Cooper MEGA tantrums! I mean like screaming at the top of his lungs like you are killing him tantrums. It is so upsetting when he does this because usually he just starts over something small and then nothing can please him. He will start screaming because he wants to ride in the shopping cart (for example) and then you let him ride in the cart then he is screaming over something else. It ends up that he is just screaming and I don't think HE even knows why. I have been a number of places and just ended up walking through the store with a screaming kid. I HATE it! I hate it for him, I hate it for me and I hate it for everyone else that has to hear him BUT I am not going to live like a hermit either!
One good thing I have realized though is that Cooper is sensitive to artificial coloring. If he eats something with artificial coloring in it he will pitch a holy fit within 30 minutes! Man since I have realized that it has helped!
It is funny because when we go anywhere I bring gummy snacks for the kids because they love them and they help keep them under control. Well that was a trigger for Cooper! Yesterday when we went to Target I gave them all natural fruit bars (mashed fruit held thinned a little with juice) and no tantrum! WONDERFUL!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Report Results
So the doctor gave us the results in the feedback session and he said that Cooper does not have Autism. Now, that sounds good right? Well I don't know if he is right so now I feel like we are back to square one:( I am just SO frustrated!!! I have heard from a number of people that they ended up having to go to 2 or 3 different doctors to finally get a diagnosis so I know that this is not unusual but it is a pain!
The doctor told me that I scored him as having mild to moderate Autism based on the questionnaire I filled out but that their testing showed that he is fine. He told me "he does not have a problem with speech and he is in the range he should be for IQ so he can't have Autism." Huh??? Ever hear of Einstein???? He did admit to me that they test in a room that is lit well for Cooper, it is quiet and he is working with someone who knows how to work with him so the results are not entirely accurate. What???
I am just SO frustrated because I don't see how an hour and a half of testing can overrule his LIFE! AAGHHH!! The doctor told me that Cooper just has "very severe SPD," again I disagree. He does have SPD (duh) but it is not severe more moderate I think.
So, what we are doing now is going to a DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor and we are getting a second opinion from a Developmental Pediatrician that has come recommended from the DAN! doctor. I will say I don't know if Cooper does have Autism but I do know that it is not just the SPD. Some of the things he does are common Autism symptoms that have nothing to do with SPD.
The DAN! doctor I think is a good idea even if Cooper does not test from the other doctor as having Autism. This doctor is going to do blood work to see if there are vitamins and minerals that Cooper is deficient in. He is very likely to be deficient because he has such a strong self limiting diet. this doctor will work with us to test Cooper and then see what kind of supplements he needs to be on to regulate.
I talked with the DAN! doctor on Tuesday and she was SO helpful! She was so great I just can't say enough about it (I hope I still really like her when I meet her!). I talked with her on the phone for 45 minutes! Like I told my husband any doctor that is willing to talk me on the phone without Cooper being her patient or any guarantee that he will be her patient is a doctor that we need to bring him to! She also was at home! She forwards her business calls to her cell when she is not in the office. I have a meeting with her next Thursday to go over Cooper's history and then I will make an appointment to meet with her with Cooper.
I also am about to call and make the appointments for the developmental ped -it is a series of three appointments. The fact that this doctor is actually going to meet with Cooper and more than once makes me think this may go a little better already! The other doctor never even met Cooper!
The doctor told me that I scored him as having mild to moderate Autism based on the questionnaire I filled out but that their testing showed that he is fine. He told me "he does not have a problem with speech and he is in the range he should be for IQ so he can't have Autism." Huh??? Ever hear of Einstein???? He did admit to me that they test in a room that is lit well for Cooper, it is quiet and he is working with someone who knows how to work with him so the results are not entirely accurate. What???
I am just SO frustrated because I don't see how an hour and a half of testing can overrule his LIFE! AAGHHH!! The doctor told me that Cooper just has "very severe SPD," again I disagree. He does have SPD (duh) but it is not severe more moderate I think.
So, what we are doing now is going to a DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor and we are getting a second opinion from a Developmental Pediatrician that has come recommended from the DAN! doctor. I will say I don't know if Cooper does have Autism but I do know that it is not just the SPD. Some of the things he does are common Autism symptoms that have nothing to do with SPD.
