Oh what a fun 2 weeks we have had!!

Just a little quick update! It's been a BUSY 2 weeks!!

We have had some BIG stuff going on with Spencer the last two weeks.

On the BioMed front, we are FINALLY done with the antibiotics. I say FINALLY because they were causing all sorts of bad behavior. Increased stimming, hitting, crying, screaming, running away, etc. (I'll have to blog about the Great Escape at the YMCA--that was fun!!) These behaviors are apparently a result of a yeast overgrowth.  Seems kind of wierd that yeast would cause all this, and I was skeptical at first, but boy am I a believer now!!  To see the shift from sweet litte Spence, to gradually turning into demon child, and now after a few days of yeast treatment, back to himself!  I TOTALLLY buy into it!!

Here's how it happened....we blogged a while back about the "bacteria" we all have in our gut. Well if you recall Spence had 4 really bad ones and only 2 good ones. So, for the past 17 days we have given him 2 VERY strong antibiotics that are supposed to kill off the bad bugs. Well, while the meds are killing off the bad bacteria, they are also killing off the good, and since he now has zero bacteria (good or bad) to eat up and help digest his food, he had a strong overgrowth of yeast. (Lucas told us this might happend). Well, ding dong me didn't clue into this until about 10 days of banging my head against the wall with his troubling behavior. Needless to say Spencer and I weren't seeing "eye to eye" until I had my "aha" moment. Once I put 2 and 2 together I figured it out. THANKFULLY that is over. We are now on Diflucan for 21 days to kill off the yeast and a ProBiotic to help boost the good bacteria. We've been on it for 3 days and already he's back to his sweet self. I think the pharmacists thinks we are crazy, generally if you are put on Diflucan for a yeast overgrowth/infection, you only get 1 pill. We have 21, does that tell you anything about how aggressive we are treating this??

Second big thing for our little Lou is he started at Spectrum of Hope, an ABA school in Cypress 2 weeks ago. ABA is Applied Behavior Analysis, which is a process of reinforcing appropriate behavior and redirecting inappropriate behavior. It’s VERY intense/intricate, they first determine a target behavior or skill. Then using those targets, they reward the desired behavior/skill every 20-30 seconds with a reinforcer (candy, tickles, a toy or activity). They work up to extending that time and then eventually eliminating the reinforcer altogether.  The goal being he begins to exhibit the behavior/skill without prompting/reinforcement. So what is it that he will be working on? Well, it's pretty cool because we give them his IEP's from school and they will work on them while he is there. (An IEP is an Individual Education Plan, it's sort of like a lesson plan that is customized for Spencer. When we get back into regular school, I'll be sure to bring this topic back up and explain more, but for now this should suffice.) They also did an assessment called the VBMAPP (not sure what that stands for...all these acronyms get very confusing), I'll see the results to that probably later this week. They do the assessment to see what his learning style is and what they need to add to his targets that will help him progress even further. Our biggest target is increasing his expressive communication via signing, vocalization and/or word approximations and using picture icons. The emphasis being on manding (requesting/asking for) this should help us in decreasing his tantrum behavior because he will gain confidence in his ability to obtain a desired item or activity and not be so frustrated. It should also help with potty training, which I am SO READY to be done with.

So far he is doing okay.  He had sort of a rough start, but seems to be getting better each day.  He works with 4 different therapists throughout the day and each one writes on his daily report what they worked on. He seems to be settling in with most of them, except for one.  She writes that he is having a "difficult" time EVERY day.  I'm thinking it's her. (It couldn't possibly be Spencer! he he he!) The others always say he had an "awesome" session.  Who knows, I plan to bring it up in our consultation later this week.  He went to Spectrum last summer and we found that it was just the boost he needed to get ready for the start of school.  We are hoping for the same thing this summer!  It's so intense for him and it's really a challenge for us (being working parents!)  He and I HAVE been enjoying some fun time together though.  School is 9-3, so you can see working 6 hours a day isn't going to fly.  So he's been coming to work with me before and after school. He has been beyond AWESOME! He walks so nicely into the office (his favorite thing is using the FOB access card to get into the doors, he likes to put it up to the sensor, see the light turn green and hear the little beep...it's the small things in life!!)  He eats his breakfast and sits quietly at “his” desk for a good hour and a half. At 8:40 we leave for school, I get back around 9:15, then head back at 2:45 to get him.  We come back to the office and finish up our "work" until 4 or 5.  We get to do it for the next 4 weeks!!  I am seriously burning through some gas!!  Here are some cute pictures of him "at work".

I really like this one, it's like he's saying, "excuse me, but do you need something?  Can't you see I'm trying to work here!"

Until next time...peace, love, hope and prayers!

T

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purspose.

Romans 8:28