#535 Saturday 17 March

What's been happening?  Kaylia had to come home early yesterday .... sick with a botty-squirt episode.  Not pleasant!  She was soon over it and it certainly didn't make her unhappy.  Naomi has 3 weeks left of her dratted study ... the current unit is very unpleasant .... so we all suffer with her!  It will be wonderful to finish it.

Despite the diagnosis that Kaylia has not physical reason for her poor articulation, she still struggles with making the right sounds.  The positive side is that she is really interested and tries hard to make the sounds .... not much success though.  Very basic sounds like "p", "b", "t" are hard.  or "sw" instead of "sl".  We know what she is saying ... but not many other people!

My side effect to the new medication seem to be abating .... I can't say that the stuff is actually making me feel better the way it is supposed to.  At least I'll be able to give it a decent trial now that the waves of sleepiness are less.

I weighed Kaylia last weekend .... her weight is still climbing. She is very overweight now. She has gained 10kg in the past 18months.  The average daily weight gain is 0.1% over the whole period (3% at bad times).  It is due to the Risperdal which makes her hungry all the time.  Since her overall happiness is so good and anxiety is down, we're going to try reducing the Risperdal again.  We tried reducing it in August last year and found that she still needed it.  Hopefully we can get her off it.  It's not good for her even though she needs it.

The good thing is that her self-image is still very positive.  She loves admiring herself in the mirror!

#535 Wednesday 14 March

At times we ponder all the little ways that people might criticise our management of Kaylia ..... but then I think back to the early days.  Its now five and a half years since Kaylia's autism was diagnosed.  During most of that time her behaviours included melt downs and serious anxiety attacks.  Compared with these times, our life at present is a delight!

Previously ... even at the best times, Kaylia was highly anxious and not really happy.  Her stimming gave her respite but she wasn't happy.   Now?  She is truly happy!   Her excitement and happiness in much of her day is delightful to watch.  I really wish that all people who have cared for her in the past could come and visit us so they can see the change. 




Some of our management methods will create problems for us in the future ... but our quality of life in the present is such a big improvement that we will deal with those issues later!  The change has come since December when we tried "Medication Method 176"  ..... it seems to be pretty good!
I think we will just sit back and enjoy our happy Kaylia for a while .....

#534 Tuesday 13 March

Therapy yesterday was very good. So was school. She was so happy!

Kaylia and I often  get to school about 10 minutes early ....  she spends the time dancing round and greeting everyone who happens to walk past.  Everyone seems to know her!

#533 Sunday 11 March

Sleep in ..... we wish! Kaylia loves her showers.
In this hot weather she uses the shower as her stim and as her temperature control. She always feels hot and she loves having a long cold shower. I figure that our household is using well under the average water consumption so it's ok for her to waste a bit in this way.
Yesterday she had a trip to the beach with Kat .... then an ice cream trip ..... followed by time in the Bunnings playground.
It's always interesting to watch her interaction with other kids .... and their reactions.
This afternoon we were out for a long drive .... I drove close by 2 family homes and couldn't bring myself to call in because I knew that Kaylia would mess up the visit. Another case of the social isolation of autism.