Therapeutic Listening

We've been on "break" from the Therapeutic Listening since before Christmas - over 2 months now. I haven't seen any regression at all. Hard to say whether the listening had a good effect that stuck around or had no effect. We definitely noticed difference while going through it, so it was touching something.

Demi is visiting grandparents this week of "Mid-Winter Break". Yea! No kids for the week! I feel a slight tinge of guilt for feeling so unfettered, but it soon passes. ;) I'll be interested to hear the GP's report on Demi after this week. They haven't seen the girls since Christmas. Of course, they're always positive, but they try to be as honest and unbiased as grandparents can be.

We ran out of ThreeLac before I took them to the GP's. I'm a bit worried that Demi will regress with out it (i.e. yeast will flare). I need to get it ordered so I can hit it hard when she comes home.

No negatives yet

I started Demi on Liver Life last week when it came. We worked up to 10 drops/3x/day on that, per advice from AutismNCD group. Once I started the LL, I started increasing her NCD. We did 10 drops today with no ill effects. I got the liquid zinc earlier this week but have not given her any yet. I plan to hold 10 drops through the weekend, start a low dose of zinc tomorrow (just in case), and then ramp up more on NCD next week. I've gotta keep a handle on the yeast; I think it's starting to creep back in again.

I've had some nice mini-surprises lately. Last night when I was making supper (manicotti), Dana asked what the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan was for (Dana is typically sharper than Demi). Before I could answer, Demi spouted, "It's to help it cook better!" I had not mentioned anything about the dish or the process before this exchange ( and I don't think I'd ever made manicotti before!). She was totally clued in!

We had speech therapy today. Her therapist mentioned that she was going to need to test her again to make sure we're still on the right track. She said once certain skills start clicking (oral motor), others fall into place quickly. She needs to reassess where Demi is, even though it's only been 6-7 months since she was tested. Now, that's progress! :D

Another "new" thing for Demi has been chiropractic adjustments. She just had her third one today. I can't say it's doing anything (who knows!), but I thought it was worth a try since it was extremely convenient (same time and location as her weekly therapy) and also covered by insurance. On the evening after her first adjustment, she seemed unusually chatty on the phone. Typically, she answers questions with single word responses. That night (a week ago), she was yakking on about different kids in her class, different things she'd done. Of course, Nana couldn't understand most of what she was saying, but she was talking up a blue streak! Could be all coincidence...

Ramping up NCD again

Things seem to be back to normal now for Demi. After taking her NCD dose down to 4 drops (12/day) and giving her 2 sachets of Threelac each day, her severe lack of attention dimished last week.

I'm ready to try again, but I procrastinated and only ordered the zinc and Liver Life just now. I'll try increasing slightly, but I won't go over that dangerous 8 drops level until I can get some zinc and liver life into her, which might not be until next week.

Last Friday, her teacher tested her for letter sound identification and she got all but 3. Yea, Demi! Based on that result after listening to the Alphamotions song MANY times at school, I'm guessing she's an auditory learner. I'll have to figure out how to teach her things that way. Any suggetions?

Yeast Control

Perhaps I'm getting too impatient. Or perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions.

I'm just upset that Demi has been so "not with it" since mid-December. I'm pretty sure it's because I pushed her NCD dose without yeast control in place (we had run out ThreeLac). I really didn't notice her lack of attention and spaciness untilafter Christmas some time (close to 2 wks after running out of ThreeLac.) Unfortunately, I think the yeast got a firm foothold and it's not yet backing down.

I'm wondering if I should hold on the NCD and let the ThreeLac start to catch up over time, or should I stop NCD long enough to get the yeast under control before ramping up on NCD again. I guess I should ask them over at AutismNCD to see which would be quicker and more effective.

Hitting a wall at 24 drops

Well, we worked up to 8 drops, 3x/day, on Thursday as planned. However, Thursday night, I noticed that dry cough coming back. Friday morning when she got up, she had a lot of mucous in her eyes, like the start of pink eye. I backed off to 6 drop doses on Friday, 7 drop doses today (Saturday). She's been back to normal since I backed off the 8 drops.

According to the "experts" at AutismNCD, she needs some zinc to bust through those cold symptoms. I guess that will be the next thing added to her supplement arsenal that's building. Wow, you just kind of wade into this thing looking for alternatives and then you start seeing changes, along with a few negatives that need another solution, then more gains, then more problems requiring yet another supplement. You just don't know how out of balance a system is until you try to get it back into balance.

I'm happy to do it all as long as I continue seeing gains!