"I'm Autismed Out!"

On Monday, May 16th, Clay and I packed up the SUV again and headed to Little Rock for the last of his appointments until August. This was my fourth trip in four weeks, and I knew that I was going to have to turn right around this week to make the fifth trip. On Tuesday we went to the Autism Specialty Clinic at ACH at 8:30 in the morning and left at noon. We met with the neurologist and geneticists again, and then we headed home. For now, we will remain GFCF, remain in OT,PT, ST, and will resume Vitamin B12, B6 and folic acid injections.

We headed back to Springdale on Tuesday just to turn around on Wednesday and head back to LR. This time, all five of us went, six if you include Eve (our puppy) and seven if you include my mom, who needed a ride back to LR since she had ridden back with me and Kylie after the MRI. Keith and I were going to attend the Evidence Based Treatment seminar at ACH. The seminar was marketed for parents and health care providers, and we were eager to go and learn more about what could possibly help one, maybe two, of our children.

We sat together and listened the lecture after lecture of evidence-based ideation. We listened to opinions, theories, stories of working with children on the spectrum, and a whole bunch of research about our kids. We spent all Thursday there, trying to have a postive attitude but all the while both of us were feeling overwhelmed as we had more and more questions forming in our minds that cannot be answered at this time.

Finally, on Friday around noon, I turned to Keith during a lecture and said "I'm autismed out." It was May 20th, our 16th wedding anniversary. My mind was unsettled, racing with questions and answers, and trying to figure out why God has placed me in this autism chaos and if it is for His divine purpose. I was listening to lectures that left me with more questions than answers, and I needed to process it all. So we left. We had lunch, we talked, we went shopping, we had dinner and we headed to Lynn's house. We talked about how blessed we were to have such beautiful children and each other.

And I felt that I had learned something very important. I will trust my instinct more. This weekend I heard many different ideas and theories, but the main speaker, Dr. David Frye from Houston, spoke my language and affirmed that we may be on the right track with the Vitamin B 12, B6 and folic acid shots in our treatment plan for Clay and Kylie. Since their births, I have prayed to God guide us and lead us with every decision in their lives. And He has been faithful, leading us to more and more doctors who are looking into methylation disorders and mitochondrial dysfunctions.

We finished the weekend back at the seminar, but, I am grateful for the break from autism that we were given on our anniversary afternoon. Happy 16th, Keithy! I love you and am so glad to be sitting on the rollar coaster of life with you.