The DAN! doctor I think is a good idea even if Cooper does not test from the other doctor as having Autism. This doctor is going to do blood work to see if there are vitamins and minerals that Cooper is deficient in. He is very likely to be deficient because he has such a strong self limiting diet. this doctor will work with us to test Cooper and then see what kind of supplements he needs to be on to regulate.
I talked with the DAN! doctor on Tuesday and she was SO helpful! She was so great I just can't say enough about it (I hope I still really like her when I meet her!). I talked with her on the phone for 45 minutes! Like I told my husband any doctor that is willing to talk me on the phone without Cooper being her patient or any guarantee that he will be her patient is a doctor that we need to bring him to! She also was at home! She forwards her business calls to her cell when she is not in the office. I have a meeting with her next Thursday to go over Cooper's history and then I will make an appointment to meet with her with Cooper.
I also am about to call and make the appointments for the developmental ped -it is a series of three appointments. The fact that this doctor is actually going to meet with Cooper and more than once makes me think this may go a little better already! The other doctor never even met Cooper!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Hello there!
Sorry! I did not mean to fall off the face of the earth but my parents were here visiting and then I hurt my wrist getting ready for our yard sale. I had my hand all wrapped up so I could only type with one hand and it was super annoying! I am better though and ready to fill everyone in.
So.. we have been looking into diet changes for Cooper. I am fairly certain that I am going to put him on the gluten free/casein free/soy free diet. He is already dairy free so casein is already taken care of and I have already taken him off of soy... I just need to add gluten.... the tough one! I have also gotten rid of all artificial colors in his diet and that has really helped!
It is in my nature to put my mind to something and just jump in head first. However, this time I made myself stop and do this slowly. I felt like I needed to just observe Cooper first and see if I could see him reacting to anything and then start taking foods away slowly. This way I can see how he reacts to each thing being taken away (behavior wise) and I can also ease him into it. I just did not think it was fair to him to go cold turkey.
So I have seen an amazingly clear reaction from him to anything with artificial colors in it! It was just amazing to me how quickly I could see him reacting. He would just tantrum like a crazy kid and he would "loose" his words. Just starting with the "eeegghhh uuuggghhh" stuff when he was tantruming instead of using his words. So he still pitches fits but at least he does not have the artificial stuff (which is not good for anyone anyway) triggering it.
I got some gluten free things at Whole Foods last weekend. I love Whole Foods! Man for a mama with kids with such specific dietary restraints it is a life saver! I don't know how I would do it without it! I also have started buying Hunter's rice milk and Cooper's almond milk by the case there. You get a 10% discount when you do so it is totally worth it! I end up saving just a little bit of money but first every bit helps and second I don't have to worry about running out of milk! I get the shelf stable kind so I just put it in the cupboard and I have enough for each of them for two weeks. I shop biweekly so it makes it easy on me!
I have Cooper's results appointment on Monday and I am super anxious about it. I am just nearly certain they are going to say that he is on the Autism Spectrum and I am not that hung up on the label per say but it is still not going to be fun to hear. So I will post again after that to give the update!
Cooper had a really fun day today! He got to go outside and play with Daddy and the other kids when I went to get some things done at preschool. When I got home (5 hours later!!) he was inside running around in a Power Ranger costume pretending he was Spiderman. He could not find the Spiderman costume so I guess that had to do!
So.. we have been looking into diet changes for Cooper. I am fairly certain that I am going to put him on the gluten free/casein free/soy free diet. He is already dairy free so casein is already taken care of and I have already taken him off of soy... I just need to add gluten.... the tough one! I have also gotten rid of all artificial colors in his diet and that has really helped!
It is in my nature to put my mind to something and just jump in head first. However, this time I made myself stop and do this slowly. I felt like I needed to just observe Cooper first and see if I could see him reacting to anything and then start taking foods away slowly. This way I can see how he reacts to each thing being taken away (behavior wise) and I can also ease him into it. I just did not think it was fair to him to go cold turkey.
