Our Journey through Autism

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Post Stem cells Update: Month 2

I have been a bit behind on posting Arjun's month two update after SCT. With the school year starting, it was tough adjusting to the new routine. It’s been just over two months since Arjun got his stem cells at https://www.stemcellstransplantinstitute.com/. There has been a lot of progress, but also some minor issues we are sure will go away as time goes by. So far all the gains have stuck. No regression, he is still very much in our world. I have not seen him stare/gaze or zone out since his SCT. He is always aware of his surroundings. It used to be that, he never gave any attention to what was happening around him. Now he is, for instance, he learned the names of all his peers at the ABA center. Nobody had taught him the names of kids, just by listening to someone call them. He is also calling his peers by name, either in play or saying hi during lunch. Just the other day when I was picking him up, he voluntarily said bye to one of his peers " bye XYZ, see you tomorrow". That is the exact phrase his RBT/BCBA uses with him every day when I pick him up. Now he is not only saying that back to therapists, but also to other kids. There were also some age-appropriate behaviors, like saying "no" to getting ready or heading out to therapy. He even cried a couple of days, ran back to us, and said " I don't want to ". His tantrums have gone down, it's more like a whine for a few seconds and then moves on. He has been watching some youtube videos, that spell the words. Usually, the ones, where a letter flies in one after another. We thought he was fascinated with silly phonetic sounds or animations. But he was learning the spelling. To name a few he can spell " Elephant", "Flamengo", "Airplane", "Queen Bee", "Jaguar" etc. As of now, he is memorizing the spellings and not phonetically grasping the concept of how to spell, but we don't care either way. We are happy that he found some activity to keep himself busy while also stimulating his brain. He is becoming more social. Long way to go, we will take any and all gains and celebrate. Every day while I pick him up from his therapy his RBT would mention at least one or two sentences he used with his peers. He is also voluntarily saying words and sentences at home for his wants and needs. He has mastered the art of saying "no", which is driving us crazy sometimes. we are working on "yes", so far he only says that word on prompt. He has become slightly more hyperactive. I know that this comes with cells doing their magic and was supposed to be a phase. But it is not bothersome yet. He is running around, but no stimming or flapping. He is seeking us out and dragging us into his play. Which is awesome, if only we know the rules he is making up in his mind on the fly. I have uploaded some videos of him spelling words on my Instagram profile. For the benefit of those that do not follow us or do not use Instagram, I am sharing the link below. https://www.instagram.com/p/CS3f6cxsB-Z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link As with last month's update, we are really excited about the progress he has shown. We are optimistic that there would be more gains as we are entering the most anticipated period of the 3-6 month range, after receiving stem cells. Most parents have reported tremendous or major gains during this period, so fingers crossed. PS: I would request readers not to leave their e-mail or phone numbers in the comments. If you would like to have a conversation, please DM me via Instagram and I can share my contact information. https://www.instagram.com/ausomlife.blog/ Thanks Amar Read the full article

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Post Stem Cells Update: Month 1

Its been just over a month since Arjun got his stem cells at https://www.stemcellstransplantinstitute.com/. There are some positives, somethings to watch out for. I know we special needs parents get carried away with each gain, we cant help it. Small gain is a huuuuge step in right directions for us. We are cautiously optimistic. In this update series I will keep posting monthly updates.

Week 0

Week 0, because we are in Costa Rica to get stem cell therapy for him. - Day 1: He received 200 million MSC cells, 100 via IT and 100 via IV. - Day 2: We went on a day-long trip. He was active, walked with us, no dashing/running. - Day 3: Just rest at the hotel. Walked around the Escazu area. He played at a water fountain. - Day 4: He received 200 million MSC cells, 100 via IT and 100 via IV. - Day 5: Another day-long trip. He had Nausea, threw up twice. He was doing good by noon. Nausea is common after receiving cells. Thankfully it passed really quickly. We started noticing changes as early as Day 3. He was more aware. His response time was instant. It used to take us a month or so to teach him a new word, action, or response. He used to stay "stop" when his mom used to sing a specific Punjabi song. On day 3, I told him to say " Stop Mommy" instead. The next time she sang, he said " Stop Mommy" and consistently every time she sang. I wanted to see if he would do the same with me. So I sang the same song, he said: " Stop Daddy". For me that was huge. He generalized a word/skill/action. Also, a lot of words that we have not taught him were coming out. Like body parts, he was naming all the parts of the body. Earlier it was limited to head, shoulder, knees, and toes. Now he is labeling arm, finger, hand, chest, back, leg, toes, feet, tongue, teeth, chin, cheek, etc. He was doing this, again and again, excited as if he learned something new that day. On day 4, before we headed out for his appointment, we sat in the hotel lobby. They had a small kids' table with some pictures printed out, crayons, and pencils for kids to pass time. Arjun's brother went over and started coloring. Arjun followed, sat in front of him, took another paper, and started coloring. He did not dump all crayons and pencils. He took one at a time, showed it to us, said the color out loud, and colored it. Then he put it back ( Whaaat !!!). He took another, repeated the same thing. He was even looking at his brother's paper, keeping an eye on what he was doing. A lot of things happened on that table in 10 mins, that never happened before.

Week 1

We are back in the US. We self-quarantined for 10 days, so no ABA. All 4 of us are at home. I made a habit of printing a couple of papers and laid them out for both brothers to color. Thankfully, they are doing it every day. It has helped both brothers interact. Arjun started asking his brother for a crayon instead of snatching. His brother is spending time with him because finally, Arjun was responding to his brother. Although limited, there is back and forth communication between them. I also use the same table to make them sit together for snacks, or watching cartoons. Watching cartoons is another big plus, earlier he used to hide whenever we put anything that is animated on TV, with exception of "Masha and the Bear".

Arjun started having a fever and cold. I spoke to some of the parents and Dr in Costa Rica. Everyone said it was common, and it is a good sign that body is fighting the inflammation. I did not want to give him any medication unless it was absolutely necessary. We just wiped him with a washcloth multiple times a day, his fever went away on the third day. His cold lasted about a week. Again no medication for cold, just some DIY Indian/ayurvedic home remedies.

Week 2

He has been playing a lot with his brother. Since we are quarantining at home, he is also watching a lot of Ipad. But he is learning, he watched some videos on " opposites" and he was explaining those to us. He would come to us show differences between " big & small", " fast and slow" etc. The biggest positive so far has been his response times and how quick he is learning or processing new tasks/skills.

