Brookes Battle With Autism

Brooke - Slow but Steady

2011-11-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

It has been a few months since the last update. Brooke is still improving, slow but steady as Dr. Brown had told us. The biggest change I notice is with Brookes vocabulary. She now says up to 5 or 6 word sentences, when she wants to. Some that come to mind are, "I don't want to go home.", said when she didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpas house. She was working on a puzzle at home from school. When she figured it out she jumped up and said "I did it" and ran over a gave her mom a high five. I saw Brooke last week. She wanted a different video to watch. She took my hand and took me to the shelf they are stored on. I kept grabbing videos and showing them to Brooke. She would look at them and say "No". After 5 "no's", I told Brooke I would pick her up and she could grab the one she wanted, which she did. Communication has improved, but still has a ways to go. In the past, Brooke would sit at the computer and watch YouTube videos. Whatever was on, she would watch. Now, she takes the mouse and clicks on what she wants to watch. Her control is still not real good, and messes up on occasion. You can tell when a mistake is made as Brooke yells out "help".
About 3 weeks ago Cora sent in a urine sample from Brooke to be tested. Today she got the results from Dr. Brown. Brooke is still loaded with lead. We are taking Brooke back to Dr. Brown's office in Overland Park on Monday for more blood test. After the results are in, Brooke will be starting on comprehensive chelation therapy. Which is giving Brooke something to expel the lead from her system. Dr. Brown told Cora today it will most likely be in suppository form. He had a little boy with the same problems as Brooke, and suppositories worked the best to quickly get out large quanities of lead. Until next time, take care.

Brookes 1st Fourth of July

2011-07-04T18:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, July3, we celebrated the 4th with our annual family get together of swimming, cookout and fireworks. The last 2 years I didn't get to enjoy the fireworks, I was in the house with Brooke who had no interest. This year, things changed, Brooke celebrated her 1st 4th of July. There were many 1st time things for Brooke yesterday. It was the 1st time in a long time she actually sat with the family at the table to eat supper. She usually stands in front of TV and we take food to her. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke threw down sidewalk poppers on the sidewalk to hear them pop. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke lit a smoke bomb and threw it down so she could run threw the smoke. She even picked them up and threw them in the trash after they stopped smoking. Brooke learned if you pick them up to quick after they smoke, they are still hot. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke helped me hold a roman candle. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke sat with me and watched someone lite an arial bomb. When it was lit she would say " one, two, three, blast-off". When it went up in the air she would wave and say "good-bye". Yesterday was the 1st time she sat on my lap to watch the city fireworks display.
Brooke is coming along leaps and bounds, comprehending at about 60 to 70 percent. She still needs to be watched for running out in the street after a fireworks had been lit. I stopped her numerous times when a car was coming and told her she had to wait for the car. After the 6th or 7th time telling Brooke to wait for the car, she looked back at me and said " I know". She just gets so excited. After one item was lit, she would run back to the car where they were kept, and grab another. Back and forth, back in forth. She had so much fun for over 3 hours. Never once losing focus and taking off aimlessly. At about 10:45 she climbed into the trunk of her Mom's car and hollered out, "good-nite". Brooke was worn out.
An update from Dr. Brown's office. Brooke is expelling the lead from her system, but not at a high enough rate. She needs to have more bloodwork done. Dr.Brown talked about giving her something one time to expel more lead out of her system. After the lead is out of her system, look out, there will be no stopping Brooke LeAnn Altoid.

Brooke making progress

2011-06-22T22:19:00.001-05:00

It has been awhile since the last update on Brooke. She had a meeting 3 weeks ago with Dr.Brown in KC. It was discussed that the main problem continues to be getting all the supplements into Brooke. She is way to smart. Cora's only option is to hold Brooke down, hold her nose and squirt the supplements in Brookes mouth. Dr. Brown was also concerned that Brooke was possibly not getting rid of all the lead in her system. He sent a urine test kit home. The urine sample was to be sent to Illinois to see if Brooke is expelling the lead. If not, Dr.Brown would give her something to get the lead out, so to speak. He said the largest change in Brooke would be seen once the lead is gone. The test has been sent in and we are waiting for the results. On the way home, we stopped for gas outside of Topeka. Brooke went up to the checkout counter, reached down and grabbed a pack of mentos and laid them on the counter and waited. After I paid for them, the cashier handed them back to Brooke. Brooke took the mentos and said to the cashier "Tank U". That is the biggest change I have seen in Brooke, her vocabulary. She is saying 3 and 4 word sentences more and more. As you can see in the picture above, Brooke is also quite the ham. I took the picture tonight with my cell phone. Of course Brooke says "cheese" when getting her picture taken. Then she has to see the picture after it is taken. Also tonight, Brookes little sister Lila kept grabbing Brookes shirt. Brooke pushed her off and said "Let me go". The best moment tonight happened with Brooke standing 6 feet in front of me watching TV. She sort of bent over with her butt in the air. She then took her arm and starting fanning behind her butt. She turned and said to me "sorry". Miss Brooke had just passed some gas. Brooke did not want me to leave tonight. She blocked the door for ten minutes while I talked to her, telling her I had to leave and would see her again soon. She finally let me leave, but was not happy about it.
Cora told me a couple of days ago that Brooke had said to her " I like swimming". Cora also told me that Brooke and her were playing tag last night, and that Brooke understood the concept of the game. Cora told me that Brooke said " I get you" , "You get me".
Of course, as is normal in life, Brooke is starting to receive some cruelty from other kids because of her disability. Cora said that one of the kids in daycare was making fun of Brooke. The lady in charge of daycare contacted the childs parents and informed them that it would stop, or they would be finding a new daycare.
In closing, I just want to thank Brookes mom Cora for being such a super mom. All the improvements seen in Brooke would not be possible without her dedicated mothers love. Cora is truly amazing and with her taking care of Brooke, it's not a matter if Brooke will get better, but when. Thank you Cora for all you do for Brooke.

