The Latest on Brady
Brady’s progress reports begin…
As much as I’ve enjoyed writing about general topics in the world of
autism, my focus from here on out is to write about Brady’s progress.
At least once a week, I will blog about how he is doing in ABA, in
biomedical, and in life. I will write about successes, struggles,
emotions, self help skills...basically everything he is doing and not
doing. This is not meant to offend anyone who is a part of our
“autism family” (or any other family), we know everyone is working in
Brady’s (and their kid’s) best interest. We also know that for each
kid some things get results (good and bad) and some things don’t get
results...we are attempting to find the right combination for Brady.
So...that being said...here goes…
First is ABA therapy. Brady has been doing ABA therapy 8 months this
week. I won’t lie, we aren’t where I thought/hoped we would be at
this point. Brady’s biggest challenges to do well in ABA (and in
life) are his inability to pay attention and his cognition. These two
things remain a huge barrier in therapy. Of course, another HUGE
barrier in every aspect of our lives is that although Brady is very
verbal, he has no real words yet. Most of the goals I have for him
for the next 6 months are the same goals I had 6 months ago. I’ll
list some of them here so you can follow along with us: clapping,
waving, pointing, blow a kiss, high 5, low 5, shake hands, wash hands,
ride big wheel, eat with spoon, drink from an open cup, pick up toys,
RESPOND TO NAME, ride a flinstone-style car, throw & catch ball, kick
ball, find a character in book, come here upon request. There are
many more, but these are the top priorities for our family. My hope
is to update you that these have become goals in Brady’s programs and
that he gradually adds these skills to his everyday routines...we will
wait and see.
As for the biomedical world, our first appointment with Dr. DeMio is
later this week. We did have a consultation with his parent liaison,
Angie, last week. It was very informative, totally overwhelming, and
most importantly...hopeful. Brady is what I would call a “clean
slate” for biomedical intervention. What I mean by that is that he
currently is not on a special diet and takes no supplements or
medicine. We did do the GF/CF diet last year for 6 months, with no
obvious results. I cannot wait to begin testing Brady’s levels to see
what he may be out of balance in. I am currently reading “Children
with Starving Brains”, and in doing so I have my own suspicions about
what might be going on gastrointestinal for Brady. I am working on a
list of everything I want to tell Dr. DeMio in order to help him treat
Brady...the list is getting long. I am cautiously optimistic about
the possibilities for Brady biomedically.
Thirdly is about Brady in life in general. He has been making
progress in mealtime, as far as keeping his food on the table. Every
toddler drops some food here and there, but Brady in the past has had
a habit of throwing anything he didn’t (or sometimes did) want in the
floor quicker than I could stop him. That has improved, and he has
even ventured out a tiny bit and tried a few different foods. He can
be a very picky eater...all he prefers to eat are baked beans, any
type of potatoes, corn, peas, lima beans, bananas, freeze dried fruit,
fruit snacks, pretzels, poptarts, waffles, toast, grilled cheese,
yogurt, gerber toddler snacks, cinnamon wheat thins and cookies (and
he love to drink soy milk, apple juice and orange juice). I know
there are a lot of good-for-you foods on that list, but he won’t eat
any meat or any real main courses. He is known to have a meal of
sides and he goes through phases on whether he does or doesn’t like a
food.
So, in recap, that is week one of Brady’s progress...stay tuned for
the ups and downs over the next week.
