Lately my daughter has been having some really bad tantrums and has not been wanting to go to sleep at all. It is driving me crazy! Hopefully the sleep issue will get better now that I tried something different.

Today was very important to my daughter. My mom and I took the girls to Sam's Club and while we were there a woman passed out on the floor in the main aisle. My daughter wants to be a doctor more than anything else in the world and is absolutely fascinated with Ambulances. So, a couple minutes after we saw this woman laying on the floor a police officer showed up and my daughter asked me if an ambulance was coming. I told her one was on the way. A minute later the paramedics walked in with the stretcher and everything (we have a toy ambulance that includes a very realistic stretcher). We had to watch everything. They placed the woman on the stretcher and started to walk her out to the ambulance. We walked out and watched them place the woman in the ambulance and close the doors. Then I started walking to the car. Instead of coming with my daughter made my mom stay on the curb in case the ambulance decided to drive away. She really wanted to see that happen. We left and she got a little mad and said she wanted to follow the ambulance. I told her we couldn't. We got home and the first thing she did was run in the door and scream up to grandpa that she saw an ambulance. It was HUGE for her! She was thrilled. She said in the car "I want to work in an ambulance and take people to the hospital." It was great! We went to a friend's house for a little playdate and she was really excited to run in the other girl's room to tell her about her experience.

I took my girls to Playworks today. It takes about 25-30 minutes to get there and sometimes longer to get home depending on the time of day. Well, today we were driving home during rush hour and I was almost to the second freeway we take to get home when I asked my daughter where her stuffed animals were. She said "Playworks" and burst into tears. Why did I have to screw up and go and ask her about them? Well, I'm glad I did because I was able to pull over and call the place and ask them to place them aside for her, which they gladly did. So now I guess I get to drive back out there tomorrow to get them. Fun Times!

I have decided to get back into making beaded jewelry to try and sell to raise some money to publish an eBook about autism. Please check it out and see if there is anything you like. Anyone who purchases my jewelry will receive a free copy of the book when it is complete. Thanks!

www.freewebs.com/twinsmominmn

We went to the pool today and a friend showed up with her kids who have these little squirt guns. My daughter filled one up and started squirting water into the air. The water was falling on 2 women who were laying in the sun (in the kiddie pool area). I was telling my daughter to stop when one of them women looked over at me and said it felt good and she didn't care. A few minutes later I look over and my daughter was squirting water all over these 2 women and rubbing it like it was lotion or something. My friend and I were cracking up because the women just kept letting her do it. She spent about 10 minutes or longer cooling these women off. I went over to talk to them afterwards and they said it was like having a Cabana Boy. I just thought it was quite hilarious and sweet that she wanted to cool them off. She'd never seen them before either, so I thought it was neat that she just walked right up and started talking to them. She was even putting their shoes on their feet. I'm glad she's not a boy because they might not have thought it was so cute.

I found an article discussing a possible correlation between autism and Acetaminophen. The preliminary findings indicate that "Acetaminophen use after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was significantly associated with autistic disorder when considering children 5 years of age or less" and "Ibuprofen use after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was not associated with autistic disorder". Obviously, more research needs to be done on this subject, but this information may help some people decide which treatment method(s) to pursue. Alot of people feel their child regressed into autism after receiving the MMR vaccination. If this study can be proven true, then people may have an alternative cause to look into. Rather than scaring people into not vaccinating their child, this may help encourage people to still vaccinate, but be more careful to administer ibuprofen instead of tylenol if anything is needed. I believe my daughter was born with autism because I have watched home videos of her showing signs in infancy. Feel free to leave any comments on this or more information.

So, I have been researching treatment methods for autism and found some very disturbing information relating to biomedical interventions such as medications, chelation therapy and the Gluten-Free Casein-Free diet. I think people are being mislead and misinformed about these different treatment methods to believe that their child/children can be "cured" of his/her autism. Is there a reason people feel that autistic children need to be cured? Why not focus on embracing and accepting these children and helping them rather than hurting them? Here are the main points I thought I would list about the different methods:

Medications

The only medication I could find out about that has been approved as a treatment specifically for autism by the FDA is Risperidone (Risperdal). There are several other drugs that have been used to try and address problems associated with hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention difficulties and anxiety. These drugs includeclomipramine (Anafranil), fluvoxamine (Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac),Elavil, Wellbutrin, Valium, Ativan, Xanax, Clozapine (Clozaril), Olanzapine (Zyprexa), Quetiapine (Seroquel), Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine. A good quote I found states that"Increased use of medications to treat autism spectrum disorders has highlighted the need for more studies of these drugs in children. The National Institute of Mental Health has established a network of Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPPs) that combines expertise in psychopharmacology and psychiatry."  read more »

Has anyone tried any of the following? If so, what were your results or lack thereof?

Eniva VIBE or other products

Mona-vie

Xango Mangosteen

Nano Juice 

I am a single mother of twin daughters. We live with my mom and stepfather. They were born 10 weeks prematurely on October 22, 2003. Due to their prematurity they were referred to a program that was called Follow Along. Every few months a couple women would come to my house and observe the babies' development. During what would have been the last visit about a month before their 2nd Birthday I was asked if I had ever thought one of my girls could be autistic. I said no. Another woman who is an Autism Specialist who works with the Intermediate School District came out to my house and assessed my daughter. She was then diagnosed with mild/moderate autism. I was advised to apply for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) benefits from Social Security, so I did. Within about 2 months my daughter was approved to receive benefits (based on my income). She also was switched from the Medical Assistance program her sister and I were receiving with an HMO (UCare) to straight Medical Assistance (accepted at more places with less restrictions). I also went through the process of obtaining PCA services and was able to hire my mom, which works out well since we live with her anyway. I had begun working part time at Kohl's in the evenings. When she was about 27 months old (in January) she began attending Early Childhood Special Education 5 days a week through the school district we live in. Right around her 3rd birthday she began receiving private Occupational and Speech therapy twice a week. She stopped receiving the Occupational therapy after about 14 months because she had made so much progress. She also no longer qualifies to receive Occupational therapy or Adaptive PE at school for next year. I have chosen not to try any other treatment methods other than school and private therapy. I am currently considering trying to help lessen the number of meltdowns and tantrums each day by having her drink either Mangosteen or Mona-Vie fruit juice blends.  read more »

I have another blog I've started to provide information about treatment methods for autism at www.autismunveiled.blogspot.com. I am contemplating writing a book about the different methods I've encountered. Please feel free to leave me a comment or suggestion about how to approach the subject differently or better. I am also looking for people and/or organizations who are currently conducting research on autism treatment methods or are interested in sponsoring or contributing to research. Please send me any information, names, links, etc.