I Love Him For IT!

I love him for the mess he makes

I love him for resisting cleaning it up

I love him for how dang smart his is

I love him for not showing it

I love him for having to knock everything over

I love him for having to take every ball out of the bin and not playing with them

I love him for not wanting to do ANYTHING

I love him for always needing his blankie

I love him when he says "ight, ight" and even when he doesn't

I love him for dumping his nesting blocks and never wanting to build with them

I love him for his noise issues

I love him for making me realize that the commercialized parts of holidays/ birthdays aren't what is important ie. pumpkin picking, santa photos, gift opening, cake eating...

I love him for not wanting to touch a dog but loving to touch sting rays, bugs, snakes, and any other creepy thing.

I love him for his stimming jumping because it always makes me smile



I love him for his knowledge of electronics and the ease in which he uses them

I love him for his fits and meltdown, even when he bites because it IS communication

I love him for teaching me patience, love, honor, honesty, trust, empathy, calm, and belonging.

I love him for opening peoples eyes

I love him for working sooo dang hard at school

I love him for working sooo dang hard at home

I love him for giving in

I love him for loving car rides and always making it easy

I love him for loving his Gma and Grandpa

I love him for opening up to his cousins and letting them in

I love him for humoring me

I love him for loving his father

I love him for stashing and hiding his paci's

I love him for his love of water and how it turns him into a euphoric child

I love him for his limited communication and understanding when I dont understand

I love him for being my buddy

I love him for being picky and making me realize that it is not the end of the world

I love him for doing things on HIS terms and only on HIS terms

I love him for being him

NAET Further Explained

Afternoon everyone!

I wrote a post about how we found NAET, what it is, and how it has effected us a week or so ago. Now I have had some questions about the actual method of treatment and in this post that will be explained.

For those that have just joined me on this journey, here is the POST where I explain what NAET is and so on. 

**Just want to add that every NAET practitioner is different, not totally different but different. SO this is how ours does it.**

Before every appointment I pack a bag full of Patrick's favorite things, juice, and food. Waiting in a waiting room for any sort of time is challenging for any child, esp a "non-typical" child. I plan ahead a lot and try to think of anything and everything he will need, in order to be content and happy through the whole thing.

After a short wait, we head in and are greeted by Patrick's NAET practitionor, Ken Moss. He than will ask some questions about Patrick, how he is doing, anything new, any problems etc. Than he will muscle test him for what he worked to clear last week and if that is cleared than he decides what to clear now. If it doesn't clear than we work on whatever it was again. Here is a photo of muscle testing with a toddler. I couldnt get a photo bc you are invovled in the procedure. Again, this is not the "same" way Ken does it but the idea is the same. The practitioner holds a vial of allergen against the child while the child is touching you and than muscle tests using the resistant of ur arm. If when the vial is touch against the child, ur arm doesnt move, than it is not an allergy/sensitivity or (if you worked on clearing it before) it is cleared. If your arm gets weak when the vial touches the child than it is a allergy/sensitivity.

Here are the vials

 

This is an example of muscle testing with a toddler.....

Patrick has successfully cleared Gluten, amino acids, oats, grains, dairy, eggs, vit c, vit d, and magnesium. Last night he got treated for salt.

Ok back on task....

After the testing is complete, a vial (whatever he is trying to clear) is put in Patrick's sock and he "resets" his nerveous system/energy. This is done with this...

It is clicked up and down his spine.

 

When this is done, Patrick rolls over and sits up for the acupressure part of the treatment. Ken has a tiny vibrator and will press it on the top of the feet and between the thumb and pointer finger on the hand. Patrick likes to "help".

  AND WE ARE DONE! Well at least for the next 20 mins or so. We now sit and hang out for that time, while the vial stays in Patrick's sock. We have been doing this since Sept and believe me it has taken Patrick 2.5 months to accept this and let himself relax for those 20 mins. During this time Patrick cannot touch anything with a "charge".. like his FAVORITE thing, his iTouch. This was very hard for him to accept in the beginning, that mommy had to hold it but he has finally gotten the idea and he just chills out for this down time. We dim the lights and hang out with his blankie and paci :)

The vial in his sock...

