Right before Rerun was born, I took Tad for yet another consultation with his pediatrician about his ongoing behavior issues.  I knew that the time was coming when we could get some kind of firm diagnosis about his behavior, but I had no idea who to see.  Dr. N. sent us to a pediatric psychologist, Dr. S., who has a private practice on Saturdays.  Her “day job” is as the clinical director at the University of Washington Autism Center.

In other words, we were heading to a professional.

As we were nearing the end of the school year last June – and after Rerun was born and the chaos that comes with having a newborn in the house settled down – the Webmaster and I finally took Tad to have a two-session assessment with the psychologist.  She was extremely kind to Tad, listened carefully to us, and took copious notes.

At the end of the second session, and after playing with Tad, interviewing us, and reviewing all the information we’d provided for her and the tests I’d filled out on Tad’s behalf, she delivered her diagnosis.  Tad has a mild form of autism.

I think I spent the first few weeks after the diagnosis in a mild state of shock.  Tad was no different than he had always been – he was still my sweet boy, funny and shark-obsessed.  And yet… and yet… and yet.

It was truly a mental exercise to wrap my mind around what we had been told.  But we had little doubt that the diagnosis was accurate.  One of the first things I had asked the psychologist was, “Are we too late to help him?”

The answer was an unequivocal NO.  Dr. S. felt that since Tad had always responded well to therapy, and had never regressed in behavior, if we started him on ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy and extra autism-focused speech therapy, it would begin the process of getting Tad where he needed to be.

Naturally, we got the diagnosis the day after the last day of school.  Perfect timing!

I spent the summer researching autism (via both the Internet and books) and getting Tad into both speech and ABA therapy.  And God must have seen my heart’s desire, because doors just opened up for us with speed and ease.  By the time school started, and Tad began kindergarten in the CLC, he had spent most of August with his new speech therapist, and had just met his ABA therapist at the UW Autism Center.

So, this is what we know:
Tad has a mild form of ASD (autism spectrum disorder).  He is considered to be mild and high-functioning because he does not exhibit the “severe” behaviors, like repetitive actions or violent tantrums.  He does have pronounced “obsessions,” but as Dr. S. pointed out, the things that Tad is “obsessed” with are very normal or understandable things.  While Tad has a great love of sharks, no child has ever questioned why Tad likes sharks.  Or Star Wars.  Or Pixar movies.  Other kids get these things.  We have heard stories now of children obsessed with light switches, vacuum cleaners, and forks.  Things most kids never think twice about.  It’s examples like this that tell us so much about where Tad is on the spectrum.

However, Tad does not have Asperger’s syndrome.  His speech issues are much more severe than a typical Asperger’s child would have, and he exhibits more behavioral issues than a lack of social skills.

He is currently in speech therapy and in ABA therapy to address his communication skills, his speech, his behavior, his adaptability, his ability to generalize concepts… I’m sure the list goes on and on.  And he is responding so very well in so many ways.  But part of the change has been a change in my expectations of him.  I have become a student of Tad.  I have made it my job to figure him out.  And it is not an easy task, because more often than not, I don’t know all the rules and I have to start over.  But I’ve stopped banging my head against a wall, trying to figure out what is going on.  Having a diagnosis is both a blessing and a curse.  We are no longer groping around for answers… but that doesn’t mean that the answer is easy to accept.  After all, it’s taken me over four months to feel like it was time to write this post.

The diagnosis didn’t change Tad himself.  He is as he always has been – sweet, stubborn, affectionate, silly, quoting Star Wars movies and wielding his lightsaber, bickering with his sister, crazy about sharks – nothing changed because a label came in.  The ASD was always there – we had just never been able to see it for what it was.  When you’re as mild as he is, it’s easy to fly under the radar for a long time.

So, now what?

