More attentive in school

OMG, this is what was written in Nathan’s communication notebook today:

Nathan was happy today. He participated in our afternoon greetings time and in our story time.
He is so cute. I was reading a story about “The Very Busy Spider” when he suddenly held up his hand and said, “It’s not a spider, it is ant.”
True enough, if you look at the picture, it really looks like an ant.

I’m recalling Nathan’s first days of school, about 3 years ago, when he was so withdrawn as if there was no one else in the room with him. Then his special class a year and a half ago, when teacher had to keep reminding him (holding him down) to stay seated for circle time as he wander off ever few minutes. Or during sports day when he was picked to say something but he simply held the mic and licked it 😀 That’s son! And I love him!

Wow! We’ve gone a long way, right Nathan?

The magic of son-rise

A friend told me she just started some son-rise for her daughter in the autism spectrum.

It had only been a week and few minutes a day of son-rise, when her daughter called her attention as she was about to leave the house. Her daughter told her, “Don’t go!”

Prior to that her daughter had never showed that much longing to be with her 🙂

When I heard her story, I was jumping up and down celebrating with my friend.

Loving the magic of the son-rise program!

Joining

I’m sitting in a coffee shop eating my sandwich with a knife and fork. You might think: crazy! But if you joined me for a few minutes and had a bit of chat, you will realize that I am wearing braces and they just got adjusted. So it really is impossible to tear this sandwich with my teeth.

JOINING. That’s the exact principle we use when we son-rise kids with autism. Because we have been “joining” Nathan, we have learned that it really is fun playing with a slinky; that if you put an object in your mouth and tap, it’s much louder than if you tap away from your mouth; that when we keep repeating words it helps us memorize the word itself and it’s function faster, etc.

Because we have invested more time understanding Nathan, he has become more comfortable with us and more willing to share his thoughts and bond with us.

Now, back to trying to tear up my sandwich.

Number 94

Yesterday, 93 kids recovered using Chlorine Dioxide. Today, my daughter Amor, is number 94!

Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) is to measure effectivity of interventions used for autism. ATEC scores of 10 and below indicate that the child is within neurotypical range. Above 10, the child is in the autism spectrum. The higher the number the more severe the autism.

We have been checking our twins ATEC scores since we started our biomedical intervention: Chlorine Dioxide (CD).

Amor’s score went from 21 (before CD), to 14 in three months. That was when we felt that symptoms of dyslexia disappeared and she became more interested in phonics and reading. Now, after another three months it’s 9! Recovered!

Her scores has put a measurement on what I have been feeling in the recent months: I can finally envision Amor actually catching up in a regular school with no aid.

When Amor started schooling 3 years ago, we were giving time for her to catch up but it seemed the longer we waited, the larger the gap became. And the more impossible it felt for her to catch up. However, in the past few months, Amor has been “peeling off” her sensory issues, showing us her sweet side that used to be covered by irritability (overstimulated hearing and touch senses), she is becoming more focused, she shows she grasps our conversations, she lost symptoms of dyslexia, her body movements are more fluid instead of jerky…the list goes on.

Now I say, anything is achievable! Amor can become anything she sets her mind on becoming!

Nathan’s Autism Recovery

My Facebook page is called: Nathan’s Autism Recovery.

Why dare call it “Autism Recovery”?

I was going to hold-off the word “recovery” until it actually happened, but where’s the conviction there? I know recovery will happen no matter how many trials I know we will continue to encounter, no matter how long it will take, no matter how imperfect our son-rise program is and not matter how limited our resources are.

In fact, why talk about a destination? Recovery is already happening now during our journey.

I remember when autism was unraveling. I cried everyday and forced myself to get up to live another day only to find myself crying again and again. The thing I mostly worried about was Nathan’s future. Who would take care of him after both my husband and I pass away?

Recovery started when I found the Son-Rise Program. There is healing when I learn to love every single behavior of my son without judging it as bad. There is healing when we invite volunteers and see that society can learn to love our son for who he is now. There is healing when we discover that there are other amazing ways of learning. There is healing when we create networks with other son-rise parents and discover other biomedical interventions to help the body heal.

You might ask: What if recovery, the destination, does not come?
…then we keep going…recovery the journey.

Brother’s love

Ian is such as sweet brother.

This sticker system is mostly for Ian. His Papa promised a surprise after he gets 20 stickers. So Ian keeps reminding us of his good deeds 🙂

After he finished all his food he said, “Mama, can I have 2 stickers?” I thought maybe he felt the did an extra good job independently eating all his food so why not? Then he continues, “One for me and one for Kuya Nathan!” Aww, he was worried that his big brother wouldn’t catch up with the stickers.

Later Ian asks, “Mama, if Nathan doesn’t win, can he get a toy too?” Now Ian’s concerned about how Nathan would feel once Ian gets the surprise Papa promised.

What a blessing!

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Notes to volunteers: non-verbal communication

Nathan has sudden bursts of pinching, maybe biting, and soon as it starts, it’s over.

I just realized this is his way of communicating, “Stop that!” or “No!” This happens when Amor cries or shouts, or when Ian walks in to get my loud attention while I’m son-rising Nathan, or when he asks me nicely to go in the kitchen and I can’t say “yes”, etc.

So it’s very timely that we are targeting that he verbalizes his not wants.

I recall when they were toddlers, Amor could come over, hit him and walk away while Nathan couldn’t move. Kids hit because they can’t verbalize that they don’t want of they are frustrated. But soon as Nathan learned to proper forward by crawling, he would go over and bite her whenever she did something to him. It wasn’t an issue with me because I knew it was an adaptation to his communication needs and physical abilities.

Who loves the most?

Ian (my youngest NT) tells me we should play a game about who shouts out their love the best. He gives me the mechanics of the game:

– Papa will ask, “who loves Papa?” And Ate Amor will say “Me!”
– Then Mama will ask, “Who loves Mama?” Then Kuya Nathan and Ian will shout, “Me!” (Wow, Mama gets the boys and Papa gets his princess’ love).

Then Ian reassures me:
– If Nathan (who has autism), doesn’t answer “Me!” it’s ok!

Ian is such a blessing. He is currently 4 years old. Twins Nathan Amor are turning 7 next month.

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