October 29, 2011

Hello all,

Sorry for the delay, I am in a statistics class that is running me through the ringer so I will fill in the posts for the missing dates so my blog is going to be a bit off. Sorry but here's what happened on the 29th of October. First lets start with our list of supplements that we have taken on this date.

• Divine Child Drink
• Acetyl L Carnitine
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• Probiotics

Now today I was still recovering and my younger brother (my only brother) came over to check on me and visit his niece (whom he'd give his right and left arm for) and his two nephews. Now, Marcus Jr has never Never Never interacted with my brother, it's always been around him or just using Henry for what Henry could do for him but never playing with him. Well today he played with him, today he asked Uncle Henry to play with him and to play certain games! That was a huge!!! Marcus Jr actually acknowledged my brother and he played with him and that made us sooo proud.

Jai Lynn has been doing a great job also, today she has been doing a great job of finding her voice with out yelling or whispering and that is big.

Today they were both super excited because tomorrow we are going to the Zoo Boo go trick or treating for goodies. And both kids actually enjoy the Zoo Boo not just for the treats but they love the Zoo and they love the Zoo when it is all lit up for Halloween. Plus this is a great way to get the kids out in an controlled environment to get the candy they crave.

Well that is all we have for today as the kids are doing well. It seems as if we see the most gains from Marcus Jr when he has been without the NADH for at least two days. Meaning five days on and two off. It seems that in those two days that we are not giving him that one supplement whatever it was fixing just busts through.

We are very happy to share this journey with you and hope that you too embark on your own Autism Recovery journey. It doesn't have to be the same protocol that we're on but please start and don't give up hope on your child.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 12, 2011

Today the kids took the supplements that we have left (-:

• Zeolyte
• Omega 369
• Folic Acid
• Cod Liver Oil

The morning went well both kids where compliant and happy. Today was the tutoring day and both kids did very well. The tutor came over and Marcus, Jr had his session first. He sat for the entire hour! Once his hour was up she noted that he had increased focus and did a great job on his work. He completed 10 pages of work (some of it is posted in our photo gallery). Jai Lynn did a great job with her work she completed her spelling packet, she did some reading comprehension sheets, she did some math work and some other English and language arts.

When the kids got home from school I let them wind down so that they could be ready for the tutor. While Marcus Jr was playing and singing, he incorporated some of the kids in his A.I. classroom names into one of his songs. I thought that was pretty amazing.

One thing I'm not seeing a lot of this year with Marcus Jr is he used to be sort of angry whenever I would pick him up from school just overall whiny. I get it sometimes but not every time, I get some happy thoughts sometimes too.

So that was Wednesday for us. Hope this gives you some hope to push forward with any treatment that you may be considering.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 14, 2011

This morning started off very well the kids got up and took their supplements:

• NADH (am)
• Acetyl L Carinitine (am)
• Omega 369 (am)
• Folic Acid (am)

*we forgot cod liver oil this am*

• Divine Child Drink (afternoon)
• Himalayan salt (afternoon)
• Essentia Water(afternoon)
• Zeolyte (pm)

This morning while getting ready to go Marcus, Jr didn't put his socks on, so when I asked him to put his socks on he ran upstairs and as he was passing me he said "Excuse me" I was wowed because he has NEVER been that aware of what was going on around him to say excuse me.

Jai Lynn had a great day at school also, I asked her about school she said that she had a great day.

Tonight we went to the Fall Festival at the kids school and when we got there Jai Lynn saw one of her friends and said "Maggie" and gave her a big hug. Then she hugged Maggie's mom (her old Girl Scout troop leader) and said "hi Ms Peggy". Next she saw the principal and gave her an hug. After that both kids went on a train ride (without me) and both were smiling and very excited. Both had an OK time.

Dad is noticing that one on one Marcus Jr is focusing much better. And when dad went to put him to bed Marcus Jr actually hugged him no prompting! So that was a great plus for him today also.

So today was a pretty good day for us. Tomorrow will be a day for more fun (bearing the weather holds up).

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

What Do I Know?

So today I ponder. What would my children's life be like if I had no hope? What would it be like if I believed all of the websites, doctors and research that said my children will always be like they were and will never recover? I shudder to think about that but sometimes I see something that makes me think about just that very concept.

Today, in my Internet search for something else I happened upon the show "The Talk" and I wanted to see if Holly Robinson Peete was still one of the hosts, and unfortunately she's no longer on there because she was a great voice for Autism Awareness. Anyways going off track. So I end up on this quest to find out what some deem autism to be and what they think the prognosis is.

