding the gains from the last parasite protocol pretty well, still sitting for meals without being buckled in. Our second parasite protocol (of at least 12) started yesterday, so we’re back into meds and daily enema’s for a week or so before we go back to every other day. So glad he pretty much gives them to himself.

Couple of pretty cool things…. I have some coworkers who are from Sweden. Once a year they fly in to work from here for a week. We had them to dinner last year and then again this week. They noticed huge changes in Dominic. He interacted really well with them. They came bearing gifts and Dominic was really vocal about wanting those gifts opened. Nice awareness to see.

Last night we had our regular babysitter while we went to a gathering at my bosses house (to celebrate the guys being here). She again saw improvement since the last time she was over (its probably been close to a month). Specifically, his focus has improved. When wanting to go swing instead of only wanting to swing for 45 seconds and then move to something else, he swung for 10 minutes. She said that he was really trying hard to string words together in sentences. Still garbled, but the intent was there. Which we’ve been seeing as well.

So, steady improvements. It’s a good thing.

Excerpt from an Email

... from the school social worker in response to my email from last Thursday asking for an update on how the Functional Behavior Assessment was going.

I apologize for my delayed response to your email last week…I’ve been in triage mode and understood you were communicating with xxx about Dominic via his daily journal.  In response to your question,  I have observed Dominic in the classroom several times but have not observed any problematic behaviors.  Dominic seems to be making a smooth transition and is even attending Specials, which are new for him this year.

Now for the good news!  On Friday, staff collaboratively decided to cease the FBA process on Dominic, due to the fact that Dominic has responded positively to the interventions put in place by SPED staff.  However, staff working with Dominic will continue to stay in close contact and make adjustments where necessary, in order to provide Dominic with every opportunity to be successful and safe at school.

I'd say that balances out him getting the dog so dirty playing in the garden this afternoon that it took 3 shampoos to get him back to the right color...

Inchstones

I know it seems like the progress reports I’m putting out here are all really little things, but a long time ago I learned that on this path we celebrate inchstones. In the grand scheme of things for us these signal huge shifts.

On Friday, Dominic got off the bus wearing his jacket without having the hood up. In order to understand the significance of this, you have to realize that he’s been obsessive about wearing hoods anytime he’s wearing a jacket. To the point that at one time it was one of his ABA goals to get him to leave it off and they were never successful. It’s a sensory thing. And he voluntarily left it off. HUGE.

He’s maintained the sitting at the dinner table without being buckled in (for the most part). I think we’re going to leave the booster seat for a few more weeks and then pull it entirely. He’s basically tall enough to not need it.

He spent the majority of the day yesterday outside playing in the dirt (I unfenced my veggie patch this week so for the first time this summer he had access to dirt). Its funny, because he’s now insisting we turn off his movie if its on before he goes outside to play. I think this is a greater awareness thing. He brings the remote and says “TURN IT”

We had a babysitter Saturday night. One of Dominic’s favorite therapists from Alpine sent me a note on Facebook telling me she missed him and could she please come babysit. So we had her over on Saturday. She was blown away by the improvements she saw in his eye contact and attentiveness, and said he was really chatty for her. Its always nice to have external verification of what we are seeing. She also said that she saw no spitting which is the last stim we’re trying to get rid of at home. I saw some on Sunday, but not as much as we’d been seeing, so hopefully that ones on its way out the door.

Pretend play is coming along. He’s less obsessed with holding toys for the sake of fidgiting, I think. For example, Saturday I got him a couple of 25cent stretchy toys out of the little machine at the grocer store. One was a crab and the other a frog. When we got home, he got out his two chickens and diligently got the crab and frog to ride the chickens. He told me several times “crab, riding” and “coquine riding” (coquine is dora Spanish for frog) . He held onto those yesterday, but put them away in his toy chest at bedtime and got out his batman figure to sleep with. In the past, he’s obsessively held onto things for multiple days on end day and night.

Parasite protocol #1 (of 12) is now completely under our belts. The next one starts Sept 27. He did so well. I’ve been told for years that sensory stuff is parasites, and I’m starting to believe it as we see sensory seeking behaviors diminish. We have visual verification of several different kinds of parasites (I have seen what looked like the roundworm, pinworm, and liver fluke pictures that other parents are posting online), but I refuse to dig through poop, so odds are there was more than that. Still tons of mucus coming out post-enema for him, and for that all I’ve got to say is better out than in.

pinch me

Its been a ridiculously good weekend.

