"Time to change the focus..." Some thoughts on autism

(Preface: This blog is somewhat a mishmash of ideas and information. I was thinking that I should probably start another blog, in order to separate family stuff from other stuff, but what the heck...I already have quite a few people checking this blog, so for now I'll stick to just this one.)

I was researching OCD like behaviors for autism this morning when I stumbled upon an article (that is the great thing about the Internet, you never know what you're going to find!). I have never, in all of my reading and research, seen this idea written in words. But here it is! Someone has actually finally said it. Instead of trying to paraphrase it, I'm going to quote the article, with the link below to the full article, which I think everyone should read. The author, Dr. Michael Goldberg is an M.D -( I have included some information about him below, for those interested in his credentials). He says exactly what I have been thinking and seeing and believing ALL ALONG! In a nut shell, Autism is NOT a developmental disorder, it is a disease that is treatable if it is done soon enough and correctly. And, I don't mean ABA.....

"... the vast majority of the researchers in this country, the world, are still studying these children as if they truly had some undefined, unknown "developmental" disorder.

Instead of looking for the correct answers, instead of focusing on at this point what can ONLY be understood as a DISEASE (not developmental) process, the "system" continues to fund researcher's trying to figure out and understand "Autism" (as a developmental disorder). This is why so little progress has occurred in spite of millions of dollars being spent. Researchers are being funded to study what 99.9% of the children appearing today CANNOT have. IF this process continues, EVERYONE will lose (except the researchers and universities receiving mass amounts of funding and the "industry" of "alternative therapists" helping to try and "treat" these sadly dysfunctional, "special needs" children).


As noted, it is blatantly obvious to all but the "system," 99.9% of your children do not come close to meeting Kanner's definition of Autism. It has become absolutely safe to say, 99.9% of children being diagnosed as "Autistic" do not have Autism (as the term is understood or used), but rather reflect a disease state, a Central Nervous System dysfunction, manifested by many Autistic symptoms, but unlike a developmental disorder, treatable, changeable IF we act quickly enough. But, how many of the present "leaders," how many of the existing "Autistic" groups are questioning present funding, present efforts? How many are going before congress saying we have a large group of children that IF helped, IF treated might grow up to be productive citizens, might pay taxes (rather than utilize tax services) one day? Why NOT?"


http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=122&db=1&C0=49 (for the remainder of the article quoted above).

Dr. Michael J. Goldberg graduated from UCLA Medical School in 1972, after which he did his Pediatric Internship and Residency at LAC-USC MED. CTR. Entering Private Practice in the San Fernando Valley in 1975. Dr. Goldberg is on staff at Providence Tarzana Medical Center. Since the early 1980's, his interest has focused on the development and treatment of "Immune Dysregulation" / "Neuro-Cognitive" disorders including CFS/CFIDS and its particular connection to ADHD in children (& adults). This interest has extended into the neuro-cognitive dysfunctional link between many children with Autism / PDD and siblings / parents with ADHD, and "CFIDS". He is actively pursuing collaboration with researchers to accelerate identification and potential new therapeutic modalities for these children. Dr. Goldberg is currently the founder and director of the N.I.D.S. (Neuro-Immune Dysfunction Syndromes) medical advisory board and research institute. Dr. Goldberg testified at the congressional hearings in Washington, Autism - Present Challenges, Future Needs - Why the Increased Rates?

His publications include B.L. Miller, Hou, Goldberg, and Mena. Anterior Temporal Lobes: Social Brain, The Human Frontal Lobes, Functions and Disorders. First in the series The Science and Practice of Neuropsychology. Guilford Publications, Inc
Goldberg MJ. ADHD: Approaching the New Millenium: New Understandings, New technologies and New Therapeutic Interventions. Understanding Diagnosis and Treating the ADHD Child: An integrative approach edited by James A. Incorvia, Bonnie Mark, Donald Tessmer .
Goldberg, M. Frontal and Temporal Lobe Dysfunction in autism and Other Related Disorders: ADHD and OCD. Alasbimn Journal1 (4): July 1999. 

He also has a book out, The Myth of Autism, published about one year ago. I am definitely going to read it!

If we don't start spreading the word about this disease, and stop accepting that children have to live their lives like this, then we will never get anywhere! I have been in this field for 12 years, and we are not closer to finding a "cure." In fact, there have been NO effective advancements in the field, despite the millions of dollars of research. None. We have got to do something different, and I think Dr. Goldberg is absolutely on the right track. If you know a family who has a child with autism, I hope you will pass along this information.

9 months old already!

I feel like I just posted her 8 month post....time particularly seems to fly by over the holidays, right? So our baby girl is already 9 months old! This last month has been some of her most significant milestones so far.... She is now crawling (a modified crawl in which one knee is down and the foot is down on the other leg), and she is very fast! She is getting into cubbards, checking out light sockets, trying to climb the stairs (and she has managed to get up a few steps!), pulling up on just about anything and everything, and opening drawers and doors. It is so much fun to watch her explore everything....how she learns to open a drawer for the first time and then turns to look at me as if in amazement at what she has just discovered. She is getting more adventurous with standing up, too- holding on to furniture with just one hand or side shuffling to move around the object while holding on. She really likes to do this on the ottoman.

One of the most significant changes I've seen in her, aside from the fact that she can now keep herself very content playing and exploring without much adult facilitation, is that she is no longer my little baby that always wants to be held. From the time she was born, she has been the baby that wants to be held. She never really wanted to be set down, and during the first few months she could barely even sleep at all by herself. I remember taking naps with her in my arms. Now that she can crawl, she arches her back when she is in my lap, indicating she wants me to put her down! She is funny in that she will follow me around the house- just a few seconds after I'm in the laundry room I see her rounding the corner to find me. But the only time she crawls to my feet and grabs onto my legs is when she needs to eat, or maybe sometimes a diaper change. Other than that she is Raegan the explorer!