Tad’s ongoing journey – because it is that – will be marked in a new category on the blog that I am calling “Autism Adventures.”  The “Speech Therapy Saga” that we have living on has now morphed into a lifetime’s adventure of equipping Tad with the tools to become an independent and self-sufficient adult.  However, this blog is still “Deanna’s Corner.”  This is still my life and my blog, and so Tad’s life is not taking over.  I have no intention of this becoming an “autism blog.”  I will just be writing about it as it relates to my life and Tad’s.  I am also not going to be drawn into any arguments or controversies over autism on this blog.  There’s a saying that goes, “If you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one child with autism.”  I am going to be an autism expert on only one child – mine.  I have opinions – everyone does.  With rare exceptions, my opinions on autism are not going to show up here.

Tad’s trial period on the gluten-free diet will soon be coming to an end, and we will be having a “jury” weigh in on whether or not it truly affected his behavior.  We are not telling people when he goes off the diet, so as not to color any “juror’s” opinion.  There has been so much going on for Tad – new therapies, new school, all this work put in – that we want an impartial decision on whether or not this diet has made any difference.  When there is a verdict, I’ll let you know.

Are we worried at all about Rerun?  Not really, even though he is now considered “high risk” for developing ASD because he has an older sibling with the disorder.  We have him enrolled in an research study through the UW for “high risk” infants, which will be monitoring him until he is three years old.  He’s already had an MRI as part of the study, and as of right now, the researchers consider him to be right-on-the-mark normal for his age.

Have we explained all of this to Ane?  No.  She believes that her brother is just weird and annoying, and we’ll just let her think that until she’s old enough to understand what all of this really means.  Right now, she’s not ready for all the details.

In the meantime, please be praying for us all.  We have our ups and downs, as does any other family.  Nothing about us has really changed.  We just know what we’re facing now.  So, as you read along with us, please keep us in your prayers.  Thanks for coming along for this adventure.

Today will be all about Rerun.  He has a regular doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, once Tad has gone to school, and then we have a late visit to Children’s Hospital planned.  Rerun is taking part in a medical research study through the University of Washington, which includes an MRI.  So, I will be spending the evening/night at Children’s – there are three hours blocked out for this MRI.  The goal is to get Rerun to sleep through it, which is why it’s scheduled for late at night.

Tuesday is Tad’s school pictures, so I must try to dress him nicely (I gave him a haircut on Saturday) and hopefully he doesn’t look too banged up.  His black eye is pretty much gone, thankfully.  Immediately after school, Ane has piano lessons with Friend.  Yes, we’ve started piano lessons.  Ane had been begging to start for a while, and her first lesson last week didn’t dampen her enthusiasm.  And right after piano lessons, Ane has a haircut scheduled.  Because….

Wednesday is Ane’s picture day at school.  She’s had her outfit picked for weeks.  And Wednesday is also the beginning of the Awana programs at church – Tad will begin another year of Cubbies, and Ane will be in her second year of Sparks, the Webmaster resumes his duties as sound guy for the older kids, and I resume my crafting with the Cubbies.  Rerun is going to spend time in the nursery this year.  Tad finished his first Cubbie book over the summer, and he already has the first verse of the new book memorized and ready to recite.  I think this year will be a good one for him.

Thursday is my only “free” day.  And now something will probably pop up.

Friday is Tad’s therapy day – speech and behavior – so that eats up most of the day.  But I have book club that evening – finally, something for ME!

As I said, this week is crazed.  Anyone want to trade?

*deep breath* … Here we go!

For example, breakfast.  Tad had to give up his chocolate Cheerios (which he really loved), but we found some other yummy, kid-friendly cereals in the EnviroKidz line (Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, for example) that he likes.  And he’s still eating plenty of bananas, applesauce and yogurt.

We’ve finally found a fairly decent bread, so Tad can still have his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Garlic Jim’s has a gluten free pizza crust, and Tad can’t even tell the difference.  Trader Joe’s rice macaroni and cheese is also very good.  I found brown rice spaghetti noodles and Tad ate them without complaint.  Bisquick just came out with a gluten free baking mix, and I found a recipe on their website that will help me make gluten free chicken nuggets.  We’ve also found Larabars at Costco, which are pretty good.  And I just ordered a six-pack of gluten free Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mixes from Amazon.  We’re slowly, but surely, finding replacements for all the things that Tad loves to eat.