So I have seen an amazingly clear reaction from him to anything with artificial colors in it! It was just amazing to me how quickly I could see him reacting. He would just tantrum like a crazy kid and he would "loose" his words. Just starting with the "eeegghhh uuuggghhh" stuff when he was tantruming instead of using his words. So he still pitches fits but at least he does not have the artificial stuff (which is not good for anyone anyway) triggering it.
I got some gluten free things at Whole Foods last weekend. I love Whole Foods! Man for a mama with kids with such specific dietary restraints it is a life saver! I don't know how I would do it without it! I also have started buying Hunter's rice milk and Cooper's almond milk by the case there. You get a 10% discount when you do so it is totally worth it! I end up saving just a little bit of money but first every bit helps and second I don't have to worry about running out of milk! I get the shelf stable kind so I just put it in the cupboard and I have enough for each of them for two weeks. I shop biweekly so it makes it easy on me!
I have Cooper's results appointment on Monday and I am super anxious about it. I am just nearly certain they are going to say that he is on the Autism Spectrum and I am not that hung up on the label per say but it is still not going to be fun to hear. So I will post again after that to give the update!
Cooper had a really fun day today! He got to go outside and play with Daddy and the other kids when I went to get some things done at preschool. When I got home (5 hours later!!) he was inside running around in a Power Ranger costume pretending he was Spiderman. He could not find the Spiderman costume so I guess that had to do!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
We Started OT
On Monday Cooper had his first OT apt. I was nervous about it because I had heard the place we were going was not the best. I had the plan though that we would go to this place until I could get Coop in somewhere better, something is better than nothing right?? Well I was pleasantly surprised! I had been told to expect that Cooper would just sit in a chair and work on things there and that is not what happened at all!!!
There were two "sensory gyms" that he was in as well as some work in the hallway. First they put him in a hammock on his tummy (the short way) and the OT held his hands and swung him back and forth. She told him to put his head up and he was NOT a fan of that! That is putting it mildly! Then she put some bean bags on the floor, he had to pick up a bean bag and put it in a bucket. He seemed to think that game was so so but he did cooperate. He also worked with some blocks that you spin to connect or take apart and he did well with those.
After that she brought him out into the hallway and he did crab walks up the hall. They were REALLY hard for him so he did not like that in the slightest. We are supposed to be working on those at home. She also put three tables in the hallway and put weights on one of them. He had to push the table to the other table and use tweezers to move some small pom poms from a cup to the other table then back into the cup, push to the other table do the same thing and so on. He did that about three times per table. Next she brought him to the other gym. I could not see what was going on in there (I had all the other kids with me and they would have distracted him so we hung out in the observation area of the one gym) but Cooper told me that he jumped into balls. He was so excited about that!!
After they came back to the gym we could see she drew some shapes on a piece of paper on the wall. Then she brought Coop to one side of the room and did wheelbarrow walks to the paper, he stood up and colored one of the shapes then they repeated the pattern two more times.
After OT he was sooooooo tired and he took a wonderful nap!!! He asked me later if he got to go back so I take that as a good sign!
There were two "sensory gyms" that he was in as well as some work in the hallway. First they put him in a hammock on his tummy (the short way) and the OT held his hands and swung him back and forth. She told him to put his head up and he was NOT a fan of that! That is putting it mildly! Then she put some bean bags on the floor, he had to pick up a bean bag and put it in a bucket. He seemed to think that game was so so but he did cooperate. He also worked with some blocks that you spin to connect or take apart and he did well with those.
After that she brought him out into the hallway and he did crab walks up the hall. They were REALLY hard for him so he did not like that in the slightest. We are supposed to be working on those at home. She also put three tables in the hallway and put weights on one of them. He had to push the table to the other table and use tweezers to move some small pom poms from a cup to the other table then back into the cup, push to the other table do the same thing and so on. He did that about three times per table. Next she brought him to the other gym. I could not see what was going on in there (I had all the other kids with me and they would have distracted him so we hung out in the observation area of the one gym) but Cooper told me that he jumped into balls. He was so excited about that!!
After they came back to the gym we could see she drew some shapes on a piece of paper on the wall. Then she brought Coop to one side of the room and did wheelbarrow walks to the paper, he stood up and colored one of the shapes then they repeated the pattern two more times.