So I go to the HollyRod website first (because she fueled my journey for today) and I click on the Autism tab, and this is the definition that is given: "Autism is a lifelong, complex neurobiologial disorder for which there is currently no documented cure. It crosses a spectrum that ranges from relatively mild difficulties to extreme conditions involving severe language delay; repetitive and/or anti-social behavior, and even aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior. Symptoms of autism change across the life course. An autism diagnosis involves deficits in three core areas: social interaction, use of language, and behavior and interests. Researchers are scrambling to determine whether autism is linked to genetics, environment factors or a combination of both."

Next I go to Autism Speaks and their definition is: "Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders(PDD). The other pervasive developmental disorders are PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders."

Finally, I went to the Autism Society of America and their definition is: "Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a "spectrum disorder" that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today."

Now in saying all of that I say this, in a round about way they all give the same definition for autism, and they all really won't comment on what they think the causes are and they all say that there is no "known" cure. Now in saying that when you go onto each website and read further they do say that that there are treatments that will make life easier and that often times no one treatment will help that some children will require multiple treatments.

Both ASA and Autism Speaks give great information about the different types of treatments, biomedical and otherwise. Autism Speaks specifically gives out a great packet of information called The 100 Day Kit, and it helps parents navigate the first 100 days after the initial diagnosis. The HollyRod Foundation mainly offer support and assistance in the Greater Los Angeles area.

All of the above are great resources if you are just starting out on your Autism Journey, if you have been in the game for any length of time then the above sites will just frustrate you because it is often things that you have already know. But they are great starting points. At some point in your journey you're going to have to go behind, speech, occupational, and physical therapy. At some point you're going to have to push the envelope beyond what you feel comfortable with and do treatments that don't fit into the box of conventional medicine. That's if you want to do what the medical community considers impossible.....recover. Our kids can be recovered, it will get better if you don't give up hope.

Wishing you Blessing and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 11, 2011

Today was a great day for the kids. We are out of our NADH (I ordered over the weekend and forgot that Monday was a holiday) hopefully we'll be back in stock on Wednesday at the latest. But all other supplements were taken.

• Acetyl L Carnitine
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• Zeolyte
• Kombucha
• Esstenta Water

I have ordered more acetyl l carnitine, NADH and a new item Himalayan salt. I will be ordering my Divine Child drink on Thursday.

OK, back to the kids. Both kids had a great day, Marcus' teacher again commented on how super focused that he was and that Jai Lynn had started her MI Access test and was doing pretty well. Upon getting the kids home, I gave them both about an hour to wind down then I started with Jai Lynn first on her homework. We worked on multiplication, page 2 of her spelling packet and Time for Kids booklet. First the TFK booklet requires a lot of reading and comprehension and she did fairly well with reading and recall, although it was a bit frustrating to her because the first story included many words that she was unfamiliar with. The first story was about Palestine wanting be become independent (or something like that) and that is a story that I think any kid would have trouble with. It was quite difficult. The other story was easier but by that point she was already a bit frustrated with the entire TFK process and said "We'll do more next week" lol I told her no we have to finish the packet more tomorrow. Next we went to the second page of her spelling packet which is contractions. It took her to the fourth one to get the direction (it could've been the way I was explaining it) but once she took over she completed it on her own with very little direction. The final piece that we did were multiplication flash cards and she did ok, she is trying her best to make the transition from addition to multiplication (which is difficult for the "typically" developing child) we did 0, 1, 2, 3 (not the entire number chart, I picked and choose various ones). Jai Lynn overall did very well with her homework this evening very proud.

Marcus Jr, tonight worked on his personal information and he remembered to write his entire name and remember the numerical portion of his address, he needed assistance remembering the street name, and city and almost got the state on his own. We next worked on math skills on addition and subtraction and he did quite well (will have pictures up by this weekend). Next we worked his spelling list from his second grade class and I just had him copy the words onto another sheet of paper and as he wrote them he spelled the word out which was great, not sure if that is a skill he obtained from school, me or the tutor or a combination of the three. But it was great to watch him be engaged in his homework and not just blindly copy. The last piece that we did tonight was reading, I had him log the book into his reading journal and write his name on the sheet. After that he was done, Marcus, Jr did a great job with his homework this evening. He did a great job overall. Whatever was going on yesterday was gone today.

The only thing weird today was his stool, it was almost diarrhea like but he wasn't upset, not sure if it was something he ate(food wise) or something non food that he placed in his mouth. We still have issues with him mouthing non-food items, although not as bad as it was it is still unnerving to say the least. So just monitoring him and watching to see what happens next.

