IEP and Ice Skating

We had Caleb's IEP yesterday, and to be honest...it was the BEST one we've ever had! They are definitely on -the-ball with the transition to his new classroom. The new teacher is observing him several times, meeting with his therapists/teachers/aides, and having the old staff set up the new classroom with all of the visuals and supports he's used to. They are providing him with a social story about the new class and going over it daily. Also, they planned a "going away" bowling party for him! I'm feeling much assured that this could work, so now it's time to see it in action! The new teacher seems very kind and knowledgeable.

On a lighter note, we took the whole family (Caleb included) ice skating the other day at my sister's house. It was fun to see Caleb get the hang of it a bit, and to enjoy a new event. He did wonderful! See the picture!

Switching Classrooms again...booo!!!

Well, it's official...Caleb will be required to switch to the new autism classroom forming nearer to our home town. The state is requiring Caleb's AI classroom (which is 1 hour away) to break into another class due to overload of kids. Since Caleb is the most northern & farthest away, he will be going to the new classroom (which is 20 minutes away). I'm glad about the location, but not about another switch for him. To top it all off, the director of the AI classes resigned after Christmas, so there will be no one consistent through the process. Caleb really loves the other boys in his current classroom, coming home talking about them everyday like a little "tape recorder". He gets great therapy and has a great teaching staff there, and I can only pray that things will be similar in the new classroom.

I plan on giving the new classroom 2 weeks to transition, and then I'll observe it's set-up and running. If need be, I can increase Caleb's number of regular special-education from 2 days to 3 days. Right now, Caleb goes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to the AI classroom, along with Wednesday, and Friday to regular school special education. Oh the decisions and headaches we parents must go through for our autistic children! I can see already that this coming IEP on Monday is going to be a long one!

Christmas Program 2009

This year's Christmas Program at our school was themed, "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I really thought Caleb would be skipping it this year because when asked to practice he refused to go :( However...when he saw the theme, he LOVED it! When the time came to sing, he did wonderfully! He loved every minute of it and pleasantly surprised all involved! I attached the video clip, so take a look! (Caleb is the 2nd from the end...with black hair).

Sundays...the WORST day!

Sundays seem to always be Caleb's worst behavior and mood day. I'm glad it's not during school, but it gets old having to have him sit by me during Sunday School because he's too moody to do well in his own class. For a LONG time, Sundays have been his worst day. I often wonder if there's some sort of cycle to moods/behavior for him. Does anyone else notice a day (especially Sunday) as being the worst?

Halloween is our annual Family Day where instead of celebrating Halloween (which we don't believe in) we go bowling and swimming. The kids LOVE it and look forward to their day off from school. Caleb especially loves it, and did wonderful this year! He took turns, knew to look at the screen and announce who's turn it is, and even called "Taco Bell" for lunch :) He does need a bit of help on his bowling technique though! We all appropriately named it "thunder ball"!

Methy B-12 (mb12) Shots are still Necessary for Us!

I wanted to post about the trend I'm seeing in Caleb, to see if others are experiencing this as well. It seems that about every 3 or 4 days, Caleb's mood starts to head south...meaning he starts getting obstinate and "tantrumy". This seems to be my cue for another mb12 injection. Then, after the injection at night, the next day is WONDERFUL! He is happy as a lark! I definitely think that both yeast, and mb12 are critical for us in handling obstinacy and bad mood. Also...probably a positive of the mb12....many people have been commenting on Caleb's increased vocabulary and speech. He still struggles with answering questions, but otherwise, he can generally say most of what he wants...in sentence form! I know mb12 is touted to help speech, but I wanted to show that I truly think it's a critical part of mood control as well.

Impetigo...our First and Hopefully ONLY Illness this Season!

Caleb is finally on the mend from his bout of impetigo! He was home from school all last week. However, it looks markedly improved from yesterday, so I think he'll definitely be attending school this week. Actually, all but 1 of the 5 children were sick this past week. Isaac, Elizabeth, and Andy all had Hand-Foot-Mouth disease which they picked up at school from another child who had it. Thankfully, Caleb didn't get this! Instead he had the impetigo. Andy also had impetigo too :( He was truly miserable this past week! We made TONS of shakes, puddings, icecream because that's all anyone could eat.

I wanted to also share what helped impetigo for Caleb. It was the homeopathic remedy Calc. Sulph. It helped immensely, and in fact is what I think finally took the big sores away. I gave it only when the sores appeared to be worsening. This last time of giving it (I gave it a total of 3 times) he got better over night! Just a thought for anyone that gets it this season :)

School Update--September

Hooray for more great days! Just talked to Caleb's teacher yesterday (of his autism class), and she talked how they see him as the "highest in the class". They see what I see...that he's smart! She said, "I see some behaviors, but I don't think they're a big deal". Whereas, our local school district views little behaviors as major problems. Just so happy with this new setup thus far!

Caleb's mood is doing great! We've stumbled upon something that's been working for him. Last time we went to the DAN doctor, he suggested that yeast was most likely still the culprit and that it was something called "biofilm" (where the yeast secretes it's own mucus to protect itself & thus is hard to kill). I researched a bit on biofilm, and the protocol for it. It sounds like first higher doses of Magnesium (such as oxypowder) or Vitamin C to get the kid to have a BM. Then a protease enzyme (such as mucostop) to get rid of the mucous, then a bunch of herbs known to kill yeast. Well...I didn't have all of these things, but I started with vitamin C and magnesium, then added in several proteases (later in the day) , then gave a 2 to 3 cap dose of a yeast herb blend (at bedtime). I did this for about a week. Now, we just maintain with 2 chewable vitamin C, and 2 caps of yeast herbs both in the morning before school. Voila! It works at maintaining his mood. It obviously WAS the yeast after all. It just needed a bit of a different tactic! No more screaming/screeching, and no more bad mood! Hooray!