Plus, we’re expanding his horizons a little.  He’s begun to be willing to eat meat again that’s not smothered in tomato sauce.  He’s still not big on hot dogs or hamburgers, but barbecued chicken and pulled pork are okay.

There haven’t been many things that he’s asked for that he simply can’t have, and we’ve just stayed away from things that would make him realize that his diet has been altered – like doughnuts, treats at church, and certain restaurants, fast food and otherwise.

So, it’s been going pretty well.  I can’t say that I see any marked difference in his behavior yet, but it’s only been a couple of weeks.  Obviously, it’s going to take more time than that.

But, even after only a couple of weeks, I know that if we have to do this long-term, it’ll be very doable.  Which is a very good feeling.

Tad is going gluten-free to see if it alters his behavior at all.  When last we considered this, we consulted a naturopath, who put him on all sorts of vitamins.  He did take a blood test at the time to see if he was gluten intolerant, which we now know that he isn’t.

After five solid months of vitamins, we have come to the conclusion that they aren’t working.  In theory, we should have seen something after 2 months if it was going to be effective.  I think that we can all safely say no, they aren’t.  At least, not for Tad.  We’re going to continue to give him fish oil and extra vitamin D, since pediatricians are very much pushing the vitamin D supplements right now, but we’re cutting everything else out.

So, we’re now going gluten-free for at least 3 months to see if that has any effect on him.  From what I’ve read, 6 weeks is the absolute minimum time to see any results, and 3 months is better.

Going gluten-free is a lot easier in this day and age than one would think, but it means that you do have to think about every single thing that goes in your child’s mouth.  I had to check all of Tad’s vitamins and his toothpaste to make sure they were gluten-free (they were).  Those free cookies from the bakery at all the grocery stores that Tad loves to ask for?  Not anymore.  I went grocery shopping with the kids yesterday and managed to avoid the bakery altogether – but I couldn’t avoid Ane’s whining.  Not Tad’s, Ane’s.  She knows her brother is on a special diet for a while, but why should that keep her from getting a cookie?

I asked her how she would feel if she were the one on the special diet and I let Tad have a cookie anyway.  She admitted that her feelings would be hurt.  Then I ever-so-pointedly told my daughter, “It’s not all about YOU.”

With the help of Grandma and Gichan, and Trader Joe’s, and some pretty decent offerings at Fred Meyer, we began our gluten-free experiment on Sunday.  Since then, we’ve discovered that the Trader Joe’s rice pasta mac and cheese is pretty darn good, Garlic Jim’s gluten-free pizza crust is very tasty, Velveeta is gluten-free, and that Tad really misses his chocolate Cheerios.  Fortunately, he can still have chocolate milk, yogurt, all of his favorite fruits, and ice cream.

I can even buy gluten-free ice cream cones at Fred Meyer.

So far, Tad’s only noticed minor inconveniences, like the lack of chocolate Cheerios and no free cookies from the bakery.  I have been putting all that practice I gained as a gestational diabetic in reading labels into practice to search for gluten-free foods, so I’ve been able to keep his diet relatively stable… so far.  I’m still trying to find a good gluten-free bread, though I had one recommended to me by Miss Bee that I haven’t been able to go shopping for just yet.

If this is something that we end up doing long-term, then we’ll manage.  It’s amazing how much is really out there for those who are eating gluten-free.  I’ve already tried out a chocolate cake mix, so I know that when Tad’s birthday comes around in a few weeks, we’re still going to have a pretty tasty cake (or cupcakes).  This is all very doable.

And if, after 3 months, we don’t think it’s done anything for him, well… nothing ventured, nothing gained.  We’re going for it.

And happy birthday to you, Resiss… we miss you very much!  Glad you like your birthday presents!

When there is nothing to do on these summer days, it usually means there will be a fight.  I try to keep them as distracted as possible, but sometimes they do play nicely together.  But it never lasts.

