Checking in now that son is 7 years 9 mos

[Guest guest]

My fourth child started speech therapy at 2 1/2. He is still in speech

therapy but has made great gains. For example he used to say " Ah ah oh oh ee "

for " Mama cocoa please. " He can make many sounds but still has trouble with " s "

and " f " . He still has Apraxia and Dysarthria in addition to Pervasive

Development Disorder and physical birth defects on his hands.

He just lost the second of his two front teeth! He learned how to ride a bike

two weeks ago and we went to Van Fleet State Park Trail and rode 8.59 miles in

58 minutes!!

Fish oil never gave him remarkable gains in speech but since he is a resistant

eater we still give him a daily dose for improved nutritional status. I just

ordered NutriiVeda to try. We have also tried Ambrotose to no effect. SPEAK

just made him clench his jaws (I took it too and it made me feel that way too)

so we discontinued it. His tow tone in his body was helped with rigorous

frequent exercise. My son was given Carnitine by his neurologist but it just

made his pee smell! It didn't help his low tone.

Recently his behavior was getting to the point I thought he had oppositional

defiance disorder! He would run into my room and lock the door when the OT came

to our house!?! It was a battle to get him to do anything. His psychiatrist

started him on a small dose of Zoloft (10mg when 25mg is a typical starting

dose). He perservates and seems to have OCD on telling violent cartoon stories.

This was a DISASTER!!! He was taking only 10mg of Zoloft for 19 days. He went

crazy! He was agitated, swearing, he hit his best friend, he babbled

incoherently, had nightmares. His psychiatrist called it " activation. " I

reduced his dose 0.1ml every day from 0.5ml (0.5ml is 10mg Zolodt or generic

Sertraline HCI). Now he can be held and he no longer taps his feet when

sitting. He is my lovable 98% cooperative little guy again! I am wary of

trying another drug.

The best things for my son have been speech therapy and occupational therapy.

Currently his OT is Hippotherapy once a week and also having an OT come to the

house. Each session is 30 minutes.

Also working at home with him on speech is important since we cannot afford to

pay for ST everyday.

Oh and he can read! We are homeschoolers. My oldest three (14, 13, & 11) truly

learned how to read on their own. I really cannot take credit for their

learning how to read but for my fourth I had to really help him understand the

process.

So my advice is that therapy takes a long time and to hang in there. I am

training to run a half marathon. Therapy is like that too. It's hard work and

you don't always want to do it but if you can wake up at 6:15am and run you will

find after several months your body will stop hurting! LOL!

Best wishes,

Debra, homeschooling mom of four ages 14, 13, 11, and 7

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the positive message.  It is great for those of us with younger

children to hear how things are working.

________________________________

From: debjward <debjward@...>

Sent: Tue, March 8, 2011 10:54:36 AM

Subject: [ ] Checking in now that son is 7 years 9 mos

 

My fourth child started speech therapy at 2 1/2. He is still in speech

therapy but has made great gains. For example he used to say " Ah ah oh oh ee "

for " Mama cocoa please. " He can make many sounds but still has trouble with " s "

and " f " . He still has Apraxia and Dysarthria in addition to Pervasive

Development Disorder and physical birth defects on his hands.

He just lost the second of his two front teeth! He learned how to ride a bike

two weeks ago and we went to Van Fleet State Park Trail and rode 8.59 miles in

58 minutes!!

Fish oil never gave him remarkable gains in speech but since he is a resistant

eater we still give him a daily dose for improved nutritional status. I just

ordered NutriiVeda to try. We have also tried Ambrotose to no effect. SPEAK just

made him clench his jaws (I took it too and it made me feel that way too) so we

discontinued it. His tow tone in his body was helped with rigorous frequent

exercise. My son was given Carnitine by his neurologist but it just made his pee

smell! It didn't help his low tone.

Recently his behavior was getting to the point I thought he had oppositional

defiance disorder! He would run into my room and lock the door when the OT came

to our house!?! It was a battle to get him to do anything. His psychiatrist

started him on a small dose of Zoloft (10mg when 25mg is a typical starting

dose). He perservates and seems to have OCD on telling violent cartoon stories.

This was a DISASTER!!! He was taking only 10mg of Zoloft for 19 days. He went

crazy! He was agitated, swearing, he hit his best friend, he babbled

incoherently, had nightmares. His psychiatrist called it " activation. " I reduced

his dose 0.1ml every day from 0.5ml (0.5ml is 10mg Zolodt or generic Sertraline

HCI). Now he can be held and he no longer taps his feet when sitting. He is my

lovable 98% cooperative little guy again! I am wary of trying another drug.

The best things for my son have been speech therapy and occupational therapy.

Currently his OT is Hippotherapy once a week and also having an OT come to the

house. Each session is 30 minutes.

Also working at home with him on speech is important since we cannot afford to

pay for ST everyday.

Oh and he can read! We are homeschoolers. My oldest three (14, 13, & 11) truly

learned how to read on their own. I really cannot take credit for their learning

how to read but for my fourth I had to really help him understand the process.

So my advice is that therapy takes a long time and to hang in there. I am

training to run a half marathon. Therapy is like that too. It's hard work and

you don't always want to do it but if you can wake up at 6:15am and run you will

find after several months your body will stop hurting! LOL!

Best wishes,

Debra, homeschooling mom of four ages 14, 13, 11, and 7

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