Thank you for the book recommendation! I love Dr Sears and didn't realize he wrote an Autism book. My son's evaluation with the Developmentalist is at the end of April, so hopefully we'll have some answers. Marisa

Thank you for the recommendations! Unfortunately we are stationed in Alaska and there are very few resources here for any special needs of any kind :glare:. We are moving next year so I hope wherever we are stationed will be closer to adequate facilities. If you don't mind my asking what was your son diagnosed with? I also feel that people don't see my quirky boy as being as special as I do. It doesn't help that he has an extremely outgoing, cuddly, pixie twin sister. People always pay attention to her and he gets left out quite a bit.:sad:. Thanks again! Marisa

Thanks for your suggestion! We have actually tried this without much success. He just points to all of the words and doesn't associate the picture with the item. We are now trying PECs so hopefully that reinforcement will work. Marisa

That is funny you mentioned your son was "different" from day one. I also feel this way about my son as do many people that meet him. He never really seemed like a baby, more of an adult trapped in a baby's body :lol:. Very alert and wise for such a little guy. We do have a picture board on the refrigerator, pantry and cuboards but he just points to all of the pictures and doesn't seem to associate the picture with the object. We have just started using PECs with him so we'll see if that helps. Thanks for your comments! Marisa

That is wonderful she is doing so well now, it gives me hope my little ones will improve! I will definitely be asking about CAPD at our appointment in April. Thanks for the reply! Marisa

Thanks for your reply! We live in a small community and the wait list for private speech therapy is 1-2 years :glare:. Hopefully he can qualify for the preschool program so we can continue his therapy. I am going to ask the Developmentalist about OT, we are military so the referral process is kind of strange. Marisa

Sorry you have a screamer as well, it can be exhausting for Mom :tongue_smilie:! They, my son and twin sister, will continue to have 0-3 services until September. We will hopefully find out at the end of the summer if they can continue with the school district speech therapy after that. We live in a small community and the waiting list for private speech therapy is 1-2 years. Marisa

Thank you for your reply! An Audiologist checked his hearing last summer and said his hearing was fine, but he did have 50% negative pressure in one ear. He had said it wouldn't effect his hearing but would cause pain if anything. He has only had one ear infection since then so hopefully he tubes have "matured". I may have him rechecked again though, just to be sure everything still looks good. Marisa

Sorry I forgot to answer this part of your question. Yes, he is in speech therapy through the 0-3 EI program. A therapist comes to the house once and week and works with my son and his twin sister. She doesn't think he has "spectrum" issues from her interaction with him. Marisa

Thank you for the input! I had a feeling that is what they will be looking for, and is part of the reason I want to have as much information going into the appointment as possible. I want to be able to have an educated discussion with them, particularly if I disagree with their diagnosis. Marisa

Thanks for the reply! I wonder sometimes how much of this is just his personality as well? He can be pretty intense sometimes :lol:, much more so than his siblings. Everyday he does seem to be making some progress so hopefully as you said once he can speak more things will calm down. Marisa

Thank you for the book suggestion, I have it on hold at the library :001_smile:. I will look into CAPD, I haven't heard of this before. Marisa

What wonderful news!!! I hope he has a full and quick recovery! (((Hugs))) for you and your family, how scary! Marisa

Congratulations, what exciting news!!! Twins can be a HUGE shock! I don't know if this will help but I have known lots of women with SCH and none of them have had any serious problems from it :001_smile:. I know there are lots of us twin moms on here so feel free to ask any questions you have. Having a twin pregnancy can be quite different than a singleton pregnancy. My biggest suggestions would be to listen to your body and rest when you need to (I know, easier said than done with other kids), and eat, eat, eat :lol:! I highly recommend the book "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy" by Barbara Luke. I will be thinking lots of positive thoughts for you and your babies!!! Keep us updated! Marisa

Hi Judomom, First all that disclaimer stuff, I am not a medical professional, so all of this is just my personal experience from a life of health issues, etc, etc,etc :001_smile: When my vitamin D was tested in Oct my level was 29.8 (so right under the 30 cut-off). I started taking 5000 IU of D3 daily that I got at a health food store and when I was last tested in January it was up to 50ish. As you can see mine has gone up very easily once starting the D3. Because I have RA, Fibro and CFS I am hoping to get it a little higher so am continuing at 5000 IUs daily. I live in Alaska so many people up here have low vitamin D levels from the lack of sun. Hopefully I can cut back during the summer (for all of one month :lol:) but will start back up in September. Good luck! Marisa