One of their new favorite things to do is to play “Red Robin” – they strip all the cushions off the couch and build a small house, which is their restaurant.  Then Ane brings out her play food, and they make hamburgers to serve.  Eventually, though, the bickering begins, Ane packs up all of her toys and slams off to her room, declaring that she will NEVER play with Tad again.

On Monday, when she shut the door of her room in Tad’s face, he came complaining to me.  “Mama, Ane go inna her room an’ shut the door!” he cried.

“It’s her room, Tad, and she’s allowed to do that.  She doesn’t want to play with you right now.”

“Awww,” Tad whined.  “Now what am I gonna do?”

“Why don’t you go find something to do by yourself?”  I suggested.

“What?!?” Tad exclaimed.  He was appalled.

I had to stifle a laugh, but I couldn’t help smiling.  He might have far to go, but sometimes he is just as he should be – a perfectly annoying little brother.

Tad was definitely apprehensive – I’d even go so far as to say he was a little fearful.  He was clutching both my hand and the Webmaster’s as we walked into the main building and signed in at the office.  The Webmaster tried to set him at ease by pointing out the school mascot.  “Dolphins!” Tad exclaimed.

Still, he was completely unnerved as we walked into his new classroom and met his new teacher, Mrs. W.  The Webmaster and I had met her oh-so-briefly before, at the kindergarten transition meeting at Tad’s preschool last January, but that was before we knew Tad would be in her class.  We introduced ourselves and Tad, and then set out to explore the classroom, Tad still clutching at my hand, afraid of being left there by himself.  After looking at the bins of toys, we found the reading nook – complete with cushioned window seats.  Tad picked up an Eric Carle illustrated book on animals, and – naturally – found the one and only shark picture in the entire book.  Which he then showed his new teacher.  “He likes sharks,” I told her – which is probably the understatement of the year.

The Webmaster and I also met the vice-principal, one of the physical therapists, and the school nurse.  Tad was a more subdued than usual, thanks to the strange environment and having just woken up from a power nap in the car, and his apprehension made him unusually responsive and well-behaved.  The open house was very sparsely attended – just two other kids with their families – so Tad’s new teacher took us on a quick tour of all the areas her class uses – including the swimming pool.  Oh, yes.  As part of the CLC-K, Tad’s class goes to the pool once a week.  Tad will be keeping swim trunks at school.  He was really excited about the pool.

As we finished up our tour and thanked his new teacher (who will be teaching summer school through July, and invited us to stop by again to get Tad used to the building and the new class), we stopped outside at the smaller playground that the kindergarten through second grades use (they are all at one end of the building, and the third through sixth grades are at the other end – this is an astoundingly large campus for a elementary school, thanks to the extensive facilities that they have, like the pool).  As Tad checked out his new playground, I looked to at the Webmaster.  “I have a good feeling about this next year.  It’s going to be intense, but I like what I see.”

He agreed with me.

As much as I’m going to miss Tad’s preschool terribly, and his teachers and speech therapist, who have all come to love him, he needs a change of pace.  He needs this new class.  He needs to live up to a new set of expectations.  And I am so grateful that this program, and this class, exist to give him that.

My boy is growing up.  I think I’d better let him.

Now that Rerun is here, and we’re in a slightly predictable schedule, I have been volunteering on Monday mornings in Ane’s class.  Have I said before how much I like Ms. V., her teacher?  I really like her.  I’m glad that I do have the time and flexibility to volunteer.  Rerun goes along with me, and Ms. V. gets to hold him and have a little baby time amidst all the kindergarteners.  There was a substitute teacher in yesterday, and I think she was surprised – but glad – to see me show up.  I don’t know all of the routines of the class, but the kids do know me and I know most of their names (picking Ane up everyday after school and seeing the kids waiting for the bus has certainly helped), so I’m sure that I was a little bit helpful to the substitute.

