Week 1 After HBOT

The owner of the HBOT unit that we used for the HBOT sessions told me to monitor Jonathan closely during the first 6 weeks after the 40th dive. That is when we would see the most profound changes. So I will write every Monday evening for the next 6 weeks to summarize the improvements and possible regressions.

Today, Jonathan's OT put 3 drawings in front of him and asked him to draw them the best he could. These are his drawing. The therapist could not believe the precision with which he had drawn these animals, keeping the dimensions into perspective. He had never been able to do this before. If you didn't guess, starting from the left, he drew a fish, on the top right he drew a turtle and on the bottom right a butterfly.

He had another fun and connected day.

Improvements Observed in the Past Week:

• Better eye contact: his eye sight doesn't seem lost anymore
• More curiosity: he is asking lots of questions, his senses seem more balanced allowing him to take in more input than in the past.
• More energy: he hardly seems tired lately. He is keeping up with Vanessa's pace. In the past, they would play for 30 minutes or less and he would go to the sofa and rest. He now won't stop playing unless we bathe him or take him to bed.
• More empathy: if he hurts us, and we complain, he immediately reacts, apologies, asks if we are okay.
• Better motor skills (both fine and gross): his fine motor skills have made a dramatic turn. He is now better than ever at writing or drawing. He can also undress himself and dress backup (still a bit clumsy, but he does it)
• More conversational language: his language has really improved in the past month. But this week is shaping up. He is able to put together sentences with pronouns and proper tense. He is also able to understand better.
• Improved Social Skills: this is an area we need a lot of work in, but this week his social skills were better.
• Sensory: he is able to tolerate Vanessa's touches, hugs and rough play.
• Pretend Play: this week his imagination has really taken off. With Vanessa, they are making things up all the time, and he is really loving it. The past few days, neither has been interested in watching TV. The prefer to play with each other.
  

Areas for Improvement:

• Social Interaction with the other kids his age: He needs a lot of work in this area.
• Speech and pragmatics: He needs a lot of work in this area.
• Jargon language: when he gets excited, he tents to use jargon to express what is in his head and emotions.
  
• Humming: although this is getting better, he still hums and that takes him to his la-la land.

Pictures:

Playing in our backyard -
Vanessa was pushing Jonathan and then Jonathan would push Vanessa

Vanessa loves his brother. So she hugged him and that turned into a play

Vanessa and Jonathan playing inside the rubber house. Jonathan initiated this.

Vanessa was pretending to read Jonathan a story and he was listening.

They were pretending that it was raining and they were holding an umbrella.

We had many situations like today's where they both played and would allow me to take pictures. He was very happy today

Very Connected Despite the Obsessions

Despite his obsession to play with the new GPS (yes, we did buy a portable GPS), Jonathan is very connected. Also, today he showed a great deal of empathy. He hit both Vanessa and me by accident, and he immediately apologized with a look in his eyes that showed how worried he was that he hurt us, following by an "are you okay?" question.

This morning he obsessed with the GPS. After an hour, I had a nervous breakdown (I have not started RDI, so this is still hard for me) and I told him that he had to stop playing with the GPS. He cried for about 2 minutes, sat with Daddy and a few later started drawing. He did not forget the GPS, but he was complying with my demand.

We went to have breakfast and I brought two books that contain stickers and the shapes where they belong and Jonathan really liked it. We played together for about 30 minutes until the food arrived. It was great because I had tried in numerous occasions to get him interested in drawing or doing stuff with me at restaurants, and he always got bored quickly and asked for my phone. He used both his imagination and visual motor skills to place the stickers in the correct place and had a blast with it.

In the afternoon he obsessed a bit with the GPS again, but I gave him a timeline and that helped. He transitioned easily once the 30 minutes were up. We took the kids to a local park/farm. It was too late to see the farm animals, but they enjoyed being out. They watched horses and played at a playground. Jonathan even got interested in what a little girl was doing and stared to imitate and then played. Very nice.





When we got home, we told Jonathan that there was no more GPS for today. It must have registered quite well because he didn't ask for it at all. The kids played among themselves the rest of the evening.

The following setting was very spontaneous. I don't know who decided to play like this (possibly Vanessa), but they really enjoyed passing the ball to each other. It was great to watch how Jonathan was paying close attention, looked at Vanessa right into her eyes to read her cues, had very good reflexes to catch the ball, and simply looked happy.

Very connected all day. Lots of questions. Communicated needs and wants very well. He spoke in his jargon type language once in a while, but I would say "use your words" and he would translate what he said to English.

Obssession with the GPS

This morning we attended an event organized by Autism Society of America (ASA) Chapter. They organized a movie event at a large AMC movie theater to see Shrek the Third. The event took place at 9:30am. When we arrived, I could not believe how many families actually showed up. It was packed. A girl with Autism talked about her life and experiences for about 5 minutes. It was very inspiring to see such happy girl talk about how she has autism and the things that she has accomplished.

Jonathan and Vanessa enjoyed the movie. After the movie, we went to eat and then home. Jonathan has been obsessed with our minivan's GPS for about 3 weeks. When we arrived at home, he was very excited to see my new hybrid car, but soon realized that it had no GPS and the entire day revolved around him wanting to buy a GPS and how sad the car was because it did not have a GPS. He drew a couple of pictures where he clearly demonstrates what a terrific memory he has.

He drew and wrote everything on this page.

The triangle inside the circle represents the car (as it was in the GPS) and the places the car went. Moby Dick is the Persian restaurant that he likes. All the writing was done by him.

Jonathan did a lot of pretend play with Vanessa where he was the leader. But whenever Vanessa changed the idea, he did not get upset - which is a big step because he always gets mad. They had some issues in the morning sharing the coloring paper, but as the day went by, they got along better.

Biomedical:

Besides his regular dose of supplements, I gave him an EDTA suppository.

Yasko's Nutrigenomics: she has a supplemental test that only tests the genes that were not included in her original SNPs test: http://www.holisticheal.com/store/product.php?productid=671&cat=124&page=1

Summer Camp Evalulation

I enrolled Jonathan in a Summer Camp in a Christian Church that I was told was one of the best camps for children with Special Needs. We do not belong to this particular church, but given the references, I called a month ago and enrolled Jonathan. As part of the enrollment, they had to evaluate Jonathan to assess his severity and let me know if he qualified for the camp. We scheduled the evening of May 18th for such evaluation.

When we arrived at the church, we were pretty impressed with the size of the church and the organization of the daycare facility. They explained that they have a program where parents can drop off their kids with Special Needs and their siblings twice a month from 6:30pm until 10pm. They wanted us to drop Jonathan off that night to evaluation how he would do in a group of other children and with the different activities. We decided to drop Vanessa off as well since she asked to stay.

Jonathan cried quite a bit at first. Vanessa walked right into the room and said bye to me. When we came back to pick them up, the told us that Jonathan stopped crying a few minutes later and that he had a very good time. They told us that he would do great at camp and that we are all set. That really made me happy. They are going to expose him to many environments and situations (not just inside classrooms and playgrounds, but parks, pools, zoo, etc.) and that is exactly what he needs and I cannot do. This camp will last 5 weeks.

