Hello

July 24, 2000

Bernadine, welcome. We are happy to have you and your husband on our list. My

10 yr old is dx with anxiety, adhd, odd, ocd and so many things, but I feel

he is aspergers. I am in the process of having him re-evaluated. The new

psychologist I spoke with thinks, from all his records and our meeting, that

I am right. He sees for the first time tomorrow. So we will see what

happens. I have 4 special needs boys, and they have been on alot of meds,

including clonodine and risperadol. I took them off all meds and give them

vitamins and herbs. They aren't perfect, but they are better than when they

were on meds. So I know what you mean. Look forward to hearing more from you,

and once again, welcome. God bless, Sharon(moderator)

July 25, 2000

Sharon,

Can you tell me what vitamins & herbs you give your kids?

Thanks

Myra

Re: Hello

Bernadine, welcome. We are happy to have you and your husband on our list. My 10 yr old is dx with anxiety, adhd, odd, ocd and so many things, but I feel he is aspergers. I am in the process of having him re-evaluated. The new psychologist I spoke with thinks, from all his records and our meeting, that I am right. He sees for the first time tomorrow. So we will see what happens. I have 4 special needs boys, and they have been on alot of meds, including clonodine and risperadol. I took them off all meds and give them vitamins and herbs. They aren't perfect, but they are better than when they were on meds. So I know what you mean. Look forward to hearing more from you, and once again, welcome. God bless, Sharon(moderator)

July 25, 2000

Myra, I give my kids a multivitamin and mineral suppliment, dmg, xtra vitamin

c, b-6 and magnesium, and some b-complex vitamins. I use valerian during the

day to calm them. I also give them a combination of ginko biloba and ginseng.

At night I give them calcium, some valerian and melatonin to help them sleep.

That's what we are doing currently, but I continue to research everything.

All of these are safe, but I would suggest, of course, consulting your dr. Of

course if your dr is like mine, they will say it's a waste. Our dr thought it

best to keep my kids on 3 different meds, but I went on my own, weened them

off meds and started them on the natural suppliments. When I took them back

to him, he couldn't believe the difference, and was stunned when I told him,

they were not on any meds at all, just the natural stuff. Hope this helped,

Sharon

July 27, 2000

Sharon,

I give Adam a multivitamin with flouride, extra c & E & omega-3. I tried giving him the B-6 Magnesium but I didn't see a difference. I do see a difference with the Omega-3. He became a lot happeier.

I'm looking for non-med solutions to his attention problem. When we give him meds (we tried ritalin, dexedrene & adderal), his focus improved but his frustration level dropped. He was tantruming in 1st grade. Now blood tests show that the meds have affected his liver function so I want him off the meds.

I heard of a psychologist who claims to help kids with Autism & ADHD with neurobiofeedback. She is very confident (but then again she wants a lot of money so she should be confident). Anyway, I am very anxiopus to try it, but I don't want to get ripped off.

Have you or anyone else in the group heard of this or tried it?

Please let me know.

Thanks Myra

Re: Hello

Myra, I give my kids a multivitamin and mineral suppliment, dmg, xtra vitamin c, b-6 and magnesium, and some b-complex vitamins. I use valerian during the day to calm them. I also give them a combination of ginko biloba and ginseng. At night I give them calcium, some valerian and melatonin to help them sleep. That's what we are doing currently, but I continue to research everything. All of these are safe, but I would suggest, of course, consulting your dr. Of course if your dr is like mine, they will say it's a waste. Our dr thought it best to keep my kids on 3 different meds, but I went on my own, weened them off meds and started them on the natural suppliments. When I took them back to him, he couldn't believe the difference, and was stunned when I told him, they were not on any meds at all, just the natural stuff. Hope this helped, Sharon

