In my last post, "the haircutting post", I spoke about a new regimen of garlic and aloe to address candida. She no longer takes the aloe but has kept on with the garlic. I've also added some oil oregano capsules and grapefruit seed extract. I've read several spectrum forums posts and articles and decided on these supplements but we will be phasing them out soon, as you can't take them forever.

I would say the results were good!!

She couldn't take the GSE long because it is so strong. I think she used it for about a week a month ago. The oil of oregano she has been taking for about a month with 1 a day and she's been taking the garlic, 3 capsules, since October 2009. So that's been about 4 months, so yea, it's time for a phase out.

Now I say the results were good because since then we have communicated by email, that's with me emailing her and having her reading it out loud, and me discussing what was written with her.

We have also been communicating with pictures. For instance, a couple of weeks ago she took it upon herself and poured bleach on an outfit I had worn to take her shopping the day before and 3 of her brother's outfits. My clothes were all black and most of his too so they were ruined, yea.

Picture it, clothes on the floor ready to be loaded into the wash. Her left in the room with the clothes in the laundry area. Her folding clothes fresh out of the dryer. Her taking bleach and pouring it, liberally, on our clothes, and then stuffing said clothes and the load ready for the wash into the dryer for hiding.

I was totally upset and distraught after this and thought back to what transpired before this to which I surmised she was upset because she was left to finish folding the laundry from the dryer (like an outfit was left to be folded) while her brother stopped short to get online. I guess she was mad at us.

This story may seem far fetched and a few people seemed as though they didn't believe me when I told them about it, but I promise to you, it's true, and I believe I am spot on with her reason for doing it.

After I collected myself, I sat her down to ask her why she would do such a thing. I used pictures (smiley face and frowny or crying face, and sometimes a deadpan face). She pointed to the picture to answer yes (happy face) or no (sad) or to tell me her basic feelings.

Now let me say, my kid has never done anything like this or been able to tell me why or communicate anything about her feelings to me in the past. I credit this change in communicative ability to the supplements. You may be saying, "Well maybe it's because you used pictures this time". I have use pictures before of some sort with no results.

Early on with this supplemental diet, I have noticed her paying attention to what I say more. She looks at my mouth more instead of just looking in my direction or at me. Now she seems interested and intent on doing the right thing or replying with an answer.

Again, this may be due to her school environment this school year and yea I think so, and I also think it's more than that.

It just feels different this time.

She also makes an effort now not to hide paper to chew on later or to have any in her mouth when she should be talking. She is now aware that paper chewing is bad and makes an effort to correct herself but she's still working on preventing putting it in her mouth at all.

And the Downfall

With all of this goodness though comes some badness. She's been shoplifting. Taking like single string cheese packages when food shopping and toys when toy shopping.

I needed to pay attention more. Hard though when I'm running around trying to deal with the public and their ridiculousness and manage her too. Plus she's sneaky!! I many times forget how much like her mother she is lol.

Overall I would say Jessica is still autistic. Still severe. Still her same self, but more of herself.

She isn't cured. She has changed. She's conscious of herself, the world around her.

She now participates in the world outside of herself. She now engages me more. She acts more like a girl nearly 13 years old.

But she's still affected by autism but different in a different kind of way.

School will reopen here in less than 2 weeks. All summer I have looked for a job in this area to no avail. I don't know if it's the fact that I have a master's, my GPA is a 4.0, my certification is out-of-state, or that those viewing my resume feel I am overqualified which could potentially fuel me to ask for a higher pay, but I am over trying to break my neck to prove something to these douches. If you want to hire me fine, I can outperform with the best of them, and if you don't hire me, someone will.

Now with all of this I called a parent and alum who happens to teach in my daughter's self contained environment yesterday just to catch up. Of course there were some changes she had to inform me on. The great LEA we have had for 2 years up and found a job closer to home. This is fine but a few weeks prior to this leave she made promises to those who work in my daughter's class and to me on how she wanted the direction of the curriculum to go. Great!! I was satisfied and very pleased that she was even trying. My experiences with LEA's are that most just simply do their job and hope that your child can benefit from the curriculum, environment, and everything that goes along with that but they usually don't go out of their way.

Taking this information in I felt robbed. It's like I can never really trust the school officials to do as they say when it comes to providing the education that my child and all others with in that self contained environment need. Yes doing their job is what they should do but to me that's basics. Many who are in self contained classrooms will be there the duration of their school career so to me it makes more sense to set up a complex, streamlined curriculum that will address the general, pervasive needs of all to be educated in such an environment and then go in and create individual curricula for each student addressing their futures and current state.

So what do I do now? Move, keep doing what I do (I don't really depend on school to teach my child much), or just keep an open mind for the new LEA (who used to work in this district before which I can't understand why you would leave and then come back. Comfort?) I'm going to try to keep an open mind but I have written this district off as total BS after this news. Every year there is someone new. It's like it's viewed as a district where you can get a job to tide you over to the next best thing. And if you actually try to do something for the long term, you may get hit with roadblocks from superintendents and such who feel it's a waste to put money, the proper amount of supports for teachers, and thought into the area.

How can you ever really educated these kids and accommodate their needs when there is always an employment revolving door where special education is concerned?