One thing that I wanted to include in today's blog is pictures of Jonathan's paintings. The public school psychologist had evaluated Jonathan on a test that assesses Visual Motor a month ago and had given him the lowest possible score because he did not do what she asked him. She asked him to draw the body parts of a person (and when they do that, the expect the kids to draw a self-portrait). And Jonathan drew an oval with eyes and nose and mouth representing a head. He was asked to draw body parts, and he decided in him mind to draw a head. When I argued that that did not capture Jonathan's capabilities (because drawing represents a way for kids to express themselves and they were telling me Jonathan did not have that skill), they re-did the test and introduced different questions and he scored in the superior range. Although I feel very proud of him for doing that, the tests were based on shapes and that is something he knows since he is 18 months. It did not represent his ability to express his feelings in drawings or what he had in his mind. When we picked him up at the church, they gave me his paintings and I want to post 2 of them because it makes me feel comfortable that he "can" represent his feelings through drawings. There is one that I cannot find where he drew himself with a sad face. When I asked him what that was, he told me that it was him sad because he was sad when Mommy left.

Jonathan and Vanessa - by Jonathan

Jonathan going home with a happy face - by Jonathan

Again, this shows that Jonathan is capable of drawing his feelings and what is in his mind. I am not sure why he did not draw Vanessa's arms, but he clearly represented that Vanessa is a girl. She never wears skirts, yet he knew that she is a girl and girls wear dresses.

Here are the kids playing in a feria outside the church. I was shocked that Jonathan really enjoyed it and had no sensory issues.



Biomedical:

In addition to the regular dose of supplements, today I put 2 squirts of MB12 in his nose and I put the B-12 patch in his back.

School's Diagnosis Changed from DD to Autism

We had the eligibility meeting today. The school teachers and psychologists have been testing Jonathan for the past 3 months and today we discussed the test results and eligibility determination.

Given the test results, and the medical diagnosis, the committee found Jonathan to fall under the criteria of Autism. All 5 areas of concerns that would qualify a child to receive this label were met by Jonathan:

• Deficit in verbal and non-verbal communication
• Significant Deficit in social interaction
• Emotional disability can be ruled out as primary cause
• Deficit in adaptive, communication and social interaction
• Student requires specialized instruction/support that cannot reasonably be provided through regular education

We are relieved that he was found eligible to receive special education services because although he is high functioning, he still requires a lot of intervention to help him catch up.

These are the tests conducted and the results:

* IQ: Overall 100 (average 90-110)

• Non-Verbal: 115 (superior)
• Verbal: 85 (below average)

• Due to his language constraints, Jonathan showed a significant gap between verbal and non-verbal abilities. In the non-verbal abilities, his areas of strength were visual spacial and fluid reasoning. His brain functions better with pictures than words.

* Visual Motor Integration: score 120 - 91 percentile (superior)

• This test shows his ability to put words and images in paper. This is another one of his areas of strengths as well. He can clearly draw shapes and figures and represent in paper the function that he is asked to represent.

* Sensory Profile - Occupational Therapy: High Threshold for some sensory information

• Jonathan demonstrated abnormal differences between behaviors involving the registration of sensory information, seeking sensory information and avoiding sensory information. He may avoid activities that require high threshold for noticing information, such as quiet listening or passive waiting tasks. He is not hyperactive, but requires some sensory input to organize his body so he can pay more attention. However, he is not aggressive and does not seek that type of sensory input.

* Autism Quotient (GARS): 66 percentile (90-110 are average for individuals with autism). The lower the better.

• This represents that although he still qualifies to receive an "autism" label, he is among the children that adapt to changes, that learn easier under normal educational environments and are considered higher functioning.

* Tests of Achievement

• Word Identification: equivalent to a 7.2 year old child (superior)
• Spelling: equivalent to a 7.0 year old child (superior)
• Applied Problem: equivalent to a 5.3 year old child (average)
• Academic Knowledge: equivalent to a 4.7 year old child (average)
• The teacher indicated that although Jonathan scored lower in the applied problem and academic knowledge than the other two, the primary reason is the verbal communication. She has no doubt that his knowledge is much higher. But she was not allowed to alter the questions of the standardized test and she believes that if she had asked the questions differently, he would have gotten a higher score. Again, this shows that he has a severe problem with language and pragmatics.

* Speech and Language Evaluation - (average scores are 85 - 115)

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary: score 94 – (average)
• CELF-PS (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool) – standard score for all the subtests is 10:
• Receptive Language: score 79 – (below average)
• Linguistic Concept: score 7 - mildly delayed
• Basic Concept: score 8 - mildly delayed
• Sentence Structure: score 3 - significantly delayed
• Expressive Language: score 79 – (below average)
• Recalling Sentences in Context: score 7 - mildly delayed
• Formulating Labels: score 7 - mildly delayed
• Word Structure: score 4 - significantly delayed

Clearly, Jonathan is a very bright young kid. His non-verbal intelligence is his asset. The areas to address are language (expressive, receptive and pragmatics), adequate sensory input to concentrate and pay more attention and social skills.

IEP meeting (Individualized Educational Program - school's contract for special ed services) will take place within 3 weeks. At that time, we will be able to negotiate with the school the type of services we would like Jonathan to receive to address the above areas of concerns (highlighted in red).

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Urine Toxic Metal Results

Results came in for the last UTM and indicated that he is dumping more mercury than ever before.

Dr. Yasko feels that Jonathan has a mutation in his methylation short-cut cycle (BHMT 1 or 4 and/or ACAT genes). BHMT enzyme is the one that breaks TMG into DMG, which is necessary for speech and language. This is Jonathan's mayor disability, aside from social interaction. If her suspicion is correct, I need to work with her to by-pass this mutation to help Jonathan convert TMG into DMG and process DMG in the body better. I will order the added SNPs test tomorrow.

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Overall, Jonathan had a pretty good day today. Very consistent from yesterday and the day before. One thing I noticed today as I put the EDTA suppository is that he has a rash in his bottom that looks like a die-off effect reaction. It could be because I increased his probiotics this week. I will monitor closely.

First Time Eating Ice Cream Out of a Sugar Cone

Jonathan continues to show improvement with this receptive and expressive language, but even more with his reasoning. When we met after school, Jonathan was very happy to see me and wanted to hold my hand. We went car shopping and he was curious to know what we were doing and why. I talked to him a lot, explained that I needed a new car to make my travel to work easier. I asked him if he was going to help me and he said yes. He is now reaching that point that NT toddlers reach where they feel excited to help.

He seemed less interested today in playing with electronic toys until very late in the evening. We spent almost 3 hours at the car place and he didn't ask us for our phones, or tried to play with anything electronic. At first he wanted to be near me. But after a bit, he was perfectly happy going with his grandpa to the playroom. No anxiety and he was calmed and kept his tone down all evening.