Watching and waiting to see what tomorrow brings. Whatever it brings I feel thankful thus far for the progress that we've seen.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 10, 2011

This morning the kids got up to the normal routine. They got dressed relavitely quickly, ate breakfast and went on their way. Marcus, Jr was a little whiny and out of sorts but he was overall compliant. The supplements taken today were

• NADH
• Acetyl L Carnitine
• Zeolyte
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• Vitamin D3

When Marcus Jr got home from school he was still a bit whiny but he was over all compliant and willing to do what was asked of him. His teacher said that although he was pretty focused he was still out of sorts. When he got home homework time was ok, his handwriting was off because he was not paying attention to the formation of letters and just going through the motions. He did a lot of singing and looking around while doing his homework, it took me a lot to refocus him to just the little bit that I needed him to do.

Jai Lynn did very well with her homework, she was able to take her work into her bedroom and complete the first sheet and last sheet on her own without prompting.

The kids did great at bedtime.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery

The Fuller's

*haven't had the time to upload new video and pictures hope to have them up by this weekend*

October 9,2011

Sunday was a great day for the kids. Both had their clay baths and activated charcoal. The other supplements for today where:

• NADH
• Acetyl L Carnitine
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• LL Magnetic Clay
• Activated Charcoal
• Kombucha
• Probiotics

Today was very laid back, lots of playing and getting ready for Grandma's and Grandpa's. Jai Lynn had her hair washed and braided today and everyone got their things ready to wear for the week.

We went over to my mom and dad's house and both kids had a blast running out in her yard and all throughout her house. They got ready for bed over there and we just came straight home and to sleep they went.

So again not much to report today, as it was very laid back for all. What I can say is everyone was compliant, mentally present, and interacted well at my parents house. Marcus tended to be in his own world a little at times but when you did command his attention he did attend. And a first both kids actually ate the dinner that was set out for them and not just a lot of aimless running around. Jai Lynn went up into my parents room and cut the television on to watch her show herself and retreated there and Marcus did puzzles and colored. Both shared the computer.

Hope your Sunday was well and Blessed.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 7, 2011

Today was a great day for the kids. Both got up in great moods and got dressed without me having to beg, yell and plead for them to do so. Jai Lynn made her own cereal and Marcus Jr waited patiently on his breakfast to be made. The kids actually got up at 6 am this morning and went to bed at 9 pm and where both still very energetic!

The supplements taken today where:

• NADH
• Acetyl L Carnatine
• Vitamin D3
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• Zeolyte
• Folic Acid

Today Marcus' teacher noted that he was quite focused and did a great job today. Need to start getting daily reports on Jai Lynn other than she did great because that is not telling me anything.

When I went to get Marcus, Jr from school I had snacks in the car, So I asked him did he want snacks and he said yes then I asked him how was his day at school and he said fine! Normally he says "teacher" when you ask him about school.

Tonight we went to Outbacks and Jai Lynn did something that she had never done before. The waitress was taking orders and when she got to Jai Lynn, Jai lynn said I want Macaroni and Cheese, and the waitress asked her what do you want to drink and gave Jai Lynn several options for lemonade and Jai Lynn stopped for a minute and thought and gave her choice. And that had never happened before! She took complete control over what she wanted to eat. We where so proud of her.

Marcus Jr sat at the table and actually did the games inside the children's menus! He did sing throughout dinner but it wasn't loud or again just very conversational.

No homework today just a fun night with the family, the kids are making great strides. This is going to be a weekend of clay baths and detoxing . Will post more later.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 5, 2011

So today the kids woke up ready to take on the world. I asked Marcus, Jr was he ready to go back to school this morning and he told me "yes". So started them off with their NADH and we went on our way with our morning routine. The supplements that we had today were:

• NADH
• Acetyl L Carnitine
• Zeolyte
• Keifer
• Omega 369
• Cod Liver Oil
• Folic Acid
• Vitamin D3

Both kids got ready relatively quickly with no setbacks. When I dropped Marcus, Jr. off at school, I went to talk to his teacher and just be an overall "smother" He then gently pushed me out of the room and said "bye mommy" I was so proud of him.

Jai Lynn had a dental appointment that morning and she did very well with that. No major tears and no major drama. We went to Barnes and Noble and chose a book and then we went for breakfast then off to school.

Both kids had a great day, Marcus' teacher commented on how focused he was today and how ready to work that he was.