Week 3

He resumed his ABA. There has been an explosion in his behaviors, in terms of peer play, addressing everyone by name, play-acting, and using sentences. His BCBA and RBT are shocked and out of words explaining his improvements. He also started getting hang of games we play around the house like " hide & seek", "tag". Earlier he used to play around other kids, not with them. This past week at the park, he is trying to engage and play with others, instead of just running around them.

Week 4

We meet his BCBA bi-weekly to assess his progress and once in 5-6 weeks to discuss his targets for the next month or so. It used to take him anywhere around 5-6 weeks to master the skills. For the past 2 weeks, we have reset his targets twice. Now he is reaching his targets quickly, within a week. This past Friday, when I went to meet his BCBA she showed me a list of about 7 items/skills that he had mastered on that day. All of this is encouraging, and we hope there is more to come. As I said before, we are cautiously optimistic but very excited that he is headed in the right direction. Hope and wish there is more positive news to share in next month's update. Read the full article

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Recap: Autism Diagnosis to Stem cell

Starting next week, I will be posting post Stem Cell monthly updates. I thought it would be beneficial to recap everything we have done so far, and where Arjun was before Stem Cells. This will also give us a baseline and help monitor progress/gains. I have not blogged for almost a year during covid. I will try to include major milestones during that period in this post. Birth MAY,2017 - 1 year MAY,2018 Arjun was born prematurely by about 5 weeks. Thankfully he did not need any support ( pipes) for either breathing or feeding. He was in NICU for 10 days, had jaundice, and was really underweight. By the time he was 3 months, he quickly caught up on height and weight and was age-appropriate. Response to name, started babbling, walked at 10 months, excellent eye contact, and seeks attention. 12-14 Months He had a bit of fever, cold and cough at his 12 month well child appointment. His then pediatrician assured me it was safe to vaccinate even though he was not feeling well. Little did we know of what is to come next. Within couple of days we had to rush him to ER. He had severe case of Bronchitis, traumatic experience of being held down so all tests could be run. He would not let us even hug for next couple of weeks. We decided to ditch his doctor and find a new one. 18 months FEB 2019 Arjun's 18 months well-child appointment was anything but routine. His pediatrician, who luckily for us was certified in early detection of Autism had doubts and suggested a follow-up evaluation. The outcome was that he is on the Autism spectrum, med-high risk. Looking back, we could say with utmost certainty that all his symptoms of Autism started after his 12-14 month debacles. We were ignorant, never tried to educate ourselves about Autism. Never was even a thought that he could be Autistic based on what we have seen in his first year. 21 months May 2019 He passed his ABR test with flying colors. We wanted to rule out hearing issues before we could compose ourselves and get started on a plan for his progress. We also started his ABA (3 hrs/twice a week) and ECI services from the state. A lot of learning, lots of hands-on in terms of implementing ABA principles at home. We are also simultaneously educating ourselves about various protocols and therapies. We wanted to stay away from giving any medicines for as long as we can. 24 months, July 2019 His ABA hours has increased to 5hrs/5 days a week. ECI helped with ST at home. Did not need OT as his motor skills were good. We also started Nemechek Protocol, as that seemed to be the one without medicines. He has shown amazing progress in next couple of months. 30 months, Dec 2019 He is selectively mute now. Completely verbal, but does not use words unless he was prompted, and that too single words. Stopped dragging us and instead started using one word requests for his needs and wants. He would repeat a sentence if i persisted but voluntarily only says a word. Still doing NP. 36 months, JUL 2020 No peer play, social cues, or emotions yet. responding to name and eye contact is better. Introduced Vit-c+ zinc as a precaution during Covid-19. Also introduced refined " Shilajit" supposed to be a powerful anti-oxidant. His food menu is limited to 3-4 items. Would not drink milk. Tried came milk for a month, did not see major improvements but his BMs got better. 42 months, Jan 2021 No luck with trying any new food. started researching about stem cells. 45 months, Mar 2021 Booked our trip to Costa Rica for his stem cell infusion/treatment/ therapy at stem cell transplant institute. Stopped NP, as we seemed to have plateaued. Stopped Vit C and Shilajit as well. In the next 2-3 weeks have seen an explosion in his behavior. Random sentences, unprompted requests, good awareness. All we did was stop giving him NP, Vit C+Zinc, chalked up the improvements to growth sprout. He even started drinking milk, ate rice and roti every now and then. Those are huge wins. At ABA he was steadily progressing, it still takes time to teach a new skill or words. But there was no generalization of skills, zones out once in a while. 47 months, Jun 2021 Visited Costa Rica for his stem cell therapy. He received 400 million umbilical cord tissue MSC. 200 million via IV, and another 200 million via IT. He did not seem to have any side effects. He had a bit of nausea on day 5 but was in good spirits by noon. Next few posts, i will try to document as much as I can, his progress/setbacks after receiving stem cells. Read the full article

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Stem Cell for Autism -Our Journey. Part 3- Logistics

It's March-2021, we are planning hard to be in Costa Rica mid-jun. That way our elder son's school year will be over, and he can have some fun while we are there. The first step was to complete the intake form provided by the Stem cell transplant institute. They got back to us in a couple of days with the treatment protocol and other details. We were happy with the information and decided to put down 5K USD as a deposit to block our dates for treatment. Now the logistics. It is hard enough to travel with a special needs kid and the Covid-19 situation did not make things any easier for all of us. If you are traveling internationally, there are few things that can make your life easier.

Mask exception for special needs kids from the airlines.

Since we are based in DFW, flying non-stop from DFW to SJO with American Airlines was the obvious easy choice for us. American Airlines at their discretion provide mask exceptions for people with disabilities as described in the American disabilities act. Please note that only one person per entire flight is given mask exception, so I suggest you speak to American Airlines SAC ( special assistance coordinators), as soon as you book your tickets. They will walk you through what is required. DO NOT TAKE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FOR GRANTED. ALWAYS SPEAK TO YOUR AIRLINES AND MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS. In Brief you need, A letter from the kids doctor which includes following information - Official letterhead - Medical providers license no and contact info - Date - Customers name : - The customer has been diagnosed with a physical or mental disability that qualifies under the American disabilities act. - Indicate when his treatment has begun by the doctor. - Explain how an exemption to wear the mask relates to his disability and how it will allow him to fly safely.  - Explain why it is unsafe for him to wear a mask. - Signature of the doctor. This letter has to be sent at least 72 hours before the day of departure, or not more than 30 days before your travel date. Earlier the better so we can get it out of the way. Once provisionally approved, all you are required to get is a Covid test for the kid 72 hours before travel, and show it at the time checking in. The timeline may be different based on destination. If you have an approved exception you will be seated in the last row of the flight ( economy class) or the first row of the flight ( Business and first-class). Contact details for American Airlines, special assistance. - 800 237 7976 - [email protected]

Help with security screening from the TSA.