 

So 20 mins passes and Ken come back in, tests Patrick for what vial was in his sock, gives us a diet to follow for 25 hours (sometimes 6 hours) and off we go :)

Example of the diet sheet....

At First I was put back by the diet. "What do you mean, Patrick cant have chicken for 25 hours?!?!?" It made me panic. You find ways around it. For us, we go at night after dinner. SO this way there zero restrictions placed on him with food for the rest of that day and plus I have found it helps him sleep. 

Anyway, if ANYONE has anymore questions, PLEASE let me know! I hope this was some what helpful! Again, this just make Patrick feel better. When Patrick feels better, he does better. The idea of NAET is very very simple, one you cannot deny makes sense.

Mama's World

Morning!

A blog posting by The Neuortypical Mom got me thinking. She posted about the public's awareness of autism but there lack of acceptance is what the real problem is.

Acceptance....

We accept a lot of this in life. As a Parents to a special needs child, we have more to accept. We have been there, we have "done" that. We accept.

Now what Im really writing about today is ME. I have always known Patrick was "different". GOSH, we were still in the hospital when I got the feeling of... hmm something isnt right. When we are out in public and Patrick has a melt down or starts "acting different" I feel like I close out the world and just deal. Im not worried what people think or am i? Do I close everyone out, so I dont see there stares or shaking heads? Patrick use to chew on a chewy tube, mostly when we were out in public ( most stressful time for him) and I would get looks. People had to be wondering what the heck was coming out of his mouth lol. BUT I just turn it around in my head, assume they are looking at him bc he is adorable (DUH?) and smile back. OR when he wants to make the grocery store doors open and close 100x. I let him bc it makes him happy. Do I think about the social acceptance, sure, but really I want him to be happy. If that means, in order to get through shopping peacefully, I let him play with the doors?!?! YES! Does its mean, in order to go out to the pumpkin patch and have him enjoy it, he needs the bright red chewy tube hanging out of his mouth?!?!? YES! Does it mean, that when we go to the restaurant and I let him walk around and explore all the way up to the time dinner comes, that I get to sit and enjoy my dinner?!?!? YES! Are the people Im having dinner with, annoyed that Im not sharing this time with them? Probably... BUT it makes him happy and I get to EAT lol.

So am I really just not caring what people think or just not giving them a chance to notice there judging?

We were at the aquarium the other week. It was a school day, so NOBODY was there. Patrick's favorite thing to do there is watch the seals. He can watch them for hours. So I am sitting there and Patrick is jumping around, giggling his head off and having a blast, when a family walks in. I know it has to look weird, we basically set up camp in the seal area (we had been there for 45 mins already) and my son is OVERLY excited to watch seals swim in circles. lol. The little girl, looks at Patrick, puzzled. She says to her mommy, "why is that boy jumping around soo much?" The mother looked at Patrick and said "I dont know, sweetie".

COME ON MOM! REALLY? I could of thought of SOOO many simple answers to give to that little girl and you say "I DONT KNOW?"

But again I close them out and just focus on Patrick, on the joy stretched across his face, on the fact that we are out in public and he is dealing with it.

I know I commented on Autism Mom on a Journey's page the other day about never having the experience of someone being a down right jerk. But have I and I have never payed it any mind bc, like Patrick, I have my own little world where I feel safe and protected?

The good and the bad days....

Happy Thursday everyone!

You know, Patrick was DX almost a year ago and you would think i'd get use to the eb and flow of the good and bad days by now. *sigh*  When he feels GOOD, he is an amazingly smart, attentive little man. His eye contact is on point, his communication is fantastic. But when something is up in his body, he is just miserable... I mean wouldn't we all be. It breaks my heart to know he is not feeling well and with his limited communication, it is even harder to bare because I have NO CLUE what is the matter. He will give me clues "sometimes". Hitting his head with his hands, means headache. Hitting his hands to his ears, means ringing. BUT really in the long run it is a guessing game and what am I going to do for ringing or a headache but hold him and tell him to tell it out. Monday and Tuesday of this week was AMAZING! He had fantastic days at school, amazing ABA sessions at home. His teachers and therapists were blown away, I was proud :) Than yesterday, he was home from school (whole other story lol) and he was a mess! Could of it been he was out of his routine? Maybe. Could of it been that his tummy wasn't feeling well? Maybe. It could be a million things....WHO KNOWS! For some reason he decided to hang out in his world yesterday and nobody was allowed in, well maybe mommy but I wasnt allow to hang out long. These are the days I miss him the most and he is right there with me but his spirit was chillin in "Patrick World". I miss him more these days than the days he is at school or with his Dad. He is right there but I can't get in. The only thing I can do, is wait for the good day to come back and soak it all in :) Comfort him till than, till his likes his body again and decides to join us. Maybe today will be one of those days :)