While we waited for the paperwork, we took the kids to the nearby shopping center to have ice cream. Jonathan has always been very picky. He never liked sugar cones, only ice cream in cups with a spoon. But Vanessa wanted a sugar cone and he imitated her. So I bought each one and to my surprise, he imitated Vanessa on how to eat the ice cream out of the sugar cone.

When we got home, Jonathan and Vanessa were inseparable. They played with a couple of toys. He directed Vanessa on what to do, they shared (and Vanessa was very excited that Jonathan shared with her) and then sat in front of his laptop to listened to a story.

Something strange happened as we were taking the kids to bed. We were all walking up the stairs and Daddy was playing with Kaiser (our dog) and he started to run up the stairs, Jonathan turned, heard Kaiser coming up and started running upstairs and jumped on our bed. From there, he tried for about 5 minutes to articulate that he was scared of Kaiser. I listened, and tried to create sentences for him until he finally said that he was scared of Kaiser. I asked him if he wanted me to put him inside the cage, and he got excited and said yes. He has never showed to be scared of the dog. So I don't understand what went through his head. I will keep monitoring that.

On Monday, I posted a positive feedback in Dr. Yasko's parent's forum. I mentioned about Jonathan's Happy Mother's Day comment, and that although he is still not playing with other kids or interested in regular toys, he is a happy and engaging kid that tells me that he loves me spontaneously. She responded today and her words are my next step biomedically:

"Dear Alex,

... As you know for Jonathan we really do need to push the B12 due to the MTRR ++ and if we find we need more info as time goes on we can consider the add on SNPs for ACAT, AHCY and BHMT so that we can reach that point where he is also socializing at the level you would like to see.

With love and hope and a hug,

Dr.Amy"

This summer is going to be intense on the biomedical side of things. Dr. Yasko's support gives me a big push.

Summer is Here Finally

This Spring has been cold. Jonathan really likes playing outside and it has been hard. Today the weather was nice.

Jonathan has always had problems transitioning from seasons. When he is comfortable with short sleeve and short pants, going to winter clothes has been hard. But going from winter to summer clothes has been incredibly hard in the past. He would wear long pants and long sleeve shirts at 95 degrees. But today Daddy put on shorts pants and a t-shirt and he had no problems at all. That is very exciting. I commented on his shirt as he came down, and he looked at it and pointed out the bull on it.

His therapist commented that he was not interested in circle time today. But that he played with 2 other kids appropriately. When he got home, he went bike riding with Abuita and Vanessa to one of our neighbor's house. He had a great time playing with 2 other kids. They played with swords and chasing each other. Thank goodness for the warm weather! When they came back, Vanessa got one of her birthday toys out (a Croquet game) and Jonathan, Vanessa and Abuita played for a while. The kids had a blast.

(HBOT 41) Our Last Session

Today is our last session. I need a break. I went to pick Jonathan up at daycare and he was not in his regular corner - darn green pillow. That always makes me happy. We came home, bathed and he wanted to go to the submarine in mommy's car, but I told him we would go in the small car to save gas. He had a meltdown because he wanted the GPS. But a block later, he was not thinking about this.

HBOT Day 41

I dove in today. It was fine. Jonathan knew it was his last dive for a while. He watched the magic school bus (which he loved) calmly. When the movie was over, he said "Mommy, is Tom going to put another movie on?". I cannot express how excited I am to post these types of well structured sentences. He has never EVER been able to articulate full sentences the way he is doing it now. Tom did put another Magic School bus movie on as he knows that Jonathan enjoys them, and Jonathan was very excited. When we got out, the Tom picked him up and helped him out and Jonathan was a in very good mood and did not mind being touched.

Jonathan won't stop talking. He sometimes makes no sense, but he is talking. Whatever is in his mind, it coming out.

He has cried more than usual today, but I have a feeling it is the curcumin working its magic (detox). He spoke longer sentences today like "mommy, daddy's car is clean because we cleaned yesterday at the gas station with the blue brushes". He is still speaking like "Tarzan", but using more pronouns and adjectives making the sentences more complex.

HBOT has been an outstanding intervention for my son. Some kids have not responded. Some kids regress. But most have a positive outcome. The technician told me that the biggest set of improvement would be seen between now and 6 weeks. We are going to wait until the trailer comes back in December to do another set of 20 dives but this time at 1.75 atms.

(HBOT 40) Great Mother's Day

Today the kids and I slept in (until 8:30am). It was nice to be able to sleep in. They came to our bed between 8 and 8:30am. The 3 of us went downstairs to have breakfast. I fixed waffles for the kids and I served myself cereal. We were sitting at the table watching the Disney channel when Jonathan asked me what day it was. I told him it was sunday. He got up and went to the NAA calendar I have in my kitchen and looked up the day. He turned and told me "Look mommy! Today is Mother's Day". Then he came to me and hugged me and said "happy mother's day". That was the best Mother's Day present.

HBOT Day 40

It is supposed to be our last day, but the technician insisted that we have one more day. So we are not going to argue. Jonathan and Dad did well. Vanessa, Grandpa and I went shopping. When they were done, Jonathan got in the car and would not stop talking. Granted that his conversation is regarding traffic lights and the GPS in our car, but everything he said, he involved us.

He wanted to eat Pizza, so we went to Tony's. He actually ordered his own pizza and the guy understood him perfectly. Then we went to my aunt and uncle's house. I was happily surprised that he did not care about the TV. He was very playful, especially if Vanessa was around to play with him.

Today he spoke long sentences throughout the day. I hope this sticks.

(HBOT 39) Socially Withdrawn

Today we celebrated Vanessa's birthday party. I tried to prep both Jonathan and Vanessa since Thursday that Saturday was Vanessa's birthday party. They both knew that a Princess was coming to play with balloons and paint their faces.

Jonathan woke up happy and engaged. I gave him his supplements, he ate breakfast and I sent him off with Daddy to the submarine. Vanessa, Grandpa and I went to run other errands.

HBOT Day 39

It was pretty uneventful. Daddy commented that Jonathan plays almost obsessively with him inside the chamber. He never does that to me. So it is curious.

The day developed well. When I got home, I found him playing with a laptop that his uncle gave him. A present for him. He was very excited. He came to me and told me "Look mommy, this is my computer. Not mommy's, not daddy's, not abuelito's. This is mine". He sat back at his table and played with all the options that his uncle had installed. It was great to see him that like. So happy. Although I knew we had lost him for the remainder of the day.

Vanessa's friends arrived and so did the Princess Ariel (Little Mermaid) who painted faces. The kids had a blast. Jonathan showed no interest and when I asked him to participate, he started to cry. I decided not to ruin Vanessa's party and left Jonathan be. But I was able to bring his new laptop and set it outside so he could be with us. After the Princess clown was done with the young crowd, she came to the table where Jonathan was with his laptop and started to talk to him. Jonathan asked her to build a bear with balloons. And she did. She was very nice with him.

After the majority of the kids had left, he started to play with some small cars. Daddy and Abuita helped him build a bridge. He enjoyed it. Then he went back to his new laptop.