This is fairly straightforward. Three days before your scheduled departure call " TSA CARES" and tell them a member of your traveling party is a special needs kid and you would need help with alternate screening methods. They will provide you a ticket and expect to receive a call from a TSA personnel at your airport. We received a call from a gentleman the next day, he provided his telephone number and asked us to call him once we reach the security entrance. Once we got our boarding pass, we call him and let him know our exact location. He met us, and took us to the front of the line, and got our ID check completed. Next, we glided through a separate checkpoint. All we had to do was take all items off, for screening and walk through a screening door. That is it. Our entire security screening process took 2-3 minutes including ID Check. We thanked the gentlemen that helped us and moved on to our gate. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-support Next, boarding and off we go. Surprisingly Arjun, kept his mask on before he eventually fell asleep. Immigration and baggage was a fairly quick process at SJO. We had a driver waiting for us with our name on a card, to take us from Airport to the hotel. Travel Insurance There are additional requirements while considering international travel to Costa Rica, as far as travel insurance is considered. Always check the Country's entry requirements from time to time, as these keep changing. https://www.visitcostarica.com/en/costa-rica/planning-your-trip/entry-requirements Once travel insurance is purchased, you would receive a visa letter for each individual stating that your insurance satisfies all requirements put forth by Costa Rica. You need to upload these letters and receive a QR code from the health pass website. This is mandatory, at least for now at the port of entry in SJO. https://salud.go.cr/ Hotel we chose to reside at " residence inn at Escazu". This hotel was a 2-minute walk away from the hospital location, and very close to the grocery store, and other amenities. most importantly it had a Kitchenette, which was very important to us as our kid had a very limited amount of items that he would consider food. At the Hospital The next day morning, one of the office staff texted us and met us at the hotel lobby. She took us to the hospital. We spoke to the Dr for about 30 mins. Had a tour of the facility, LAB ( from outside, of course). I am not going to cover the details step by step about the procedure. Here is what he received over 4 days along with 2 billion exosomes. - Day 1: 100 million MSC via IV, 100 million MSC via IT. Sedation wore off in 40 minutes and within an hour he was up and about. - Day 2: Rest, no side effects. - Day 3: Rest. - Day 4: 100 million MSC via IV, 100 million MSC via IT. - Day 5: He had nausea, threw up twice. Was doing fine since noon. Tours It is such a beautiful country, we did go on two day-long tours and visited some beautiful places. Special thanks to our knowledgeable guide " Arturo" from Willy Tours. - Day 2: La Paz waterfalls, coffee plantation, and Poas Volcano - Day 5: Tarcoles bridge, ATV, and Horse riding near Herradura Bridge. Read the full article

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Stem Cell for Autism -Our Journey. Part 2 Choosing where to go

Last two posts we talked about why Stem cells is a viable option for tackling symptoms of Autism and where can we go get these cells. This post we will be talking about our thought process in deciding where do we end up going for our LO's Stem cell Therapy. Right off the bat, we have decided to exclude facilities that provide stem cells extracted from Kid's own bone marrow. I do not have a problem with those that choose to go for it. Our kid is still relatively young at 3 yrs 6 months, and we do not want to put him through the process of additional sedation and procedure for extracting bone marrow. Maybe once he grows, we might consider this option. Hopefully, we don't have to, but it is on the back burner for now. The only option left for us is to pursue donor umbilical cord tissue MSC. The popular option is to go to Panama. The majority of the parents from the FB group I talked about earlier have been to Panama and the group itself comes across as " pro-Panama". You can't really blame a parent of special needs kid for being partial to something that has worked wonders for them. There were more than enough parent testimonials, ranging from high functional kids on the low end of the spectrum to kids on the severe side of the spectrum. Some kids, usually with mild symptoms of Autism had seen life-changing improvements. Even to an extent of losing diagnosis after 1 Stem Cell therapy ( usually 4 days). At the same, there are parents that have taken their kid 4,7,8 times. I was heading to Panama, until i stumbled across posts/research from " Mystie Mornis". Her posts got me thinking and pushed me to research further, in addition to inputs from other parents. Reasons why I chose clinic in Costa Rica ahead of Panama. - Panama administers Stem cells "Intravenous" only. - Costa Rica administers Stem cells both " Intravenous" and " Intrathecal" - The number of stem cells administered in Panama is in the range of 40-80 million, depending on kids' age and weight. - Since our kid was under 4, he might receive 40 million cells. - Costa Rica administers up to 400 million cells, along with 2 billion exosomes. That is 10 times more cells for twice the cost. This procedure is not something we can afford to do every year or even alternate years. There was a lot of hope and trust placed in these cells, hoping it would solve most of his issues.

Why was Stem cell administration via Intrathecal important for us?

Intrathecal administration requires cells to be injected to " Cerebral spinal fluid" via an injection at the lower lumbar of the spine. CSF has direct reach to the brain, hence cells administered via IT are guaranteed to reach the brain. It is no surprise that a neurological condition like Autism needs the most help in healing brain inflammation. Stem Cells administered via IT does exactly that. At the same time, we also wanted cells to be administered via IV. Cells administered in this was reach almost all parts of the body. It is well known that kids on spectrum have issues with detox and almost certainly Gut related issues. So the cells would reach gut, along with heart, lungs and other parts of body and work their magic in reducing inflammation all over the body. So for us best way forward was to head to a facility that does both IT and IV. Most parents refuse to do IT for fear of neural damage or just don't want to put the kid through the process, I completely understand and respect their decision. We keep saying this a lot about kids on spectrum " Each kid is different". That is absolutely true, some kids might regress with sedation, while others might thrive. We weighed our pros and cons and read a lot of research that says it is safe to administer cells via IT.

