DMG Supplement--Day 1

Scott's mom told us about a supplement that her friend gives her child with autism that has helped him decrease problematic behavior and increased his speech notably. I gave Zach his first dose yesterday afternoon, there wasn't a notable difference yesterday in his behavior. This morning he woke up and was very chatty and was listening better to directions. I'm excited to see if this works for him, the supplement was a bit expensive for my taste, but if it works it'll be worth every penny! Here's a bit of info I found on DMG:

There is strong anecdotal evidence supporting the use of DMG for the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders.

Dimethylglycine (DMG), also known as Dimethy Glycine, Calcium Pangamate, Pangamatic Acid, Pangamic Acid and Vitamin B15, provides benefits for many individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. DMG is inexpensive and is not known to have any serious side effects.

Benefits

Proponents of DMG claim that it can improve eye contact, frustration tolerance, speech and interest in interacting socially, as well as decreasing aggressive behaviour toward self and others in severe cases. It also improves immune functioning and boosts athletic performance. Behavioral effects generally occur in less than a week, but experts recommend trying the supplement for three or four weeks as benefits may occasionally take longer to manifest.

Different stuff, different day

Yesterday was a bit difficult for Zachary, there was a half day at the elementary school, so he went to HS earlier than he was used to. The teacher said you could tell by his behavior that he was a little out of whack. He was really whiny when he got home too, so he went to bed early (7:36 instead of the usual 8pm). He seems to do better during the day when he goes to bed earlier in the evening. He woke up in a stellar mood this morning, and the only issue I had with him was that he didn't want to give up the super huge umbrella so he could get on the bus. We'll see how his day goes, I hope it's a pleasant one for him.

I'm going to start using this to journal Zachary's progress.

I am certain that there will also be updates on Jonathan and Nate too, but I'm determined keep a written account of his progress. I've tried writing it in a notebook, but find that it's much easier for me to record my thoughts whilst typing, that and I am way to critical of my own handwriting, so it becomes more about the handwriting than how Zachary is doing.

I'm going to go back a day on this one, and continue on to today. Zach is making strides in his learning, it's so wonderful to witness everything he's learning in such a short time it seems. We are getting better and better reports from school, it took him quite a while to transition well into the ASD classroom at the elementary school. They are teaching him so much, and we had good news, if his transitional and a few minor behavior issues are resolved by the end of the year, he will be able to go into the EELP program next year, and possibly be able to attend regular kindergarten in two years.

We (Scott and I) received his progress report from Head Start today we are so impressed, as are his teachers. He know's all of his alphabet by sight, knows 9 different colors, and can correctly count to 10. He's also learning more and more words by sight, yesterdays big word was "Seasons," he read it off a Seasons Greetings plaque we have hanging on the front of the house. He surprises us at least twice a week with words that he has learned that we didn't know about. I also love that the first word that he says when coming in the door from Scott picking him up at School is usually "Mommy!"

Potty training is sort of going, not progressing a lot, but I've not been putting a whole lot of effort into it as he didn't seem interested. Now his interest in it has gotten a bit better, so I put up a chart on what he needs to do (pull pants and pull up down, etc.) on the wall by the toilet and added some little smiley faces doing a thumbs up for him to put up when he's done each step. We're going to really start this weekend, as I dont want to heap too much on him during the week, and as it is easier to keep him semi naked for the potty at home.

A little funny about him, he has learned the song "Jingle Bells" and loves to sing it, though he doesn't remember the part about the one horse open sleigh, so it goes normally, then at the end it's " a one two bee bop day, HAY!" The "Hay" being his most favorite part of course.

I'm a blog slacker

Whew, it's been a rough week. I truly enjoy the boys being home from school, but man are they exhausting. Combine that with our roof being replaced and no naps on top of having a massive sinus headache and it makes for some stressful days.

I went today and got Jon and Nate registered for school. Jon will be going into 4th grade and Nate into Kindergarten. I've never known a child to be as excited as Nate is about starting school. He asks me practically every day if he's going to school the next day. I feel a little bad about telling him he still has a little while to wait until school starts. Zach will be starting in an ESE (ASD) classroom at another school, I'm a bit nervous about that, but hope it will go smoothly. I definately need to take him to his open house so he gets to meet his teacher.

Zach is starting to talk a bit more which is so wonderful, it's great to hear him ask for things instead of just screaming until he gets his way. Hopefully he'll keep improving and his vocabulary will keep growing. I'm not expecting miracles, but every small step for him is a good one. I've found if I dont focus on the negative that goes along with his disability that I'm much less stressed out. Besides, it's nice just focusing on the positive, and dealing with the not so good things as they come.

Happy Birthday Sweet Zachary

A montage of photos from Zachary's first 3 years. I love you sweet boy, I'm so happy you're my little boy.


Three Years of Zachary 5/10/08


This is for you Mom! I love you! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

Grieving?

I'm sitting here bored out of my mind, can't find anything in particular that I'd like to watch on TV, boys are in bed and I've got nothing to do. I figured now is as good a time as any other for a new post.

Zachary is going to be 3 years old on the 10th of this month. I was feeling nostalgic yesterday and decided to look through my photobucket pictures and find ones of him from the past few years. They were so wonderful to look at, and to see how much he's grown and changed in these fast moving years. While looking at them I started to feel a bit sad and guilty too. I wonder what he will be like as an adult considering what he's dealing with now, will he be able to lead a normal life? Will he have the social abilities to make friends, date and hopefully get married? The guilt because I wonder if I should have pushed to have tubes put in his ears earlier so it wouldn't have affected his speech development so much. Should I and could I have noticed differences in him earlier? Should I have breast fed him longer, should I have spent more time holding him? By the time I was ready to go to bed, I couldn't sleep, I was longing for him to lay next to me so I could cuddle him and just hold on to him in order to allay all my fears and concerns. Then as if he heard my thoughts, I hear him rustling through the hallway and see him climbing over Scott and then he plops down next to me and makes me wrap my arms around him. I knew at that time that all will work out as it is supposed to, I just need to put my faith in God and know that he has a plan for Zachary and for all of us.

A Public Service Announcement from Sarah

As most of you know, we had quite a scare with Zachary this week. He decided to eat some poisonous beans off of a vine/bush in our backyard. These beans are called Rosary Peas (also known as: crab's eye, and jequerity beans.) they are highly toxic and are mostly found in subtropical states. If chewed, just one can cause death in an adult. There is no known antidote to the poison they release if chewed or cracked open. They grow on a vine that attaches itself to other bushes and plants.

This is what the actual Pea/bean looks like;