I feel that Jonathan is not going to be a person that enjoys the crowds. And that is okay. Not everyone does. I am very happy though that he coped with the crowd. No sensory overload behaviors. And he loved the cake :)

(HBOT 38) Great Annual Physical Visit

Jonathan and Vanessa had their physical evaluation today. The Dr. said that they both looked good. She was very impressed with Jonathan. He was able to successfully complete the entire preschool screening test that totally was unable to do last year, and he overall looked very good to her. She noticed how his muscle tone is better, his motor planning, his coordination, etc. Even his speech (although he spoke little). And he has absolutely no sensory problems today. His cholesterol and CBC were excellent. She was very happy to see how healthy he looked. I have to say that I believe it is due to Yasko's supplements. Vanessa on the other hand showed a bit of anemia. The doctor believes it might be due to the amount of milk she drinks a day (about 36 oz). So she told us to restrict the milk to no more than 20 oz. And her cholesterol was 20 points higher than Jonathan's.

HBOT Day 38

Jonathan did really well today. Inside the chamber, the movie that they had on today was the magical schoolbus. Jonathan knew what it was (probably from daycare) and really enjoyed the show. He followed the plot closely and kept commenting to me what was going on. Again, he continued to be very sweet, loving, emotional.

We went to Joe's Crab today again and he didn't want to play with the other kids as usual, but h actively participated in Vanessa birthday celebration and played with a couple of toys. No phones, no electronic toys. After he finished dinner, he did join the other kids. Great to see that.

When we got home, he initiated play with Vanessa: hide and seek. It was really cute to watch them. Vanessa got tired after 4 times and started playing with her dolls. Jonathan decided to play with his wackamo toy. I joined him for a bit. Then they played with horses around the house. We took them to bed and he was in a very good mood.

Vanessa, Jonathan and Daddy at the Dr's Office

Celebrating Vanessa's birthday at Joe's Crab House

He was quite conversational today. Always about the stuff he likes and he also asked a lot of questions. The teacher sent a note saying that today for the first time, when she said "all kids with blue pants move forward", he looked at his pants, and when realized that he had blue pants, he moved forward. They have been working on this all year.

(HBOT 37) Lots of Spontaneous Speech Today

Today was a very strange day. Jonathan started up like any other day. I gave him his supplements, he ate breakfast and I dropped him off at daycare by 8:30am. At around 10am, the teacher called me to tell me that Jonathan was complaining about having a stomach ache. I called Abuita and asked her to take Motrim to the daycare and give it to him. I thought it was possibly just that the supplements were too rough today. When Abuita arrived, she called me to tell me that he was not doing well and everyone suggested that he go home. I asked her to take him home and have him sit on the toilet for a while. I had the suspicion that it was constipation. I would go home to be with him as Abuita was going to take Vanessa out to celebrate her birthday. We are having a party for Vanessa on Saturday.

I stopped by to pickup some Moby Dick chicken and rice on my way home. When I arrived, Abuita told me that he had had a bowel movement and that he felt much better. That made me happy. Jonathan saw me and came to say hi. Then he noticed that I had Moby Dick food and he started jumping and told me "I'm so happy, I'm jumping like a rabbit". He was starving. He was impatient. While he was eating, he was watching Toy's Story 2. Suddenly he turns around and says to me "look mommy, look, buzzlight has a hood like the submarine". I dropped my jaw on that one. At the HBOT he wears a hood and he associated it how buzzlight looked with the HBOT. Very cool. A bit later, he asked for apple juice. My dad gave him some, and he came towards me and said "mommy, apple juice is raining inside my belly". The apple juice is cold and when he drank it, he could feel it go down his stomach. His description was very cute.

It was 5pm and I was rushing to finish my work. I told him that I would go upstairs to get his pants and he asked "I'm not taking a bath today?". It is amazing how much he remembers. On our way to the chamber, he pointed out parks he saw, a lake, and of course, traffic lights.

HBOT Day 37

Just a few days left. When we arrived, Jonathan didn't have his shoes on. I picked him up and carried him to the trailer. I noticed he seemed lighter than before (although he is 58 lbs) but ignored it soon after we entered the trailer. Inside the chamber, he did not complain about his ears at all. When we reached 1.5 atms, put his hood on and 2 minutes later he was sleeping. Strange. He has never fallen asleep inside the chamber. So I guess he was very tired. On our way back to the car, the told me that he wanted me to carry him because he didn't have shoes. He lifted his arms to me to carry him and jumped. He put his legs around my waist. I swear that he seemed lighter than before. His muscle tone has really improved. He is not lighter, he just seems lighter because his muscles are toned and he can control his body better. The "dead body weight" effect is gone.

On the way home, he was very quiet. But he got better as the night went on. Actually, he started playing very nicely with Vanessa. Vanessa wanted to ride him like a horse, and he tried to hide behind my back. But he couldn't and she finally won :) At first, he kept laughing and telling Vanessa that he wasn't a horse. A few minutes later, he started making the horse sounds. We were all laughing at them. Then Jonathan pretended to be a dog (Pluto) and Vanessa was taking care of him, feeding him, etc. Too cute.




On the negative side, Jonathan continues to hum a lot, he continues to obsess on electronic toys and traffic lights. This evening we went to a car dealer and they took us to the kids' room. There was a TV and he got very anxiosly happy, he was only drawn to the TV and walked fast pacing back and forth. I kept asking him if he wanted to go to the bathroom and he told me that he "was just walking". But it was stimmy. We have so much work to do.

(HBOT 36) Continues to Show Awareness

When Jonathan woke up, he asked me a lot of questions about the day. I imagine that he was trying to organize the day in his head. As we walked down the stairs, he hugged me and told me he loved me in the middle of the stairwell. I told him I loved him too and we walked downstairs holding each other by the waist. He had never done that. Very sweet. He saw Abuita sitting on the sofa waiting for him and ran to say hi to her and hugged her hard. I gave him his supplements and fed him breakfast and off they went to the gym.

When I arrived in the afternoon, he was laying down on his green pillow staring at space. When a teacher told him that I was there, he stood up and came to hug me. He asked me if we were going to the submarine and I said yes.

HBOT Day 36

On our way to the chamber, he asked me "Mommy, are you going to the submarine with me today?" and I answered that I wasn't because I was sick. We were going to meet Daddy at the submarine and then he would go inside with Daddy. He was okay with the answer. Yesterday he was anxious when he got out and didn't see me outside the chamber. So I wanted to explain that I would not be there today either. I believe that he understood because Daddy didn't tell me that he was anxious today. A good sign.

As we drove to the chamber, he was talking to Vanessa and pointing out different things that he saw (in addition to the traffic lights).

At home, he did well today. No interest in the PC today. Daddy tried to keep him engaged with other activities. He ate well, and played a bit with his Leapster. But again, his expressive language is becoming more complex which is nice.