Ane’s school reading program is still going full steam ahead, and it’s given me a good excuse to read books to Ane that she normally wouldn’t have let me choose.  We just finished up Charlotte’s Web.  I couldn’t find my copy – it’s packed away in the garage somewhere, and it was a battered, tattered book, very well-loved – so I bought a brand-new copy.  Ane really got into the story, though initially, she told me, “it’s kind of boring, but I like it.”  By the time we finished, I had cried (again) over Charlotte’s death and Ane decided that she really did like it.  Yesterday morning, though, after sleeping on the end of the story, she got all weepy about Charlotte herself.  It was a bit of a delayed reaction.  “Wilbur lost his friend, and he was all alone,” she told me mournfully.  I had to remind her that three of the baby spiders stayed with Wilbur at the end, and he was happy about that, which cheered Ane up a bit.

She’s also been making more of an effort into her own reading skills – partially spurred on by the fact that the Brain and Head are quite voracious readers themselves and very much her peers – and definitely complains less about reading aloud.  It also helps that she can “read” to Rerun.  She absolutely adores her baby brother, and never misses a chance to entertain him – even if that means reading aloud.

With Tad’s school year also winding down, it means more meetings about his goals for next year for me.  This is part of his yearly assessment, and it’s particularly important this year because of his impending school change from special ed preschool to the “contained learning center” kindergarten.  We also discovered that a friend from church is one of the vice-principals at Tad’s new school, which was a pleasant surprise to us.  He’s not really involved in Tad’s program, but it will be nice to know someone in the administration if we do need help at any point.

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at Tad’s school, which is actually an “Appreciate Everyone Week,” because the teacher day is today, the staff day is tomorrow (which includes Tad’s beloved speech therapist, who I am going to miss terribly next year), and Thursday is for the bus drivers.  And yes, the bus drivers do quite a bit of work for these special ed kids.  I have actually gotten to know Tad’s after school driver by name, and he has been wonderful and patient with Tad on the bus.  I went to Starbucks yesterday and bought gift cards for everyone, and then started working on notecard sets for Tad’s teacher, paraeducator, and speech therapist.  I may as well make my hobby/sort-of business work to my advantage, right?

And Rerun… has no idea what school is, but both Ane and Tad’s teachers think he is pretty darn cute.

And they are right.

Unsurprisingly, Ane came home with a glowing report.  She and Ms. V. get along so well together, and academically Ane is just where she should be.  I wish we could see more effort on her part at home with the reading end of things, and less griping about her homework, but I know that she puts her best efforts in at school and her teacher is pleased.

Tad is another story altogether.

I had his parent-teacher conference on Friday, and the boys had to come along with me.  The teachers and speech therapist were eager to meet Rerun, and it was just easier to bring Tad along at that point.  Rerun was a huge hit – Tad’s speech therapist was actually in the main office when we arrived, and got first dibs on the baby.  Tad introduced his “baby bruvver” to her, and then we all walked to the classroom, though Tad wanted to go to speech therapy.  “We go speech?” he asked his therapist.  Then he paused, looked at the baby in her arms, and said, “Rerun go to speech?”

I had a long talk with the speech therapist and Tad’s teacher, while his paraeducator played with Tad and Rerun got handed around.  The bottom line is that Tad is much improved in speech, and has met his receptive language goals.  His expressive language is still a work-in-progress, and will continue to be a big part of his education for as long as necessary.  However, the biggest problem with Tad right now is his behavior, not his speech.  He does fairly well in the classroom setting, but as soon as he is given choices – or a recess – he becomes wild and almost uncontrollable.

As a result, and because his teachers think that he definitely needs more one-on-one attention in a classroom setting, they have decided to recommend him for the CLC kindergarten program instead of the transitional kindergarten.

I was kind of surprised, especially since when the Webmaster and I attended the informational meeting, Tad’s teacher was really advocating for the TK.  When I asked what made them decide that CLCK was the best choice for Tad, his speech therapist said, “We want to give him the help that he would need on his worst days.  And we know that he can be a completely different kid from day to day.”