After OT he was sooooooo tired and he took a wonderful nap!!! He asked me later if he got to go back so I take that as a good sign!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Movie Date
It was so fun to go see the movie with Cooper! At first he was not so sure about it. He has been to the movie before and he knows that it is normally really loud so he was nearly in tears and kept saying "I don't want to see a movie!" Once it started though and he could see that it was not going to be loud he loved it! There was one scary part so he used my hand to cover his ear and he was fine. It was so fun! The movie was really cute too:) There were LOTS of kids there!!
After the movie we went to the Croc outlet and Cooper was not too happy about that! It was noisy and he was restless but finally we got shoes and we were out of there! He was excited to get the new Batman shoes:)
After the movie we went to the Croc outlet and Cooper was not too happy about that! It was noisy and he was restless but finally we got shoes and we were out of there! He was excited to get the new Batman shoes:)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Target Run!
Man nothing wears me out more than a Target run with the kids! We go to Super Target because they have a lot of healthy, natural, organic foods plus other things we always need. So when we go (bi weekly) it is a long trip and man it wears me out!!!
Cooper was not in the best of moods today he got upset this morning when I put his shoes on wrong (to him) and there has just been no recovering from that. With the shoes it was typical Cooper I put them on him and he started making noises (instead of words) to tell me that I did it wrong. Finally I got him calmed down enough to tell me what was wrong and he said "they are wrong. They are wrong. They are wrong. Wrong feet. Wrong feet. Wrong feet..." I tried to convince him that Mommy did put them on the right feet but no he did not go for that. I just tried to distract him and he forgot about it eventually.
However, the thing is once he gets worked up about something the rest of the day is going to be tough. I think he is over tired lately (he is put in bed at 7 but does not fall asleep until 9 the earliest) and that is part of the meltdowns we are having lately.
Tomorrow is the movie at Regal with their Sensory Friendly Films so we are both really excited about that! Oh and I got a call from the county program and he has his county evaluation on May 13th and then an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting on May 29th. We are wanting to get him into the (FREE!!) county program for therapy and we want to see if the special needs preschool will be a better fit for him. We are happy with the school he is at but it is not a special needs school so it might not be the best place for Coop. AND we got a call to set up OT for Cooper! He will start on Monday! I am so excited about that!!
So... today even though it was a tiring trip and we have been having meltdowns and not enough sleep I am again reminded that "God is good all the time and all the time God is good!!"
Cooper was not in the best of moods today he got upset this morning when I put his shoes on wrong (to him) and there has just been no recovering from that. With the shoes it was typical Cooper I put them on him and he started making noises (instead of words) to tell me that I did it wrong. Finally I got him calmed down enough to tell me what was wrong and he said "they are wrong. They are wrong. They are wrong. Wrong feet. Wrong feet. Wrong feet..." I tried to convince him that Mommy did put them on the right feet but no he did not go for that. I just tried to distract him and he forgot about it eventually.
However, the thing is once he gets worked up about something the rest of the day is going to be tough. I think he is over tired lately (he is put in bed at 7 but does not fall asleep until 9 the earliest) and that is part of the meltdowns we are having lately.
Tomorrow is the movie at Regal with their Sensory Friendly Films so we are both really excited about that! Oh and I got a call from the county program and he has his county evaluation on May 13th and then an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting on May 29th. We are wanting to get him into the (FREE!!) county program for therapy and we want to see if the special needs preschool will be a better fit for him. We are happy with the school he is at but it is not a special needs school so it might not be the best place for Coop. AND we got a call to set up OT for Cooper! He will start on Monday! I am so excited about that!!
So... today even though it was a tiring trip and we have been having meltdowns and not enough sleep I am again reminded that "God is good all the time and all the time God is good!!"
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sometimes it pays off...
Some days it pays off to have a child who does not seem interested in playing with other children. Today one of the kids in Cooper's class threw up IN class. Today I am grateful to know that Cooper was not playing with her or near her so hopefully he does not get the throw ups (and then the rest of us do not get the throw ups)!!!
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