We Journey Further to the Unknown!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I recall this moment very clearly. I had brought Patrick to see Dr. Jay's for an adjustment and he was asking me what else I was doing along the lines of supplements and over all healing. At this point I have cut out all Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Eggs and Corn from Patrick's diet. I begin telling him about a book I read that lays out, simply, a good way to start. I start telling him and realize that I really dont know too much about this area and ask him for some help. He gives me a basic idea and than tell me about an old patient of his that has had a lot of success healing her son and that she is a great resource. I greatly appreciate this offer and try to get in touch right away. I mean, just to meet another mother in my shoes is priceless! After a couple days, she gets back to me and we have a fantastic convro over the phone. She than tells me about a an acupuncturist named Ken Moss. He practices a method called Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques or NAET and it is shown to increase speech, amoung other things, in children dx with ASD. I was game!

Quickly NAET is a non-invasive, drug free, alternative therapy intended as a treatment for allergies and chemical sensitivities. The theory of NAET suggests that allergies develop due to energy blockages, and that allergies can be eliminated by addressing these energy blockages through the use of acupuncture or acupressure. NAET practitioners use a form of Applied kinesiology to compare the strength of a muscle before and during contact with a potential allergen. NAET practitioners will then aim to remove energy blockages by having the patient hold a glass bottle containing the allergen whilst acupressure or acupuncture techniques are employed. After treatment, patients rest 20 minutes while continuing to hold the jar containing the allergen, after which time the patient will again be tested for an allergic reaction using the muscle strength test. If the NAET practitioner determines the allergy has cleared, the patient is advised to avoid the allergic substance for the following 25 hours. With Patrick the allergen is held in his sock.

 Interesting right?


After our first meeting with Ken, he had dug up about 14 sensitivities.
Patrick's body couldn't not process...
GLUTEN
WHEAT
OATS
DIARY OF ALL KINDS
SOY
EGGS
CORN
SUGAR
SALT
VIT C
VIT D
CALCIUM
MAGNESIUM
AMINO ACIDS

WOW!

So right than and there he treated Patrick for Vit C. We went through the process, we waited our 20 mins, got a special diet, paid and left. We were to see him in 2 weeks. simple done. 


So two weeks passed, which at the time seemed nothing abnormal or different. So off to Ken we go. He comes in and asks how things are going. I reply "fine". He than asks "has Patrick been talking more?". Now Patrick before this was VERY non-verbal. I think back and reply "YES YES he has been". I recalled many times in the last two weeks when I have made a comment like "WOW he wont shut up" or "WOW, he is really talkative today". PATRICK NEVER EVER TALKS and when I say talk I mean babble. He was finally babbling like a baby would. I was amazed that I "missed" that and that I didnt make the connection. Ken than replies "GOOD, it is working". If this was just a coincidence, this was a HUGE one, I think. 


We have been seeing Ken since Sept 2011 and EVERY time we go, I see something new in Patrick and most of the time it is with in 30 mins of leaving. The latest HUGE one was a couple weeks ago. We were leaving the office and heading to see Patrick's osteopath. We arrive at Jodie's, Patrick walks in and replies "HI" to Jodie after she greeted him! Before this Patrick REQUIRED major prompting to reply to a "HI" or "BYE". This blew me away! AGAIN coincidence, good timing, or is this proof that this is working?


Patrick ASD systems have been decreasing since we have started NAET. The proof is in the pudding really. This is just another piece to the puzzle. NAET has made my son feel better, he truly enjoys seeing Ken and runs into his office every time. Just like Dr. Jay, Ken is a important piece in Patrick's body healing, on our road to good health, and most importantly it brings a smile to my sons face. 

THANK YOU KEN! You are a priceless addition to my son's team.