Brooke, Great Things Are Happening

2011-04-13T20:31:00.002-05:00

Brooke has been on the new program now about one month. There have been a few rough times, one of the supplements wasn't agreeing with her, and she seemed to be regressing. Cora stopped giving it to Brooke and now things are heading in the right direction again. Tonight I personally witnessed a miracle with Brooke. Cora pushed Brooke and her little sister Lila down to our house tonight in the double carriage. Brooke couldn't undo her seat belt and looked up at grandma and said "help, I'm stuck." Grandma unhooked her and Brooke came in the house and got out a movie to watch. When the movie started, Brooke pointed at the screen and said to me "look, a star." It was actually the moon, but close enough. Brooke was just so happy watching the movie. Laughing and clapping at different times. After 30 minutes, Grandma came in the house and said Cora was ready to leave. As usual, I was expecting a battle for Brooke to leave. After 4 plus years, Brooke has never left our house without a fight. I told Brooke it was time to go home. At first she ignored me. I repeated it again. She said No and climbed on the couch behind me. Grandma said to me she would shut off TV. I was expecting the usual fight when TV was shut off. TV is off now and something is not right here. Brooke climbed off the couch, opened the door and walked out on the porch. Maybe it's a trap, surely she will rebel soon. I am expecting the worse at any second. Brooke walked down the steps and climbed into the carriage. Holy crap Batman, did you just see what I just saw. I told Cora I have just witnessed a miracle. Cora snapped her seatbelt and told the girls to say good-bye. They both said bye and waved as Cora pushed them down the driveway. I was totally floored. I have never ever seen that happen before. Dr. Brown had said that all the supplements will help, but the biggest changes will be seen when the lead (aka heavy metals) start coming out of Brookes system. The above story is just one of many changes I have seen with Brooke. Brooke is now starting to say sentences. Cora told me a few things Brooke has said. One being said to a school teacher that asked Brooke to do something. Brookes response, "I don't want to, I'm tired. Another example was Brooke to her Mom, "come on, I want a piggy back ride." I was in the truck with Cora and Brooke a few days ago. Cora asked Brooke to say elephant. I couldn't believe it when Brooke said "elephant". Cora asked Brooke what elephants do. Brooke put her arm out in front of her face like an elephant trunk and bent her hand down. Grandma watches Brooke and Lila a few mornings a week from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. while Cora goes to nursing school. She drops Brooke off at school and Lila to day care at 8 a.m. I leave for work at about 6 a.m. Every morning for the last 3 weeks Brooke always tells me good-bye or just ignores me, but never seems to mind that I'm leaving. It is like the cobwebs are clearing up and she understands what is going on. Brooke is also pretty good at giving high fives and said "Christmas" twice to me this morning when she saw Santa Claus on TV. The biggest battle with Brooke is getting her supplements into her. She rarely cooperates. It is a hard battle, but one worth fighting, and one that is being won by those that love that special little girl named Brooke.

Brooke, Trip 3 to KC

2011-02-17T18:09:00.004-06:00

We just got back from a fantastic trip to Kansas City with Brooke. The weather was perfect for mid February, 60 plus degrees. We left Wed. afternoon to get a motel room in Lawrence. Much easier on everybody. Each time we would stop for a break on the way down, Brooke would sit in her carseat and keep saying, "help", "help", "help". She wanted out of the carseat. When Grandma would undo her seatbelt, she would hop down and say "Thank You". We arrived at Lawrence at 6:30 pm. Brooke was quite hungry. Grandma had cooked chicken and potatoes before we left. All foods that are good for Brooke to eat. Brooke didn't want any potatoes, but ate 4 pieces of chicken. For desert, her mommy fixed her a vitamin filled peanut butter tortilla. Biomed treatment works great, the trick is getting the vitamins into Brooke. Cora gave Brooke the tortilla. Her and Grandma left the motel room for a smoke break. Everytime someone left, Brooke would go and lock the deadbolt and security bar behind them. She came back into the room, took 2 bites of her special tortilla. She then went back to the motel door, unlocked it, and tossed her tortilla out into the hall. I guess she wasn't very impressed with it. Not the best to have a peanut butter tortilla laying in the hall, so I brought it back into the room. The rest of the evening was spent giving Brooke piggy back rides in the motel room and watching Cartoon Network. Just before bedtime, Cora took Brooke into the bathroom for a bath. Brooke came out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around. She climbed into bed and laid her wet head on Grandma's pillow. Cora came out and asked Brooke if she could put on her PJ's. Brookes response to her Mom, "NO". One minute later, Brooke had on her pajama's. An attitude from a 4 year old is a good thing, probably quite normal. Last time in the motel, Brooke slept with Mommy, not this time. I fell asleep first, Brooke fell asleep next to me in the middle, and poor Grandma didn't sleep at all. She said she saw 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30. Two beds in a motel aren't real big. Brooke takes up her fair share of the bed. Grandma was going to go to Cora's bed, but Cora spreads out across the bed. Not because she's a jumbo, she just has arms and legs everywhere. Needless to say, Grandma slept most of the way home, and at last check, she's still sleeping in her chair.
The time finally arrived and we went into Dr.Brown's. He was running a little late because one of his kids was sick. Dr.Brown arrived about 10 minutes late. He apologized and said he would be ready in a few minutes. We were in his room talking to him from 9:15 to 10:45, going over Brooke's lab reports. What a wealth of information he is. He said for the most part, Brookes report was good. He went over each test and explained in detail what it meant.
1st we went over food sensitivities. Brooke has more than your average autistic child. The test are broke down into severe, moderate, and mild. Brooke has quite a few severe sensitivities. two that stand out are black pepper, and dill, as in dill pickles. He said in the future after he gets her system straightened out, she may be able to eat the foods on the list again.
Brooke has a yeast problem in her belly, very common for autistic kids. She will be given a liquid supplement to kill off the bad yeast. His biggest concern was for what is referred to as heavy metals. Brooke has an ungodly high level of lead in her body. She also has a very high level of aluminum in her body. He ordered more blood tests with Cora's local doctor to help see what is causing the high lead. If it's just in her body, or if she is getting constant exposure from it. Dr. Brown said he can do the tests, but with Cora's local doctor, health insurance will pay for it. He suspects she is getting constant exposure to it and her body can't remove it. He told us that almost every autistic child he sees has a problem with heavy metals. Getting the heavy metals out is one of the biggest things for turning these kids around. It takes time, but is well worth it. He gave me the responsibility of trying to find out where the lead is coming from. I need to get some test kits. It can be from old paint in a house, certain toys from China, in the dirt she plays in, etc. He said he can get the lead out of her, but we need to make sure she doesn't keep getting into it. He put Grandma in charge of the aluminum problem. He told us the biggest cause of aluminum is teflon cooking pans. Very convenient, yet very bad for autistic children. He recommends stainless steel cooking pans. He went over all the supplements Brooke is getting and made quite a few changes. He said most of Brookes supplements would be in her new pill tailored for her needs. She is also getting a topical cream rubbed on her (I think to get the lead out), a medicine for the yeast, and a vitamin B-12 shot every three days. This is all very common procedure for an autistic child going to a DAN doctor. Depending on the new blood test results, we may be going back down to KC in about a month to 45 days for a follow up.
It has been just about one year since Brooke started biomed treatment. The changes in the little girl are nothing short of a miracle. Going from severe tantrums and meltdowns weekly, to probably less than 5 in a year. She is 95% potty trained now. Her speech is constantly improving. Today in Dr.Brown's office she played for an hour and a half. She wanted out of the room one time. I held the door shut and told her no, she had to stay with us. She laid on the floor, started crying phoney tears (she was faking) got back up and started playing again. No tantrum, no meltdown, just a basic 4 year old response. I am anxious to see what happens now, with her plan tailored just for her. Dr. Brown said a few have fantastic recoveries, but most take 3 steps forward, 1 step back, 3 steps forward, on and on. But they continue to advance. Keep your fingers crossed, but the future is looking very bright for little Brooke LeAnn.

