Could it? Is it? Maybe? Possibly? PLEASE?

WARNING: A LONG ONE!

Back in July, we went for a consult with a new DAN!, MAPS, Biomed professional.

I felt like I cheated.

I know it's silly,  he's been so nice and helpful, but I felt like we had run our course.  I felt like I needed to go see someone who saw MORE of the kids like Owen, who more of the Moms were recommending, etc.

So, we saw Elaine Hardy.  Elaine is the Big Kahuna of http://www.holisticfamilyhealthcarepc.com/. When I went to the ARI conference in April, she was the lady that had the room buzzing.

Now, I see why.

Back to July, we went to our appointment and she was in a word, wonderful.  She was knowledgeable, very informative, spoke "Mom" (Yay!) and had us to a battery of tests that she felt were essential to the next step of Owen.  It took us forever to get the tests done and back thanks to a bad urine (not enough) sent the 1st time and we got our results in September.

Flash to our results, we found out oodles of things about the boy.  Gluten Free/Casein Free diet-- Yep, time to go back, the boy has sensitivities and is allergic to Milk and Casein.  Cheese-Check, Yeast? Yep, Brewer's and his brother Baker's are part of the Allergy Family and his gut was chock full of yeast-again.  Oh, and to add some fuel to it, his body is allergic to the yeast, because really, why wouldn't it be?   She also had us restart some supplements and try some new ones.  The amount of supplements the boy is taking went down, a lot. The price, not so much as they are the expensive ones but if they are essential as she felt, we were down for it.  I was also down for trying it again when she told me and I quote:

"I want you to know that I have a treatment plan in mind for Owen.  This isn't a case of trial and error, and I feel he has room for a lot of improvement."

Um, Yes, PLEASE!

We started everything a few days later, and he seemed to be a bit calmer, but I wasn't sure.  Is it an off day? Is he getting sick? I am just used to it? I wasn't sure.

I got the 1st Cold Probe back from his teacher and it was great.  In fact, it was the best progress report I had seen from the young Conroy in many, MANY months.  I got excited, I let my mind start thinking "What if?"...

I decided to chalk it up to school being back in session, more iPad time, etc, but then..

Cold Probe #2.

And it was good.

AGAIN.

Something was different but I was afraid to get excited.  Then, his private therapists used the words "best session ever", "attention the best it has ever been", "appropriate play for a minute".

I got excited, but I didn't say a word because I was afraid I would speak too soon.  I kept my mouth shut and prayed it would continue, and it didn't.

He started stimming, really, really bad and his energy level was as if he was shot out of cannon on fire.

I figured it was the methylfolate, I let it ride out and 10 days later, I waived the white flag.

I emailed Elaine and told her what was going on  and today she told me to give it a break and stop.  I had already given him the dose today so I figured I'd stop tomorrow and today the little red haired maniac decided to get with the program! Today has been a big day!  We had very basic appropriate play with a doctor kit 2x.  He mimicked everything I did and smiled and was engaged.  We've had the kit since he was 2.  I've been staring at it in his closet for 4 years.  It had dust on the handle.  So many times I thought about giving it away and then I didn't. I just thought "someday" and put it back.  Then, today he initiated Hide and Seek.  Initiated it by hiding under his father's coat, so basic, but it is huge.  He's pretending.   So many people don't realize how everything starts with pretend play, so many people take it for granted but trust me when it's missing in your child's world, you notice it.  It's like the elephant in the room.     Next was the Hobby Horse.  He's had it since Christmas, and in a nutshell, ignored it.  Me, being bold took it out and started to pretend and told him to do it, and he did.  I said "Giddy Up"  but the best part of this is he said "GO".    The reason this is so amazing is that this is what he is prompted when he is at Hippotherapy.  He put the two together and knew.

He knew.

People try to be excited for you when you tell them these things but until you have a child on the spectrum or deal with our kids everyday, many people just don't get it.  They will say "How cute" or "Aw" and mean it sincerely but this is front page news for someone with Autism.

The boy knew!

Finally, the "Oh My God, Jesus, Buddah, whoever" part of today.  He went poop on the potty. Unprompted.

Today is someday and I can't wait for tomorrow.