RDI

Today I read a note that his ABA therapist left in his book yesterday that said that she had done some RDI activities with him successfully. That intrigued me and emailed the director of the ABA therapist to find out if they now do RDI in addition to ABA. She responded that although they don't do full RDI, what they do is add some RDI programs to the high functioning clients to help them with their social skills. That is an area where Jonathan still struggles with. I am now even more convinced that RDI is our next behavioral therapy. My husband and I are going to attend a conference next week given by some consultants in the area. The program is expensive and time consuming it seems. Parents need to attend a 4 day seminar and then use a consultant to move from levels. And all the exercises are done by the parents, not a therapist. I might not be able to do all that, but I will try to learn what I can and use a consultant when feasible.

(HBOT 35) Very Loving

Jonathan was very loving today. When I took him to the daycare in the morning, he asked me for a hug. Then he told me that he loved me. That was very sweet. The ABA therapist left a note saying that Jonathan had one of the best days ever yesterday. When she arrived, he was not only playing with other kids but he was the leader of the play. That is a very exciting comment.

When I arrived to pick him up, he was sitting in the middle of a pool of kids all watching a TV cartoon movie. He did not even realize that I arrived until the teacher pointed it out. He came running to me and gave me a big hug and didn't want to let go. Very loving.

I got him ready for the chamber and drove him to the site. I got sick, so Daddy met us there so he could go in with Jonathan. I didn't want to spread my germs inside the chamber.

HBOT Day 35

When we arrived, Daddy was waiting for us. Daddy told me that the dive went well, uneventful. When they got home, I had dinner ready. Jonathan wanted to play with my laptop and I told him that he had to sit at the table to eat. This turned into a full conversation and Jonathan used very appropriate sentences. Now that he is speaking more words within a sentence, he sounds like he is crying. I don't know why. His tone. I kept telling him not to cry, and the last time I said it he said "I'm not crying mommy, I am talking to daddy". That is when I realized that to him he is not crying, it is the way he speaks now. But for us he sounds like he is whining/almost crying. I also noticed that since he is adding more words to the sentences, he is speaking slower. I assume this is normal development that occurs at about 3 years of age (because we see it with Vanessa), but it is strange to see it in Jonathan.

He was very affectionate today.

(No HBOT) Greeted Me Enthusiastically

I have been out of the house all day. There is very little to document today. But one nice thing was that when I arrived home, Jonathan came running towards me to greet me. He had not done that in a long time. It was great. He hugged me hard. He was happy and seemed less distant.

Dad reported that he was fine today. His OT said he did well. The OT mentioned that a new speech therapist is joining the company and that she can possibly work with Jonathan. I have been on 2 waiting lists for about 1 year. I'm going to call tomorrow to try to book her time for after Jonathan's OT session.

I collected urine for a MAP test and a Urine Toxic Metal (UTM) and Essential Elements test. I will probably get the results by next Monday. I know Dr. Yasko likes afternoon collection for the UTM, but I used the morning urine. We'll see what it shows.

(HBOT 34) Continue With Detox

Jonathan continues to be only interested in electronic toys. However, this morning Daddy told Jonathan to play with regular toys and after 10 minutes of crying, Daddy convinced him to play with him and Vanessa and they had a very good time.

HBOT Day 34

We arrived a few minutes late. Daddy and Jonathan went into the chamber and Daddy indicated that it went well. They sat at the end of the chamber and he played spider again with Daddy. When it ended, we went home. Jonathan seemed detached. He went to the coach and laid there. Daddy called Abuita and asked her to come get him and take him out. We were going to organize the house a bit.

Abuita took him to Moby Dick and then they went biking to Arik's house. He had a good time. As soon as he got home, he went right to his Leapster toy. Vanessa wanted to go out and we all convinced Jonathan to go with them. I am not sure why he just turns to the Leapster or the PC as soon as he gets home. Perhaps I need to forbid it for a while and see what he invents. Vanessa tries to play with him, but he is not as interested lately (unless they are in my room jumping on the bed). Vanessa even tried to give him a kiss while he was on the PC, and pushed him a bit to try to give him a kiss, and Jonathan screamed at her not to do that. And she was offended and left. I made him to give her a kiss and say I'm sorry as she was very offended.

This weekend he only drank water as I need to collect urine tomorrow morning to run the MAP test (metabolic analysis profile). This test will tell me if he has clostridia and how his Krebs cycle is doing. I stopped the probiotics 3 days ago as well as the apple juice (any fruit juice really).

(HBOT 33) No Social Interactions At All **

Today Jonathan slept late. On the way to the HBOT, he was in a decent mood. He was again fixated with the GPS (he even wants to turn it on once we turn the car on). He kept telling us the color of the traffic light and Vanessa copied him. He corrected Vanessa a couple of times. So I guess that counts for interaction.

HBOT Day 33

Today is Saturday. Daddy's turn to go inside the submarine. Daddy told me that the dive went well and that he did not complain about his ears at all. He covers them just like I do, but perhaps I let more ear in than he does.

When we picked him up, he insisted that he didn't want to go home. He wanted to go to the toy store. Daddy had different plans and we convinced him to go to the shopping mall with us. We first went home to change out of the scrubs (cotton clothes) and then we went back out. We went to eat and later to the mall. He had found his Leapster and took it with him. Luckily I had bought batteries yesterday. At Moby Dick, he put the new batteries in it, and played through the entire lunch. Vanessa was very talkative and interactive, while Jonathan was not at all interested in talking or playing with Vanessa.

We went to the mall and he got bored quickly. He was holding the Leapster toy all over the place. We went home to let the dog out and I took the opportunity to give Jonathan his supplements. We were going to our friends' house and I knew we would be coming home really late (which we did).

When we arrived at our friends' house, he avoided saying hi, he avoided the kids and adults. He just asked for a PC. He spent the entire 4 hours playing with the PC. I tried to play with him and engage him in other activities, but all he wanted to do is play with the map.

On the way to our friends' house, I told Javier that today I had come to terms that he will always be a bit anti-social - like my sister, like my dad. As long as I can get him to talk like a normal human being and get him through school and he can learn to be an independent person, I can live with not being as social as Mommy and Daddy.

HBOT Observations:

I believe that the HBOT has been a terrific intervention for his expressive language. Perhaps even his receptive given that he is asking more complex questions. But undoubtedly, his expressive language has made good improvements. However, none of his other autism characteristics have really improved. His OCD I believe is back a bit. And he has simply lost interest in other kids.

I need to do some major adjustments again. I want to introduce Metals 1 and 4. I want to increase his EDTA suppositories. We have an appointment with his DAN! and he'll do some blood tests to see what can be seen.

Supplements Adjusted:

Added:

• Ciano B12 Patch - 1 patch a week. We started today!
  

(HBOT 32) Back to the Traffic Lights

I am starting to get annoyed with his new fixations: (1) traffic lights; (2) GPS. The green pillow is back. When I picked him up at daycare, he was reading a book on the green pillow. No interaction with other kids. He greeted me nicely and we left. As we got into the car, he immediately told me to put the map on the GPS on.

HBOT Day 32

Today the dive went really well. He did not feel pain. There was a child with CP in the chamber today and it felt as if the compression as being done slower. The rest of the dive went pretty well - uneventful.

On the way home, he kept telling me what color the traffic light was, he wanted me to take different routes (which I did), etc. However, I have to admit that a week of this is starting to annoy me tremendously.

