3/30/09

So Tyler is running an somewhat unexplained fever right now. Has been since he woke up on Sunday. He has no other symptoms of illness, except Friday he had a diaper rash which I thought was strange cause the school didn't indicate on the paperwork they went home that he had diarreah (they usually tell us) and daycare didn't mention anything either. The diapers I changed were normal stools. Tyler never gets a diaper rash without diarreah. So now my mind is starting to wander.. did he somehow get a hold of gluten on Friday. You see, the week following the complete removal of gluten from his diet, he went through withdrawls, which included fever and on and off lethargy for a week! We bathed the boys together last night and are keeping Ben home with Tyler so that if he is gonna get sick then we'd rather have it be sooner rather than later, but Ben is still not showing any signs of a fever. So for my own peace of mind, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on to cause him to have a fever but no other symtoms of illness.

So let's see.. we didn't push Tyler too ahrd this weekend as he wasn't feeling well. HE's been resisting naps lately even though he's really tired.. I laid him down for a nap on Saturday, he laid down for a few minutes, would sit up and play, then lay back down. I keep a close listen as he's starting to try to get otuof his crib (yes I know he needs a big boy bed but that opens a whole new world of worry that I'm not quite ready for), so anyway, after about 30 minutes of up and down, I heard him say (heard through the monitor) "ou"... yahoo.. my boy asked to get "out" of his bed. SO of course I ran in there and got him out. On the same day he also said "uh oh" after I did so I then said it again and this time he made the proper intonation but didn't actually move his lips. Still excited that he was imitading me.

So last night after dinner, we were having a hard time getting Tyler's fever to come down so I was just snuggilng with him in the chair and we were watching signing time videos. Not only was I learning more signs but I ws able to do some hand over hand signing with Tyler's hands. Then.. something great happend.. Leah and Alex (two of the main characters) started laughing and then Tyler started laughing. IT was great! Tyler usually laughs more at objects moving or puppets or something like that but not necessarily on cue when people laugh. I've never noticed him do that before so I thought it was pretty cool.

On the down side.. that story I posted last time is still haunting me. It was like bad accident that you can't help but watch.. I couldn't help but finish reading that story once I started, I guess in hopes that it would have some sort of happy ending. Anyway, it was just was a bit discouraging, I know that there is the possibilty that things may not get better for Tyler but thinking that they may get better and then worse...well that's just hard for me process. And of course that story is a rare one, they certainly dont all end that way. But as far as Tyler has come in his short little life, the journey ahead of his is so monumental that it can at times seem impossible. We were driving around last night with the boys and TYler was playing with his orchestra toy and honestly pushed the same musical button for 45 mintues..repeatedly..over and over and over. Steve talked about how as kids they used their imaginations in the car to play games and I said well Ben is just getting his imagination and Tyler doesn't have one yet and honestly he doesn't always have reality either. Anyway..I'm just in need of some hope right now.

People are constantly giving me articles about very successful adults with autism. So I figured for those of you who read that darn story, may need a pick me hope, a little piece of hope, just like I did.. so here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wt1IY3ffoU Go to this link. you don't have to watch all of it (it's very long) but it's a very famous woman with autism who is presenting about autism and it's fascinating being that she has the disorder herself. She is very successful, just a bit quirky!