mamajumps 0 #51 February 5, 2008 Thanks for posting that. I was in tears by the end. The US Education system has a huge problem with putting all the kids in one fish bowl per se. And then the special and gifted children such as your son spend the rest of their lives paying for it. I feel your pain and wish I could give you and your son a big hug. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuckakers 426 #52 February 5, 2008 Classic ADD symptoms if you ask anyone in the (NEA controlled) teaching biz - "full of energy, having problems sitting still and paying attention to stories" are all common signs. Telling you it's an intelligence issue is the first step. The second step - usually just as you reach the end of your parental rope on the issue - is to tell you they have a solution, and it's DRUGS! The real solution is easy. Remove ALL sugars from the kids diet. Nothing else - just that. No discipline changes, no schedule modifications, nothing. Just get the sugar - ALL THE SUGAR - out of the diet (including starches and sugars that are in packaged food). In every clinical study in which it has been tested, taking 100% of sugars out of the diet resulted in ALL ADD symptoms going away almost immediately. Try it. You'll be surprised how well and how quickly it will work.Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #53 February 5, 2008 QuoteI don't mean it like that. Just your country is so big and so demanding that you guys would enjoy having your own planet. The rest of the world are fine with the way things are. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That makes me really sad to hear. I don't feel that way at all, but we're obviously (collectively) giving off that impression. Oh Jewels, please do not buy into that mentality. How can one poster 'speak for the world'. This country (as many other countries) does a lot of good and has a lot to be proud of. Don't believe the media hype that we are disliked around the world and that we are the big bullies on the block. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #54 February 5, 2008 Yeap ... Bad news is the only selling news... sad, but mostly true (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACMESkydiver 0 #55 February 5, 2008 Quote Classic ADD symptoms if you ask anyone in the (NEA controlled) teaching biz - "full of energy, having problems sitting still and paying attention to stories" are all common signs. Telling you it's an intelligence issue is the first step. The second step - usually just as you reach the end of your parental rope on the issue - is to tell you they have a solution, and it's DRUGS! The real solution is easy. Remove ALL sugars from the kids diet. Nothing else - just that. No discipline changes, no schedule modifications, nothing. Just get the sugar - ALL THE SUGAR - out of the diet (including starches and sugars that are in packaged food). In every clinical study in which it has been tested, taking 100% of sugars out of the diet resulted in ALL ADD symptoms going away almost immediately. Try it. You'll be surprised how well and how quickly it will work. I am ALL for diet modification...however, any time a person says that they know that they can 100% cure any syndrome or disease is either a smidge over zealous and misinformed or trying to sell something (be it a product or just a line!) If you provided links to all of those studies that you're claiming cure ALL ADD that might be helpful. Gluten-free, caseine-free was supposed to be the magic combo for the same condition. Our boys have been free of wheat and dairy for 8 years, but by no means did it 'cure' them. It has helped, absolutely! But it was not a cure. Neither was preservative free. Or red dye #40 free. Or sugar free. Or simple carb free. Or DMV. Or Oral chelation. Or flax seed oil. Or high dose B12. Or...any number of miracle remedies that over the past 8 years were supposed to 'cure'. I'm just saying to be careful when you try to give absolutes. Heck yeah diet modification can help and has cured some people of their symptoms. But not all.~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #56 February 5, 2008 Quote Yeap ... Bad news is the only selling news... sad, but mostly true Ya got that right my rotted tooth, shit eating friend. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #57 February 5, 2008 one day Chris... one day (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #58 February 5, 2008 Quote one day Chris... one day I'm hoping it's a nice brew in a British Pub with a good friend. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #59 February 5, 2008 Certainly, and I look forward to such a day (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuckakers 426 #60 February 5, 2008 Gluten-free, caseine-free was supposed to be the magic combo for the same condition. Our boys have been free of wheat and dairy for 8 years, but by no means did it 'cure' them. It has helped, absolutely! But it was not a cure. Neither was preservative free. Or red dye #40 free. Or sugar free. Or simple carb free. Or DMV. Or Oral chelation. Or flax seed oil. Or high dose B12. Or...any number of miracle remedies that over the past 8 years were supposed to 'cure'. Did I mention a no sugar diet includes all foods with corn syrup as an ingredient? (which is nearly ALL packaged food) When going sugar-free, it's important to go sugar-free.Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #61 February 5, 2008 Quote Gluten-free, caseine-free was supposed to be the magic combo for the same condition. Our boys have been free of wheat and dairy for 8 years, but by no means did it 'cure' them. It has helped, absolutely! But it was not a cure. Neither was preservative free. Or red dye #40 free. Or sugar free. Or simple carb free. Or DMV. Or Oral chelation. Or flax seed oil. Or high dose B12. Or...any number of miracle remedies that over the past 8 years were supposed to 'cure'. Did I mention a no sugar diet includes all foods with corn syrup as an ingredient? (which is nearly ALL packaged food) When going sugar-free, it's important to go sugar-free. So a 96 oz Slushie wouldn't be a good Idea?I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACMESkydiver 0 #62 February 5, 2008 Quote Did I mention a no sugar diet includes all foods with corn syrup as an ingredient? (which is nearly ALL packaged food) When going sugar-free, it's important to go sugar-free. Coincidentally enough, I'm doing that for myself for 40 days (technically I think it's 46 days) starting tomorrow. God help me!!! My weight lifting prof was a diabetic and made a BIG deal in class about high-fructose corn syrup. Here was his statement: Quote "High-fructose corn syrup equals fat kids." There are so many different dietary mod's one can do. Our doc just threw us a curve ball; one twin is over on the weight, so he needs to be following the South Beach Diet. Ok...no wheat, no dairy, South Beach diet. Um...ok. It worked for the first couple of weeks, but then it really started to become boring to the lil guy and cost prohibitive -I'm looking at cheaper ways to do GFCF. Oy. Textures are big for most kids, too...and health food has an odd texture. I'm working on that as well.~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,589 #63 February 5, 2008 That was a beautiful post. I have a friend who was told that her son might need intervention. I'd met him, and I'd've thought he was just high-spirited, and a little weird. Had a huge problem with allergies as a child. With a couple of years of special help, and nearly individual schooling (he was WAY ahead of the curve in math, for instance), he's doing just fine now. He started in a home-type school, is now in a charter school (small), and is about to move to public school for 6th grade -- he's looking forward to it. The teacher is probably familiar with what 3-year-olds are like, and might be saying that this one seems different on those scales from other 3-year-olds. Might be worth listening to. It's cheap to listen, except for pride. A lot of the help comes from having an independent plan at the public school. And virtually no one drugs preschoolers for ADD; that generally doesn't start until first or second grade at the earliest. Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gimpboogie 0 #64 February 6, 2008 going out on a limb here.... yes we finally figured out what it is that makes Mika so special.... he is autistic.... as it turns out are other members in my home. autistic is something that people often either do not understand, fear, or just do not know what to say... but if you have a look at:http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/ there are many ways to be autistic. My son and daughter are 'labelled' as 'high functioning autistic' or as some call 'aspergers syndrome'. I like the way Tony speaks of aspergers: "children and adults with Aspergers Syndrome have a different, not defective, way of thinking. The person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities than would be expected with other people. There is also a different perception of situations and sensory experiences." "The person is usually renowned for being direct, speaking their mind and being honest and determined and having a strong sense of social justice." "The person may actively seek and enjoy solitude, be a loyal friend and have a distinct sense of humour." This is the site of a lady who is autistic (and has a great sense of humor ) http://www.geocities.com/autistry/oddizms.html and so, you might be autistic if: http://www.geocities.com/autistry/YMBAAI.html and if your really getting into reading about autism try this site;http://www.wrongplanet.net/allarticles.html you'd probably qualify as autistic if you read it all... that would probably mean that you have a new obsession that you cant stop learning about till you've learned everything you can get your hands on (how very autistic of you :) ) some of the autistic characteristics that apply well to my son are: # Difficulty paying attention # Difficulty shifting attention (stuck on an idea