I wanted to post a link to these short entertaining videos that describe what happens in a child's brain that has various neurological disorders such as Autism, ADD, ADHD, etc. Although these videos are not from Brain Balance (this program is in Colorado and California) the idea is the same.

http://www.brainhighways.com/

Week 19

Phoenix has been chewing on his shirts for quite some time.  He will sit and just chew away while his collar and chest area get soaked and full of small holes. Once it gets to that point, we take off his shirt and sometimes even throw them away.  I am a little bummed because someday I would have liked to have a rummage and sell them, but can't.  

So, this weekend I decided to do some research and came across this article: 

http://recoveringnoah.blogspot.com/2007/09/answer-to-noahs-shirt-chewing.html

http://special-needs.families.com/blog/potty-training-and-the-special-needs-child 

(a bonus article about potty training autistic children)

After reading about the shirt chewing and the experience this mom had, I thought I would experiment and take palm oil out of Phoenix's diet. On Friday we switched from peanut butter sandwiches to turkey, his butter was thrown out, and his healthy fruit snacks were no longer added to our grocery cart.  They all contained palm oil.  With those items eliminated, we saw a change by Saturday.  Phoenix was able to sit and not chew his shirt constantly.  He does have instances where he will still bite it, but only when he is upset or angry. For this past week, Phoenix has not had a wet shirt!  I think this is progress! 

As for the instruction that Dr. Fritz gave us regarding his diet, we are no longer giving Phoenix french fries and have eliminated sugar thus far and I have increased his natural juice.  So far so good.   

 

Week 18

I know it has been a while since I have posted... but here is to new beginnings...

This past week I was able to meet with Dr. Fritz at Brain Balance. We reviewed Phoenix's progress.  He continues to progress!  Dr. Fritz did talk to me about Phoenix's diet.  On Fridays we usually eat out and since Phoenix doesn't eat what we eat, per say, we usually give him a few french fries. However, Dr. Fritz really recommended cutting them out of his diet because there are hidden traces of gluten in them and trans fats.  Since Phoenix only eats a small handful anyway, we are making the commitment to eliminate them entirely.  There are also exercises that need to be done at least once a day, and we have committed to do them as well.  With only 6 weeks left at Brain Balance, we need to dedicate ourselves to helping Phoenix perform these exercises.

That's right... 6 weeks left.  Phoenix would benefit from another 6 months of Brain Balance, but that is something we really need to contemplate since Phoenix has been on a waiting list for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for a year and will begin that in June. ABA is a huge committment of time so we will need to seriously consider his whole therapy needs and plan.

Over the last month or so, we have seen more progress in Phoenix.  First, Phoenix is talking A LOT. He is still shy with showing his verbal skills in public, but at home and with family he is chatting up a storm.  He is constantly surprising us with words that we didn't know he knew.  The other day Phoenix said "Daddy, reach" to have Mike grab a balloon that had gone up to the ceiling.  Also the other day, we were playing with his instruments and pretending to be a marching band and he gave me the recorder and said "flute".  Who knew he knew what that was.  Phoenix no longer takes our hands and leads us to what he wants, he will communicate in words, as best he can, what he would like.  

Phoenix has in the last month, said a prayer and given a talk in Primary (like Sunday School in our church).  I printed pictures and put them in order on wordstrips.  Phoenix would see the picture and know what to say.  He did so well!  Like most children he LOVES the microphone! Another note of progress regarding Primary is that Phoenix sits and stays in his chair rather nicely.  Phoenix has been doing so well that the Primary president has suggested we slowly move Mike out of primary as his assistant in the next few weeks.

Disciplining Phoenix has become much more easy as well.  He really is listening better.  We use the 1-2-3 system and by 3 he usually will do what he is required to do.  Also, when Phoenix wants to do something other than what he should be doing at the time, we will give him a verbal consequence and he will realize we are in control and will do as he is told.  We love that we have finally met this milestone!

We certainly like to concentrate on the positives, but there are always set backs as well.  Phoenix has certainly been asserting his independence and wanting to control the situations he is in, especially at school.  Since socially and mentally he is at the age of a 2.5 year old, this makes complete sense. Though very frustrating, we look at this as very appropriate for his functional age.

Sarah and Laura today at Brain Balance commented that it is funny when Phoenix doesn't want to do something or is done with it.  He will say "All done please" or "Go Away please."  Oh my little boy, still polite while trying to take control.  He is so sweet and cute.  Good thing he has good therapists that keep on going even though mentally Phoenix is probably finished with an activity.