Where are we heading

https://stemcellstransplantinstitute.com/ San Jose, Costa Rica. I am going to list below some of the questions I had for Dr.Mesen at the stem cell transplant institute in Costa Rica. hopefully, their answers will help other parents pursing or considering Stem cells for their loved ones. Additionally, This was a panel discussion on stem cells organized by IEEE student chapters of CAS and EMBS of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica along with the stem cell transplant institute. Worth watching, there is a lot of information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnq2kOiUFhQ&t=6s 1) Are the cells sourced domestically within the country or internationally. Rx/ we have our own lab with microbiologist and molecular biologist and source the umbilical cords from the hospital OBGYN department. 2) How are the cells sourced/treated prior to arriving at your facility. Rx/ we test all cords and cells for any communicable diseases and genetic disorders, you can look it up at the brochures you got. We don't take no risks. 3) How is the authenticity or Viability of the cells done. Rx/ We have a cell counter microbiologist to certify it and we even outsource some samples to say the least. 4) What kind of sedation or anesthetic is used. Rx/ conscious sedation. Dr. Laura Jimenez is an accredited neuro anesthesiologist. 5) Will you provide me with records/data of cells infused. source, date extracted, expanded etc RX if you are more specific on what you need We will be glad to do it so, there is hundreds of papers to be read. 6) Do you also provide exosomes as part of your treatment protocols. Rx/ All the time Of course, you don't take their words. You do your research and find that the clinic is on the premises of one of the prestigious hospitals in Central America ie CIMA hospital. use of stem cells is regulated by ministry of health, and their clinic/lab confirms to all standards set forth. We planned few months ahead, and are heading to Costa Rica in June of 2021. For our Next post, we will talk about how our experience was in Costa Rica. PURA VIDA :) Read the full article

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Stem Cell for Autism -Our Journey. Part 1

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A MEDICAL ADVICE. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. We have read enough journals, research papers, and results of clinical trials to suggest that Stem cells are a viable option to help with symptoms of Autism. As a parent, I would be more at peace if I could speak to other parents and hear from their experiences. I had joined a lot of social media groups and have interacted with other parents, read posts dating back to few years. Here's my take out from the all the information that i was able to consume from various sources. - Mesenchymal Stem cells help reduce inflammation. - Have not heard of regression in anyone. Either no improvements or range of 1-100 %, each to their own. - The level of improvements in Kids is different for each kid. - Kids on the mild/medium spectrum require fewer sessions as compared to kids on the severe end of the spectrum. - Younger kids have a better response( comparatively, not saying older kids do not ) to stem cells. - Ideal to try and heal gut issues, before attempting your luck at stem cells. - Helps to avoid food that increases inflammation. - Cells administered through IV reach all parts of the body. Very little percentage crosses the Blood-brain barrier and reaches the brain. - Cells administered through IT via Cerebral spinal fluid, almost 100% reach the brain. - Some parents have seen absolutely no change even after 2 or more sessions. - Some kids that are highly functioning and on the very mild side of the spectrum, lost their diagnosis in a year's time.

What now?

If there is an intervention out there that is proven to help reduce symptoms of Autism, even though the extent to which it helps is not guaranteed, cannot be measured across a baseline, and is completely safe to administer, we should give it a try. My wife pointed out that each kid is experiencing a different outcome, how do we trust. Isn't that what we are dealing with. Each kid on the spectrum is different in terms of symptoms, underlying conditions, etc. It only makes sense that every kid responds differently to the cells. The only thing that we can't conclusively say is every kid will have an X level of improvement. In order for us to make a decision, we had to take a closer look at costs, route of administration, reputation of facilities etc. We will take a loot those below.

Where can I get MSC for my kid?

If you have stored either your kids or his siblings umbilical cord blood at birth, you may qualify to participate in clinical trials of Duke. For us this is not an option, so we need to look else where. Since it is not yet FDA approved in the USA, we have to look at locations outside of the USA and where it is regulated and accredited by those respective countries. Some of the popular destinations I could gather from various social media platforms are as below. There are others in Mexico and Europe, I am limiting the list to those we considered. 1) Costa Rica : https://stemcellstransplantinstitute.com/ 2) Panama: https://www.cellmedicine.com/ 3) Cancun: https://worldstemcellsclinic.com/about-us/ 4) India : https://www.neurogen.in/

Types of administration of MSC

- IV - Intravenous injections. ( Panama is IV only) - IT - Intrathecal injections into CSF ( Cerebral spinal fluid). MSC extracted from bone marrow is almost exclusively administered this way. - Nasal spray ( Emcell, Ukraine) - Both IT and IV, Costa Rica clinic administers both IV and IT.

Reputation

Each of these clinics have a strong reputation and have administered cells to over thousands of patients. Decision to chose comes down to Cost, type of administration and of course your own research. In next post I would discuss in detail about our decision. FB group for stem cells. You can read a lot of parent testimonials here.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/596312927166416/ BOOK on system cells by Dr.Neil Riordan https://www.amazon.com/Stem-Cell-Therapy-Disrupting-Transforming/dp/099904530X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=36P2O7RVT9STG&dchild=1&keywords=neil+riordan&qid=1623453397&sprefix=neil+rior%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-2 Read the full article

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Stem Cells for Autism

It's been more than 2 years since Arjun's ASD diagnosis. All this while I have learned and educated myself on different types of interventions and protocols. Due to my ignorance, I neglected Stem cell therapy. I always thought since we did not store Arjun's Cord Blood at birth, we could not pursue it. I was guilty of making a decision based on what I knew, rather than based on research.

How does Stem cells help with Autism

We are going to specifically talk of MSC ( Mesenchymal Stem cells). There are different types of cells, different sources, etc. To keep the conversation on track, we will only discuss MSC that are predominantly used to treat neurodevelopmental issues. What do we know about MSC - Mesenchymal stem cells have the capacity to become any type of fully developed cell. - They possess natural abilities to detect changes in their environment, such as inflammation. - MSCs have also been shown to travel to sites of inflammation far from the injection site. - The human body does not treat these cells as a foreign entity. Hence it does not rally its troops to destroy these cells. It is known that kids with Autism have higher levels of inflammation predominantly in gut and brain. Once MSC cells are introduced into the body, they seek out inflammation, help reduce it. these cells also have the ability to renew, for a specific period of time. There are a number of different ways a person could receive Stem cells. I would list down some of the popular one. - Umbilical Cord Blood stem cells. - Sibling's Umbilical Cord Blood stem cells - Bone marrow extracted stem cells - Donor Stem Cells

Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells

If at birth parents chose to, they can store umbilical cord blood. There a lot of providers that do this for a fee of course. Umbilical cord blood is stored cryogenically and then released to parents for approved treatments that use the kid's own stem cells. In USA Duke University is performing clinical trials for kids on the spectrum. It has been proven that the administration of stem cells derived from kids' own cord blood is completely safe.

Sibling's Umbilical Cord Blood stem cells

In some cases Parents may have opted to store umbilical cord of just one of kids. understandably it is costly to do it for all the kids. In those cases, stored umbilical cord of one sibling maybe used to another kid provided that it passes HLA match. In some cases even a half match of HLA is accepted, but don't quote me on that.