The CLCK, besides being a stellar program, has a 8 children to 3 adult ratio (one teacher, two paraeducators) and designated one-on-one time with a teacher to do class work.  Tad will still probably continue on with an individual speech therapist as well.  For those in the know about the school district, Tad will attend Woodmoor Elementary because of where we live (the district is divided in half, and we live in the west side, which funnels CLC students into Woodmoor), and be bused there every day (and I’m sure it will not be a short bus ride).  It is a half-day program for kindergarten (I’m not sure if it is 4 or 5 days a week).

It was a lot to take in at once, but the Webmaster and I are okay with this.  Grandma summed it up perfectly when she said, “Better to get him more help than he needs than have him in a class with less help and a frustrated teacher.”  And that is the bottom line.  Tad will probably thrive in the attention that he will get in this setting, plus the fact that we’ve been told that swimming lessons are a part of the class schedule there (the school has a swimming pool) and Tad will LOVE that.

I mentioned this to Ms. V. when I picked Ane up from school yesterday.  She knows the teacher that Tad will have next year and recommends her highly – she taught Ms. V.’s disabled son as well.

Okay, enough school talk.  Cuteness fix!

Rerun has a bit of baby acne at the moment, but I think it’s getting better.  His cheeks are still quite soft and kissable, though.

And he’s outgrown a couple of the preemie outfits and has begun to wear newborn-sized sleepers.  My baby is three weeks old and growing!!!

Anyway, this particular consultation (the last time we did a consult appointment was when Tad was 2 and a half and I wanted his opinion on Tad’s speech issues post-his-first-run-with-speech-therapy) was regarding Tad’s behavior… and his sleeping problems… and his behavior.

I know I’ve mentioned before that Tad is “flunking recess” at school. He’s failing it in the sense that he cannot control himself when given the reins to run freely and do whatever he wants on the playground. He possesses no self-control, period. He does do pretty well in class, so we’re told, but he’s been just miserable in Sunday school and Cubbies recently. Our recent visit to the naturopath was in an effort to get an alternative opinion on his behavior – and look for an alternative solution. We’re still in the trial period of waiting to see if any of the vitamin supplements that Tad is currently taking will have any effect on his behavior, and I was upfront with Dr. N. about that.

Tad rarely sleeps through the night any more. For the last seven months now, just before he turned 4, Tad turned into a night owl who moves around during the night. We initially tried to keep him in his room by using a spinner lock on the inside of his door and closing his door, but that sent him into hysterics, even with a nightlight on. We finally left the door cracked, but Tad was getting up during the night, turning on all the lights he could in the living room, and falling asleep on the couch. We finally compromised with leaving the hall light on all night, but Tad started trying to climb in bed with us.

The current compromise is having the hall light on all night, and leaving a pillow out on the floor of our room. And more often than not, that’s where we find Tad in the mornings. Occasionally, he surprises us and stays in his room all night, but those times are few and far between.

And he’s been waking up upset and crying. He’s not having night terrors, but something is definitely upsetting him and waking him up. And then driving him to find someone – me, the Webmaster, even Ane – to give him some kind of reassurance that he’s not all alone.

As a consequence, he’s an absolute slug on school mornings… then add in his 30-40 minute bus ride in the morning… and we’re pretty sure it’s not helping his behavior at school.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Anyway, Dr. N. and I had a pretty involved conversation about Tad – and Tad obligingly went into full-out “cranked up to 11″ mode, since it was well past naptime. He sang, he roamed, he read a Star Wars book… he displayed the usual crazy in living color for Dr. N.

So, now I have another appointment to make. Dr. N. is sending us to a pediatric psychologist to get her opinion on Tad’s behavior and sleeping issues. And it’s time to bring the magic letters ADD/ADHD to the table. Now, Tad is too young to be formally diagnosed, but that may be the road we are headed down. So, off to the psychologist we will go. This is probably not something I can fit in before Rerun’s arrival, depending on what the psychologist’s schedule is like, but we’ll probably be able to get it in before too long.