Today is Friday and we go to Joe's Crab Shack on Fridays with our friends and their kids. He knew it and simply told me that he wanted to eat pizza. I went home to get the rest of the family and we headed to Joe's.

When we arrived to Joe's, Jonathan just wanted to stick around us. He didn't want to play with the other kids. He ate and continued to simply sit near us or on top of our laps. He forgot to bring a toy, so he was simply in his little world.

(HBOT 31) Obsession with GPS

Today Abuita picked him up. When we got home, I bathed him and ran out quickly. He is now totally fixated on the GPS. He understand that the little triangle is our car.

HBOT Day 31

We were 5 minutes late, but so was another parent. There was a lot of traffic. The first time in 31 days that I was so late. Jonathan had a really hard time this time with his ears. Jenn was gentle and stopped the compression again a couple of times. Once we reached the correct atmosphere, it took him a couple of minutes to pop the ears before I could put the hood on.

On the way back, he was again completely fixated on the GPS. We asked me to take different routes so he could see how it works. On one side, I think it is great that he is figuring out the mechanism as much as his imagination allows me. But on another, I don't like obsessions.

When we got home, he asked if he could play on the PC. We said yes. I cooked dinner and he said he wasn't hungry (I am sure it was to avoid stopping what he was doing). But I brought him a plate with food so he could it on the kitchen island while he was playing.

My brother arrived and he immediately withdrew into this world and played with the PC until we took him too bed. He did not acknowledge anyone. He did not say hi.

(HBOT 30) Three Quarters of the Way

Jonathan had a pretty good day today. Lots of language, very observational. He still has trouble with simple questions, but on other aspects he is becoming more verbal.

When I picked him up today, I noticed that they had taken the green pillow away. Jonathan was laying on the floor on another section of the room. He came running when I called his name and we went home. As we were driving, he again was fixated on the traffic lights and the colors and what that meant, but this time he wanted to name the colors in Spanish. It was cute. I spoke in Spanish to him all the way home. The words that he was not sure of he would repeat to me in English and ask if that was correct.

As soon as we got home he said that he didn't want to take a bath today. We greeted my father and he immediately told me that he was hungry (in Spanish). I fixed some food and changed.

HBOT Day 30

He again had trouble with his right ear. The technician had to stop the compression process twice as he was screaming. I ordered the Zyrtek as I feel he might have fluid in it due to allergies. They will have it ready tomorrow. Once we reached 1.5 atm, he did well.

Today we made 3/4 of the way. 10 more dives to go. I have to admit that I was hoping for a more impressive positive reaction to this therapy, but I know how tough Jonathan is. It has helped him very much. I haven't found his silver bullet. But this therapy has definitely awaken him a bit more.

On the way home, he was very conversational. We spoke about everything he saw. However, if I asked him how his day went, he couldn't answer it. So I tried to ask him specific questions. He told me he was hungry and asked what we were going to eat. I told him chicken nuggets and he asked if from McDonald's. I told him no. He then said he wanted pizza. We made a quick stop at Trader Joe's and when I parked he said "why we doing here? this is not Tony's". Tony's is the pizza place. I told him we need to check something for grandpa. He asked a few why questions today.

We went to Tony's after that, and he carried out his pizza. When we got home, Vanessa came to greet us and he said "look Vanessa, look what I got!". Vanessa told him it was pizza and she was excited about it. And he told her "come on, let's go inside to eat pizza".

He is making longer sentences, more complex to express his wants and needs. Sometimes he expresses his feelings, but not as frequently.

Recovering from last week's detox

He is definitely recovering from last week's detox episode. I believe it was detox because the same day that he changed (had some behavioral regressions on 4/26/07), I introduced 2 new supplements: curcumin and L-Carnitine. I feel Curcumin caused the detox problem. Curcumin helps move the transulfuration pathway (cysteine pathway) more towards glutathione rather than taurine. Since his taurine has been very high, curcumin probably started working right away and caused a detox reaction. It is a good thing. If his body starts to automatically produce more glutathione, it will help him detox faster. He seems to be doing better today.

(HBOT 29) Nice Come Back **

Jonathan had a very good night sleep - 9 straight hours. I slept well too :) We both needed it.

This morning he seemed a bit more connected. His mind seems to be traveling a thousand miles a minute though. As I was giving him his supplements, he asked what day it was. I told him Tuesday. But he was really looking for the number. Today is May 1st. He asked me to change the calendar because today is the first day of May. So I did. After that, Daddy took him to school. Everything went well.

When I went to his classroom in the afternoon to pick him up, I could not find him in the room. He wasn't sitting anywhere near where I normally find him. Suddenly, he approached me from behind. He was playing in another area of the room and he spotted me first. He seemed again more connected. His ABA therapist also left positive notes on his notebook regarding his behavior today. As we left the classroom, he told me that he was the "line leader" and I needed to follow him to the car. Very cute.

He spoke more than in the past 3 days together. However, I still have to know what to ask him. When I asked him what he did today, he told me he didn't want to speak anymore. I can tell that he cannot find the words to express himself and out of frustration he prefers to be quite. I did notice that his humming behavior returned.

On our way out, as I was pulling out of the garage, he asked me to turn the GPS map on. When I did, the screen background was dark. He told me "I want it light, the map, I want it light". By the time I realized what he was talking about, I was out of the garage and the screen automatically sensed that it was daytime and turned the background white. He noticed that change and asked me "mommy, why map dark before?". I was shocked to hear such a question. I was a true "why" question. I explained that inside the garage it was dark and the map thought it was night time. But since it is daytime, it turned back to white. Then he said "ah, when inside the tunnel map is dark. Outside in daytime the map is light. Ok". This to me is a major accomplishment. He did this type of reasoning yesterday with Abuita as he noticed that she has a box of gummy bears in her apartment and told her that "Abuita, spiderman in Abuita's house. No more buy in store". Again, he is making logical connexions in his brain, reasoning.

HBOT Day 29


Today's session went well. He again had trouble with his right ear. It hurt a great deal today. About 30 minutes into the session, Jonathan was bored of watching Barney and started a game with me. He pretended that he was a spider (with his hand) that came to eat me. Then I changed it and added my hand was mommy spider. We ate, and slept, and visited the zoo and did many things. After about 10 minutes, we both got bored and he went back to watching the movie.

When we finished, we went to the restroom and he started to pretend that his tooth had fallen off and I had to catch it and help him put it back. I am not sure what that means. On the way home, he told me that he was hungry and wanted spaghetti with meatballs. He is really starting to clearly identify his feelings in a very precise manner. We stopped by Tony's Pizza and bought spaghetti.

When he finished dinner, he pretended that he was the hungry caterpillar and created a game with Vanessa where they ran all over the house eating all kinds of fruits until the caterpillars had eaten too much and then went into a cocoon and later became beautiful butterflies. They really enjoyed playing like this. Jonathan became creative and Vanessa imitated him. After a good 20 minutes, they started playing with other pretend toys. Jonathan lost interest and asked if he could play with my PC. Given all the pretend play he had done in the afternoon, I granted it.

