Appointment updates and an interesting article

We have our intake appointment booked with the social worker. It's for Tuesday, February 16th at 10:30 am. That will start the ball rolling with the whole Early Intervention Program. I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. I want to get this going, get my little boy the help he needs. But at the same time, it'll be confirmation that this is actually all happening. That it's not just a really long bad dream. I guess it's better I face it sooner rather than later though, right?

Then in mid-March Steve and I have an appointment with Dr. Crosbie at her office to discuss things. I was hoping we'd get in sooner, but she's one busy chick. I really want to talk with her more about the ADOS and the scoring, and about her thoughts on these "rapid gains" that Jesse is making, especially since I'm not exactly sure what she's talking about. I'd like to believe her and be optimistic about this, but she was also the one who told me not to worry, that Jesse wouldn't not come out of the ADOS with a diagnosis. So I'm a bit skeptical.

Lastly, I came across a very interesting article on autism and it's causes and treatments. It's from eMagazine  and it's called The Search for Autism's Missing Piece: Autism Research Slowly Turns its Focus to Environmental Toxicity. It's actually a very good read, and much less biased than most pieces written on the topic. Of particular interest to me was this part (and the really pertinent parts are bolded by me): 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAN! doctors, despite their detractors, tend to focus on one physical attribute common to autistic kids that’s scientifically indisputable: As many as 70% of them have something wrong in the gut. Common maladies include what’s known as “leaky gut syndrome,” in which the intestinal lining is damaged, allowing toxins and waste to enter the bloodstream; bowel inflammation and an overgrowth of harmful bacteria and yeast. These kids can be constipated often, or prone to chronic diarrhea. Stools are often horrible-smelling (well beyond the norm) and the act of pooping can lead to bleeding. And besides the cramping, pushing-on-their-bellies behaviors, autistic kids with these complications often have outward physical signs: bloated bellies, dark circles under the eyes, pale complexions. 

Back in 1999, a study of 36 severely autistic kids by doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found the first link between autism and a series of gastrointestinal disorders. Nearly 70% of the kids had acid reflux and 58% had chronic diarrhea because they could not properly absorb carbohydrates. Many of the kids could not sleep through the night as a result of their constant discomfort, which in turn was thought to contribute to their behaviors of irritability and aggression. Then, in March 2009, researchers found what looks to be a gene variant linking these two conditions. Published in Pediatrics, the researchers found that the specific gene variation called the MET C allele affected both brain development and gut processes. After studying 214 families with at least one child with autism, researchers found that only kids with both autism and gastrointestinal problems had the gene in question. In a subsequent article in U.S. News & World Report, the author concluded, “This line of research may turn up targets for new drugs.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The reason this section struck me so much was that Jesse changed at 6 months when I started him on solids. until then he'd been perfectly healthy. It was right after I started him on solids that had a nasty bout of diarrhea for 2 weeks (it was dark green-black watery stools, that often included blood streaks). This was in the absence any other indications of infection. It was then that his sleeping went to hell as well. I thought he had food allergies, but he didn't. He continued to react to food with gluten in it, so I removed gluten from his diet and he seemed to do fine. I added back foods with gluten in them and he did OK for a while, though he did have occasional bouts of constipation followed by diarrhea. But these past couple of months he's been constantly having loose stools or diarrhea and the smell is absolutely horrible. He also went on all those food strikes (between around 8 months and 16 months). This article seems to be leading to confirmation of what I had been suspecting for a long time. Again, people kept telling me he was fine (the allergy specialist, the gastroenterologist) even though I knew that wasn't the case. 

So, where do we go from here? (On the gastrointestinal issue, I mean.) I think I'm going to make an appointment with our GP so that she can order blood work to screen for Celiac Disease again. He tested negative last time, but I doubt that he'd been on a regular diet long enough. I really think there's a possibility that it was a false negative. Stranger things have happened.