Test Results Are Back

2011-02-09T20:26:00.005-06:00

We received a phone call that Brookes lab test are back. Brooke has a visit with Dr.Brown on February 17th. A copy of the test arrived in the mail this week. Most of it is hard to understand except for the food allergies and sensitivities. She has quite a few.
Linda and I went over to see Brooke Monday night. She pulled me into the room and kept saying "Ahh Yuck". Don't know what that was about. Next, she had me lay down on the bed. She would say "Good-Night" and climb into her bed. She would lay there 30 seconds, get up, climb on my bed and turn on the light. I would sit up and say
"time to get up". She would say "no", turn off the light and get back into her bed. This routine went on about 5 times. The last time she covered me up and placed her dolly in my arms to hold. After that, it was time for some plastic bowling pin sword fighting. She likes to bang them together like we're having a sword fight. First she went after her little sister Lila. Not mean, just banging her pins onto Lila's pins she was holding. Lila wasn't too impressed with this. She dropped her pins and got onto the couch. Brooke came over and handed me one pin. Banged them together for a few seconds, then she had me switch pins with her. After a few times it was time for her book. She has a book with animal pictures in that she is quite intrigued with. She would study the pictures for a few seconds. I would point at an animal. If it was the sheep, she would go over to Linda and go "baaa". Come back over, look at the pictures again, and go back over to Linda again. Each animal was covered 2 or 3 times. "nay" for the horse,
"moo" for the cow, and "click" for the chicken. It was now time to go home. I told Brooke I had to go home. She said "No". I waited a minute and told her I had to go home. I got up and put on my coat. She ran out of the room saying, "wait, wait, wait". Cora said she was going after her coat. Cora's boyfriend Sean stopped Brooke and told her she wasn't going outside. Brooke came back over and wrapped her arms around me in a very tight hug. I hugged her back and told her we were going to see Dr. Brown next week. She let go and pulled me over to the TV. Pushed my arm up to grab the remote control. I asked Cora to find Brooke a movie to watch. The first one that came up, Brooke hollered "NO" and slapped the TV screen. Cora said "ok, ok" and found Brooke another movie. Brooke seemed happy with that one. She sat and watched the movie as Linda and I walked out the house.

Brookes 2nd Trip to Kansas City

2011-01-18T20:35:00.003-06:00

Brooke made her 2nd trip to Kansas City in less than 2 weeks. As you can see in picture, 4 hour trips can be alittle boring at times. This trip was just for blood draws and a urine sample. You are probably thinking why drive all the way to KC for a blood draw? Well for 1 thing these are special test sent to special labs for the results. They can't be done at local hospitals. 2nd, the lady that draws the blood works mainly with autistic kids, that being less traumatic to Brooke. 8 vials of blood drawn from Brooke with just 1 needle stick. Once the results come back, we will have a complete map of what's going on inside Brookes body. What foods she can and cannot tolerate, what she's allergic too, toxins in her body, and much more.

Her appointment was for Tuesday morning at 9am. No food or water after 9 pm Monday night. We decided to drive down Monday night and stay in a motel in Lawrence. Less riding Tuesday morning for a little girl that was hungry and thirsty. We left at 4:30 Monday afternoon and arrived at the motel Monday night at 8pm. Brooke slept over halfway there. At the motel, I saw just high far Brooke has come in less than 2 weeks. The biggest change being her vocabulary. She rolled up a piece of paper and looked at me like it was a telescope. I rolled up a piece and looked back at her. I said "peekabo". Her response " peekabo I see you". I was somewhat floored. She is starting to say sentences. She had a couple of index cards she was using as pizza. She would open the microwave, put the paper inside as though she was cooking it, and say "good-bye" to the cards. In the recent past everything was always just "bye". Another good example of a sentence. I do smoke and we got a no smoking room. Smoking indoors stinks up the room and is not smart for Brookes sake. Leaving the room was another problem. I would put on my coat, Brooke got in front of me and said " Hey, where are you going"? She would then reach up and unzip my coat. After trying 3 times with no luck, I tried sneeking out. Motel room doors are good for keeping people out, not autistic girls in. I got almost to the end of hall when our door flew open. Out comes Brooke on a mad dash with her Mom hot on her heals. Little turd can run really fast. Her Mom ran her down as I rounded the corner and headed for the stairs. Needless to say, that was my 1 and only trip out of the room that night.
Before going to bed, we decided to put a table and chair in front of the motel room door. Not wanting to take a chance of Brooke escaping. The next morning before leaving for Dr. Brown's office, a urine sample was needed. Grandma nurse Linda brought along a special item called a "hat" which goes inside the toilet to catch urine. When Brooke got up, I placed her on the toilet and got enough urine for 2 samples. Good job Brooke.