Hi everyone, I am sorry to bother you all but I don't really know where to turn. I have a 2 1/2 year old son that I am concerned about. Nothing is obviously "wrong" but it is a combination of lots of things that make me wonder. We have an appointment with a Developmentalist at the end of April and my son is currently in the 0-3 Early Intervention for expressive and receptive speech. When he was first evaluated at 26 months his expressive language tested at 6-9 months, and 12-18 months receptive language delay. Everything else was age appropriate or higher. My son and his twin sister were born at 37 weeks and didn't spend anytime in the NICU. Between ages 12-18 months he had 6 ear infections, but the audiologist said he has no hearing problems. My son can say quite a few words clearly but won't use them to communicate what he needs. He can say milk, but if he wants milk to drink he grabs my hand points to a cup, and then leads me to the fridge and points at the milk. The other option is that he will stand by the fridge and scream and scream until someone figures out what he wants. There is a lot of screaming in our house. He also only uses maybe one or two signs but will sit and watch Signing Time and will do all the signs with the show. He just doesn't use them. He also can say Mama but has never called me Mama to my face. He is really into textures/sensory input and likes to explore things with his mouth, yesterday he was licking the inside of a DVD case. Last summer we also found him eating dirt, grass, etc. He will also lick books especially if they have pictures of food in it, likes to play with food, and will walk around on legos:001_huh:. He is extremely independent (bordering on control freak) to the point where he gets himself pretty worked up if he can't get his way or is unable to do it himself. Once that happens he can't calm himself down, except if we can distract him with the TV. It is just so different than my other kids. They don't get something they want, they act out, and then move on. My son can't move on, he can't get himself back in control. We walk on eggshells around him. I have been scouring the internet trying to find out if this sounds like a spectrum disorder, sensory disorder, etc. Nothing seems to fit him very well. He is social, makes good eye contact and cuddles. He does not seem to get overly stimulated, or dislike change and does well playing with his peers. I just don't know what to do. I am feeling very overwhelmed with helping my son and doing what is best for him. Thanks for reading through this long post! I'm excited to get to know everyone and watch all of our children blossom! Marisa

Hi Gina, I am so sorry your daughter and family are going through this (((hugs)))! It sounds like your Dr is doing everything that needs to be done at this point. Hopefully they will have some answers for you guys or a referral soon! I was "sickly" as a child and it took them years to diagnose me, at least now there are a lot more resources and knowlegde about these diseases/syndromes, especially that they can occur in children. If her labs do come back normal, keep pushing if you feel that she is still having problems. Sometimes once the labs are normal they will just dismiss the problems and send you on your way. If you have questions about Jr Rheumatoid Arthritis there is a great forum at the Arthritis Foundation http://community.arthritis.org/forums/Forum1816-1.aspx. I think there is also a little info on Raynaud's Phenomenon, and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus). I'll keep you all in my thoughts! Marisa

Hi Shannon, Sorry you're family isn't being supportive! How long have you been dealing with chronic illness? For some people it takes a LONG time before they can even begin to understand or accept chronic pain/illness. I was pulled out of 1st grade because of my Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS). I am now 33 and my Dad just "got" it about 6 months ago. Seriously, it took over 25 years, of which 16 of those I lived with him :banghead:! I think it is especially difficult for men to allow themselves to let it in that something is wrong with their loved ones. I know my brother struggled with it until he was hit by a drunk driver and started living with chronic pain, and other issues. Have you heard of the Spoon Theory? It is a wonderful explanation/story of living with chronic illness and would fit for chronic pain as well http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory-written-by-christine-miserandino/. I ended up posting it on my Facebook page so others could learn from it and got some really nice feedback. It is hard and frustrating to hear others complain about their ailments when they won't acknowlege yours. I think if they were more understanding it would be much easier to hear about their complaints. When they aren't you really just want to roll your eyes and tell them to live in your shoes for a day. (((Hugs))), Marisa

:bigear: I live in the middle of no where so I will have to buy everything online. Do you know which company is the best value to buy from? I saw that Rainbow Resource carried them as well as Artistic Pursuits plus the two companies they recommend? Looking forward to hearing others comments! Marisa

Hi Judomom, How frustrating! Don't you wish they would just tell you what is wrong and then you can deal with it? The flip-flopping is so annoying!!! Plus the time between appointments is enough to make you crazy :confused1:! I am having kind of the opposite problem. My bloodwork is negative but I have almost all of the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. My diagnosis is Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease but my Rheumy is treating it as Seronegative RA (I also have Fibro and CFS). It seems like the treatment for all of these autoimmune diseases is so similar so hopefully whatever you have the meds will work! (((Hugs))) Marisa

:bigear:

Hi everyone, I want to purchase Cursive First for my ds and wasn't sure what kind of paper to buy? Do they suggest lined, and if so what type? I am going to be making a Rainbow Resource order so if they carry it that would save me some money :001_smile:. Thanks! Marisa

Hi Lisa, Both of my boys have dealt with low iron and it was caught at their WIC appointments. I followed up with their pediatrician who did blood work and confirmed they were low. They took a special iron supplement and then they would retest them every 6 months. My oldest who is now 4 seems to have outgrown it, and my 2 1/2 year old needs to be retested. Strangely, at one WIC appointment all three of my kids tested low. The two boys at the high end of low but my daughter tested the lowest at 7. When they did the blood test she was fine and the boys who had a higher numbers did end up needing the supplement :001_huh:. If you are worried about it I would follow up with your pediatrician and have them run blood tests. It sounds like her diet is really good, our pediatrician said about 30% of kids have low iron for no know reason, just back luck I guess. Good luck and hopefully she will outgrow it if she does indeed have low iron :001_smile:! Marisa

Sorry about the pain, I know it can be awful! If it isn't a sinus infection I had amazing luck with Astelin. It is a perscription antihistamine nasal spray, it tastes nasty but works quickly on my sinus headaches. Some people also have good results with Flonase but that has never worked for me. I had deviated septum surgery and nasal surgery because of my chronic infections, pain, headaches, etc. The septum surgery did not work well and the only benefit was that I could breathe a little more out of one nostril. The sinus surgery really helped and has decreased the infections substantially! Good luck! Marisa

What a fun topic! Well, if all my medical problems just magicallly disappeared I would love to finish my masters degree in city planning (I am SO close :glare:) and eventually get a PhD in it. I would also love to take classes in architecture, math, ASL, sociology and anthropology. When I was younger I wanted to go to medical school but it was physically too rigorous for my poor broken body :001_smile:. It is always good to dream... Marisa