Small Changes

Sometimes I forget it's the little things that make a huge difference to the detail oriented child.

I get it.

I like detail.

If there's a small piece of dirt on my carpet, a hair in my shower, you can bet my eye is going to zero in on it and immediately clean (not a clean freak - just notice the little things).

So it's not surprise to me that my daughter, who already struggles with out of routine, out of normal changes, would notice a detail and be bothered.

Example:  I had a huge, green, painted & laminated Christmas tree on the downstairs bathroom wall this Christmas.  I had big plans for it that never happened.  Anyhow, tonight, while Natalee was in the shower I realized it was still up and took it down.  Note 1 - don't do things "behind" the SPD/Asperger child's back.  If I'd talked to Natalee about taking it down before doing so then the ensuing discussions and confusion following would have been much less.  As it was, her dad finally negotiated her concern & upset into a plan to get big white paper and make a new poster for the wall this weekend....oh well, never mind the plans for the vinyl sign I had for that spot.

Example:  Tonight at Awana was Hawaiian/Tropical Night. 
ME: "Natalee, tonight is a special night at Awana.  It's Hawaiian night - you can wear a flowery necklace, your sun glasses, a hat."
NATALEE: "No!  I has to wear my Puggles shirt!"
ME: "Yeah, sure, you can wear your Puggles shirt and something special like a flower necklace or a flower in your hair or sunglasses."
NATALEE:  "No!  I has to wear my Puggles shirt and my blue Puggles bow and get my backpack to go to see Miss Amee (her leader)."
ME: "But why don't we at least put a flower in....okay, yes, honey...that sounds great."

To Natalee "fun nights" aren't "fun."  They aren't traumatizing, she doesn't fly off the handle (maybe if I'd made her wear something different), she copes fairly well - she just fails to see their humor.  Black & white - no gray in the middle!

Being "black & white" isn't all bad...having a very defined sense of what's right & wrong.  It's just another little difference that makes this big world a smidgen harder to understand. 

Conference with Dr. John Taylor, Ph.D.

For some reason this is the post I've been avoiding. Telling you the "stuff" I've learned. Admitting what I know means being responsible for changing bad, unhealthy habits. And that's tough stuff.

Here's what you should know about me:

#1 - I'm cheap!
#2 - I like easy!

Basically, that's it. Cheap and easy...not exactly a stellar bi-line, huh? Meaning that when change is costly or time consuming I'm resistant. No one said this mommy gig was easy...

This past week I went to a conference with some co-workers. I was wearing my "teacher hat" while I was there but my "mommy heart" was shining through. The conference was with John F. Taylor, Ph.D. and titled Autism, Asperger's, SPD, & ADHD. Let me tell you - this guy was rocking! Totally into natural alternatives...not condemning modern medicine but offering so many other options to try first. And he was FULL of such good, wholesome information.

He challenged me.
He appealed to both my teacher hat and mommy heart.
He made my mind roll.
At one point I leaned to the co-worker next to me and said, "my heart is racing!" I'm pretty sure she was concerned I was going to crawl over the table and run to the front of the room to hug Dr. Taylor!

(I'm such a nerd!)

So here's what I learned. To many this might be long and boring and you won't offend me by skimming it (okay, maybe a little but I'll get over it)...but maybe, just maybe it'll help someone, and at any rate I'll have it to look back on as a resource. In the following post I'll lay out some short term and long term goals to get the Beeler family to a healthier lifestyle...but for now here's an "info dump" of my new found knowledge (mostly adapted from Dr. Taylor's seminar & taken from his manual):

From the section on Autism:

• People with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) cannot eject toxins/poisons like a "typical" person because they are enzyme deficient.
  
