As I was looking for information on the “different” brain movement among some adults with autism, I came across yet another opinion about autism…that it is a disease. This definition implies more of a possibility of “curing” it than if autism is labeled a disorder.

Of course there are those out there who believe that autism is only a difference. But as LuLu grows and is better able to express herself, I’m not buying that she believes that she’s only different. The physical... more

I’ve blogged about Amanda Baggs before. Her YouTube video is legendary, and well worth the viewing, if you know anyone who has autism (and who doesn’t know someone at this point?)

But this article in Wired, The Truth about Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know, brings up a whole slew of points and counterpoints. One of the main ones is that there is a movement out there to... more

“The dog is driving me crazy!” LuLu exclaimed during her grammar test last week. I was puzzled what she meant, since the dog was all the way across the room, chewing on her bone. But the sound of the dog’s teeth scraping across the bone was distracting to LuLu.

I’ve noticed, since being so attuned to LuLu’s sensitivity to noise, and the way she’s unable to stop her emotional escalation when noise is a trigger, that I, too, am irritated by noise.

As life goes on here, and Mom lives with many more stressors than I had a decade ago, I realize that noisy... more

Kawasaki disease affects coronary, small, and medium sized arteries throughout the body causing inflammation in the artery walls. Because Kawasaki disease also affects lymph nodes, skin, and mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose, and throat, it is also called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. Children from two to five years, of Japanese or Korean descent, are usually affected although any child can get this disease. A Japanese doctor, Tomisaku Kawasaki, identified the disease in 1967. Some of the complications... more

Note: Continued blogs about my memory of parenting LuLu/seeking help.

I was so excited to be at the ATTACh conference. It was like a huge “shopping mall” of people versed in attachment and trauma. While I had been reading for years, and crossed the country in search of a therapist, here was a treasure of information in one place. This was 2001, before I had connected with Nancy Spoolstra (I knew her in cyberspace, but hadn’t connected with her organization, ATN).

In each workshop I learned more and more. But two workshops were especially... more

Spurred on by our early success in getting LuLu to talk, we decided attachment was her major issue and began searching for another attachment therapist. This quest took us to a professional out of our state for an intensive. LuLu made much progress, and my hopes were high. Her hours of sleeping increased to about four hours at a time without waking, although rarely more than eight hours total in a whole day.

But I was floundering in juggling the demands of being the kind of therapeutic mom I needed to be along with working full-time. Less than a year... more

It is difficult for anyone to handle Diabetes alone, especially a child. When first diagnosed it is really scary, especially if the diagnosis occurred because of a sugar crisis, hospitalization, or coma. Unfortunately, crisis is the most common way that children are diagnosed. Chances are the child’s parents are freaking out about making the life and death decisions regarding maintaining sugar levels, and the child probably is too. Whether real or imagined a child with diabetes feels different from peers. During school hours, the diabetic child needs to check sugar levels,... more

We were perplexed by what the professionals at the international adoption clinic had to say. But I had found another source of information that was giving me a different perspective. An adoptive mom who was studying to become a therapist was organizing a list serve now known as Attach-China. What she and others were reporting there sounded so much like my daughter’s issues. I was happy to find someone who was seeing similar issues with sleep, language, rages and odd behaviors.

It’s hard to remember the exact steps I took next. But the more I delved into attachment... more

LuLu’s rages continued and became more frequent. In hindsight I believe she had dissociated for the first several months home. And all at once, like switching on a light, she had come out of that and into a full blown “fight” mode. Her main weapon was to scratch everyone in sight (herself included). Drawing blood produced an odd sense of relief in her.

Words can not describe the panic we felt. We began searching for help in what we felt were usual places…her pediatrician and then a local international adoption clinic. The pediatrician was quick to realize that... more

An eye problem caused by diabetes, called diabetic retinopathy, is the number one cause of blindness in adults in the United States., If your child has diabetes then his or her blood sugar levels are too high. High blood sugar can damage nerves or blood vessels over time. Diabetic retinopathy happens when the tiny blood vessels inside the retina are damaged from high blood sugar. The damage that can occur may include blood vessels swelling and leaking fluid or new abnormal blood vessels may grow... more