We are very pleased with the success we have seen during this process and know that the next 6 weeks will be worth the time and effort from all parties.

Week 13

I am so thankful to have Phoenix attend a school where he is loved by his teachers. I am also appreciative of the two-way communication that we have on a regular basis. Phoenixs teacher, Mrs. Killinger, sent me an email this week stating that Phoenix has been anxious lately, especially when the schedule is not going his way or he wants the activities to move along. He does have this issue at home, but we are able to redirect him pretty well and give him an ultimatum. His teacher asked if I had any suggestions. Things that work for Phoenix at home or at church are his weighted vest, an arm around his body as if giving a hug while sitting next to him, or redirection. The next day they had an all-school assembly and were able to use the weighted vest. As told to me, when they first entered the gym, he was excited and flapped his arms, but then settled down. I was happy to hear it. As always they thanked me for suggestions and said they would let me know what works for them. They also said that Phoenix was blessed to have parents that know him so well. I feel that from the beginning that has always been the case, especially since he has never cried and he didn't speak.

On a fun note... We took Phoenix to see his first movie in a theater! We saw Dr. Suess's The Lorax. We thought he would enjoy it since it would be colorful and have fun music. We wanted to give him the full experience, so we had popcorn and M&Ms (sorry Dr. Fritz). Phoenix payed attention quite well, with some sitting in his chair and standing in front of his chair. We had a lot of fun sharing this experience with Phoenix and hope to do it again someday soon!

Week 12

This week at Brain Balance he did a fantastic job. My mother took Phoenix to his visit on Wednesday and was told that he did very good and that it was probably the best he's done. That was encouraging to hear. Also, this week we had a major improvement in our home... You see, when we give Phoenix a bath or a shower, he freaks out when we would rinse his hair of shampoo. Phoenix would not put his head under the water, would constantly be trying to escape, and then we would get water on the bathroom floor. However, this week, Phoenix decided that he loves the shower. He will stand under the stream of water forever and we count with each rinse, up to 10. I even leave the shower on and let him decide when he's ready to come out. On another note, we have had quite the busy month. First we went to the auto show, then to Ohio, and this week we went to The Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells with my brother and his family, my parents, and our little family. Phoenix did so well there too. He stayed by us, loved the water slides, and didn't put up a fuss at all. One fun experience to share is that we went on the big family tube together thru a dark tunnel with twists and turns and he LOVED it! Everything was so new to him, now that he understands more of what's going on. He did get a little excited waiting in lines and would flap his arms, but all in all it was a great experience. It was fun to see him independently go down a lot of slides, because we have never done that before. We will certainly do it again!

Week 11

It has been a great week! Although Phoenix has been sucking and chewing his shirts like crazy, we did purchase a flat chewy car that hopefully will prevent him from ruining his shirts so quickly. This week also, as compared to last week, Phoenix has been fine washing his hands again. Must have been a short phase. This week we also went on a trip to Ohio for 4 days to see my grandfather in his rehab facility and visit my grandmother as well as my aunt and cousins. Phoenix did amazing!!! We couldn't have asked for a better experience. It is so wonderful to see how far he's come. Phoenix was well behaved, calm, and obedient when being in new places he's never been before and visiting people he didn't remember. He never touched anything, but just explored his surroundings. In the 8 hour car ride there and back he didn't complain once. He just played with his LeapPad, listened to music, or watched the cars go by. Also this week Phoenix has been talking A LOT! He has been very vocal and initiating speech, repeating us more and more, singing more songs, and growing his vocabulary by an increasing number of words. Until next time...

Weeks 9 & 10

WEEK 9: Last week was a little rough for my little guy. I don't know what exactly was going on, but he was not nice all the time. I did meet with Dr. Fritz for a review and went over Phoenix's diet and some exercises to do at home to help Phoenix get rid of some of the primitive reflexes that are still present. He did, however, have a good week at home. At church Mike was sick and Phoenix needed his assistant to sit with him. To my amazement, the routine that had been put forth by Mike stuck... Phoenix sat on his chair during primary next to his assistant the whole time. Wow!

WEEK 10: This week has been wonderful. The only thing is that Phoenix has been wanting to chew on everything and has had a difficult time at school washing his hands. Phoenix has been mostly calm and had behaved at the store while we are out and about. Phoenix also has been singing with songs and repeating words and songs while watching t.v. or playing with his abcmouse.com. Phoenix used to "sing" along with songs previously but stopped about a year ago.