Brooke wasn't to cranky heading to Dr. Brown's for the testing. We arrived 10 minutes early. The blood draw lady ( I know there's a special name for it, but can't think of it right now) told us to go ahead and let Brooke run around. The first place she heads for is Dr. Browns room where the toys are located. 45 seconds later, here comes Dr. Brown carrying a tub of toys with Brooke right behind him. He is such a nice cheerful man. Saying hello to all of us and telling Brooke she can play in this room over here. While playing, the blood lady came in, wrapped a runner band around Brookes arm to test her veins. Brooke just sat there, but did say "ow". A few minutes later it was Brookes time for the blood draw. I was to sit in the chair holding Brooke. Wrap my arms around her waist and my legs over Brookes legs. Cora held the blood draw arm and Grandma held the other arm. The lady was so nice. When she stuck Brooke, Brooke said "ow" followed by "Stop". Brooke really didn't fight very hard. I was expecting alot worse. After 8 vials are drawn, Brooke got her choice of Band-Aids. She didn't really choose, so she got a puppy. Within 2 minutes, Brooke received 4 Band-Aids over both arms. After the test, Brook walked behind the receptionist desk and pretended to be talking on the phone. The girls behind the desk are so nice.
We were told it would take 4 or 5 weeks for all the results to come back in. At which time Dr. Brown would contact us with Brookes suggested biomed treatment plan. The meeting could be over the phone, or in person.

Brooke, Heading To Kansas City

2011-01-06T20:30:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we made our much awaited trip to Kansas City with Brooke to see a Defeat Autism Now (DAN) doctor. Dan doctors are specialist with autism using a biomedical approach. Grandpa did a lot of investigating before choosing Brookes. doctor. After meeting with him yesterday, we were all very sure I had made the right choice. But first, back to Brooke. Grandma and I picked up Brooke and Mom Cora at 9:30 AM. Brooke was sitting in the back of Mom's car waiting. I walked up to the car and looked into it at Brooke. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she jumped out of the backseat and headed right for our van. I opened the door and she hopped in the front seat. Grandma reminded Brooke that the front seat was Grandmas seat. Brooke climbed out and went to the back door and knocked on the glass. We opened the door and she climbed right in. "Come on" said Brooke. She loves a road trip with Grandpa and Grandma. It was a long road trip, 4 hours. Brooke was fantastic. Chumping on an occasional Gluten free potato chip, Lucky charms cereal, and drinking juice. But what a good girl, no whining, no crying, just content to ride.

We arrived at the doctors office 10 minutes early. I was expecting a full waiting room of people. Wrong, the waiting room was empty except for the receptionist. She was so nice. She said to let Brooke just move around, knowing Brooke was in a car seat for 4 hours. Brooke checked out room after room. The only thing she touched in each room was the telephone. She picked up each one, had a short conversation, said Bye and hung up the phone. Before meeting with the doctor, Cora took Brooke to the bathroom and she pottied. She came back into the waiting room and the doctor was ready to meet with us. Talk about a super nice, down to earth man. His name is Dr. Michael Brown. He has treated over 1000 autistic children. He was wearing blue jeans and a brown v-neck sweater. We all sat down and he pointed Brooke towards a pile of toys in the corner. She was instantly content playing. Dr. Brown held up his left hand. He told us in all his years of practice, there was less than a handful of children he has not been able to help. He asked lots of questions about Brooke, explaining everything completely. He asked about insurance. Cora told him she had Healthwave. He said insurance wouldn't cover the treatment or testing because it was alternative medicine. Put the little girl on Prozac or some other drug it's covered. Use healthy supplements, it's not. Doesn't make much sense to me, but that's the way it is. He said Brooke would need blood work done to see what was going on in her little body. He would only suggest the test that were crucial for treatment. The final decision was up to us.

Cora took down Brookes supplements, Dr. Brown went thru each one and said how impressed he was with our treatment plan thus far. He added a few more supplements and explained to Cora the best way to get Brooke to take them. He also said other diet changes were needed, and gave lots of helpful advice to Cora. Dr. Brown said after the blood work is done, he would give Brooke a treatment plan specific just to her. He also said after treatment was started, we would see significant improvements in 3 to 6 months.

He was explaining the different supplements when Brooke came over to me. I thought she wanted held, but she wasn't smelling to good. I wrapped me arms around her to pick her up. She took my hands and put them on her butt. I took a quick peek inside and knew Brooke had an accident. Dr. Brown said to take her into an exam room and change her on the table there. Brooke and I headed out to get her changed, while Dr. Brown continued to talk to Cora and Grandma. By the time Brooke and I got back into Dr. Brown's office, he was just about finished. He wanted to look down Brookes throat, check her fingernails, and listen to her stomach. We left his office with a world of imformation and sky high optimism. Grandma was talking to the receptionist and Brooke grabbed her hand and pulled her away. She took Grandma into an exam room, got on the floor under an exam table, and tried to pull Grandma down with her. Grandma explained to Brooke if she got down, she would never get up. I went in to get Brooke so Grandma could pay the receptionist. Brooke ran into another room, climbed up in a chair in front of a mirror and let out a "MUUUUAAHHH and kissed her image in the mirror. She turned looked at me, puckered up and gave me a kiss also. Before we left, I asked Dr. Brown wher he thought Brooke was on the autism spectrum. He said he thought she was mild to mild moderate autistic, but for sure not severe. It was then time to leave with decisions to be made, websites to check, and books to read. Not to mention a 4 hour drive home. After running thru the parking lot with Mommy and Grandpa on her tail, Brooke was anxious to load up. She even tried to close the van sliding door herself. Brooke was once again content riding and chumping. While going thru Lawrence, she started singing Jingle Bells and Twinkle, Twingle Little Star. Plus reaching around the seat and teasing Grandma. She also made Mom grab the handle on the back of my seat to hold on, while she hung on to Grandmas seat handle.