or action) # Difficulty sharing attention with others # Difficulty interacting with other people (responding back and forth, turn-taking), making friends, and understanding others # Difficulty controlling emotion and excitement # Strong memory and sense of direction # May not benefit from typical teaching methods # Intense or unusual activity levels # Unusual sleep patterns Difficulty joining other people No fear of real dangers Over or under reaction to sight, sound, smell, taste, pain or touch (including being held) ok enough, if you want to know more after reading those sites from beginning to end.... definitely your intense interest has shifter from skydiving to autism-giving away the secret autistic within you :) hope that helps someone, who is wondering 'what the heck is going on with me?" (or my kid or my spouse, brother mother etc.... the stats currently show that 1/250 individuals are on the autism spectrum. autism is a spectrum from highly intelligent and successful individuals such as einstein (if he were alive today it is most likely he would be labelled as autistic), to individuals who truly do need daily supervision for their lifetime,, who never do learn to speak etc. remember April is autism awareness month, and I'll be flying free in the clear blue skies celebrating the autistics in my family.... hhhmm... that would make all of us ;) the photos: one is my daughter sitting at the beach, studying a stick... did it for about an hour in that position- not moving still like a statue. one is my son at 18 months doing headstands in his crib when he was 'supposd' to be sleeping- i am sure he rarely slpet but was active all the time... that time he was hopping himself up into the headstand and back again repeatedly later on, we had gymnasts rings attached in the house so he can learn. IF he was swinging there upside down he could answer any multiplication question but ask him while telling him to sit still on a chair and he would not be able to answer simple 2x2... he was 13 doing dishes-'mika style'. :) it took 6 months of discussion why it would make sense to put the dishes IN/ON the dish rack... rather then lining them up around the dish rack... here he got a couple of plates in the rack-were making progress after 6 months! while at that time he could recite the periodic table, calculate complex algebraic calculationsTo become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gimpboogie 0 #65 February 6, 2008 mamajumps thanks a great deal for the hugs our way. Yes I DO feel sad of my son's current situation, and hope that he truly will find his 'niche' in life.... something he enjoys.. I really do not care if it is collecting the garbage, teaching swimming, skydiving, or brain surgery (I just dont want to go under his knife...heck he still cant tie hhis shoe laces I wont trust him to tie my stiches even if he passes me school :) ) in ALL seriousness, he has suffered deeply because people never understood the wonderful, beautiful soul he truly is. my daughter is also autistic but very different then my son, she is sensory avoidant not seeking like mika is. my daughter is highly artistic, could draw and takes beautiful photos. she has an exceptionally high grade average but she is not athletic.. she has extremely low muscle tone to the point that she had failure to thrive because she didnt have enough strength in her jaw to chew her food so she would suck on it and spit it out after... only swallowing fluids and puree textures. she was always very anxious, and would cry in the corner during swimming lessons because "someone swam by and brushed against my skin and i HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE TOUCH ME" she would explain. She too was tormented in school. Kids thought it was funny to grab her by the arm and swing her around, drag her on the ground till she came home with road rash from her chin to her knees.. when asked what hapened she would shrug her shoulders... :( she also was homeschooled z(check out unschooling.com that was our method... child led learning... the kids immersed themselves in one topic or another till they had their fill of it and moved on to another...0 my daughter goes through phases... once it was ancient egypt for a few yrs to the point she taught herself hieroglyphs and drove her math teacher crazy writing everything in hieroglyphs. currently it is japanese.... she walks around with a japanese dictionary and is quite fluent in japanese... I(we are Finnish and english speaking family living i Northern Ontario Canada where her Japanese skills have not yet found a niche :) this interest cameout of her interest in understanding what her favorite japanese anime characters were saying -she hates the english dubbed versions of it, she didnt learn to ride a bike until she was almost 14, and learned to skip at 13. these kids are as oposite as is possible, but yet both are autistic. that leaves me. i did not speak until i was 6 but i do remember reading when i was 3 while sitting in the outhouse and reading the