These days she loves to play catch with Roxy.....this has turned into an evening routine that even Roxy anticipates. Around 6:00pm Roxy seeks our Raegan, wondering where the ball is! Raegan has a pretty good arm on her and can toss the ball for Roxy to chase. This always involves lots of giggles and smiles from Raegan (and Jay and myself can't help but laugh, too!). Here is a youtube video from the very first "catch" experiences with Roxy. Click here.

This is a long post, but I have to say one more thing. (And I am not sure I even should mention it, for fear of jinxing the whole thing!). For those parents out there, you will especially appreciate this....Raegan is able to put herself to sleep in her crib! No rocking! No singing! No milk! No snuggling! I just give her a kiss, her binky, and tell her I love her, then lay her in her crib and walk out of the room. She goes to sleep!! She stays asleep! I feel like I won the lottery. For those of you who don't know, Jasen and I have in the past had to spend up to an hour (or more) trying to get this little girl to take a nap. One day she just refused to let me rock her, so I decided that if she doesn't want to be rocked, then she will just go in her crib. She cried on and off for 22 minutes before falling asleep the first time I did this. The next time was 5 minutes, the next was less than a minute, and now she is a pro! Now, the putting her down in her bed while she is awake is nothing new....I have tried doing this for months and literally her and I would go round and round for hours, with Raegan screaming, me comforting her, me leaving the room, Raegan screaming, me crying, ....you get the idea. NOT WORKING. Now, it works!! Hooray for 9 months!! :)

Recipe Resolution

I'm really bored with the same old food these days, so for the new year I resolved to try one new recipe each week. My goal is to accomplish this MOST weeks. :) For the first week, I made Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup. I found it in the Martha Stewart Food Magazine that I subscribe to. I love this magazine...the recipes are so simple, with minimal ingredients and pretty fast to make. I'm going to post my new recipes on the blog by adding the link.

This soup uses a chicken soup base in which you cook a whole chicken. I didn't have time for all of that, so I cooked several chicken breasts and used organic chicken broth paste. I think all and all it took about 25 minutes of prep. It was delicious! I give it 5 out of 5 stars. :)


http://www.marthastewart.com/872962/mexican-chicken-tortilla-soup

Raegan's First Christmas

This Christmas was Raegan's first, and she really seemed to enjoy herself! We started off the festivities by hosting our fifth annual Christmas party which was a lot of fun as always! We had a great turnout and the food was delicious, if I do say so myself. :) We had a nanny for Raegan so Jasen and I could enjoy the party, and Meg drove up for the weekend, too. Jasen did an amazing job with the exterior decor this year....12 foot snowman and rooftop Santa! Most of the kids in the neighborhood LOVED the snowman, however Raegan cried in horror every time she saw him. He was rather large. I asked Jasen if he couldn't have found one a little bigger -ha!

Christmas Eve we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Paul Martin's Bistro for some organic/local American cuisine (a second annual tradition). Shari joined us, and we had a nice time eating delicious food....even Raegan had fun entertaining the other diners with her squeals and smiles. The banana cream pie (even minus the crust) is mind blowing! Pair it with a cappuccino and it really is a merry time! 

Christmas morning Matt joined us for opening presents and Santa remembered us all very well! Daddy even had a very special baby's first Christmas ornament made for Raegan - a very sweet surprise! :) Raegan was pretty tired and ready for her morning nap by the time we started opening presents, but she managed to tear some wrapping paper and play with a few of her toys. We went to Shari's for Christmas day, where Jasen's family joined us. Shari made a delicious roast with a baked potato bar, yum! 

Raegan and I flew back to Illinois for Christmas at the Trutters. We spent the week before Christmas with Jasen (he had that whole week off) so he wasn't able to go back with us this year. Aside from some drama during our travels on the way there (missed our 6:00 am flight and ended up in Chicago instead of St. Louis) we had a very good trip! I wish we could have seen Lindsey and Trevor longer than a day, but we did get to spend a lot of time with Ben and Meg. Raegan visited with Great Grandma Trutter on several occasions, and she particularly loved the cat! During our trip, Raegan learned to get around very well using a modified crawling position, she got in 4 teeth, and learned to give kisses. She stated off kissing herself in the mirror, and then moved on to kissing all of her stuffed animal toys. She received so many amazing gifts for Christmas.....included a talking Teddy Bear, a musical book, an interactive train (that she can ride), some really cute clothes, a shape stacker, many many books, and a move and crawl interactive ball....just to name a few! She adores all of her toys, but she particularly likes a book of Dogs from her great aunt Wendy. Raegan is a HUGE fan of dogs, and she gets so excited if she even sees a picture of a dog!

I didn't take a stroller back with me, so when we went to the Galleria we rented a car stroller and Raegan thought it was a riot. She was even turning the little steering wheel! She definitely was grandpa's little girl, as he often had the magic touch at getting a very tired baby to sleep. I'm pretty sure he reminder her of daddy. :)

She was an absolute champ on the plane....and she enjoyed an extra seat next to us on our way back to California. She mostly played with her toys, although there was the occasional knocking over of drinks and grabbing at the sudoku book of the lady next to us. She spotted a toddler across the aisle on one of the flights and had fun giggling and babbling with him. I think she is a better traveler than I am! :)

It was a wonderful Christmas! Here are some pics!