Bone Marrow extracted Stem cells

Among all the cells in human body, cells inside bone marrow are supposed to be move viable for stem cell treatment. Could be because they are less exposed to external environment compared to other body parts. For those that did not store Cord blood at birth, this is an alternate option to use one's own cells. This is a two step process. First a portion of bone marrow is extracted from the patient. Usually from hip bone. From this bone marrow stem cells are isolated and separated. These cells are then re-introduced into patients body either intrathecally or through IV.

Donor Stem Cells

If you have not store cord blood at birth and are scared of bone marrow extraction, there is an option to use donor stem cells. At hospital, after birth some parents choose to donate their umbilical cord for either research or for any other reason. Cells derived from Umbilical cord Tissue ( not Cord blood) can be safely administered to any individual, as HLA match is not required. These cells are usually subject to a lot of screenings for genetic disorders on any other hereditary issues.

Some links for additional reading.

Links to Trials and Clinic websites MSC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3712145/ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2014/306573/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S018844092030638X This page has links to all the clinical trails and results performed at Duke University https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/sctm.16-0474 https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/everything-parents-should-know-about-stem-cell-therapy-autism This link has experts take on a summary of Clinical trials. Results/improvements are seen in longer trials ie 6-12 months after receiving stem cells. https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-020-00348-z This is good for information on types of cells. "Route of cell administration". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6204871/ Additional Information https://bioinformant.com/treatment-for-autism-stem-cell/#risks https://www.cordblood.com/stem-cell-research/cord-blood-research/autism https://www.bioxcellerator.com/blog/stem-cell-therapy-autism Read the full article

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Autism - The other sibling

At the time of diagnosis, Arjun was 18 months, while his brother (AM) has just turned 5. AM was excited to start kindergarten and he has been waiting for Arjun to grow up and start having more playtime together. AM has been extremely fast at reaching all developmental milestones. He started walking at 8months and was conversational at about 16-18 months. By the time he was 5 he was socially active, likes doing crafts and arts. He was very fond of animals, especially the ones that are extinct or exotic. On the first day of his kindergarten, we asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, his answer was " wildlife protector". We couldn't be more proud of him. After Arjun's diagnosis, we made a lot of mistakes when it came to his brother. I would like to brief some of those here and hope anyone reading this can try and avoid those. We were so consumed with grief initially, lost, and were left with very little interest in anything. AM would come to and ask me to paint with him, I would say " you do it, I am busy". Busy sulking, busy reading up on Autism, busy trying to see if there is a cure for Autism. For the next year or so, the time that I spent with AM has reduced drastically. All our efforts were spent on research and figuring out our next steps. It breaks our heart to say that we were the biggest contributors to AM feeling isolated and ignored. We were so immersed in protecting Arjun, we failed to realize what it was doing to AM. Read the full article

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What the Gut !!

Often overlooked, gut health has a direct impact on mood, depression, cognition, and other issues caused by neuroinflammation. In simple terms, what you eat and how you treat your gut defines how you react. I always thought communication between the Brain and Gut is one-directional. Recent studies have confirmed that this communication is bi-directional. Think of it as this way, there is a little brain in Gut, that talks to the Brain. "Scientists call this little brain the enteric nervous system (ENS). And it’s not so little. The ENS is two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract from the esophagus to the rectum. Its main role is controlling digestion, from swallowing to the release of enzymes that break down food to the control of blood flow that helps with nutrient absorption to elimination” What is Gut Microbiota? The human body’s largest population of microorganisms resides in the intestine and is collectively called the gut microbiota. Although there is a ‘core’ consisting of bacterial groups common to all healthy humans (it has been estimated that one-third of the gut microbiota is common to most people), gut microbiota composition is mostly unique to each individual. Digestive ailments, obesity, diabetes, allergies, cancer, and even neurodegenerative diseases have been linked to an imbalance in gut microbiota composition. Gut microbiota is responsible for Defense: - It defends against harmful microorganisms. Read the full article

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FAQ

I have been a member of many social media groups related to Autism for a while now. Every now and then there would be a new member with lots of questions. This is my attempt to answer most FAQs by a parent of a kid with a recent diagnosis. This page will be updated regularly. Our kid was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum. Where do we start? It is important to understand what Autism is and what it is not before you can talk about protocols, therapies, and treatments. The websites mentioned below will get you started in understanding the diagnosis better. https://www.autismspeaks.org/ https://ummeed.org/ http://www.autism-help.org/ https://www.centerforautism.com/ Are there any tests that I can do at home ? Medical, probably not. But there are widely available assessments that you can do at home. It is useful to do these assessments every 3-6 months, so you can see where your kid stands, and what changes need to be made to his routine. The link below from CDC provides information about these tools. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-screening.html I do not trust the diagnosis. Should I get a second opinion? It is not uncommon. Getting a second opinion might also help us to put any doubts to bed. It also helps us get past our denial, and we can start working towards helping the kids in every possible way we can. Look for autism diagnosis specialists in your area, be aware that some of them might not be covered by your insurance. I feel like I am alone in this. Where do I get more information? it is overwhelming. I understand feeling the same when we got our kid's diagnosis. there are a lot of social media groups. Most of them might be private groups and you will have to request access. These support groups are necessary for our journey. We need all the help we can get, whether it is moral support, guidance or additional information from those that have been through this before us. Do I have to join all these groups? I am not saying you have to be a member of these groups. These are just to give you an idea of what's available. There a lot more groups out there, feel free to join, what you like. Apart from these I also follow research organizations on twitter, influencers on Instagram. AUsome Moms https://www.facebook.com/groups/674120716013153/ Autism Dads In It Together https://www.facebook.com/groups/798672493573079/ Autism Dads of Greater Dallas/Fort Worth https://www.facebook.com/groups/AutismDadsofGreaterDallasFortWorth/ Whole Plant Access For Autism Support Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/wpa4a/ Texas Autism Insurance Discussion Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/TexasAutismInsuranceDiscussionGroup/ The Nemechek Protocol for Autism and Developmental Delay https://www.facebook.com/The-Nemechek-Protocol-for-Autism-and-Developmental-Delay-179420979261238/ The Nemechek Protocol for Autism and Developmental Delay https://www.facebook.com/groups/2533376023549346/ Healing with camel milk https://www.facebook.com/groups/225663314116369 What is the GFCF diet? Should I start it ? GFCF is short for Gluten-free Casein-free. In this diet, you avoid everything gluten and casein ( usually found in dairy products). It might be beneficial if kids are known to have an intolerance for dairy or gluten. Even if they don't, some swear by improvements in behavior after starting the GFCF diet. What is bio medical intervention ? According to www.autism-help.org "Biomedical intervention for Autism or Asperger’s syndrome consists of a wide range of therapeutic approaches for treating these developmental disorders in children, adolescents, and possibly adults. A major problem for most biomedical interventions is not meeting the criteria as evidence-based treatments due to a lack of rigorous research. This does not necessarily mean biomedical interventions won't help, but caution and personal research are recommended." Where can I get more information on Biomedical intervention? https://tacanow.org is one of the go-to places to get information on biomedical intervention. What is Early childhood intervention? It is widely believed that intervention at younger age results in better results/improvements. Government agencies provide ECI services for kids until they are three years old. They would also help with IEP and ARD as the kid becomes eligible for PPCD(Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities). What is ABA, ST, and OT? These are the most commonly prescribed therapies for kids on the spectrum. More details can be found here What is IEP, ARD? The Individualized Education Program, often called the IEP, is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. Here is more detailed information on how and IEP is written. This link is from our ISD. most of the information is generic and can be applicable to anyone. What is Nemechek Protocol (NP) ? This protocol is something I have personal affinity and bias for. On a high level, it involves three ingredients. olive oilfish oilInulin It is hard to explain the science behind it, it will try to put it in laymen terms. Inflammation in the body directly affects our actions/brain. NP helps reduce bad bacteria in the gut and balance the ecosystem. I would recommend anyone interested to read this book. There are a lot of research studies that link many ailments directly to gut inflammation. Does Camel milk help with Autism and Speech? Maybe, maybe not. It is believed to be rich in anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. Personally, we believe it helped alleviate some of his gastrointestinal issues. As with any advice, do your own research. I have read this book and found it to be very useful. Should I give my kid vitamin supplements? My personal opinion is not overload the kid with supplements unless he is medically diagnosed to be low in a specific vitamin and has been prescribed by a licensed physician. We do not want to give anything in excess unless we understand all of its effects and implications. Do your own research, this question usually gets a different answer from every parent. Elderberry fights colds and improves immunity. Can I give this to my kid? Elderberry is a know bio-marker for ASD. It is believed to increase cytokine production. Kids on the spectrum are believed to have excess cytokine levels. Additional cytokine production might lead to a cytokine storm, which in some cases could be fatal. https://tacanow.org/family-resources/sickness-prevention-treatments/ Additional Information can be found in resources page. Read the full article