• Petroleum is the #1 poison. The toxin doesn't go to the liver for break-down, it goes to the brain which in turn messes with functioning. (SIDE NOTE: Did he say PETROLEUM!? Like that's in everything!? Oh. dear.)
• Dr. T. listed a large amount of visual anomalies in ASD kids...the one that stuck out to me was that they often have difficulty understanding where they are in a physical space which can lead to balance problems and trouble interpreting space and time (4).
• Huge correlation to the digestive system...children with ASD have gut overrun with yeast, mold, & fungi which leads to food allergies (hello, Natalee Beeler!). Emphasize importance of Probiotics!! Allergies cause brain disruptions! On a "flare up" day symptoms will be worse.
• Treatment Do's: TOXINSULATE! (more on this later), wise nutrition & digestive care, minimize allergies, integrate social competence (training in social do's & do not's)

Dr. T's section on Asperger's was the section that rang the most "true" to me out of the Autism, ADHD, and Asperger's groups (all of the children with these disorders have SPD). Hearing him talk about Asperger's children made me realize that he was pretty much describing Natalee, meaning I have more on my hands than just sensory processing disorder...that's okay, but was just a new feeling for me. There was also a lot in this section, however, that did not describe Natalee - lending me to realize that a diagnosis really wouldn't help us much b/c no two cases are alike. The highlights of the Asperger's section included:

• Children have muted body language (can make eye contact but resistant to it, etc)
• Trouble with peer relations
• Difficulty predicting what others will do or feel
• Extremely naive socially, easily duped, easily talked into mischief (9)
• Repetitive motor (jumping)
• Likes to talk about "safe" subjects
• One track mind
• Gross/fine motor impairment
• Produces overly precise enunciation of words
• May speak out of the blue, talking about something not connected with what's being talked about or what's happening
• Tendency toward auditory sensory avoidance (not just loud noises but new noises, repetitive noises, low continuous sounds, etc) - INDICATIVE OF A MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY (EPSOM SALTS!!!)
• "Binary Logic" way of thinking - this makes a lot of sense to Mike b/c he understands binary logic...basically it's an "on or off" way of thinking. Black or white. Yes or no. No abstracts, rule bound, can seem oppositional to adults b/c the child can't get outside their "norms" or "rules" even if it means obeying a request. The computer analogy he gave was: huge hard drive but very small processing chip: the child can handle huge amounts of information but process only a tiny amount of stimulation or thought at any one time, and the more abstract, the more difficult and overwhelming (11).
• Easily annoyed, low tolerance, perfectionist, EMOTIONAL VOLATILE MOOD SWINGS, often has anxiety that looks like anger (SPD).
• These kiddos crave routine, structured activities, & clear communication.

The ADHD section was intriguing because we have SO many kids in the public school system with diagnoses ADHD & that are taking medication as a treatment. Basically Dr. T. describes ADHD as having 4 symptoms: hyperactivity, distractibililty, impulsivity, and indecisiveness.

• Petocin given during or immediately prior to birth doubles the chance of ADHD (teardrop - by are OB/GYN's pushing this drug???)
• Children with 3+ ear infections before 24 months have a higher rate of being diagnosed ADHD (correlation with prescription antibiotics) - SIDE NOTE: Did you know it takes 24 months for good bacteria to regrow after 1 round of antibiotics??? (Dear Natalee - please forgive a naive mommy for allowing you to have some many antibiotics and prescription medicines when you were little...I promise, I didn't know better, but my heart still breaks at the trouble I've caused you.)

And the section that holds my heart and wins the prize for most highlighting during the conference...Sensory Processing Disorder:
He had SO much meat in this section that it's impossible for me to highlight it all now. This is the section that I'll use to help Natalee understand her body and her world... he gave parenting tips, therapy tips, play tips, socialization tips...the whole gamut. A couple of high points to note included:

• How to prevent sensory overload using the "Big Four" - (1) Sleep (9-10 hours at least!), (2) Stress (help child stay cool, calm, collected), (3) Nutrition (proteins, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, water), (4) Chemical Exposure (there are 6000 petrochemical poisons in foods!!)

Okay - so there is my information overload "dump." In coming posts I'll be blogging lots more about SPD; about how to teach stress prep, coping & recovery; and lots more about how we are integrating these things plus healthier eating and living into our daily lives at home and in my classroom!