Tonight was tutoring and Jai Lynn did great stayed pretty well focused and got her assignments done. She really needs help with the memory thing as it is a hardship for her. Marcus, Jr completed his assignments needing occasional focus throughout but completing them just the same.

An overall good day for the kids, looking forward to many trials and triumphs in this journey.

Still waiting to hear if we received the ACT grant our fingers and toes are crossed.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fullers

*This was actually typed on 10.7.11, still trying to "catch up" after having Marcus, Jr home sick for 3 days*

October 4, 2011

Today started off to be a pretty good day. The kids actually woke up before me this morning, my husband said that Marcus Jr has been up extra early the past few days. Both kids took their supplements this morning and they were:

NADH

Acetyl L Carnitine

Omega 3-6-9 Jai Lynn

Cod Liver Oil Marcus

Folic Acid Marcus

Vitamin D3 2000 iu's Jai Lynn

Today I decided to keep Marcus, Jr home one last day as I wanted to monitor him and make sure that all was fine in seizure world. Today Marcus Jr worked again on his personal information some math and reading. We didn't do much school work today just some relaxing and playing. Again a great day that he did good behaviorally and academically.

Today Jai Lynn forgot her lunchbag again, when I asked her where it was her reply "I can't find it it's not there" I asked her had she looked in the lunch room and in the lost and found at the school and she said no. Jai Lynn has issues with episodic memory, short term memory and she gets frutrasted when the pieces don't always come together for her (as anyone would). But she bounces back pretty well.

She got home and completed more of her spelling packet and her TFK packet, spelling was easier, but the TFK was a bit difficult as the assignment required her to read and recall. But she did her best without getting frustrated.

Marcus Jr. worked on his spelling words and math a bit more.

Overall a good day.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fullers

*sorry for the short post but writing this two days later*

October 3, 2011

Hello all sorry for the delay. But the kids had a great day on Monday. I decided to keep Marcus, Jr at home again just to check for any seizure activity and he had none today. The supplements that we took on this day where:

NADH

Acetyl L Carnitne

Cod Liver Oil (Marcus, Jr)

Omega 369 (Jai Lynn)

Folic Acid(Marcus, Jr)

Zeolyte

Keifer

Vitamin D3 (Jai Lynn)

Now for those of you wondering why certain kids are taking certain supplements here's why. For the Omega 369 it is in pill form and Jai Lynn can take pills and Marcus Jr is just learning so she can take the pills and Marcus Jr takes the actual oil. If you are wondering why I'm not doing the hemp seed oil per the protocol, because we still have Omega 369 pills and Cod Liver Oil left so once that is all used up we will begin to use the hemp seed oil. Now the Vitamin D3 is in pill form also (my liquid Vitamn D3 has mysteriously disappeared) so Jai Lynn takes 2000

iu's per day. The folic acid is in pill form also but it is small so I get Marcus, Jr to take that just like his NADH pill.

Now back to business, while Marcus, Jr was home today I did quite a bit of work with him. We worked on his personal information (ie name, address, city, state) did some math pages, and some English and language arts. And when he was able to focus he did quite well. We did a lot of refocusing as he worked and verbal prompting to get him to attend to the work

That above is his spelling list.

On that day he also did some math and identifying the seasons. Overall a pretty good day academically. He also did very well with his behavior today.

Jai Lynn had a good day at school, she left her lunch bag at school (she hadn't bought it home since last Wednesday) and I had been asking her to bring it home since she left it and she always seemed to forget. Today had her go back into the school to retrieve her jacket that she had left on Friday.

Both kids had a great evening and completed their homework that evening, Jai Lynn continued work on her spelling packet and her Time for Kids packet and Marcus, Jr resumed work on his spelling and math.

Bed time was uneventful and both kids went to sleep without incident.

An overall good day.

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

October 2, 2011

Hello all,

Today was pretty non eventful. Jai Lynn woke up with a mucus eye again. This time I didn't charge my cell phone so it wouldn't take a picture :-( But she had mucus just the same. Marcus, Jr. must have had a seizure prior to us getting him up because his bed was wet and his lips where a bit discolored when I woke him up. When I woke him up I asked him how he was doing and he replied "I'm fine" which is huge because he did it unprompted. I then told dad what he said and dad asked him the same question and he replied the same. The rest of the morning he was running and playing with his younger brother.

We went to get bagels this morning for breakfast and Marcus was very playful. Today there was a bit more scripting than usual but just about all of it applied to whatever he was doing.