May 21, 2001

Hello Neysa, and welcome to our list. There are

May 21, 2001

Sorry, I sent that to soon. Neysa, once again welcome to the list. There are alot of good people on this list that will be able to answer whatever questions you have. I am the list owner, and I have 4 boys, ages 4, 5, 6, and 11. My youngest is pdd, the 5 and 6 yr olds are autistic, and the oldest is aspergers. He was first dx with adhd. My 4 boys are a handful. They look very normal, but when you take a closer look, you can see, as you said. My boys can tantrum and be very aggressive, especially my 5 and 6 yr olds. They have put holes in our walls, and broke many a thing. Several months ago, we went through 10 lamps in a week. I remember the two of them in our kitchen. They decided to bake a cake. It was a mess. We had problems with them sleeping and roaming. For a while, I had to sleep outside their door on the floor, because we didn't know what else to do. They were on 3 different meds at one time. Now they are on natural suppliments. They still have their problems, but we get by. We got a door, the kind that opens halfway. Forgive me, I can't think what they are called. We have a lock on the outside, so we can still see in and they can see out, but they can't get out to roam at night. We have baby proofed our house. There are locks on every cabinet. We homeschool them and keep them busy and occupied. It's hard, but please know you aren't alone. We are all here for you. Feel free to email me privately anytime. Hello to everyone else, would love to hear updates from all, and to all new members, welcome, introduce yourself. Hope everyone is doing great, God bless, Sharon(moderator)

November 12, 2001

Hello lober@...,

In reference to your comment:

è . I would also love to hear from anyone whose child

è was not 'identified' until his/her school years.

Hi!

There is a growing number of people from NC on this list. I read somewhere that NC is 3rd in the nation for the number of autistic people who live there. I am from close to Raleigh and my son was diagnosed at TEACCH. The new TEACCH office in Garner is practically next door. Is this your first trip to TEACCH? I think we went for an interview or something of that nature before we went for the evaluation. My son was in the third grade when he was diagnosed. He was actually referred to TEACCH in the second but had to wait 9 months to get in. C had been evaluated before and nothing was mentioned about autism. The TEACCH evaluation was a real eye opening experience. My husband has an older son that is ADHD and acts very similar to C. So we had always thought that C's hyperactivity was more severe. One of the interns had a list of developmental questions she went through with me. I was amazed that the questions asked seemed to be made specifically for my child. He definitely fit the criteria. Up until then I really didn't think C was autistic and this was a waste of time. I think the mourning is typical. I did that too. I had a normal, (well not exactly LOL!) child until the day I went there and then I find out he is what they said "legally handicapped". They gave me a bunch of information and part of that was that you needed to plan for the day when you are not going to be there to take care of your child. This was something I had never thought about. The possibility that my child might not ever be able to go out in the world on his own, get a job and basically have a life had NEVER occurred to me. It got me down for a couple of months.. yeah feeling sorry for myself. But then I realized, nothing had really changed. He was still the same old C and all we could do was hope for the best. We try to make sure he has all the educational opportunities available and sporting activities. He's in the band. One thing I am learning this year is there comes a time that you have to let them start handling things on their own. You can't protect them forever. If they are ever going to be out in the world on their own they have got to know how to deal with real life situations and if you always run interference for them they will never learn. I would never let things get out of hand but this is a hard lesson I am learning this year. Mother's have to let go of their babies even ours. <<sniff! sniff>>

If you haven't seen TEACCH's web site you need to check it out. If you need the address let me know as it is in my Fav places among the other 4300 things! LOL!

K

November 12, 2001

I guess it's time to write. I, too, am from NC. My

now 13 yr. old son was labeled AS in June after the

autism team observed him the year before during his

2nd 6th grade year in public school. (Held back for

social skills and not doing homework.) Our problem has

always been that he is so brilliant on the input side

of things and so poor on the output (writing), he gets

the " he could do better if he only applied himself "

speech. Homework, he doesn't do it. Last Monday, he

worked 3 1/2 hours on what should've been 30 min. of

homework and then only got a 50% on it. I asked the

resource person why he should bother to pick up a

pencil to do homework again. We're meeting next week.