I have been asking for the school psychologist at Tad’s preschool to please come and take a look at him, but it simply hasn’t happened yet, despite my bugging the teachers to bring her in. No luck. Grandma pointed out today with all the cutbacks in the school district, it just may not happen. Regardless, he needs an evaluation and I’m more than happy to take Dr. N.’s recommendation and go somewhere else.

While Tad and I were at the pediatrician’s office, Ane was hanging out with Obachan (Grandma was not available) at the retirement complex where she now lives. Apparently a good time was had by all, because Obachan told Ane to “come again soon.” They put a puzzle together and watched 101 Dalmatians. Ane was so involved and content spending time with her great-grandmother that she declined to go birthday gift shopping with me. She’s been invited to a party on Sunday, and we needed to pick out a gift. I told her over the phone that if she didn’t go, then she had to live with whatever I picked out, and she agreed. I chose something in the Disney Princess line, and Ane gave her approval after she saw it, so all is good there.

So, we had a productive day. Dr. N. evaluated Tad and referred us on. I got in yet another appointment before Rerun arrived. Ane had fun with Obachan. Obachan was pleased because she got to help out – and because I brought her some oatmeal raisin cookies. And Ane now has a birthday gift for Sunday’s party. Not bad.

Of course, no one napped and everyone went crazy later, but that’s another story.

We’ve really hit a snag in Tad’s behavior lately. Not that his behavior was perfect and then something went awry, but as he’s gotten older, his lack of self-control becomes more and more apparent. Being as far along as I am, I have a harder time physically restraining him, and the same things that we used to do (like using a stroller in the mall) simply doesn’t look right or work anymore. He’s four and a half years old today. He should be able to walk with us in a mall, or in a grocery store, without having to be buckled down. He should have an awareness of safety in a parking lot. He should be able to follow rules at school and know what the consequences are when he disobeys.

And… he doesn’t. And I am so afraid that something bad will happen before he does.

With Rerun coming, it’s even more important that we find some keys to his behavior. We’ve asked the school psychologist to take a look at him, but that hasn’t happened yet.

And then we visited a naturopath who was recommended to us by Miss Bee, a friend from church.

Tad took to Dr. C. immediately, who is a big guy, but patient with kids. At least, he was with Tad. After hearing about Tad’s behavior, and taking into account his delays, Dr. C. said that he could definitely see signs of hyperactivity in Tad.

Of course, it also could have been that Tad was bouncing off the walls in there and trying to steal a stethoscope to listen to his own heartbeat.

Because of Tad’s age, he can’t be given a formal diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, and that may or may not happen in the future. And he is too young for any kind of medication for those disorders. And this is where the naturopath comes in.

Was there anything that we could give him NOW that might make a difference?

After a blood test that ruled out gluten intolerance (a possible cause of hyperactivity), Tad has been put on a vitamin regimen that took a couple of trips to Super Supplements to fill, and a written schedule to keep track of it all. None of these vitamins are particularly unusual, and the hope is that we will start to see a difference in Tad’s behavior. We were told to wait 6 to 8 weeks to see any changes in him, and it’s only been 2 weeks. So we still have a while to wait.

At least with all of these vitamins, we’re operating under a “no harm, no foul” policy. None of these can hurt him, and if they do help him, so much the better. In the meantime, the counter top looks like a mini-pharmacy, and Tad is taking some kind of supplement or vitamin with every single meal (mostly so I can space out things during the day). Thank God for gummy and chewable vitamins, because without them, I just don’t think this would be possible.

It’s an interesting experiment. I’ll keep you all posted on how it turns out. Tad’s not going to turn into a perfectly well-behaved child at the end of 8 weeks – he’s still a 4 and a half year old boy and his father’s son. (I’ve been hearing some stories from the Webmaster’s childhood recently that even has him admitting that some of Tad’s behaviors must come from him.) He still has speech delays and learning delays, and no amount of vitamins, or even medication, is going to fix that. If only.

We’re just trying to do what’s best for Tad. Because if we don’t, no one else will.