Today both kids had a clay bath with activated charcoal after. The other supplements done today was NADH, Omega 3-6-9, Vitamin d3, Keifer, Acetyl L.Carnitine, Zeolite by Jai Lynn and Acetyl L. Carnitine , Zeolite, NADH by Marcus.

There where no more seizures today just the one that he had prior to us getting him out of his room.

We had all the kids in our room prior to breakfast and Marcus was having a great time, he was learning how to play with certain toys with daddy (they were battling with toy monsters) and that was huge that he was even willing to learn and participate. Marcus was "wrestling" appropriately with his younger brother and dad asked him did he love his brother and he said "yes".

Both kids did homework today, Jai Lynn took her spelling packet and completed two pages on her own. Marcus completed his spelling packet from last week and completed three pages of math from the Fast Kids Math book that I have. Jai Lynn needed minimal prompting only when Marcus was annoying her but she was able to complete her pages with classical music playing.

Marcus needed lots of prompting and focus help, he did a lot of tapping of his pencil, a lot of singing and looking around the room. It was difficult at times to refocus him but once refocused he worked on his math and spelling.

Today while Jai Lynn and daddy where in the family room my husband gave her a air kiss on her check and she replied, "you love me daddy." She also seemed to be getting better with asking questions and starting a conversation. Jai Lynn also changed the dates and month on the large calendar in the dining room and added all the dates that where important for the month. She counted down the day until Halloween (thus ending the Halloween conversation because now she has a visual).

Both kids had a pretty good day and we are looking forward to the great things to come.

We wish you Blessings and Recovery,

The Fuller's

*Please be sure to check out our YouTube channel at Ladycf1*

October 1, 2011

Woke Jai Lynn up to take NADH pill and she had lots of mucus coming out of her right eye (sorry she wiped It out before I could grab my camera) then she began whining about her nose having "boogers" and wanting them out. Tried to have her blow her nose but no boogers, she continued whining so since its Saturday I just closed her door and let her rest more.

Marcus,Jr is in great spirits this morning. Took his NADH with minimal resistance, and has been hopping and signing every since.

Check out my YouTube for the fun for the day.

At approximately 3:30 pm Marcus Jr had a seizure as we were driving to the grocery store. He urinated on himself and fell asleep in the backseat of the van.

I was able to get some video of the end and after, also got some pictures so be sure to check my YouTube page out for that.

He also had/has very bad gas so it looks like another clay bath is in order. Sometimes gas is like a "prequel" to a seizure, obviously his system is fighting something.

After we got home he went right to my bed and he laid down for about two hours, ate about three helpings of dinner plus an apple then asked to watch his show. After all of the excitement he seems to be pretty calm and just chill. Not sure if this is just that this seizure has taken it out of him or we're seeing some changes in behavior. Although, I think its the first I can always hope for the second.

Jai Lynn seems to be having a difficult time today processing information (maybe it's everyday and now because I'm journaling it, it just seems like its worse. I don't know .

*One Hour time elapse*

As I was writing the above portion at about 8:30 pm my son had another seizure lasting for 25 seconds. With a recovery time of under 5 minutes. Which is big. My husband says it looks like his seizure recovery times are getting smaller and the seizures aren't lasting as long. He will be receiving a clay bath tomorrow. Tonight before bed I made sure he had his zeolyte. It seems as if he was right back to normal after this episode as he fully participated in story time (sorry no video I was making bottles) and stayed clear of his room until his bed was made.

Jai Lynn had a great day overall, she also took her zeolyte before bed and she did well during story time (received all story time reports from my husband). She was very low key today but did a lot of question asking, and a lot of conversation initiation (well at least her version of it which is asking the same question over and over again whenever she sees or hears something that reminds her of a topic of interest today it was Halloween). She was very interested about what I was doing in the kitchen (but that has been one of her big interests as of late) and she was very helpful and understanding when Marcus, Jr was having his seizures. An overall big girl. She also told me today that she is going to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

So that was our day in a nutshell, will most likely have more video tomorrow of both kids will try to post what their academic work looks now also.

Until next time,

Wishing you Blessings and Recovery

The Fullers

New Stuff

I am in the process of switching my blog over from Word Press, so give me a little time to switch everything over as Word Press is not as "user friendly" as Blogger and I don't have time to play around and try and figure out how to make a blog work. Hopefully by Sunday (fingers crossed) I'll have this blog up and running. Until then visit the old blog www.charmsthoughts.wordpress.com, I will be disbanding it in a few weeks once I get all of the postings and resources switched.