After meeting with the autism team in June and

working out ways to ensure that he had a good year

this year, redistricting changed his school and the

efforts to talk with the new teachers have been very

frustrating. For some reason, " he comes this way and

AS and autism and contact the TEACCH team " just hasn't

worked with these educational experts. They've

ignored my recommendations. So finally we're gonna

meet and have the talk we should've had in August

before school started. The psychologist is coming and

the EC coordinator. They're ready to listen now that

he's flunked all 4 core subjects and gotten D's in the

encore subjects, because of homework. At the end of

the year he'll make high 3's and 4's on EOG. (4 is

highest possible) He's doing so much better than the

prognosis before birth (he comes with built in

genetically programmed AS, ADHD and CAPD, as result of

his 2 syndromes). Oh well, adversity builds

character, he's supposed to turn out ok after he gets

through the torture of the first 12 years of school if

they don't beat him down, and he's a wonderful sweet

warm loving kid. He's a definite engineer type and he

makes a " mean " biscuit. I've just told him about his

AS with the help of the TEACCH workbook, " AS -- What

does it mean to me? " Haven't explained the genetic

stuff yet. AS is the tip of the iceberg.

Have enjoyed this list the short time I've been on it.

__________________________________________________

November 12, 2001

Homework, he doesn't do it. Last Monday, he

worked 3 1/2 hours on what should've been 30 min. of

homework and then only got a 50% on it. I asked the

resource person why he should bother to pick up a

pencil to do homework again. We're meeting next week.

************************

Print out this article and take it with you. Maybe it will help your case. -

T. Attwood Homework Debate http://www.tonyattwood.com/paper8.htm

November 12, 2001

When Louie, now 21, was still in high school, we had the same trouble

with homework. Of course, this was after the 2 year battle to get them

to teach him at least one academic subject per year! Finally, we

figured out that he had already " gotten " the concept during the

classwork, and they (at our request) let him start doing what would have

been his homework as his class work. His marks on that went up

immediately. He just didn't see the point of doing work at home that

he'd already learned in class. Seemed a waste of time to him, and I

have to agree.

You're lucky, btw, that they will give him academics at all. As I say,

he got one solid class for his last two years in h.s.....the others were

repeats of subjects he'd already had, even down to using the same old

outdated books. :\ And then, about a month ago, the school had the

absolute nerve to send us a " reminder " that he had not yet taken his

state required comprehensive exams and that he couldn't get his high

school diploma without them!!!!! We told that school for two solid

years that we wanted him educated so that he could take a modified

version of that exam, and they dragged their feet and found excuse after

excuse not to do so. Did I call the school about their little

" reminder? " Oh, you betcha I did! I think I may have melted the phone

lines......

Of course, now he's in supported living, learning all the social skills

stuff he should have learned in school, preparing to start work next

year...... It all turns out in the end, if you can keep your kid upbeat

and sane through high school.

Annie, who loves ya annie@...

--

I was brought up to respect my elders and now I dont have to respect

anybody.

- Burns at 87

December 2, 2001

Welcome to the group,Laila. My name is Debbie, I am a

SAHM of 3. na 9 1/2, 8 and Shane 2.Shane

was diagnosed with Autism 2 1/2 months ago.So I know

how it feels to be at lose.My son is also using the

pictures to ask for things.He just started and is

doing very well with it.

Debbie

--- laila-lyn@... wrote:

> Hi!

>

> I'm new to this group. My name is Laila. I have a

> husband, Matt, and two sons, Aidan, 4 years old and

> Ian, 3 years old. My youngest, Ian, was diagonsed

> with Autism about 7 months ago. This is all very new

> to me and my knowledge of autism is still limited. I

> have read some websites and a couple of books so

> far. Luckily Ian entered an Early Intervention

> program when he was 2 and he's in a preschool for

> children with disabilities now. He just recently

> started the PECS program and is now starting to

> communicate his wants with pictures. I have so many

> questions that I don't even know where to start. But

> I thought for now, that I would just introduce

> myself and say hello.

>

> Have a good day!

>

> -Laila

>

__________________________________________________

June 14, 2002

Sharon,

The site looks great. No wonder you have not posted in a while. You've been busy!

