More Biomed Stuff

We got the results back from Isaac's stool lab tests.  Basically, his gut is really out of wack!!!
He has a build up of harmful bacteria in his bowels.  And, if I am reading the results correctly, he has microscopic yeast build up as well.  He does not seem to be digesting carbohydrates properly. 

I got a little lost on the technical stuff, and just took the rest of the test results to mean that he is having gut problems and irritable bowel.  It reports:

Lysozyme is very high (1070—normal should be less than 600)
Lactoferrin is very high (12.8—should be less than 7.3)
Secretory IgA is higher than normal (258)
Ph is off and Valerate is low (whatever that is)

So, now I am going to have to get the doc to translate all this.  One day I will know what it all means when someone rattles it off!  The results confirm our suspicions of bowel problems.  He has had ammonia smelling poo in the past, and he frequently pushes objects into his stomach.  I wonder if he has been in pain this whole time without us even knowing it. 

As far as progress, I am still seeing improvements in Isaac daily.  He is understanding more of what I've been saying to him.  No doubt.  He seems so much more like a person I can talk to.  I think he is doing more imaginative play too.  He gets his toy phone, and instead of saying the same old thing, he variates the conversation.  I hear him say stuff about houses (probably because we have been selling and buying a house, therefore we are talking about houses a lot on the phone).  It's mostly immitation of us, but he mixes it up into his own thing.

Also, I watched Isaac tell his stuffed fish to say “Good morning” into his little toy microphone (the teacher at his daycare tells all the kids to say "good morning" into one of those echo microphones). Then he put the microphone over the fish’s mouth and said, “GOODMORNING!!!!”

It was sooo cute!!!

I'm including a photo of the boys on Easter weekend.  We enjoyed the great weather in our beautiful yard. This is the last Easter we will spend at this house.  It is the house we brought Isaac and Josiah home to as little, tiny newborns. I will miss it, but I'm also glad to be moving on!  Next post, I will update on our move!
 

What is AUTISM?

I'm curious to know what other people think here.  I've been around a lot of people this weekend, and it seems that people are not sure they believe me when I tell them Isaac is autistic.  They think I am overreacting.  Some people see what I am talking about immediately, but assume that Isaac is going to be severely mentally handicap.  It's odd to get such extremes all within one day. 

I also talked with a cousin whose little boy was diagnosed, but she has rejected the diagnosis.  I'm not sure if she should reject the diagnosis or not.  It is apparent that her son is severely language delayed and has had problems in the past with group gatherings.  But, from my observation, it is alsoapparent that he does not have severe autism.  But, I can't help from thinking he is on the spectrum.  It's something about the way he holds his hands with his fingers crunched up (just like Isaac does).  I've seen a lot of autistic children do that.  I think it has to do with joint compressions in the fingers. It was apparent in our breif conversation that she didn't know anything about autism. She has an idea of a severely handicapped child in mind.

My conclusion is that people, in general, don't know what autism really is. And, in general, they carry an assumption with them that is mostly untrue.  So, when I tell someone that my child is autistic, they interpret that in various ways-many times in ways that are untrue.

So, how do you make people understand what autism is? 

I, myself, had trouble with the concept.  I can recall three autistic people from my past, and all three were severe cases.

I knew that tip toe walking was a symptom, and when Isaac started tip toe walking, I read list after list of symptoms on the internet.  I never saw Isaac in these lists.  The only symptoms that stuck out was resistant to change which made me a little nervous and kept it in the back of my mind.

I think what makes autism hard for people to understand is that autism is a grouping of various abnormal symptoms.  That is why it is called a spectrum disorder.  Therefore children can vary to a great degree in symptoms and severity.  Thus, the saying goes,

"If you've met one person with autism, you've met ONE PERSON with autism."

So, for anyone's information, I am listing my son's symptoms, and afterwards I will include non symptoms (symptoms that many other autistic children have that Isaac does not).  The non symptoms is what threw me off in thinking he was autistic, because I had my own ideas of what an autistic child was.

I pictured a little boy that wouldn't play around other children, wouldn't smile, wouldn't look into my eyes, and didn't like to be touched.  But, every parent of an autistic child can include a group of non symptoms because I don't  think many children, if any, display all the characteristics.  They are diagnosed autistic when they have a grouping of symptoms, and not every child has the same symptoms.  Click on the title to read the full blog with a list of Isaac's symptoms!

GFCF/BIOMED -- What I've Noticed

This is what I've seen so far.  I've not noticed a drastic improvement on the diet, but we have noticed a slight improvement lately in speech which may be a result of the diet.  I have no doubts that going casein free sparked some type of negative behavior.  From my opinion, Isaac DID go through some type of withdrawal at least from removing casein (dairy) from his diet.  His negative behavior diminished after 3 or 4 weeks, but for some reason his sensory issues are still a little elevated. 

After the withdrawals ended, Isaac has become more talkative and requests what he wants more.  And, we have noticed that some of his words have been clearer.  But, I don't know if this is because of diet or other factors.  And, the change has not been drastic enough for me to know 100% sure that it is the diet.  But, it is possible because as soon as he came out of the "withdrawal" phase he became more talkative.  After he started to calm down, the next therapy session we went to, both therapists noted that he was talking a lot.  One said he was "unusually talkative."

To sum up what I'm saying:  Isaac has made improvements in speech by requesting more of what he wants.  His words have become a little clearer, and he has been using longer phrases (still mostly memorized phrases).  It seems that his language improved after he went through a phase of withdrawals.  However, I can't say in my heart beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the diet that helped him.  I know that at some point he will grow and develop.  I'm not 100% sure that this is not just natural growth.  Isaac's sensory issues are worse than they were before the diet.  So, I'm just not sure I understand why this has happened.

We also started Isaac on VitaSpectra (a high dosage of B vitamins mixed with other vitamins and minerals).  We had given him Super Nu-Thera (a similar mix of B vitamins)  first, but noticed that it set his sensory issues off really bad.  We tried this supplement three times, and everytime he was bouncing off the walls, slinging his hands, and running into the walls...BUT he was sleeping  MUCH MUCH MUCH better. 

Now, with VitaSpectra (similar to Super Nu-Thera, but without copper), we have noticed no change in sensory issues, but he is sleeping better.  He has actually been sleeping through the night on some occasions (which is a miracle to us).  I have no doubts that this supplement is helping him sleep.

We are about to start the next supplement, but I'm not sure which to start next. I'll keep updating.