So the last week has been more down than up. I’ve heard some parents say that when their children with Autism are ill, they tend to lose some of their symptoms. I’ve not noticed this with our BuddyBoy, other than that his hyperactivity decreases markedly. He’s spent most of the last week recovering from a nasty flu that settled in his chest, with one day in particular where he had a temperature and didn’t want to eat or drink anything. He even slept – a most unusual situation for him! As he has issues with his mitchondria, he needs to eat and drink regularly, otherwise his body has a much harder time coping. Which could explain why the fever and insufficient food and drink make him regress.

We have kept up with his cleansing schedule, and it was interesting to see the change in the water from his footbath. His feet have once again become itchy, though he is able to tolerate it for longer. There was a lot of gunk in his water, and I have noticed that a couple of the rest of the family have also had a lot more gungy looking stuff come out. I am assuming this is from the extra bacteria / viruses that are in our bodies from being exposed to BuddyBoy’s germs. Some of us have had a few symptoms, but not ended up with anything.

Our entire family is doing the IonCleanse footbaths. Miss 13 said to me last night that she has noticed that on the nights she has her footbaths, she tends to sleep better. Sleep is a problem for her, so anything that helps with that is a big thing. Miss 15 was initially reluctant to do them, but has conceded that at least her feet are beautifully soft now. 🙂

Over the past week:

• BuddyBoy has shared his food and toys with me. He even put some food into my mouth when my hands were full. He’s not into sharing – it’s taken us two years of practice to have him accept food from my hand into his mouth.
• His understanding has been remarkable, as was his cooperation before he became sick.
• He has been laughing and giggling at PlaySchool antics – repeating “What a perfect fit” and laughing at the thought of big, burly Jai trying to fit Cinderella’s slipper on his joggers. We’ve been able to generalise this to other things like putting his nappy or shoes on, and he will laugh when we say it.
• Speech at the beginning of the week was incredible, but lessened drastically once his temperature climbed. We’re now hearing more echolalia again, but spontaneous speech is still minimal.
• At the beginning of the week, while in the footbath, BuddyBoy pushed my hand towards his visual timer and said, “Nearly Time” which is one of the scripted sayings (step 2 of 3). He has since used that phrase twice more while in the footbath with itchy feet, and obviously wanting us to hurry up!
• He was wanting to get out of the footbath before the time was up, and went to push the Stop button. He’s always been very mechanically minded and pays attention to things extremely well (when he wants to). We’ve been teaching him to listen for the beep when the machine finishes or is stopped, as well as the visual timer, so he obviously knows how to make it beep now!
• While he was sick, he was cuddling up with one of his toys, and quite often dragging it around with him. It’s unusual to see him so attached to something again.
• He has been shredding madly again, and also ripping books. It’s a compulsion with him, so his OCD has increased.
• He’s been slamming his head into the ground or against the wall again when he doesn’t get his own way. Also back to pinching and scratching, as well as headbutting me. When he is unable to do that however, he will then come over for a cuddle.

Today marked a special occasion. BuddyBoy was invited to a birthday party! One of the boys in his class invited all the children in the class to his party (there are now seven children in the class). It brought me to tears to receive the invitation – something I never thought he would be experiencing. The parents had obviously put a lot of thought into the party, and the invitation included information about the yard and house being secure, that the parents were welcome to stay with their children but they did have extra adults on hand to help, and to please let them know about special dietary requirements.

BuddyBoy has never handled new places well. We spent about a year getting him used to our local supermarket and were just at the stage where he could last through nearly a full grocery shop, when he started school. Once he started at school, he refused to go into the supermarket – we have no idea why. I was a bit concerned how he would go visiting at someone else’s house, let alone one with a lot of kids, different toys, and food he wouldn’t be allowed to eat. He did fantastically well.

Hubby took him to the party, and the report was that BuddyBoy smiled at his classmate, and had an absolute ball. He did stick his finger in the icing of the birthday cake, but didn’t try and eat anything other than what he was allowed to eat. I had visions of him lasting 10 minutes before having to leave, but he happily stayed for three hours. I am in awe of his ability to cope with so many different things at once, and we have decided to have a birthday party for him later this year, and invite all the kids from his class.

So we’re leaving this week on a high note, and looking forward to BuddyBoy being back at school next week.