Saturday:
Dominic spent the majority of the day outside. First in the backyard w/Shanti on the leash while I worked in the front flower bed and then in the front yard with me.  For perspective, we have generally not permitted him to play outside in the front even with one of us there because of very poor impulse control / boundary identification.  He did very well today staying without our yard.  Only once did he actually leave our yard at the street and that was because the neighbors called a hello over. He came right back when called.   He spent a lot of time playing with the worms I dug up and was very compliant.

Then at lunch, he sat at the table with us the whole meal without being buckled into his booster seat (he's very nearly too big to buckle in, but we've done so becuase its the easiest way to keep him seated).   Didn't need it today.  At all. And he even said excuse me when he wanted to get up.  Blew me away. 

Sunday:

We had friends come over in the morning to get some bulbs I didn't have room for anymore. It'd been a long time since they saw him last, and he did great - they noticed a definite difference. He also interacted much better with their kiddo (who is a year or so older than him). 

He did the best he has EVER done at the chiropractor.  He let her adjust both his top and bottom palate (we're working on getting them to stretch out in the hopes that we can make some more room in his jaw and avoid the "serial extraction" protocol that the dentist is talking about - she says she's done it before many times).  He also let her adjust his whole back (not just cranium) and didn't run off when she allergy tested him.  Zero allergies for him today, which is a first for the entire time we've been seeing her.

We then went to lunch and he ate his whole meal holding his fork correctly (and using it!! without reminders!!)

And when we were leaving, he did the funniest thing.    For background, he's got this thing where he'll say "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" and I will either respond with "Dominic, Dominic, Dominic" or "Yes Darling".   So today he said "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy", I said "Dominic, Dominic, Dominic", and then he said - garbled, but recognizable to both Rod and I - "Darling".  We just about died laughing.


The stimmy stuff is still there.  He's doing some light SIB's (nipping his own hand/arm, banging various body parts into walls but not hard), and some weird mouth and head stims.  (moving his jaw one way or the other, fast shaking his head), so we'll see how the week goes now that we're out of the heavy portion of the parasite protocol. 

School Update

I checked in with both our SPED and the school counselor today to see how things were going for Dominic and on the FBA the counselor is doing (functional behavior analysis).


Both said things are great – the SPED advised that they’ve implemented natural consequences (eg, if he won’t sit still to do his work, they take him to the resource room and he has to sit quietly with his hands folded for 2 minutes on the timer – they have only had to do that once, last week, and it took him about 15 minutes before he did 2 minutes because time was restarted if he waved his hands or got up, but he got it and has been great all this week). He has started working with his afternoon para, and he apparently adores her. Sending a snack in the afternoon has helped as well. He’s fully integrated for specials (music, art, PE) tho they are easing him in 15 min or so after they start (to get past the instructional time and into the doing time… they’ll keep playing with that and eventually he’ll be in the whole day), and is doing his own work at the back of the 2nd grade classroom at a large table. Other kids know him (from the last 2 years) and come by frequently to chat or get help from his para. So I’m happy he’s getting the socialization. I think the natural consequence are going to be far more effective than the last couple of strategies Alpine was using. Either that or it really was the chemicals from Alpine’s fire remediation that triggered the behaviors and he got used to them be somewhat acceptable over there – and now has gotten the message that they’re not acceptable in the D11 building. Time will tell.



The FBA is underway, but the counselor advised she hasn’t seen any behaviors to analyze yet this week when she’s observed him in the classroom. She’ll observe for a full month.



So, good progress this week over last.

This is New.

We've had these dinosaur stickers for a LONG time, I'd guess they're even pre-regression, so well over 4 years.  Probably closer to 5.  He's never shown the slightest bit of interest in them.   I came out of the office just a few minutes ago because it was too quiet and this is what I saw:

Note the stickers on sensory boys arm.  This is a new thing, tho lately its been bandaids he's been wanting.  (cartoon bandaids to be exact).