The fog is lifitng....

or at least I think so.

Now, I may change my mind today, next week or next year, but right now--
Something is changing.

His vocal sounds are more clear, more purposeful. His attention is great and he is following 2 step directions like a Superstar. Miss Beth at school reported that this week his attention has been better and he is working so great during his 1:1 sessions. For example, each table has something to call it, such as a picture of a Star is the Star Table. Usually she has to prompt him and give him the card, now she just shows him and he goes to the appropriate section. At home, he will get undressed for his bath, put his clothes in the hamper and put his pullup in the garbage. All with little to No prompting on our part. At his private Speech she was working on animal sounds and yesterday Owen said "Woof" for Dog, "Ba" for Sheep and "Puppy" for Fergus. Yesterday he engaged in a rousing game of "Peek a Boo" with the dog. He would hide, Fergus would watch him like he was God, and then he would pop out smiling at the little furball.

Pretty great.

This morning he ate his morning Banana and I told him "Good Job" and clear as a bell he yelled out "Good Job".

Good Job Indeed, O.

50 degrees = Outdoor Fun

It was beautiful out this weekend so we took Owen up to Turtle Back Zoo for the 1st trip of this year. It was, eventful.

Owen's chelating this weekend, on top of him getting used to Chiro adjustments, and he wasn't in the mood. I think sensory wise, it was a tad much. But, we took lots of bench breaks and we made our way around most of the zoo.

We didn't ride the train, O's been super sensitive to alarms and sirens as of late so we skipped. We went into what they call their new "aquarium".


No further explanation needed, I'm sure.

Overall, the trip was OK. He's done much better previously, it was sort of disheartening. BUT, if you think about Autism as a whole body disorder as it effects the entire body, and what O's currently dealing with, He did pretty awesome.



And here's the peacock that let me get super close to take a snap!



And the bears were super active! This was the best photo we could get:



In other news, we're at the 30 minute mark with potty training at school, and Owen said "dog" and "doggie" tonight appropriately. Always exciting! Owen also has been taking Fergus's toys from him every time Fergus takes one of his toys. He then will hold it up so Fergus can't get it.

Does that look a little crooked to you?

and the answer would be Yes.

So, after lots of reading, and thinking, and just a little more reading, we decided to take Owen for a Chiropractic Assessment. I had gone to a lecture at Owen's DAN! MD a LONG time ago, and held on to Dr. Dennis Brown's card. He's a Chiropractor in Atlantic Highlands who specializes in Special Needs kiddos. You can find out more info on them at www.shorehands.comWho'd have thought, right? He's also a Hope for Autism Doctor, which I love. You can read more about that here http://www.hopeforautism.us/.

We went for our visit, met the Doc, his RN and wife Jennifer, their office manager, Brenda and all went well. Owie got an X-Ray, adjusted and was on his way Day 1. Day 2, we saw the X-Ray and well, he's a little left of center, actually right.

He's off in his hips, his spine as scoliosis, his neck is not great either. When you look at the film, the black line is normal, the red, is our little red haired man. They are recommending 3x a week for 12 weeks and then another Xray to see progress. Dr. Brown is very confident it can all be corrected.

Today was Day 3, and Owen let Dr. Brown PICK HIM UP and was happy about it. He was a champ for his adjustments, even allowing him to do his neck. He also broke out the these tuning forks and gave 'em a whack. It's to basically put his Propreoceptic System into overdrive and really maximize the visits.

Overall, I'm really hopeful. They've dealt with a lot of kids and the literature out the on Autism and Chiropractic Care is so positive, I really didn't feel like I couldn't give this a shot. After his first adjustment, Rich and I both thought he was just a little bit more babbly, I'm definately going to keep a good log, I want to see where this goes.

Potty training is also going well. We're at almost 30 minutes at school with no accidents. Home, well, let's just say that isn't happening, yet.

More to come!