CEASE Clearing and Various Updates

Here are some updates on things I have posted about in previous blogs:

CEASE: We delayed Noah's new dosage of Hep B 30 c until Thursday due to his sickness earlier in the week. He continues to have a runny nose on/off, and I have noticed this week that he has been very emotional and cranky- more than usual. Yesterday,  I found that he kept bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Today, he kept screaming at everything. The only thing that calmed him down was going outside--- which we did ALL DAY LONG. He has also started to stim more--- shaking his head back and forth (which is not common), and I have noticed some facial tics that I haven't seen since he was 15 months old.  His face is constantly staying flushed and he has had a few green colored diapers. Are these side effects of the clearing?  I will need to ask the homeopath about these things and get her feedback.

EDCD Waiver: We received Noah's Medicaid card in the mail recently and we have started the process of hiring a respite provider. I am also looking into the EPSDT screening with a physician to see if Noah may qualify for ABA services through Medicaid. I am praying that he does. This would be a HUGE load off of our shoulders.

ABA/Speech/OT: Therapy continues to go well. He stays very busy through the week. We have recently seen a positive change in ABA. He is starting to catch on to things and he isn't resistant to his therapist Lily. I am not sure whether Noah is benefitting at all from speech. The speech therapist just sits there and plays with him and doesn't offer many suggestions on how we can work with him on speech (isn't that the point?!). She is very nice and Noah doesn't mind her but we need intensive speech therapy SO I am considering adding outpatient speech since his Medicaid went through. More than likely it will cover it now. Occupational Therapy has been more helpful to me than it is to Noah. His OT gives me ideas on eating, bathing, dressing, playing- a lot of problem solving and creative ideas. She helps keep me on track with developmental milestones that we need to work on.

Gluten free/Casein free diet: Noah has been adhering to these diet changes since December. Has it helped??? I don't really know. We have worked our butts off with Noah so I don't really know what exactly has caused the improvements we are seeing. I know the diet doesn't harm him but it is a pain in the butt to keep up. And.... what do you do when he goes to birthdays or out to dinner? I wish he could enjoy birthday cake, and easter candy and ice cream from time to time. But it isn't possible right now. I pray that homeopathy heals his body so that he will one day be able to enjoy various foods he cannot currently eat.

Things we are working on with Noah: 
-signing/using words or approximations for what he wants
-yes/no
-pointing to communicate
-taking turns with toys
-giving him choices to choose from- having him pick
-drawing/ arts and crafts (he hates this!)
-hygiene (brushing teeth, bathing, clipping nails, brushing hair--- This issue is exhausting. He has a very big issue with all of these things!)
-imitation (of body movements, noises, household tasks).
-imaginative play (still not comprehending this, but we have started to see some changes recently)

Puppy Therapy!: We have decided to get Noah a 7 month old puppy and hope he will benefit from the interaction. Little Luna (mini labradoodle) will be arriving the weekend of April 13th. Just two weeks before Noah's second birthday (BEST early birthday present ever!). I will post pics when she arrives. Hopefully he will like her!

Homeopathy for Me!: So, since I have seen such positive things with Noah in regards to homeopathy, I have decided to seek treatment as well. I will be having my first consultation with our homeopath April 10th. I have a lot of things I want to work on and I am looking forward to getting better.

That is all for now, I think!

As always, I am trusting that God will take care of Noah, me and my family and that He will give us His wisdom and guidance and we move forward and towards recovery. Happy Easter!!

Bouncing Back and ABA therapy

Noah is feeling better and thankfully bouncing back. He is very engaged with us, has great eye contact and he is starting to use his words again. He has also started playing with his neglected toys. One thing that is still lingering since he became sick is that he is grunting....constantly. We get frustrated because of the constant noise but also because it reminds us that he is unable to talk and he is stimming vocally. It is an ever present reminder of the symptoms of autism. His new speech therapist said that this could be his way of communicating with us... or it could be both stimming and communication. We must decipher between the two. If we think he is trying to communicate we need to label for him what we are doing or what he is wanting. If we think the grunting is serving no purpose but to provide stimulation we need to either ignore it or redirect it.

His ABA therapy has picked up in intensity. His therapist Lily has spent the last few weeks building rapport with him. Now she is increasing her demands of him and not giving in to what he wants. She is rewarding positive behaviors and holding out for the correct behavior from him. He has not taken well to this. My mom reports that his last two sessions are mostly crying. I am hoping it gets easier with time.

We also had our second meeting with the classical homeopath on Skype. She saw Noah for the first time and watched how he interacted with me and observed his behavior and his overall appearance. This helped her conclude that his constitutional remedy may be Pulsatilla. I researched Pulsatilla last night and WOW... it really does fit Noah! I picked out about 30 different characteristics that are true of Noah. So, I am excited to start this journey of CEASE therapy and classical homeopathy. We will begin in a few weeks. The plan is to do CEASE therapy on Tuesday/Thursday and then give the constitutional remedy on Saturdays.

And as always, we are trusting the Lord to lead us to the right interventions for Noah. We are having faith that He will take care of our little boy. We still have our emotional moments but we are maintaining much better than just a few months ago.

Therapy Schedule- Noah is a Busy Boy!

We just received word yesterday that more ABA slots have opened up. So we can now bump up Noah's ABA therapy to 3x/week for 2 hour sessions (6 hours/week). They also told me that they were going to give us a discounted rate since we live so close to the office. Instead of $50/hour for in home therapy, they will charge $35. So thankful for this. Every little bit helps.

We also were informed that Early Intervention will be adding Speech to his weekly therapy. On Tuesdays, we will have a speech therapist meet with Noah in the home for 1 hour. On Thursdays, we will continue with 1 hour of Occupational therapy. If you also add in all of the hours of work my mother and we put in (probably 15 more hours a week of one on one therapy) and his visits to Gymboree 3x/week, Noah is one busy little boy.

His schedule looks like this starting next week:

Monday: 2 hours of ABA with Lily, 2 hours of family directed therapy, 1 hour of Gymboree

Tuesday: 2 hours of family directed therapy, 1 hour of speech therapy

Wednesday: 2 hours of ABA with Lily, 2 hours of family directed therapy

Thursday: 2 hours of family directed therapy, 1 hour of occupational therapy, 1 hour of Gymboree

Friday: 2 hours of ABA with Lily, 2 hours of family directed therapy

Saturday: 1 hour of Gymboree, 2 hours of family directed therapy

Sunday: 2 hours of family directed therapy