Jonathan pretending the caterpilar (him) is inside a cocoon Jonathan pretending the caterpilar hatched and he is a butterfly flying

My brother is not staying with us for the next 2 days. I am not sure if that influenced his behavior at home. I will monitor it on Thursday night when they return.

Supplements Adjusted:

Added:

• Magnesium Citrate – 1 capsule (AM) - Had replaced with Mag/Cal combo
  

• NADH – 1 table (AM) - Ran out last Tuesday
  


• CCK RNA – 3 drops (AM and PM) - Ran out a month ago
  

Removed:

• Magnesium/Calcium/VitK/VitD combo

(No HBOT) More Engaged Today

The evening started horrific. Jonathan woke up at 2:30am, came to our bed and could not fall back to sleep until 6am. Needless to say that I could not sleep either and I am dead tired. He moved around a lot, was fixated on the clock on the cable box, went to the bathroom several times. I asked him if he had a stomachache and he said no. He rocked quite a bit. But he didn't hum. I realized that he had not hummed on Sunday either.

He finally fell asleep as it was time for me to get up and shower. When I left the house, he was still sleeping. I checked his backpack in the afternoon and had no notes indicating that he was strange or tired. So he must have had a normal day.

Abuita picked him up early and took him to a playground. When he got home, he saw me and came running towards me and screaming "hi mommy". That was nice to see after 4 days of feeling ignored. He immediately asked for his Leapster toy. I tried to ask him how his day went, but he didn't want to answer. I was able to get him to tell me that he didn't eat lunch.

When my brother arrived with his kids, Jonathan did not acknowledge them. When they left about 30 min later, again, Jonathan did not say bye. He kept playing with his Leapster. It ran out of battery and he came to tell me to change them. We didn't have any batteries and in the past he would have had a meltdown. This time, we told him that we would get them tomorrow and he was ok with the answer and told me he wanted to play with with Disney.com on my PC. He seemed more connected today. When he was playing with Disney.com, he was telling what was going on. Later, he told me about a story he read today "the hungry caterpillar" and told me what happened to the caterpillar. He was definitely a bit more social today than in the past few days.

Today he ate very well. He had split peas soup (blended) and chicken with rice. I am hoping he sleeps all night. I need a good night sleep.

(HBOT 28) Regression is Becoming Worrisome

Today Jonathan woke up and immediately asked to watch the Princess Stories DVD. This time Daddy told him that he could not watch it again. But he didn't cry. He came to me and told me that he wanted to put the Disney channel as he wanted to watch Mickey's Club House.

We all got ready, and left to the HBOT. While Jonathan and Daddy were to the chamber, Vanessa, and I went with Abuelito Omar, my brother and his family to the Petting Zoo.

HBOT Day 28

Daddy said that the dive went well. Uneventful. When they finished, they came over to the Petting Zoo. Jonathan did not want to be inside. He wanted to go. We gathered our stuff and went to Fuddrocker's. Jonathan all this time had his Leapster toy and did not want to play with the girls (Vanessa and her cousin Illy). He did not even acknowledge Vanessa.

We left and went home as the rest of my family was due to come for dinner. Jonathan did not want to be near the girls. He just went to the sofa and played. When people arrived, he came over and sat on the kitchen floor and played.

He had a very stinky bowel movement, for what I am thinking that he is having gut issues (perhaps due to the HBOT).

He did not ask to play with Playstation for the past week (odd). He didn't want to play outside with the girls. He spent the entire day playing with his Leapster toy. Sometime got on my PC to play with Disney.com. He reverted to asking for things using short language: "mom, apple juice". I had to correct him. He also did not want to eat anything but waffles (which are loaded with gluten).

We cannot stop the HBOT. We are only 12 dives to go. But he has really regressed socially and I am not sure how to adjust his supplements to help with that.

(HBOT 27) Continues to Be in His World

Today Jonathan woke up and immediately asked to watch the Princess Stories DVD. We put it on while we fixed his supplements. Gave him breakfast and the supplements. Daddy and Jonathan left to the chamber. He seemed a bit in his world again. All his attention was to that TV.

HBOT Day 27

Daddy said that the dive went well and uneventful. They came home and I fixed some lunch. He wanted to play with the computer and I let him while I was fixing the house. My brother, his wife and 2 kids came today to stay for a few days.

Jonathan seemed really lots into this cyber space. He didn't want to talk much, play or interact. Just wanted to play with his electronic toys. He has not lost language but simply does not want to participate much.

When my brother arrived, he didn't say hi, he didn't acknowledge them. But when I asked him where the baby was and what she was doing, he told me. So somehow, he can multitask but cannot express it.

(HBOT 26) Seems Lost

Jonathan today when I arrived to pick him up was laying down on the green pillow again reading a book. He did not notice that I came in. I called him and he ran to me and immediately asked me what we were going to do. I told him we were going home and then to the submarine.

Today Jonathan was really in his world. I had to call his name many times for him to react and pay attention. On the way to the HBOT, he did not want to converse. He only spoke to tell me what color the traffic light was.

HBOT Day 26

Inside the chamber, Jonathan had a hard time with his right ear again. But after he popped it, he put on his hood and watched TV ok. The other kid came over to him, and he immediately told him no and tried to move passed me and away from him. So I see 2 areas where he is regressing.

Daddy and Vanessa came over to pick him up as I had another engagement after that. They went to eat pizza and went home. He did not take his pills this night.

(HBOT 25) A Little of Repetitive Behavior Today

Jonathan has been very interested in a Disney Princess movie (Vanessa's movie). He woke up and immediately asked me to put it on. He likes the silly parts, not the princess sweetness type scenes. He really enjoys the funny parts. I don't think it is self-stimulatory OCD. I think it is a bit of an obsession, but perhaps the one that really young kids have when they want to have the same book read over and over again. A few months ago, he would watch the same movie over and over again, but this time he is actually following the story and tries to use it to create his own pretend stories. Interesting how it all develops.

On the way to the HBOT, Jonathan decided to watch Curious George. He watched the commercials, and there was one with birds. He started to sing the song and kept telling me what was going on as I could not watch it with him. I told him "Papito, why don't you fly?" and he said "because I don't have 2 wings" and I said "but pretend sweetie" and I quickly turned around and he was pretending with his arms. That was really cool. This is very normal for normally developing kids, but a really big deal for the autistic kids. The first part was logical (I don't have 2 wings). That is what high functioning autistic kids normally would answer. But pretending is more abstract thinking. It is very difficult for our kids to do, yet crucial for proper development. So all the pretending he is doing lately is absolutely wonderful.

HBOT Day 25

Today's dive went well. The technician put Shrek 2 on, and Jonathan wanted Dora. But the other kids wanted to watch it, so he accepted it very well. When we reached 1.5 atms, and I put the hood on and turned the air on, he noticed the air flowing in. Today was the third day that he mentioned that he could feel the air coming out of one hole, and thought the other hole was broken. There are 2 tubes. One that blows the oxygen in and one that takes the carbon monoxide out. So I explained that one hole is where the air is pushed into the hood and the other hole sucks the air out and into the box on the wall. He was totally amazed on how that worked. Analyzed it, and asked me a couple of questions. Curiosity. Another thing that we look to bring out in our kids.