newspapers tacked to the walls. all my life i was 'different' and didn't fit in anywhere. to this day until i started sports i never had a friend -not one. never had a birthday party, or was invited to one. then, until i started skydiving i never fit in anywhere... not even in university despite my 96.4 average on graduation.... no one came to see me graduate, nor invited me to the parties afterwards. i didnt care sometimes, and other times i just wished i could be 'ok' in others eyes. until my skydiving coach became my friend and drove me home one day from the dropzone Z(thats a 5-6 hr drive!) i had not had a visitor in my hoome (he came in Sept 2007!). BUT, once I started skydiving, no one yet has told me im wierd or unwanted, or to get lost. they actually like to see me there... they tell me they think i am smart, funny, fun to be with and the most insane and bold person theyve met some say 'hardcore' which apparently is a compliment at the DZ :) SO, now that i've told you all that not only are my kids autistic but I am as well. I DO want to tell you that being autistic is not fun sometimes, but other times it is a great trait. i've memorized the SIM's almost completely, certainly remember each of my dives, and at what altitude I did what manouver... despite the fact I have not made a dive since Nov 5th 2007. Each nine dives *to date* I can tell you second by second what happened, what the weather was like etc etc. two days ago my rowing coach raced and wondered who the other two who came in 2st and 2nd place were. it took me 3 minutes to reseach these guys telling him that the 1st place winner had rowed 2 million 2 hundred thousand seen hundred and fifty meters in the previous 30 days, that he is an air traffic controller (so NOW we know what they do in that tower... they row on their rowing machines!)... bah blah blah. I think my meticulous attention to detail, great concentration skills and ability to calculate (the cross country flyers like that.... no need for calculators!) are a bonus in sky diving. my intense 'onsession' to a topic i 'get into' typically allows me to excell at what i want to do. as long as the ALS stays at a slow progression and does not take my life too soon, i will become a great sky diver and will be able to do anything those of who are not paralyzed can do.... esxcept the stand up landing... but standing is over rated anyways... ;) now you know more about me then i ever thought to share initially.... BUT IF this helps someone understand themselves, or their loved ones better then it was all worth it. and ultimately if you like me, you like me because of the kind of person i am not because i am autistic or not. -minnaTo become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vskydiver 0 #66 February 6, 2008 Yes, I understand autism. My sister has three boys that are on the spectrum from mild to severe. I was guessing that autism was the problem but I didn't know if he had a diagnosis or not. I was talking to my kids (ages 19,17,16,14) about your post and their first reaction was that your son was autistic and the second was that it was really cool that he could play video games so well. Then they began to talk about what kind of money he could make doing that. (kids!) They thought your son was amazing and so do I. Has he looked into being a video game tester? I found it interesting that my kids could actually tell when someone is autistic and understand and look past that to the person. Probably because they have been around autism for so long. My son, Brett, (16) has been best friends with a boy down the street since they were both three. His friend has Aspergers and Brett, to this day, is his only friend. It sounds to me like your son is doing pretty well but I hope he can find happiness beyond his video games. It's more important for him to find his own happiness than it is that he lives up to anyones expectations or ideals. It doesn't matter that he didn't graduate High School. It matters that he can live on his own and take care of himself and be happy. That is all I wish for my own children. We hope that our kids will graduate, get a good job, make lots of money, live up to their potential, etc. But if they don't, bottom line, I just hope they are happy. As for his dishes, I would get or devise a different rack that works better for him. Get a stand with a drain plate under it so that he can lean all the dishes against it or something. Or better yet, just put down a dish towel and stack the dishes on that without the dish rack. With some things I don't think it's worth the battle of conformity. ~Just my thoughts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,589 #67 February 6, 2008 QuoteIt matters that he can live on his own and take care of himself and be happyYup. I'd include being productive in some way, but that's because self-esteem is tied up in that for most of us. That's all. The rest is gravy. Gimpboogie, your son sounds amazing. Of course, you are, too. Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites