NOT JUST MMR.....

[feeling_sad]

Hi,
I have spent many nights here hoping to figure out what went wrong with my 2.4 y/o son. As all mothers would say about their babies, he's a beautiful, loving boy. Thankfully, the loving and beauty parts have not changed, but so much has. From much reading and research, it is obvious that he has autistic characteristics. He will be assessed but I wanted to know what I'm dealing with in case they told me he was in fact autistic.
I have read so much about the effects of MMR vaccinations and their possible link to autism, but looking back, I don't think that was the time things began to change for him. However, after a meningitis outbreak in my city, there was a city-wide vaccination for meningitis and like the good parent I am, I lead him to it like a lamb to it's slaughter. I can honestly say that it was shortly after that time that my little angle left us and went into a funny world of his own. He used to address me as "mama" and now, nothing. Even though he was still too young for accurate speech, he would lead me to the cupboard where the plastic cups are when he was thirsty. Now, nothing. I have to keep offering him water just in case he was thirsty. But the amazing part here is his ability to run the computer. I read somewhere that autistic children, and sometimes adults, need to be taught to use a mouse. He can do that and more. He knows excatly what CD he wants and what icon to click on. He knows when to press play, exit, minimize, etc. I cannot tell you enough about his computer abilities, his memory games, and any other toy that interacts with him. He is very loving and loves to laugh. However, his smiles have to be induced and are never offered by him just because. He will walk with me anywhere and will hold my hand the entire way, yet will make eye contact with me only in the morning. He does not spin in circle or spin his toys in cirlces, he uses his toys the way they were made to be used, yet he will not engage in any kind of imaginative play. He has never approached another child for play. He has never acted in a manner that scared me, like hitting his head or biting his arm, yet I noticed he liked oral stimulation because he loves to lick things..... food. He can lick a cookie for an hour before eating it. I have started him on a gf/cf diet and it has been 4 days now. I know, not much time to notice a change yet, but I'm really hoping that it will help. I purchased vitamins, B6, mangesium, folic acid, vitamin C, and one more but I can't remember the name. I gave some to him a couple of times but had to stop. I stopped because I don't know the dosage he requires and I'm affraid to harm him. I have now ordered Super-Nu something just so I don't mess up with dosages. Next, he gets his hearing checked, but I know it's fine. Then comes the autistic evaluation. I know what I will be told...if not autism, then pdd. I'm obviosly confused and very sad.

[whatstheodds]

hi,
sorry your feeling sad, its a difficult time for you but your sons a lucky boy, you have obviously read stuff, awareness is a good thing, as for wether its autism, it sounds a strong possibility but then so many things are similar i guess you need someone to look at the big picture, if it is autism
then at least you'll know what you're dealing with, one of the hardest things for us was not knowing, but then when we got a dx
we didn't want to believe it, we tryed hard to find any signs that would prove they were
wrong,that our beautiful( but silent)twin girls were just a bit slow, we had to accept it but it was a very difficult time
that was 2 1/2 years ago, then 1 1/2 years
ago our little boy was dx he sounds like your
little boy, elliot switched off his language
and all interest just after his mmr. do let
us know how you get on. jo.

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[no_longer_sad]

Hi Jo,
Thank you for replying to my message. I was obviously down when I wrote that and it was justified. However, I'm writing back to let you know that I have seen some progress with my son. His eye contact has improved and I'm not the only one who has noticed it. I realize that we have much more work ahead of us, but I have new hope now and the future is certainly looking brighter.
His hearing test went well; hence, his speech is now the issue. What I have done with him is giving him DMG (I give him one 125 tablet a day and I read I can give him up to 4. I think I'll work my way up to two only, for now) and he's still on the g/f c/f diet. We have cheated a couple of times but I have not seen an adverse reaction. I'm not sure if this diet is for him or not. But all said, his improvement can be due to the diet or the DMG, or the combination.

Thanks again

P.S. Your nick makes a whole lot of sense. I agree, what are the odds?

[whatstheodds]

[hi, glad to hear you're feeling less sad,
you have to have bad days to help us see
and recognize the good days, seems like things are improving for you, things do get better, i know when abbey & bethan were dx
we thought that they would stay how they were then, and just get older, how wrong we were, we now have two girls who talk non-stop and the biggest hurdle so far both out of nappies day and night, we found a real lack of support in our area, so i set up a support group, most families kids are younger than abbey & bethan so its good for
them to see the way ahead, i guess with elliot we don't tend to worry as much as
we've been through most of the things in stereo!!!!! i know things will get better for you, take care. jo.


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[no_longer_sad]

Hi Jo,
I'm sure you've probably posted this already, but would you mind emailing me about the sort of treatments your kids went through. Did this include vitamins and DMG? Diet? Speech assistance? etc. I would very much like to hear what you have to say. I want to add that on a couple of occasions, I've reintroduced gluten to my son and I did not see any unusual reactions. But I am, however, confident about the DMG.

samoura_c@ivillage.com

Thanx again for taking the time.

Sam