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Toys

Toys play a major role in the development of skills for a child. They can also be addictive in a bad way for kids on the spectrum. Until our ECI therapist mentioned I did not even know there were so many categories of toys. Our typical trip to any store would result in us in buying some flashy, fancy toys.

What is overstimulation?

Basically too many things happening around than a child can cope with. In extreme cases, overstimulation can lead to panic attacks. You might often hear the word sensory overload. This occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences overstimulation from the environment. Most common examples being, too much noise, too many people, flashy lights. Sensory overload results in meltdowns, which is often confused with a tantrum. I still cannot tell the difference, learning to distinguish.

Types of toys

These are the categories of toys listed on the National autism resources website. Cause and Effect Toys Sensory Toys Fine Motor Skills Toys Hand-Eye Coordination Toys Reinforcer Toys Oral Motor Toys & Whistles Some of these names are self-explanatory, but for others, you need to understand the condition/definition of behavior. Most often than not, these toys help kids with Autism soothe themselves and also teach skills otherwise they are not interested in learning. Cause and effect is a good way to start, especially with younger kids. These toys are a way of helping kids gain skills, which are otherwise learnt by observing others. For example taking turns, counting, imitation etc. Sensory toys are designed to engage one or more of the five senses. These are usually what they use to calm themselves. Typically kids on spectrum crave one or more of the senses. Some kids like white noises and need to hear them all day, some like to chew on something, some like to watch lava lamps, some like physical sensory activity. It is not just about buying toys that we see on the self. It is also about avoiding them if they somehow invoke a sensory overload or a meltdown. Only a parent can identify the sensory need of their kid. If you know they are craving for a specific sensory response, try not to take it away or correct the behaviour. We have much bigger battles to fight, let them have their fun. Credits: Photo by Vanessa Bucceri on Unsplash Read the full article

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Estate planning

This is not legal advice. Please consult your attorney for more information. Always make an informed decision based on your research and legal advice from a professional. We are not liable for any inferences made by you. This is an unpleasant topic. A recent accident in a nearby town in which both parents have tragically passed away has opened my eyes to the importance of estate planning and will. This is much more important in the case of kids with special needs who need additional care.

What if I don't have a will?

In case both parents do not have a will, the court will have to decide on the care for the kids left behind. Usually, custody will be awarded to close family members, friends, fostercare in that order. Either way, we do not want this to go a lengthy court battle. The best thing to do is to get a will done by an attorney and make our wishes clear as to who gets the custody of the kid. If each parent has a sperate will instead of joint will, they should nominate the same guardian to avoid confusion. probate avoidance is our end goal.

Am I leaving behind enough?

As of now only life insurance policy we have are the ones through the employer. I and my wife are covered for twice our annual income. Needless to say, that would not even last them for a couple of years. We are in the process of getting term life insurance policies for both of us with a value upwards of a seven-figure sum. There are a lot of calculators available online. Try to use them to at least get an idea as to what needs to be your insurance policy value.

How is the money going to be managed?

In the unfortunate event of parents passing away, how is the money/assets left behind managed? Now that we have sufficient coverage in life insurance policy, it is important to create an estate with all of our assets. Appoint a property guardian who will manage assets on behalf of the child. Once the child turns 18 assets will go to them. Alternately parents can create minor trust and appoint a trustee. Guardian will then request funds from the estate to take care of kids. We can also mention at what age kids get control of assets, as opposed to 18 years in the option above.

Special needs trust

Leaving behind assets for kids with special needs might disqualify them from getting government benefits like Medicaid and SSI. Having a carefully drafted special needs trust, in which you leave your assets to a trust instead of benefactor directly can help receive government benefits.

I can do this myself online !!

Maybe, if you are aware of all legal jargon that goes into making a will, trust, etc. If you have enrolled in an employer-provided legal plan, you can use those to get these done. Even if you are not, I would advise you to keep your DIY ego aside and get this done by an attorney. You will not get a second shot to fix any issues once you are no more. This is our one chance to try and get everything right to safeguard the future of our loved ones.

Final word

I hope and pray, we do not have to use these policies and trusts. Life is unpredictable, and Ausom parents know this better than anyone else. Take care of your self, so you can take care of your loved ones. These are just a few options, talk to your attorney to learn about various things we can do to make sure our kids are taken care of. Until later, Amar Read the full article

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Decision time: Ripple effects of autism diagnosis.

Its been a few weeks since we received Autism diagnosis, now we are confronted with making decisions that could change a lot in our household. I have never been so confused, indecisive and desperate for a plan.