As we were watching the movie, I asked him a question. But he was really into the movie. So I touched the top of the hood to ensure that it was tight (that is the way to check if the hood is full of oxygen) and he turned to me and asked "what did you say mommy?" and his voice and tone were soft and spontaneous. I asked him again, but I was a bit amazed that he asked me that question that way. It felt as if he really wanted to know what I was thinking or asking.

When we got home, he wanted to watch that Princess movie again. Then he very eloquently said "mommy, can you give me some grape juice please?" So now I am picking up on the tone and the structure of the sentences rather than the question itself. He has been asking for what he wants for sometime, but it is the tone. It didn't sound robotic.

HBOT is causing a terrible constipation issue. He is having bowel movements, but the stools are hard. So yesterday it seems as he broke a blood vessel and had some blood when I cleaned him and today as well. I checked the stool, and it was clear of blood, so it looks like a problem as it comes out and not inside the colon. I am going to buy Cascara Sagrada tomorrow as Dr. Yasko suggests that when there is constipation. I also ordered other types of probiotics. The Oxygen kills the gut bacteria (except Strep) and that I think is the problem right now.

With HBOT, I have noticed quite a few improvements, especially in the area of awareness, curiosity, abstract thinking, complex pretend ideas, language (both receptive and expressive), energy and some social behavior. However, I see more attention problems, hyperactivity and silliness. I was told that I will see changes 6 to 8 weeks after the end of this batch of 40 dives.

Supplements Adjusted:

Added:

• Curcumin - 1/4 capsule (AM) - This helps with converting sulfur to glutathione instead of Taurine
  

• L-Carnitine – 1/4 capsule (AM) - Provides energy to the cells (mitochondial support)
  

(HBOT 24) Pretend Play to Get What He Wants

When I arrived at the daycare to pick him up, he was sitting on the carpet with another kid and an adult playing a game. He got up excited to see me and said bye to everyone. On the way out he asked: "Mommy, where are we going?" I said that we were going home to bathe and change and then off to the submarine. Then he said: "Mommy, after submarine I want go to toy store". I asked him why and he said "I want to buy a new cartridge". I told him he already had 15 cartridges (Leap Ahead Leapster cartridges), and he said "I want 16". Then I asked what cartridge he wanted, and he said "the hungry caterpillar cartridge". I told him that it was okay.

We was quiet on the way to the HBOT. He was playing with his Leapster toy and paying attention to the traffic lights and telling me when stop, slow down or hurry up and go. I tried to have a conversation with him, and he did well for the first couple of minutes. Then I asked him a more complicated question, and he hesitated, as he could not find the words and then said: "Mommy I don't want to talk anymore". I realized that he had everything in his head, but his apraxia won't let him express it.

HBOT Day 24

Today it was cooler. The technician fixed the A/C unit last night, so the chamber was comfortable. We got in and today Jonathan had a bit of trouble with the compression. His ears bothered him. He must have a bit of fluids due to allergies. I'll call the doctor tomorrow and order a prescription for Zyrtek.

We watched Dora the entire hour. Jonathan was totally into it. He answered all of Dora's questions, and laughed when it was funny. When we finished, he asked me where we were going and I told him that we needed to go to the grocery store to get bananas and then home. I knew he wanted to go to Toys R Us, but he has so many cartridges that I figured he would forget.

Well, he didn't. But instead of screaming at me, he invented a Dora story. He told me that I was Boots, he was Dora, he called the Map to map out the route he wanted. His motor planning was very nice and complex. He told me that we were first going to the grocery store, then toy store and finally home. He used his imagination, and pointed me to this pretend ideas (a bad guy was in the corner of the car, etc.). It was fun to play.

The plan was first grocery store, then toy store and finally home. We went to the grocery store, and he was excited to help me. When we finished, he took out his imaginative Map and put an invisible check mark and told me that toy store was next. We was so excited. When we arrived, he was jumping of excitement. He new exactly what he wanted and where it was. We took it and went to the cash register to pay. There were people in front and he was very patient. He kept walking in circles and it wasn't that he had to go to the bathroom. I believe he still has middle ear balancing problems. He needs to constantly move to find his body in space. We got our turn, paid and went home.

His receptive language has improved greatly in the past two weeks. But his expressive language has really improved. We desperately need a speech therapist. I think we need to work on some pronounciations and tones. And even though he still gets stuck with complex questions, he has improved soooo much in this area. Still not age appropriate, but definitely developing nicely.

One thing that I realized a couple of days ago as I attended a parent's group meeting is that I strongly feel that Jonathan is reacting well to the HBOT because I killed his instestinal strep. Strep feeds with oxygen, and I was scared it was going to increase. But instead, he is waking up!

(HBOT 23) SP Assessment Did Not Go Well

Jonathan woke up a bit whiny today. He was also quite defiant today. The only thing that I can think of is pollen. He has severe allergies to pollen, and he gets weekly allergy shots to help him with that and other environmental items he is allergic to. But autistic kids tend to show misbehavior when their allergies act up. He never shows signs of allergies (itchy nose or eyes, running nose, etc.), but his IgE skin test showed the highest level. I need to get Zyrtek refilled soon.

When I dropped him off at daycare, I left a small note in the basket saying: "Jonathan, Vanessa, Daddy and Mommy love you very much". When I picked him up at 4:45pm, the teacher told me that Jonathan did really well this morning in circle time and that he was extremely happy and proud that Mommy left him a message. That was a very nice comment. The ABA therapist also wrote a comment in his book about the same reaction. I will make sure to leave a note everyday. So he can associate that we are always thinking of him.

When I got home with Jonathan, I checked his backpack and read a note from his public school teacher saying that he was assessed today for speech but because he was very hyper and had trouble concentrating, the assessment did not go well. At first, I was sad since he had such a terrific morning and a fantastic day yesterday. But then I thought that it was actually a good thing because I do want the school to provide as much speech therapy during Kindergarten as possible, and this assessment will help me prove it.

HBOT Day 23

Today, when we arrived Jonathan said: "I don't want to go in the truck. I don't like to be inside the submarine". He has been articulating his feelings quite well lately. I told him that we had no choice. We got in to discover that the air conditioning was broken. It was about 90 degrees inside. There were only 2 kids today, so we had more space inside and less human bodies to generate heat. However, Jonathan was sweating like crazy and Gage was very unhappy and crying. You could tell that he was very uncomfortable. Jonathan was totally into the Dora movie. He answered every question that she asked and then turned around and told me what was going on. It was very cute.

When we finished, Daddy and Vanessa were outside waiting for us. I had an autism parents support group meeting tonight and Javier went to pick Jonathan up. Daddy said that the night went well. They stopped on the way home and the kids got spaghetti and meatballs and they all went home to eat it.

Because I did not get home until passed 11pm, Jonathan skipped his supplements today. One time is okay. I hope he has an OK day tomorrow.