Three things:

Because I'm in a Lovely Listing (otherwise known as Energetically Enumerating) mood, here goes:

1. Having had NBear on biomeds under the care of one Dr. Mielke, it's become easy for us to see when a yeast overgrowth is occurring. (3 things to remember, as per Dr. Mielke - stimmy, silly, spacey) So, it looks like we'll be following what Jenny put in her book - To remove Evan's candida, we did start him out on a prescription of Diflucan but after a few weeks, I switched him to a natural supplement that did the same thing. It is called ThreeLac, and if you Google it, you will find many places that carry it. (page 200, Louder than Words)

2. We went to my mom's apartment yesterday, and - for the first time EVER - we both noticed that NBear had NOT once rewound the Blues Clues video she was watching. (Mind you - this is her routine as soon as she enters the door: say hi to grandma, rush to the TV and VCR *yes, VCR - remember those?*, pop in the video, and rewind certain scenes numerous times until we leave.) It was a good day!

3. This post was beautiful. It features a teenage orator named Soeren Palumbo, taken during a speech he makes during (I'm assuming) a student body assembly. He doesn't talk about autism specifically, but about disabilities as a whole - and how the world (as we know) can be a cruel, unforgiving place. I won't tell you anything more, in hopes that you will watch it in its entirety. Don't let the shaky camera in the beginning turn you off to the rest of the video!

What are YOUR three things? :)

poop and circumstance

If you've gotten the chance to check out the TACA Now website, you may have noticed the words "Poop Stories" on their welcoming banner. Yes, poop - like Jenny and Dr. Mielke said, you have to be willing to explore poop when your child has autism.

This of course entails the need to be willing to stand over her or him while they perform the most elementary of all human functions: the bowel movement. Why? Well, as any scientist or zoologist will tell you, animal wastes help one to understand how the digestive tract is working - or not. NEVER in my life did I imagine myself hovering over the loo taking down its color, "sinkability" (sinking poop is best), analyzing/ inferring its texture (because I sure as HECK wasn't about to reach in that toilet water for the sake of unquestionable evidence!) and - here's the best part - looking for yeast. (Do you know how many days I spent looking up "How yeast looks like in poop" on google? Some sites led me to photos and I turned pale as my gastric acids crept up my windpipe). ugh.

My husband and I made a great Laurel and Hardy bathroom team, I tell you:

Him: *yelling from the upstairs bathroom* HEY! She pooped! Come look at this!
Me: *running like a madwoman* Wow - at least it sank and is compact, right? (yes, we learned some crap lingo)
Him: Yes, but do you see the black in it? That's the activated charcoal we gave - great at removing toxins!
Me: Ok, ummm....I'm feeling a bit queasy right now...I trust you.
Him: Really! Look - and that part right there? That's the yeast!
Me: Funny, I thought yeast was supposed to be fuzzy....but umm.....seriously, can we flush it now?
Him: It's gotten so much better though! *smiling* It has!
Me: Yes, honey, it ha...
Him: Where's the camera?
Me: You're kidding.
Him: we HAVE to document this you know? For the journal! It's important!
Me: oh.....kay.....

And so now I'm staring at a single photo in my digital camera, trying my best not to barf. My BEST. For those of you reading, you need not cringe. It will be a cold day in hell when I advertise my baby's poop.

Even for the sake of science. ;)