After what seemed like forever, we pulled into Short Stop in Clay Center for a pitstop. Cora let Brooke out to move around. Brooke grabbed my hand and wanted to go inside Short Stop. I must admit I was a doubting Thomas and didn't want to take Brooke inside. Mom said it was ok and took Brooke inside. When I went inside a few minutes later, Brooke was eating a small piece of taffy and said "Yum". She had also gone potty for Mom. She then grabbed my hand, pulled me over to the counter where the taffy was, and stuck my hand on the taffy. Grandma asked Brooke if she wanted another piece and helped Brooke pick out the color she wanted.

I have to tell you I am more than impressed with Brookes action in the Short Stop. She was surrounded by tons of tasty junk food. Not once did she touch anything. She knew where the taffy was, but did not touch it. When she was told she could have another piece, only 1 piece was taken. She waited until after Grandma had paid and opened the taffy until she ate it. Talk about an impressive 4 year old. When we went outside, Brooke went to her side of the van and climbed in her seat. We weren't to far out of Clay Center and she finally fell asleep.

So what's next for Brooke? In about 2 weeks we go back down to KC for blood to be drawn. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for the results to come back to Dr. Brown. After the results are in, we go back down to KC for the treatment plan. After treatment is started, Dr. Brown wants to see Brooke again to make sure all is going ok. If all is good, Cora will just need to call Dr. Brown every 3 or 4 months to let him know how things are going. Until next time., Brooke says "Muuaahh".

Merry Christmas From Brooke

2010-12-25T17:55:00.004-06:00

It has been awhile since the last update on Brooke. We spent a lot of time together yesterday for the annual Christmas Eve family get together. Brooke came into our house with her Mom singing Jingle Bells. All the words weren't real clear, but you could easily tell what she was singing. She went thru many different changes yesterday. From not wanting to being bothered by anyone so she could watch Tom and Jerry, to playing with her cousins and wanting other social interactions. Brooke is on the gluten free, dairy free diet. She is still able to occasionally get a piece of food she shouldn't have. Her Mom told me she doesn't see much difference in Brooke if she has a dairy product. When Brooke gets a gluten product, her Mom says she is a different person with severe fits and much harder to control.
All in all, she was very good yesterday. A few things I found quite interesting with Brooke. 1st, we had a candle burning in the kitchen. Brooke was quite intrigued with the candle. She put her hands together as if she was praying, and bowed three times in front of the candle. She then tried to blow the candle out. When she couldn't get it done, she wanted me to blow the candle out. I told her I would lift her closer so she could blow it out. I lifted her up, she took a deep breathe, and blew the candle out.
The next interesting thing with Brooke was with artificial flowers. She would get them out of the pot, hold them up to her nose, smell them, then say "Umm."
She would bring them over to the others in the house so they could also smell them. She then went over to the corner where she thought no one was watching, and started eating the leaves off the artificial plants. Her Mom ran over to pull the leaves out of Brooke's mouth, and Brooke bit her. Her Mom said Brooke eats leaves off real plants if you don't watch her. But she refuses to eat green vegetables.
When it came time to open presents, Brooke had no problem at all. She would open each one, study it for a minute, then go on to the next. Her favorite was a small drum. She sat there beating on the drum, once in a while losing a drum stick that went flying across the room.
After about 6 hours together, it was time for Brooke to go home. Brooke had other ideas. She hid behind furniture, refusing to put on her shoes or coat. After a few minutes of this, I put on my coat and said good-bye to Brooke. She quickly got up, put on her coat and came running outside after me wearing no shoes. I was out in the yard by this time. Brooke climbed a chair and jumped over the porch railing into my waiting arms below. I put her in the back of my car so Grandma and I could take her home. When we got home, Brooke got out of the car easier then I thought. There was a catch, once I got inside, she wouldn't let me leave. She unzips my jacket and sweatshirt and pulls them off me. She then pulls me in the living room and makes me sit so she can get in my lap. I try telling her I have to go home. She interrupts me by saying "Shhhhh." She then grabs my hands and wraps them around her, holding on tight. After about ten minutes of trying, she releases me and climbs down and watches TV. Grandma and I can leave the house with no trouble at all.
After the first of the year, I am going to make Brooke an appointment with an autistic specialist in Kansas City. These doctors are referred to as DAN doctors, meaning Defeat Autism Now. They are trained at the Autistic Research Institude located in California. They have a very high success rate treating autistic kids. They use an approach know as biomedicine, which is actually natural vitamins and minerals. Test are run to see what isn't working properly in the children, and then they recommend a treatment plan. The doctor I hope to get Brooke into has treated nearly 1000 autistic kids, and is highly recommended. Brooke has come a long way in the 9 months we have started her on basic biomed treatments. Hopefully the doctor in KC can fine tune the treatment to help Brooke improve even more.

Brooke, Making Great Progress

2010-09-26T10:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Fall Fest in Concordia. Last year at the Fall Fest parade, it was a disaster for Brooke. There was too much activity, and she had an autistic meltdown. I had to leave the parade early with Brooke, she was totally out of control. This year I asked Cora's sister Racheal if Cora was going to bring Brooke to the parade again. She said yes. About 15 minutes later, here comes Cora pushing the double baby stroller with Brooke and her little sister Lila. Brooke had the seat belt on in the stroller and was sitting there watching the beginning of the parade. I walked up along side her to observe her for a few minutes. She hadn't noticed me yet, to busy watching the parade. I reached down and grabbed her hand. She turned and saw me and instantly wanted out of the stroller. I undid the seat belt and she climbed out. I'm still remembering last year and thinking Brooke is going to unwind. No, she wants me to pick her up so she can watch the parade. This is both good and bad. 1st, I'm happy Brooke is enjoying the parade, 2nd, she is quite heavy and Grandpa's arms are turning to rubber. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, where is the end of this damn parade. Brooke is singing, clapping, having a great time. I am having a rubber arm meltdown. Aunt Monica takes Brooke. Relief for 1 minute, Brooke wants Grandpa to hold her again. I try giving her to mommy Cora, nope she wants Grandpa to hold her. Here comes Grandma Linda. Brooke is content with Linda holding her. After 1 or 2 minutes, Linda informs me Brooke is to heavy for her to hold. No shit, tell me about it. I try letting Brooke on the sidewalk, she dances for a minute, but cannot see the parade. I have to pick her up again to see. Where is the end of this parade? Finally, here comes the horses, the parade is over. I sit Brooke in the stroller. I am expecting her to go postal. Nope, she is unhappy, but not throwing a fit. Cora, knows the situation and is prepared. She gives Brooke a sucker from the parade and all is well again as I leave.
This whole story leads me to one thought, what caused the change in Brooke from last year to this year at the parade? Brooke is still autistic. I was watching her younger cousin Mandy at the parade. She stood out front, picking up candy and running back to give a piece to Cora to give to Brooke. Then going back to continue watching the parade. I did have to hold Brooke, or she probably would take off. Yet she was greatly improved. No meltdowns, just content to watch the parade. Some say the GFCF diet is a waste and not needed. Some question the supplements. But I'm sorry doubters, Brooke is not going to out grow autism. It will not just disappear when she turns 5. The only explaination I have is that yes, the diet and supplements are helping. Brooke still has a long journey ahead of her, but is heading in the right direction. Can you imagine the happiness her mother must feel, knowing she can take Brooke to a parade, or some other large function, knowing Brooke won't meltdown like a wild animal caught in a trap? That in itself is worth the world to me.
In closing, I want to mention that I also saw Brooke earlier this week at her house. She was watching a video with animals singing and dancing. She was singing along, couldn't understand all the words, but alot of them. She was also dancing the same moves the characters on the screen were dancing. She turned, looked me in the eyes, grabbed my hands, and wanted me to dance along. Pretty good for a little girl who last year stood in front of a TV, flapping her hands like a bird trying to take off, hardly spoke a word, and wouldn't make eye contact with you. Supplements and diet don't work, yeah right.

Brooke, Gluten Free is Helping

2010-08-27T21:17:00.003-05:00

It was a good week for Brooke. Grandma and I saw her on Monday, and again tonight. Her vocabulary is getting much better on the gluten free diet. Cora texted Linda earlier in the week and told her when Brooke heard a train, she said Choo Choo. Brooke came over to our house Monday night. We were wrestling and when I laid flat on the floor, Brooke would try to drag me and said " hey wake up". The hardest part to deal with Monday night happened in our kitchen. Ever since Brooke was old enough to eat solid food, her and I had a great time eating Oreo cookies. But now Oreos contain Gluten, so Brooke cannot have them. Brooke knows where the cookies are kept. She pulled me over to the cupboard and pushed my hand towards the cupboard handle. Thankfully, there were no cookies in there. Brooke doesn't give up easily though. She wanted me to pick her up so she could look inside. I kept telling her there were no cookies. She was getting quite upset. Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, she sat on the kitchen floor and in a very pleading voice of despair, she said"WHY ???". I took off my hat and put it on her head. Just that quickly, she was over it and ready to play. After some playing, Brooke wanted to watch Blues Clues. Brooke tried to sing along with one song, and came over to make sure I was also singing.
After awhile, Mommy Cora told Brooke it was time to go home. She turned off the video player. Brookes response, "Oh Man". She was sad to leave, but no major fit.

Tonight Linda and I took Brookes new shipment of supplements over to Cora. When we went in the house, Brooke was in the living room doing head stands in the rocker-recliner. After a serious big hugger for Grandpa, it was play time. Brooke and I sat on the floor. She likes me to squeeze her while we sit on the floor. We also counted to ten twice, and clapped after we finished. Brooke was going into a long conversation, but I couldn't make out the words. I got up to walk into the kitchen, and Brooke said" Hey, where you going". She pulled me back and we sat down again. Grandma came in and joined us. Brooke kept making Grandma and I hold hands, like she wanted to play some kind of nursery rhyme game, but we couldn't figure it out. After climbing on my back for a piggy back ride, Brooke pulled me into her room so I could turn on her TV. She was content for a short while, then she tried to climb into my t-shirt, with me wearing it. There is something about Autistic people liking tightness. I need to do more research on that. After leaving my t-shirt, she climbed on my back for another ride. She than ran out into the living room. I was standing in the opening to her bedroom. Grandma was sitting on Brookes bed. Here comes Brooke, her arms spread wide, running full bore to go right between Grandma and I. It happened so fast, I never had a chance. I am so tall, and Brooke is the right height, well to make a long story short, I took a direct shot right in the family jewells. Grandpa was bent over like an old rag doll, gasping for air and hoping the severe pain would quickly end. Brooke doesn't quite understand what she had done, but Aunt Monica thought it was extremely humorous.
After I could walk again, I told Brooke I had to go bye-bye. She stretched up as far as she could to give me a hug. She then sat down and started watching TV as Grandma and I left.

Brooke - A Very Good Week

2010-08-07T05:04:00.008-05:00

Brooke has been staying home now with the extra locks and alarms on the doors. Right after Brooke wandered off, I became aware of an organization called AWAARE (no pun intended) through Facebook. AWAARE, which stands for Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response Education. What I have learned through AWAARE is that wandering away from home is one of the leading causes of death with autistic children. Usually with drowning, but also with exposure to the elements. It is an excellent website to help prevent autistic children from wandering, and what to do if they do wander away.

Back to Brooke's good week. It started last Saturday with a family picnic at my and Grandma Linda's house. One highlight of a family picnic, especially for Brooke, is a swim in our backyard pool. Brooke used to basically just bob around in the pool, or cling onto me. This time she was different. Taking turns trying to swim to other adults in the pool. She also holds her breath now and sticks her head under water, just to look around in the water. The way she is trying, learning to swim is very possible by next summer. After some time in the pool, it was time to get out and get ready for the cookout. Usually getting Brooke out of the pool is a major undertaking. This time was different. Her Mom held up Brooke's towel and told her it was time to get out. Brooke climbed the ladder and wrapped up in her towel and went in the house. A very pleasant surprize for me. Usually I go back in the pool and fish Brooke out. Back in the house, Brooke was watching Tom and Jerry on TV in her swimsuit. I told her it was time to change. Usually I'm ignored. This time Brooke came over and started taking off her suit. I told Brooke that before she gets dressed, she needs to sit on the potty. Off she goes on a mad dash. I'm thinking she is going to hide and I will need to fetch her up and sit her on the potty. I go after Brooke, and to my amazement, she is heading to the potty, where she quickly goes wee wee. Maybe No big deal for a typical 3 year old, but to Brooke this is major stuff. Brooke even ate good at the cookout, consuming 2 pieces of fried chicken, one piece of corn on the cob, and 9 pieces of baked potatoe squares. This was even a little strange to me. Brooke usually just nibbles food, saving herself for the good stuff, desert.

On Thursday night I received a very excited text message from Brookes Mom. It read:" Brooke just took herself to the potty". The little girl is truly heading in the right direction. She is almost totally Gluten free, and this could possibly be the reason for the major changes. Her Mom told me she is using more 2 and 3 word phrases now, such as "Hey Wake Up", Come On", Let's Go", "U OK", and a few more.

One thing I forgot to mention about the family picnic last Saturday. Before Brooke left, she grabbed the hands of 3 adults to form a circle. When the circle was formed, Brooke started singing. The words weren't real clear, but you could tell she was singing the Barney theme song, " I Love You, You Love Me". Yes Miss Brooke.... We Truly Do Love You.

Brooke- 60 minutes of total fear.

2010-07-26T19:44:00.005-05:00

In our hectic and busy lifes, it is very easy to overlook possible problems. One thing I never gave much thought about, what if Brooke ever got out of her house unsupervised. At 8:15 this morning, it became very real. My cell phone vibrated at work. On the phone was a very frantic Grandma Linda. "Brooke is missing and Cora can't find her." My heart sank, oh my God, here is a little girl that hardly speaks and very rarely answers to her name.
I quickly left work and headed to Cora's. I called Linda on the way and told her to make sure the police were called. It was already done. My greatest fear was that Brooke loves water, and there are many backyard pools in Concordia. The what ifs started sinking in. I was extremely worried about the possible outcome. I first stopped by Brookes great uncles garage, right across the street from Cora's house. Brooke had been over there before to watch TV. Brookes Aunt Rachael was already there searching. Nothing. I then checked 6 or 7 pools in the neighborhood. Nothing. I then drove home, knowing Brooke had walked down there twice when she was 2, with her Mom walking closely behind her to see where she was going. Nothing. I then headed down to the 2nd street park. Brooke had played there many times. Nothing. I then decided to head back to Brookes neighborhood and check swingsets. On the way there I saw my buddy Roger of the city crew sweeping roads. I stopped him and asked if he saw Brooke. He said he hadn't, but would contact other city workers on his radio so they could keep an eye open for Brooke.
My hope while searching was that Brooke would go someplace familar to her. The little girl has an internel GPS system build in, and remembers how to go to places she was at before. After leaving Roger I drove slowly up a few alleys looking for Brooke. Nothing. I was so impressed that every street I went across, I saw someone on foot or also driving slowly looking for Brooke, including Cloud County and City Police. I drove down to the school house where Brooke goes to Headstart. Nothing. I figured I would drive down to Brookes Grandpa Bill's house and check. About that time my cellphone rang and it was Brookes Aunt Monica. "I've Found Her." What a relief. I asked her where at, and she said at her Dad's house (Grandpa Bill). Monica said she didn't have a car seat to take Brooke home. I told her to hold on and I'll be right there. I didn't have a carseat either, but figured it wasn't a real problem, considering how distraught her Mom was and that Brooke had been found ok. When I pulled up in front of Bill's house, Monica came outside carrying a nude Brooke wrapped in a blanket. I got out of the car and walked over to Brooke and Monica. Brooke reached out for me and how great it felt to hug her. I told Monica I would drive Brooke home and she could ride along and hold Brooke. I gave Brooke back to Monica and Brooke said "No, No, No." Monica told her it was ok she was going to ride in grandpa's car. When we pulled into Cora's driveway, all I saw was tears of relief. Cora came over, grapped Brooke from Monica, and headed straight in the house with her. Talk about a relieved Mother, I thought she was gonna squeeze Brooke so hard her head may pop off. Poor Monica had crap stains all over the front of her shirt from Brooke. The city Police showed up and asked me were Brooke had been found, etc. It had been exactly 1 hour from the time I left work until Brooke had been found. I cannot thank the family, local people and law enforcement enough for helping to search for Brooke. She is such a special little girl.
As I write this tonight, it is good to know that Brookes house has now been fortified. Right after work today, Grandma and I headed down to Radio Shack for door alarms, and to the Homestore for extra door locks. Cora's front door now has a chain lock on it, plus an alarm loud enough to wake the dead if opened. The back door, where Brooke most likely escaped, has a surface mound, spring loaded dead bolt, installed 5 feet from the ground. Whenever an adult leaves the house, the dead bolt automatically locks behind them. Cora also wants to see about getting a service dog for Brooke. The dog's are trained for special needs people to keep them out of harm's way.
After I finished installing door locks and alarms, I walked over to Brooke. She was watching Blues Clues and not paying attention to me. I tickled her and she feel over backwards, looked up at me, and gave me a great big smile. I must say it was the most amazing smile I have ever seen.