Debi

Hello

HEllo everyone. I have been out of the loop for a bit but this group seems to take care of itself. Let me say I wish to welcome all new members and a big hello to all the rest. I would love to hear something about each of you, and some updates on everyone else. I have been very busy. Of course with 4 boys with autism, That never changes. I have kept up on the reading of the posts. This is a wonderful group and I am happy I started this list to meet each of you. I have learned much from you. There is a new organization, Fight Autism Now. It was started by me and my husband to bring about awareness of autism and fund research. We are trying to get the word out and hope all of you can help. Please visit www.fightautismnow.com and let us know what you think and if you would like to see anything added there let me know please. I appreciate all your help and comments and advice. Hope you and your families are well. God bless, Sharon(moderator)

January 8, 2003

she will be going on 7 in Kindergarten. she turned 5 December 28th..

In our state (Illinois) a child has to have turned 5 on or before September 1 of that year to be eligible to enter kindergarten. So if you lived in Illinois, she would be right on target to go into kindergarten.

Kathy in Suburban Chicago

January 8, 2003

Her biggest

problem right now is teasing. I haven't been successful in helping

her to deal with teasing at all. Her solution is to stay away from

those who tease her, but there will always be someone else to come

along and hurt her feelings. If anyone has any suggestions please

post them. I would greatly appreciate it.

I have an 8th grade son who is Aspergers. He has been teased since about the second grade. It gets worse as they get older. Luckily when he was in the school that housed grades 3-5, that principal was great. She took care of all bullying issues immediately.

Unfortunately now in junior high (grades 6-7-8), things are much worse. I am told by the principal that "boys will be boys". That was unacceptable to me. I am a pain in the butt to them about every bullying issue there is. I have even gone to the school board with my complaints.

Now that he is going onto high school next year, I will be running for school board of the high school because things get worse as they get older. My son is also bipolar and the suicide rate is very high for these children already. I don't need some kid harassing my child because he lacks the proper social skills. Hopefully I can make a difference in at least on child's life.

Kathy in Suburban Chicago

January 8, 2003

About the age 6 for starting school... If I hold back, she will be going on 7 in Kindergarten. she turned 5 December 28th.. so she'd be REALLY old in school. I'm not sure that she needs the extra attention drawn to her. Or maybe I'm wrong?

Welcome to the group!

Hello

My name is Robin and I have a 10 year old daughter with Aspergers. You have no idea how glad I am to have found this group knowing there are other moms out there who have girls with Asperger's. Until recently I didn't know another family with autistic children. I joined a group last month from my area. Out of 75 members only 2 of us have girls and that mom doesn't post much at all. I am so excited to be here!I just finished reading the latest posts and almost fell over. My daughter turns 11 in May and the onset of puberty has been on my mind lately. It wasn't till I read a few of the posts about acne that I realized she maybe hitting puberty sooner than I thought. She too has outbreaks of acne on her nose and forehead and recently her chin. And I thought she just wasn't washing her face well! I'm not ready for this!!!I also waited until she was 6 to start school. I'm very glad I did. She is now in the fourth grade and doing very well. Her biggest problem right now is teasing. I haven't been successful in helping her to deal with teasing at all. Her solution is to stay away from those who tease her, but there will always be someone else to come along and hurt her feelings. If anyone has any suggestions please post them. I would greatly appreciate it.

January 8, 2003

My daughters birthday is in May. Had she been born in December like

your child I would have sent her sooner. There's another girl in her

class that's her age and the rest are a year younger.

> About the age 6 for starting school... If I hold back, she

will be going on 7 in Kindergarten. she turned 5 December 28th.. so

she'd be REALLY old in school. I'm not sure that she needs the extra

attention drawn to her. Or maybe I'm wrong?

>

> Welcome to the group!

> Hello

>

> My name is Robin and I have a 10 year old daughter with

Aspergers.

> You have no idea how glad I am to have found this group knowing

there

> are other moms out there who have girls with Asperger's. Until

> recently I didn't know another family with autistic children. I

> joined a group last month from my area. Out of 75 members only 2

of

> us have girls and that mom doesn't post much at all. I am so

excited

> to be here!

>

> I just finished reading the latest posts and almost fell over. My

> daughter turns 11 in May and the onset of puberty has been on my

mind

> lately. It wasn't till I read a few of the posts about acne that

I

> realized she maybe hitting puberty sooner than I thought. She too

has

> outbreaks of acne on her nose and forehead and recently her chin.

And

> I thought she just wasn't washing her face well! I'm not ready

for

> this!!!

>

> I also waited until she was 6 to start school. I'm very glad I

did.

> She is now in the fourth grade and doing very well. Her biggest

> problem right now is teasing. I haven't been successful in

helping

> her to deal with teasing at all. Her solution is to stay away

from

> those who tease her, but there will always be someone else to

come

> along and hurt her feelings. If anyone has any suggestions please

> post them. I would greatly appreciate it.

>

April 2, 2004

mpb1472:

Thanks for your e-mail. I'm kind of an older (55) "newbie" to the Bullworker. I had bullworker for over 20 years, and only used it every once in a while.

I had a recent illness which has spurred me to get out there and exercise in order to reclaim my health and my body....

A so-called friend STOLE my old X5 Bullworker, and I had to order a new one.

The new bullworker is exactly the same as my original one execpt that it's missing the labels on the handles.

So I'm starting again from zero. According to the manual you're supposed to start the Isotonic exercises from about the fifth week. The manual describes different training cycles based on the isotonic exercises etc... I'm still trying to figure it all out...

At the moment I'm on the first 10 days training cyle of the first six isometric exercises, which I preceed with the circulation exercises.

I downloaded the 1980's manual from the Sandow website and I've been reading and studying it as well as practicing the different exercises.

This is the complete 1970's-80's Training Manual. Download it while you still can!http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Bullworker/bullworker-intro.htm

If you go up on the Bullworker Club EG files section you will notice that I've uploaded some MSWord files which are my preliminary attempts at organizing an exercise program based on the manual.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/bullworkerclub/files

They are a work in progress and I'm sure will be amended, tweaked, corrected, and changed as I lean more about how to use the Bullworker.

Hope it helps!

BTW, did you ever get the Bullworker training video? I'm really on the prowl for one of those.

All the best,

Tony

Hello

Im 46, I have two Bullworkers. The original with green handles and th X5 with straps. I like the X5 better than the original, it is smoother. I follow the wall chart of the original doing about 12-14 exercises in a row of my choice. I do them all for 10 count. I was wondering if any of you just do the isometrics or do you incorporate isotonic (reps) into your training. I use it about 4-5 times a week. I do martial arts and work in PT. So Im quite active. What I like about it, is that I feel stronger but not taxed for all my activities? Injuries creep in when using other stuff like kettlebells and barbells. IM less stiff and sore but full of energy.It is especially useful to help with my profession, in which Im required to hold people statically in positions at times. Im am always looking for ways to use the device, so feel free to offer tips or any program you follow. Take care. This device is a winner.

April 3, 2004

.. I was

> wondering if any of you just do the isometrics or do you

incorporate

> isotonic (reps) into your training. I use it about 4-5 times a

week.

Well I used to do both the isotonics and the isometrics exactly as

instructed in the chart when I got my bullworker in the 1970's but I

have to confess that the isometrics which involve holding your

breath and tensing or flexing the muscles and holding in that

position for a count of ten, seemed to do some strange things to my

blood pressure. They already recommended you do the warm up

pullups to double your heart rate before you begin otherwise it's

unsafe to do isotonics. Even doing those heart doubling pumps/

pullups/ or even bouncing up and down on the spot using it like a

pogo stick to alternate legs together/ legs apart and really get my

heart going, I still got strange blood pressure related symptoms

like popping in the ears and a feeling of fullness during the normal

day.

I now restrict my isotmetrics to just holding for a count of 5 and

not ten, after all I'm not interested in getting visual muscle bulk

as much as getting strength and muscle tone, and therefore fitness

from its use.

I think I've found a good compromise way of using it.