Work

I had to be around him more to take him to his therapies, train ourselves, and implement those strategies at home. Thankfully my boss was very supportive and understood my pain. He approved my request to work from home for a year without hesitation and for that, I am grateful and thankful.

Friends & Family

This was a tough one. Should we tell everyone around us about this or keep it to ourselves. How would either of those decisions impact us? Our first thought was it is nobody's business to know. That would mean we would not have a support system while we navigate through this. We decided to let everyone know. I felt a bit lighter like a weight was lifted off me. The response was what you would expect, shock, condolence, encouragement and of course denial. He doesn't look like he has Autism. Get a second opinion. We did in fact, second and third. Its a phase, he is still young.He will grow out of it. I believed in all of these. Maybe because I desperately wanted it to be true or I am still ignorant of the world of Autism.

Advice

Support groups on social media are a blessing on this journey. Whatever stage you are, whatever questions you have you will get an answer and advice. In most cases more than one answer and recommendations. Which are all good, but it's us who have to make a decision. Some of the initial advice we received was Start the GFCF dietSee a MAPS doctorstart Bio-med interventionuse Nemcheck protocolthrow away toxic kitchenware, go veganRead this, read that Homeopathy and Ayurveda helps FMT, Stem cell, etcCamel milk

Believe me, all of this advice is coming from a good place. Based on their personal experience, they have seen encouraging results. The best advice I received was "take your time(not a lot, reasonable) to process all the information, don't be overwhelmed by success or failure stories. There is no magic pill, something works for an individual, the same thing might be regressive for others". Now that all of his therapies have started, we wanted to give him extra help by starting one of those protocols. Time will tell which one. But for now, we are trying to educate ourselves with various options available.

Home Sweet Home

How do we make home an extension of his learning experience at therapies? I don't know yet. How do I keep track of all these changes and schedules? Writing it down on a magnetic dry erase board calendar at the entrance helped. My new morning routine is to look up what's in store for today and tomorrow. I started maintaining a pocketbook, but that wasn't practical as I kept loosing pens. I started recording my thoughts and learnings on a handheld audio recorder. Later in the day I would play this back and make notes on Evernote. We did replace all kitchenware with toxin-free pots, pans, tumblers, etc. Not necessarily a thing to do, it can't hurt taking in fewer toxins. Out went all plastic bottles, lunch boxes, everything replaced with either steel or glass. This was mostly an impulsive decision. I am not saying this helped us in any way, shape or form. I just had to shut that constant nagging voice in my head that was pestering me to change everything. Sounds insane, had to do it for my peace of mind.

Illustration purposes only. Not actual Image in our home. I had toddler learning posters plastered all over the walls. You cant look around the house without catching a glimpse of colorful posters. A couple of magnetic dry erase sheets that stick to the wall, with lots of magnetic letters, numbers, animals. None of these is research-based. In my mind, I thought I was making it a fun and healthy environment for him. Time will tell, I guess. Off to research and read books. Until later, Amar Read the full article

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First Steps of ABA

Finally, we are able to kickstart his therapies. We were initially told that ABA might have 5-6 months wait, luckily we got a call back from ABA about availability for 3 days a week and 4 hours a day. Although we were looking for a 5 day and more extensive duration, at this point we took it and hope he would be slowly transitioned to a 5-day program. While we are still waiting for his first day of ABA, ECI services have started and we had our first session with his therapist today. This was more of an introduction, what to expect and so on. So the program we are going to be in with ECI is " Pathways Parent training program"

Pathways Parent training program

As the name implies, it is more focused on enabling parents to perform the principles of ABA/Therapy. There is a lot to learn. As a parent I have to move quickly through four stages of learning, so everything we implement comes naturally to me. Stage 1: I am unaware and ineffectiveStage 2: I am aware, but still ineffectiveStage 3: I am aware and effectivestage 4: I am natural at this When I say I am unaware, I am talking about how to react for a specific situation, whether it is behavior, tantrum or reinforcement. As I learn more about ABC of ABA, I move to stage2 where I know what needs to be done, but I am not doing this in a way that would result in the desired behavior. Once I have observed long enough, now I know what and how of the ABC of ABA. Finally the Yoda stage, I don't even have to think about what I should do, It comes naturally to me. I found a lot of information on ABA techniques and strategies from this site. It was a big help in getting me started down this path, along with inputs from our ECI therapist. https://www.behaviorbabe.com/

Pairing/Focused Practice

Pairing is a process of establishing a relationship with the kid, wherein the end goal is for him to look at you and associate you with good things. Do not confuse this with "bonding" which is emotional. For starters, you give him reinforcers just to make him stay. Make it fun for him by not placing demands, take his lead. Basically I am learning a whole new way to teach him. Focused Practice is where you sit with your kid's favorite toys, let him take lead and follow him. On day 1 he lasted few seconds on the mat. As soon as leaves we pack everything up and put it away. In a week's time, he was sitting upwards of 10-15 minutes, receiving intermittent reinforcements. For now, we will have to keep this routine up, and slowly make this process more interactive. We did remove distracting toys from his sight. Actually, we bought a couple of Keter storage cabinet from Home depot, organized all his toys by type and moved everything upstairs. If he sees the toys all the time and has free access, he would not be excited when it is time for focussed practice. Moreover it's a nice way to reduce clutter. Rotate toys, try to limit flashy and noisy ones. We have always been using Montessori type toys at home, so he doesn't have many toys that are flashy and noisy. Until later, Amar Read the full article

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Early Intervention for Autism

In my first blog post, I mentioned standard autism tests that our pediatrician has performed for Arjun's evaluation. At that time I had no clue about the symptoms of Autism. We were lucky that our pediatrician was certified to diagnose Autism in early childhood. If it weren't for here we would have wasted valuable time helping him through early detection and intervention. Early detection and intervention are of utmost importance in autism. There are a lot of reasons for the long term benefits of early intervention. With early intervention, some children with autism make so much progress that they are no longer on the autism spectrum when they are older. Many of the children who later go off the spectrum have some things in common: Diagnosis and treatment at younger agesA higher intelligence quotient (IQ, a measure of thinking ability) than the average child with autismBetter language and motor skills

References

Look under Early detection and intervention section of Resources page

If Only I Knew

I would probably have caught the symptoms earlier if I was aware of the symptoms. If you are a new or expecting parent, I would highly encourage that you familiarize your self with age-appropriate development milestones and age-related autism symptoms. I wish, pray and hope that nobody would have to go through this diagnosis, but recent estimates conclude that about 1 in 45 kids in the USA is diagnosed with Autism. So better safe than sorry.

