we aren't all on drugs

The other day something happened that I haven't been able to let go of. I don't know why it's burned into my brain but it is. Anyway here's the story.

My mother-in-law & I took Alden to swim class last week. There was a woman sitting at the table and she commented about how "little" Alden was. At first I thought she meant that he was short (he's not, he's 4 feet tall!) and I just kind of nodded and smiled to be polite. Then she pointed out her grandson who was...well, to be blunt he was fat. I then realized that she likely meant that Alden was thin. He is, he weighs 45 lbs. He is still at a "healthy" height & weight though.

Later on she commented that "at least he has 2 swim coaches". My mother-in-law replied politely with "he has autism and learns by watching" then the woman replied "Oh! Well that's why he's so thin, it's his medication!" I was absolutely stunned, and mortified at the same time. Number one, as I said he's not underweight, he doesn't look malnourished at all, he's just tall & thin. Number two the fact that she just assumed he was on medication. Has it really come to that? Everyone assuming all children with problems are on medication? I was disgusted and I'm pretty sure I actually snarled a bit after she said that. Then I interjected with "Oh, no, no, no, he doesn't take any medication." As if I was having to defend him.

The fact that she was so concerned about his weight while her own grandson was literally twice his size was kind of startling to me.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with children who need medication being on it. I am glad they have success with certain drugs. We just haven't had that kind of experience yet and I hope we never have to. If we do that's fine but I found the fact that a stranger would assume as much really annoying.

busy little bee

I've been BUSY this week. First off with Alden's doctor's appointment. We went on Wednesday to see a highly recommended Nutritionist/Family Practitioner that we were on a wait list for since December. He was absolutely fantastic. The appointment was scheduled as a consult but he actually went a head & got blood & urine samples from Alden to be sent off for testing @ Great Plains Lab. I was impressed by that because most doctors just tell you what they're going to do eventually but he jumped right in with both feet & already started actually doing something. He also broke down all the different tests for us and showed us the best & most cost effective way to go about getting all the tests we need done. While we were there Alden also got an Rx for an ear infection. I realized that morning that he was acting like he does when he has an ear infection (falling down a lot, crying, feeling warm but not enough for a fever). Anyway the appointment was a huge success and we'll be going back either later this week or sometime next week for more tests. He has to fast for them & he's going to be annoyed when I can't give him his cereal in the morning.

On Friday my friend Allison & I went to an autism conference downtown. I didn't really learn anything. I wasn't really expecting to, I've read basically everything on the internet about autism so nothing really surprised me. I did really enjoy a few of the speakers and just getting out of the house for a day to sit in a room full of people who knew exactly what I was going through was refreshing. The did a little bashing of some of the more unorthodox methods but I went in expecting that as well.

Alden got out of school early again this week. They have been having snow days nearly once a week for the past month. I don't mind having him home (actually I miss him when he's not here) but I don't want him to have to make up days all freaking summer.

His OT overbooked for IEPs this week so she called me today instead to talk about his goals for this year. She mentioned that he is reading more than 30 words at school...which is awesome. Then she mentioned that they were "really impressed with his reading skills" because 30 is the required amount to pass regular kindergarten and even her own NT some was only reading 27 words. Then I got really super excited because I know he can read way more words than that (like character names and things like that). So I'm super proud of him. They are going to start him on a handwriting program which is cool because we've been working on writing his name (legibly) at home and he's been doing a lot better. They are going to start with tracing, then copycatting and then independent. She said if he has a hard time & gets frustrated they will help him begin to type. Then I told her we have been doing that at home as well. Right now if he sees something he can type it. I made him a huge list of all his character/movie/book names a while back because he wanted to Google someone new every 5 seconds and I needed to do things like fold clothes so I just made him the list & told him he could type them himself. He's now pretty good at knowing where the letters are.

Anyway it's been busy but we're getting things accomplished. His regular teacher keeps commenting on his hyperactivity and extreme cases of handflapping & clapping that are preventing him from concentrating. I understand her concern but honestly, what does she think I can do about it? I'm just hoping that at his IEP she doesn't bring up medication or anything like that because we will have words if she does. I'm not anti-medication, I'm anti-medicating MY child.

nom nom nom

Alden has been acting different lately, he is more hyper & eating everything. I think it's a combination of weather and a growth spurt. He's been a bit bonkers though so I hope whatever it is it's temporary.

We have our appointment with a nutritionist this Tuesday. We've been waiting 3 months so I'm pretty excited about it. I can't wait to get tests run and his diet & general health straightened out.

I didn't update this week because it's been really stressful. Everything is okay now but the beginning of the week was pretty much horrid.