I did start to get some backache using it wrongly at one point, and

even bought myself an inversion table to stretch my lower spine. But

I noticed the warnings on the label of this that you should consult

your doctor and not use the table if you have a history of blood

pressure or glaucoma. So I ration now how much I use the

bullworker and the inversion table. I have had to take a months

diuretics to bring down my blood pressure which for the first time n

my 57 years is high just now.

Good bullworking. But be careful.

pianotok.

April 3, 2004

> . I was

> > wondering if any of you just do the isometrics or do you

> incorporate

> > isotonic (reps) into your training. I use it about 4-5 times a

> week.

>

> Well I used to do both the isotonics and the isometrics exactly as

> instructed in the chart when I got my bullworker in the 1970's but

I

> have to confess that the isometrics which involve holding your

> breath and tensing or flexing the muscles and holding in that

> position for a count of ten, seemed to do some strange things to my

> blood pressure. They already recommended you do the warm up

> pullups to double your heart rate before you begin otherwise it's

> unsafe to do isotonics. Even doing those heart doubling pumps/

> pullups/ or even bouncing up and down on the spot using it like a

> pogo stick to alternate legs together/ legs apart and really get my

> heart going, I still got strange blood pressure related symptoms

> like popping in the ears and a feeling of fullness during the

normal

> day.

>

> I now restrict my isotmetrics to just holding for a count of 5 and

> not ten, after all I'm not interested in getting visual muscle bulk

> as much as getting strength and muscle tone, and therefore fitness

> from its use.

>

> I think I've found a good compromise way of using it.

> I did start to get some backache using it wrongly at one point, and

> even bought myself an inversion table to stretch my lower spine.

But

> I noticed the warnings on the label of this that you should consult

> your doctor and not use the table if you have a history of blood

> pressure or glaucoma. So I ration now how much I use the

> bullworker and the inversion table. I have had to take a months

> diuretics to bring down my blood pressure which for the first time

n

> my 57 years is high just now.

>

> Good bullworking. But be careful.

> pianotok.

Pianotok,

Don not hold your breath when using the Bullworker or any other heavy

exertions if you have BP problems. After you inhale and contract or

extend against the resistance of the Bullworker, EXHALE by counting

out loud to 10. It should lessen your troubles and is the original

way to use the Bulloworker. Take care. Mike

April 3, 2004

Laurie:

You've raised some very interesting points. I have also heard

elsewhere the business about blood pressure possibly going up during

a bullworker isometric workout.

On the other hand, I do recall the manual instructing one to inhale

during the initial contraction, and then to count out loud to ten

(obviously exhaling). I don't recall anywhere in the manual the

intruction to hold one's breath while doing an isometric contraction.

I'll take a closer look at the manual and see if there is such an

instruction.

If my memory serves me right that 1980's manual actually expresses a

general warning and covers that point, hence the recommendation of

also incorporating some 20-30 reps of some special " circulation "

exercises prior to and after an isometric work out. I assume that one

is supposed to balance the other.

Might I suggest that you download the 1980's Bullworker manual from

the Sandow website, as it contains so much more really execellent

information about using the Bullworker than any of the charts.

I was concerned that the old manual might be dated, but frankly I

think it's BETTER than the " new " chart.

You can find the manual at the following url

http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Bullworker/bullworker-

intro.htm

Also, if you go up on the Bullworker Club EG files section you will

notice that I've uploaded some MSWord files which are my preliminary

attempts at organizing an exercise program based on the manual.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/bullworkerclub/files

I may eventually tweak the manual and compress it into zip files and

place it in the Files Section of the Bullworker Club Home-page for

everybody to download.

I guess the great thing about the Bullworker is that you can pretty

much custom-tailor your workout to suit your specific needs and

medical condition, if you have one.

Funnily enough, I have extremely low blood pressure so maybe the

Bullworker might bring it up a few points...

Anyway, I'm on my " official " day two of the introductory 10 day

program of the first six exercises in the manual. At the moment,

since I don't know any better, I'm following the manual to the

letter. I'll keep you all posted...