Autism Treatments Update
May 2013

My son is now 19 and still doing very well.  We are looking into getting an "official" DAN Doctor so that we can get certain kinds of labwork and try other treatments that need a prescription.  However, doing things the low-tech, inexpensive way has taught me a lot.  I do a lot of research on everything I do for my son and that saves me from having to pay a specialist to figure things out.  However, many families might prefer just paying some professional to do all the research and planning and making all the decisions on what to do next.

David is starting to date, and has been on several dates with several people.  These dates are mostly invites to birthday parties, group dates to movies and the mall, dances, a trip to a roller coaster park, and most recently, a wedding. Oh, and lots of texting and Skyping and such. 

He graduated High School at 18, with a regular diploma, having completed all the necessary coursework.  He is working at 2 volunteer jobs, practicing independence skills at an apartment (not living there) going to the YMCA twice a week, attending a Bible study group for young adults on the spectrum every Sunday, and hanging out with friends.  He is studying Geometry and English at the High School to make up for missing so much regular classwork because he used to be in Special Ed.  He recently learned soldering and took apart a Game Boy system and added a lighted screen to it.

Learning to Ride A Bike

I haven't written an update for a while, so the biggest thing we worked on since my last update was learning to ride a bike three years ago, which took an entire summer but was well worth it.  Over the years, since he was small, I was buying all different kinds of bicycles to see what he would like best, including a nearly adult-sized tricycle, but nothing really worked well.  All our ABA therapists gave it a try teaching him, but to no avail.  He would panic and jump off the bike almost immediately. 

Finally, I heard about a specialized bicycle training program for teaching children with special needs to ride, called "Loose the Training Wheels." 
http://www.lttwsew.org/index.php
"Dr. Richard E. Klein., an experienced engineer from Illinois, is the creator of Lose the Training Wheels, a training program that teaches disabled children and adults how to ride a conventional bike. Richard and his wife Marjorie travel extensively every summer to conduct camps across the nation.   With a proper environment and training with adapted bikes, children who are disabled are taught how to ride and transition to a conventional bike within a 5-day period." 
Loose The Training Wheels is Now called "I Can Shine"
http://icanshine.org/

 The program, (as with most things we need for David) was too expensive for us, so I called them and asked them some advice about what kind of bike to try.

They said to prepare for the program, they had these recommendations:

Buy a good helmet that fits well, and some
elbow pads and knee pads,

And find a bike that has

• balloon tires, 
• upright handlebars
• no hand brakes (back-pedal brakes), 
• no gears at all, 
• a "girl's" type bike that has no straight bar from the seat to the handlebars (it doesn't have to look girlish, of course)
• no basket, mirror, or anything to obstruct forward vision or distract

Remove the pedals from the bike to begin so he would just push with his feet on the ground.  Make sure the bike is short enough that he can sit on the seat with his feet on the ground.  You can lower the seat at first, and then raise it later on when he's riding.

We found a low traffic spot with a very slight incline for him to practice on.  Then when he could just barely ride, we put the pedals back on, and we went to a nearby cemetery where there was no traffic to practice more.  (He didn't take offense at the cemetery at all.)

So we did this and got an inexpensive bike from Sears in Red and White that he liked that looks very retro.

I decided that instead of arguing about going out each day to try to ride, we would simply have a ten minute bike riding practice every single day.  We even set a timer so he would know it would be just 10 minutes.  He seemed to like the consistency.  He got a prize from the "Prize Box" each time just for trying.

I keep at box at home with all kinds of stuff I am certain he will like.  (Certain is the important word, here.)

It took all summer, but with lots of help and encouragement, and often two people, running along on each side, he finally learned.

He loves his bike now.  He rode it to and from school on good weather days for the last two years.  We've finally been able to go trail bike riding as a family. This is important because bike riding is my favorite sport.

We kept the bike simple at first, but as soon as he was riding comfortably he got a bell, a mirror, lights for riding at night, padded bike gloves, a lock, and some other accessories.  He knows how to inflate the tires and lubricate the chain, and takes very good care of it. 

Bike riding is a whole new freedom for him.  Its good exercise, free fun, practical because you can get places you need to get to, more social than being inside a car, and good for the environment.  Its social in that so many people have bikes, and its something he now has in common with just about everyone.

He also learned important rules of the road for any moving vehicle.  This has prepared him for learning to drive a car, which he is now working on.  He has his temps and has been driving for about 9 months now. 

Update on GF/CF Products we really like:
In a previous post I listed our favorite pantry and refrigerator additions.
I have been really enjoying the Shaar bread products.  They are packaged so that they keep on the shelf until you need them.  I like the French Baguettes for making garlic bread with olive oil and garlic.

David has learned to make GF/CF pizza with
Organicville pizza sauce,
Applegate nitrate-free pepperoni,
Daya vegan mozzerella,
organic diced sweet red peppers, (very high in vitamin C) 
Italian Seasoning from Penzy's Spices from where he works 
and we are using plain "Against The Grain" Pizza crust.

Ener G makes gluten-free communion wafers for Church, and

San-J makes organic gluten-free single serving Tamari (soy sauce) packets I can take with us to restaurants.  I requested these from our local co-op and they finally started carrying them a year ago.

He started buying soda on his way home from school, so since he's an adult now, I eased up on our restriction against soda (because of the high fructose corn syrup which has traces of mercury in 30% of it and the food colorings and artificial flavors.)  I found an organic soda made by Blue Sky which he can have no more than one per day.  It used to be an occasional treat, but now is one of the few things I have relaxed on because he's an adult.  

The biggest change with his diet is that he finally began eating some animal products.  I decided I didn't know anybody that doesn't like bacon, so we began with nitrate-free bacon.  It took about a year to get him used to it.  Now he eats very well-cooked bacon (no fat on it) and the nitrate-free pepperoni I mentioned above on pizza.  I think he is more flexible about a lot of things now that he has been feeling better on this diet.

I don't think anybody needs to eat a lot of meat, since the Seventh Day Adventists actually on average live longer than the rest of us and they don't eat meat.  But David doesn't get enough protein yet from just a few nuts and seeds, and he still doesn't eat beans yet.  I do supplement him with sub-lingual vitamin B12.

I read a book on Enzymes for use with Autism treatment and was inspired to try them as a next step.  Both of us now take Gluten Ease digestive enzymes every time we go out to eat even if the server insists its gluten-free, because it takes care of any possible contamination concerns I have had.  I notice it most with myself, since even a tiny crumb can make me sick for hours to three days of feeling lousy.   Now I won't go anywhere without them.

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