Session Seven 6-22-09

~weekend~ The father’s day weekend was fun. Sevyn did lots of verbalizing and singing with us. We also practiced “walk with me” without holding hands in the drive way and he did good for about 8 feet! He still bolted at the end, but his attending skills are really improving! We saw some diarrhea on Saturday and a little more on Sunday so we’re adding more fiber and greens to his plate and offering them more often. He is doing good on the stricter diet. He’s clearly upset about not getting multiple servings of fruit everyday, but he thoroughly enjoys the one serving he does get now, he‘ll say “mmmmmm yummy bluburries!!” He also shared some fruit with his brother on Saturday and his Dad and I were so impressed! He walked up to Grey and put them in his hand! They have been working on giving hugs and sharing for a while now, but when it’s spontaneous my heart just melts! Oh, and we also noticed some of the sign language he used to use coming back lately. He signed “thank you” and “more“ to me several times over the weekend as well as the “I want“ gestures with the spoken words. He asked about the rocket (that’s what we call the hyperbaric chamber) a few times in the car over the weekend and told us “ I wan rocket!“ so we tried to talk about it and show him some books about rockets and space to reinforce the chamber. He is very interested in outer space, the stars and the sky. He enjoys being in the rocket and his time with mommy. In the future as his comprehension improves I want to teach him about space and the planets while we’re in there and really go on a rocket adventure in our imaginations!

Session 7 of HBOT with Sevyn
(diagnosis autism age 3)
6-22-09
Today’s appointment was highly anticipated by Sevyn! He was so excited to visit the rocket! We got in at 2:30 in the afternoon and Sevyn jumped right in the chamber! He thinks the PSI gage is a microphone and kept trying to talk into it! I filmed the chamber filling with air and us popping our ears as the pressure increased. Sevyn was genuinely happy to be in the rocket and when he checked the windows today he saw images of outer space! I made some space art to go around the rocket and Sevyn likes it a lot. We watched sponge bob and talked about sponge bob for the rest of the session. Sevyn was fairly calm and the chamber stayed cool which is so nice. I would really like to start weaning him off the cartoons and I tried to turn them off towards the end of today’s session, but wasn’t successful…and by that I mean he screamed until I gave it back to him. I want to get him to where his oxygen mask as well and that also makes him scream. I have been putting the mask on at home and trying to get him to where it. In the chamber I have been moving it closer and closer everyday. We’ll keep working on both though! At the end of this session he was totally ignoring me because he was so tuned into Sponge Bob and when we decompress I need him to pay attention to me and work with me to pop his ears, so from here on I want to try my best to turn off the DVD player when we prepare to leave the chamber. Sevyn had another runny bowel movement, seems to be getting better though. We have been trying to use more cloth diapers with him to help with the rash, and for the five days that he had formed poop it was awesome, but with the not so formed stuff it‘s harder. Less fruit more veggies! We’re still working on potty training. Sevyn has been sitting on the toilet since September of last year and has yet to even pee. The cloth diapers help because he sees his poop go in the toilet and flushes it. Hopefully he’ll start to make the connection soon. I took him for a stroll today around our block and just listened to him talk. He was babbling and saying a lot of “digga digga”, but there were also lots of clear words and expression in there too! My son has stories to tell and I’m starting to understand more and more of what’s on his mind!

Session Six 6-19-09

Session 6
(diagnosis autism age 3)
6-19-09
This morning we had an early HBOT session in hopes Sevyn would sleep in the chamber. Well, despite having kept him up very late he was pretty hyper by the time we got there. Just one of those days I guess. He kept spitting and flapping his arms in a spastic way that told me something was off for him. We had to take it easy going into full compression because he was holding his ears and not listening to me when I tried to guide him through the toning to open his mouth. He also didn’t want to eat anything to help pop his ears. It took longer to get to 4.2 PSI and thus more time in the chamber. Sevyn wanted to move from one end of the camber to the other and check all the windows, zippers and knobs over and over rather then lay down with mommy and watch Sponge Bob or Word World. All the activity makes us both quite hot in the chamber, so I really try to encourage him to relax and be calm. At one point the did get mad about not being aloud to touch the inner zipper of the chamber (the kids can never touch the zipper) and he hit me in the face and pulled my hair in a fit of rage. This was the first angry display I have seen in the chamber and he calmed down quickly when he saw Dr. Matt checking in with a stuffed animal overhead. Despite some behaviors we still did the full hour long session and Sevyn was seated and playing with me towards the end. I actually wanted to stay in the chamber once he calmed down and just cuddle like we did the day before, like he finally got to that relaxed state and it was time to decompress and get out. Sevyn did fine during the decompression and is naturally popping his ears now. When he doesn’t do it I ask him “show me your tongue” or “show me your teeth” to get him to open wide and say ahhhh. When the zipper opened Sevyn jumped upright and shouted, “We did it!” It was the very first time we had heard those words from him! Completely spontaneous and purposeful! Not and echo but his own thought! It was so cool! Dr. Matt and I applauded Sevyn and gave him big hugs! * I should note that I was very stressed out on this day. Thinking it over, some of Sevyn behaviors may have been from my stress and him feeling that energy. I had a family member pass away and had been crying and sad. I feel like Sevyn was reacting to me and not the therapy or a dietary infraction. When we got home Sevyn was calm and asked to "go outside" until we let him out to play in the back yard. He came inside later and ate some toasted brown rice bread for the first time after being offered it for months! He also ate half of my salad and a bunch of veggies I had no idea he’d even try! We are putting all kinds of new veggies in front of him lately and he’s just now starting to try them. He’s been eating more raw foods and Prana Enzyme Bars (these are great and 75%raw, vegan, GFCF, and organic) yes they have sugar, but much less than the fruit and sugary GFCF cookies he was having for snacks. He was eating way too much fruit! He did some ABA with me today. We worked with PECS and did some fine motor and floor time. He refused the flash cards again screaming "stop it" and trying to scatter the cards. Before we went to bed he sat and read about half a book with me. No poop today. He went 5 days in a row though and that’s amazing!

opps this video is from day five...but you get the idea!

Session Five 6-18-09

Session 5 of HBOT with Sevyn

(dignosis autism age 3)

6-18-09

The chamber today was fairly simple. Sevyn got in happily by himself, we laid down and watched Sponge Bob. Sevyn was very affectionate and calm in the chamber and actually let me cuddle with him for most of the hour. These sessions have really made us closer. He’s been telling me all about the characters in the show and their bodies. He‘ll point to Sponge Bob and label his head, ears, eyes, nose, feet, and mouth!. (Mommy doesn’t like sponge bob much, but it’s Sevyn’s favorite and it’s helping us get through therapy so we’re going with it!) When we came home today Sevyn said to his daddy, “Dad I wan keys.” His dad then asked him why he wanted them and Sevyn replied “Yeah go to car.” “go outside”!! We understood all of it and took him for a ride around the block just because he asked!! As this new language develops so can some frustration over not knowing how to use it or not having his demands met. He has figured out how to tell us some of what he wants, but when he can’t have it he throws quite the fit. At least now he’s screaming because he’s mad that he can’t watch CARS again and not screaming just to scream! More formed normal seeming poop again today! We’re seeing true regularity for the first time! YAY! Removing Soy and sugars has really helped, as well as being more strict about being GFCF. We’ve been watching him carefully and have seen no staring spells since starting HBOT! Sevyn just seems more focused and present. He’s been sleeping better, last night was a little restless for him, but he’s doing much better.