Early signs of Autism

Even though some research suggests that Autism could be diagnosed as early as 6 months just by observing their behavior, I am not so sure about that as each kid develops at his own pace. In my case specifically, there were signs starting at 12 months, but we did not see them as signs of autism. Rather thought he is busy playing, not in the mood and a whole plethora of excuses we gave ourselves. If by 12 months, if your kid exhibits any of the following symptoms there could be a reason to worry. Do not delay seeing a certified medical professional. Does not initiate or maintain eye contactAvoid eye contacts when we get in their faceregress ( loose) previously gained skills in speech, social behavior, etcNo response to his or her nameDoes not point or look in the direction if pointed across the roomLimited or no pretend-play or parallel-playproblems with nonverbal communication The following table is one of the best I have come across that lists down age-appropriate behavior in neurotypical kids (NT). For those new to the lingo NT means kids without any delays or disabilities. Source: https://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/autism-through-the-lifespan/infants-and-toddlers/

Age-appropriate milestones I am not a medical professional, none of this information is intended to treat, diagnose or avoid Autism. This information is valuable for all new and expecting parents. Please always consult certified medical professional even if there is a slightest of doubt. We are very thankful for early detection and based on what we have seen after a year of diagnosis and close to 8 months of early intervention therapy, along with other lifestyle changes that I would talk about in subsequent blogs, there is a day and night difference in our kid's behavior. Until later, Amar Read the full article

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What is ABA,ST, and OT

In my previous posts, I mentioned that we have applied for ABA, ST, and OT. We are on the waitlist for most of these services. Let us take a look at what each of these services is and how it helps our kids. PS: There are some contrasting opinions about ABA and its effects on kids with Autism. We will not be contesting or debating any of those opinions.

What is ABA

"Adaptive behavioral analysis ( ABA) is a type of therapy that can improve social, communication, and learning skills through positive reinforcement." ABA typically starts with an evaluation, usually based on observing kids' behavior, questionnaires and interview with parents. Based on the initial consultation, the therapist ( typically BCBA) formulates a plan for further sessions. These plans are further implemented by BCBA and RBT ( registered behavior technician). The main idea behind ABA is to reduce unwanted/undesired behaviors and encourage communication skills.

ABC of ABA

Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence is an important part of ABA. Antecedent - This is what happens before target behaviorBehavior- Response to the antecedent ( whether desired or not)Consequence- This is what comes after the behavior. Positive or negative reinforcement. A typical example of positive behavior. There can be hundreds of scenarios with negative behavior for the same antecedent. I am not an RBT or BCBA, so I will refrain from discussing or suggesting negative consequences. Now you have an idea why there is a controversy around principles of ABA. Antecedent - Kid throws the bottle down after taking a sip. We ask him to pick it up. Behavior - Positive: He picks it up Consequence: Positive reinforcement like huge cheer, encouragement or a star sticker, favorite snack In a nutshell, ABA is about encouraging positive behaviors ( in your opinion) and rewarding them, so it can be repeated. At the same time negative reinforcements to discourage undesired behaviors. When it is put like that, it can be interpreted as correcting behavior, trying to make kids behave like what we assume is normal. It does sound a bit unsavory, to say the least. We have to pick and choose our battles, at this moment we opted to go ahead with ABA therapy. If you have a different opinion of ABA, let me start by saying I understand and respect it. All we ask is you do the same.

ST - Speech Therapy

Most of the kids on the spectrum are either delayed in speech or non-verbal. I do not want to generalize the above statement, just my personal experience. Speech therapy is usually provided by a speech pathologist. In most cases, we would be dealing with either speech disorder or impairment. The link below has more precise information on differences and treatments. https://www.healthline.com/health/speech-therapy#treatment-for

OT- Occupational therapy

Occupational therapy is a science-driven, evidence-based profession that helps people of all ages to recover from injury, disability or illness and participate in activities of daily living. For example, they might help young children with disabilities participate fully in school or support older adults coping with physical or cognitive decline. Now let us talk about OT in plain simple language. It helps kids perform daily activities like brushing teeth, using a fork, opening lids, motor skills, toilet training, etc. There is a lot more to each of these therapies. I just summarised what little I know about each of these. I would like to post in detail about each of these therapies in the future as I learn more about them. Please refer to the resources page for additional information and starting points. Until later, A.M Read the full article

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Misfortunes never come singly

I guess the saying is true, at least in our case. This is a family of four. So far we have talked about our younger kid. Let us see what is happening with the other three of us around the same time. Our elder son had just turned five and is excited to start kindergarten later this year. I am a sound sleeper and have never noticed anything odd with his sleep patterns. After recent events, I could not get a good night's sleep no matter how hard I try. For the past few days, I had noticed that the 5-year-old would wake up and sit right where he was sleeping. He would sit for a few minutes and lie back down. This would happen quite a few times in the night. The next day morning he is tired, not interested in doing anything physical. I took him to pediatric ENT. As soon as I explained the symptoms he recommended that we get a crazy expensive sleep test done. I thought that was weird that he would not even look in his nose, mouth or feel his throat for any abnormalities. What do I know I am not an ENT doctor. I don't mind taking him to a facility that you have a financial investment in as a partner to get the sleep test done. For god's sake at least try to sell it. Look at patients E.N.T, so I at least feel convinced paying thousands of my hard-earned money.

Allergies

The next stop was an allergist. He was tested for multiple allergies on his back. He is severely allergic to dust mites. For the first time, I met a doctor in the US that doesn't start writing prescriptions as soon as they have touched you. I really like how the allergist talked about building his immunity and resistance as he is still young. Practice safe remedies at home. we had to make a lot of changes in the house, especially his room. Take out all the stuff toys. Steam clean the whole house. vacuum/steam carpet, sofa, upholstery. Install air purifiers in every room, humidifiers in the living room and his room. Dust mite covers on all bedding and pillows. Unfortunately, we need to keep this routine. Worst of all was to get him to clean his nose using netipot or other nasal irrigation systems. Although tiring and all-new cleaning equipment along with purifiers cost as much as my annual out of pocket max, I noticed that he was sleeping better and waking up much more energetic.

Adults in the house

I will keep this section short. We both had our annual health check done. My wife has a frozen shoulder and has a prescription for months of physical therapy. I have tons of cholesterol, not just borderline but crazy high. There were 5-6 different readings like HDL, LDL, etc, and I am way above the range in all of them. Feb 2019 has not been good so far. Way too much bad news. Stress and anxiety might soon get added to the list. Take care of your health folks. Cannot take care of your family, if you are not here. Until later, A.M Read the full article