Social Problems Continue at School

Last week was a very frustrating week for me. I know that our lives with autism and dealing with school are going to be hard, but I am starting to feel what it is going to be like and I really don't like it. I am not sure what to do, how to react.

Jonathan is having a hard time socializing with the kids in his 1st grade section. I don't know if it would be better in a different section. I don't know if this teacher is better or worse than other 1st grade teachers. I don't have time to volunteer in his class to observe the dynamics. But I do know that Jonathan had mastered social skills in Kindergarten with the teacher he had (she was (is) awesome) and here they are going to add a new goal in his IEP this coming Thursday to handle social skills because he is not doing well.

Last Thursday, while he was in class, sitting at his desk doing his morning work, he felt someone push him very hard and since he wasn't expecting it, he couldn't control his movements. The top of his head hit the edge of his desk. He was taken to the school clinic and the nurse didn't see anything major. When he returned to class, he thew up a lot so they took him back to the clinic and called me. The nurse asked me if I could be there in 10 minutes because throwing up right after a head injury means concussion in their book. I told her that I was 20 minutes away, and she told me that they had to call 911. I told her to go ahead and ran out to the door. When I arrived, I spoke with the paramedics and the guy said that he believed he could have had a concussion and urged me to take him to his pediatrician. He asked Jonathan to again explained what happened and he showed us. He was very detailed. But he didn't know the names of the kids that were standing behind him. He still doesn't know everyone's names. The assistant principal was there and told me that she was going to investigate.

I took Jonathan to see his pediatrician and he told me that indeed he had had a concussion but it was mild and didn't need to have x-rays done unless he threw up again. He told me to keep him awake until the evening and to call him if anything changed. But I noticed that the had forgotten somethings like he forgot that he hadn't had breakfast that morning. I didn't make much of it, but it seemed strange because he has a very good memory.

The next day, I called the school and spoke to the assistant principal. I asked her if she had investigated the event, and she said that she had, and after asking the kids that Jonathan thought he had saw behind him and they all said that they didn't push Jonathan, the assistant principle asked Jonathan if he had done that to himself and he apparently said yes. That comment infuriated me, but I chose not to fight with her. Jonathan has NEVER self-injured and that was just something he would have not made up. But if you sound convincing, he might give into what you said and I feel (even if it was not the case) that he was manipulated to admitting that he did it to himself. The next day, his memory was not perfect and when I checked with the doctor he said it was normal. But he did not lie (he doesn't really know how to lie that well).

A couple of months ago, he was in a situation with another boy who hit him intentionally in the lip breaking his lip and sending him to the clinic because the kid didn't like that Jonathan didn't want to do what he asked him to do. When I told Jonathan that it was probably and accident, he told me that it wasn't. The same situation happened here. He told me with details what happened, but his memory was blurry the next day and the school put it back on him because he cannot express himself perfectly. I feel betrayed by the school and the system. If this is happening now, when he is only 6, what should I expect when he is in middle and high school?

We have an IEP meeting this coming Thursday to discuss the new goal and I will challenge them about what happened. If I know of any new abuses, I will request that he is moved to another section.

Back on Gluten Free - Regression Stopped

Last week I decided to go back to the GF/CF diet. I had the feeling that Jonathan’s intestinal strep returned and he has tremendous leaky gut (his dad had strep throat 3 weeks ago). So I went cold turkey on him and just gave him gluten free foods. Boy I am glad, because on Thursday he was speaking very nicely and his pretend play returned. The fog lifted again. Not 100%, but enough to give me an idea that his gut is out of shape. On Friday, he had pizza, and he started making a strange sound with his throat which he does whenever he eats gluten and it affects him. So, back today on gluten free again. I did tell him that he needs to be on this diet, and he was mad that he couldn't eat pizza. So I promised him that I would go today to the grocery store and get him the special pizza. He was happy with that and promised not to eat anything that mommy didn't give him.

I decided to search my Yahoo groups for ideas and learned about a homeopathic drop called san-strep-drops. I read that it is very helpful with intestinal strep. I ordered them and I have not received them yet. I want to give that a try.

Also, since he is now taking pills (life is good!), I decided on Friday to add Phosphatydilcholine back to his diet. The pills are huge and they were hard to open. But he is taking them easily. I can’t say that I see lots of improvements with it yet, but I know he needs PC.

This week I ordered a number of supplements that I had not given to him in a while. I believe he is ready for them. His stools are better (I believe it is because now that he takes the pills, I don’t mix them in prunes). I am going to finish the EDTA and DMPS that I have in the refrigerator, and I am going to give that a break for a couple of months so I can see if the new supplements work. I also stopped the diflucan. I didn't see improvements and I know it hurts his liver. I ordered candex to help control his yeast.

I feel better this week. He has returned to how he was about a month ago (actually, I think he has improved) and I can talk to him and he can clearly understand me, and his language has gotten smoother. He is now self-sufficient (he dresses completely on his own - both pajamas and regular clothes, sweaters (if they are inside out, he will fix them before putting them on), jackets, shoes, etc.), he brushes his teeth on his own, he even wanted to shower on Saturday by himself, but I told him he needed to wait for me. We are doing more complex negotiations.

So I am ready for the next steps.

• I have put together a new nutritional supplementation plan that includes a number of supplements that Yasko recommends for his mutations, plus supplements for the Vitamin K protocol, the homeopathic drops for strep and the new glutathione patches. I should receive everything this week.
• I got him back on gluten free and casein free diet (except I give him yogurt). That I feel will help tremendously. He might have to be on this diet for a very long time. I thought we were good to go, but we are obviously not.
• We are also going to start on the home listening program again today. I bought it a couple of months ago, but when I attempted, he was so weird that he didn’t pay attention. He is ready now.
• And I need to find time to meet people in my neighborhood that he can play with. He needs to have more play-dates. I am going to give the top 3 items a chance to start working before I start putting a play-date plan together. I am also going to contact the RDI person that the Children's Hospital doctor recommended. She might be covered under my insurance.