Brooke Holding Steady

2010-06-10T19:51:00.003-05:00

I have seen Brooke 4 or 5 times the last 3 weeks. There really hasn't been much change with her. Vocabulary staying the same, occasional severe tantrums. Still very loving, and doing pretty good on potty training. Within the next week or 2, Cora is going to start Brooke on a gluten free diet. Hopefully this will get Brooke over hump. The little girl is so close, but just not quite there yet. Don't really want to change her supplements at this time. Just going to wait for the diet change, and go from there.

We all went swimming tonight. Brooke loves the water. If possible, she would jump in the pool all year long. Just one scary moment tonight. Brooke dunked her little cousin Mandy, and then sat on her. Grandpa pulled Mandy back up, and she had the deer in the headlight look in her eyes. Mandy had to tell everyone that "Brookie sat on my face."

After swimming, it was out to the front porch, where the girls took turns getting squirted by silly string.

Brooke Making Fantastic Progress

2010-05-20T19:22:00.003-05:00

Grandma and I went over to see Brooke last night. What an amazing change I saw in her with vocabulary and mood.

When we walked into the house, Brooke was very upset. Cora said Brooke had seen a candy bar and wanted it, but it is not allowed with her diet. Brookes words to her Mom were "I want it, I want it now". Seeing Brooke was upset, I knelt down and asked her why she was upset. She climbed into my arms, squeezed me around the neck and said " dad-dy". She then went into a long conversation, which I couldn't quite understand. I carried her into the living room, and sat on the couch with her. She climbed down, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the closet where her dvd's are. I picked her up so she could grab her dvd case. As I was setting her down, she said to me "I got it, ok". She unzippered her case, and studied the dvd's, until she found one she wanted. She handed it to me, I handed it to her Mom, and she put it in the machine. Brooke really didn't want to watch it, she went back into the kitchen by herself. Probably trying to find the candy bar. The experts say autistic kids crave what they can't have. Brooke finally came back into the living room and crawled back into my lap. Grandma wanted a hug, but hugs are given on Brookes terms. After about 10 minutes, Brooke climbed out of my lap, into Grandma's lap, and gave her a big hug. Brooke then wanted to watch the movie in her room. She pulled me into her room and likes me to hold her as she watched the movie. After about 10 minutes, I told Brooke I had to go bye-bye. She got up, took my hand and started heading out of her room. I stopped her and told her I was going bye-bye, she had to stay home with Mommy. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her bye. Her reaction I had never seen before. She climbed back into her bed, propped her head up on her arm, and started watching the movie. No chasing after me, no tantrums, nothing. I walked into the living room and told Grandma it was time to go. Even took Linda off guard, ok to leave this easy?

Hopefully things will continue going in this direction for Brooke. Her Mom started her on TMG 4 days ago. TMG is really DMG with one more active ingredient. It is also a higher dose than the DMG. Many of the Autism Doctors have great success with the higher dose TMG for vocabulary and mood. Sure has made a believer out of me.

Happy Mother's Day From Brooke

2010-05-09T18:05:00.004-05:00

I haven't seen Brooke for 10 days. I've been busier than a beaver with my dad in the hospital for almost 2 weeks now. Brooke did come over for a Mother's Day cookout today. She gets out of the car and comes over for a massive hug. The little girl is strong and squeezes hard. Brooke is just so loving now. In the span of 3 hours, she had to run over and hug about everyone in the house. Not all at the same time, she stretches it out. Most of the time she sits in my lap and watches Tom and Jerry cartoons. She usually takes my arms and wraps them around her waist, so that I will hold her tight.

Brooke is your typical autistic picky eater. She ate her hot dog and salmon, but wanted nothing to do with her corn on the cob or salad. This is why a good multi-vitamin is so important. Like any little kid though, Brooke loves dessert. Grandma had gotten her a box of GFCF brownies in Clay Center. When the dust had cleared, I was told that Brooke had ate about 5 brownies.

The only good speech I heard from Brooke all day was when she wanted a tractor her cousin was playing with. Brooke was sitting in her little car, and cousin Mandy came over with a toy tractor that spins. Brooke wanted the tractor, but Mandy wouldn't give it to her. Brooke starts to climb out of her car and Mandy takes of across the living room. Brooke starts yelling "hey, come back", and starts chasing Mandy. Brooke yelled it again as she goes off on a full run. I heard Mandy crash and burn in the kitchen, and 2 little girls yelling and screaming. Brooke's Mom rescued Mandy and the tractor, and informed Brooke that Mandy was playing with tractor. This made Brooke upset, but she came back into the living room to continue watching Tom and Jerry.
Later Brooke wanted to wrestle on the couch. "HI YAH" she says as I am caught with a karate chop right across the face. Brooke still hasn't learned to play gentle. She then goes to work on my mid section with karate kicks. Grandpa stops her and explains to her not so hard. She seemed to understand, took my hat off, put it on her head, then returned it on my head.

Brooke has come a long way since January. She still has some issues to address, but it will not happen overnight. She will be going gluten free next month. Gluten is supposed to have a morphine type effect on most autistic children. We are all very hopeful this will also help Brooke when it is removed from her diet. However, unlike milk products, gluten takes much longer to leave the system, and some kids have actual withdraw symptoms when it starts leaving there systems. Just like a smoker without cigarettes. But Brooke will get through it ok. She has a mountain of love behind her.

Brooke, Still Doing Great

2010-04-28T18:21:00.004-05:00

I haven't seen Brooke in over a week. When I walked into her house tonight, here she comes full speed. I picked her up and we hugged and hugged. Then we headed to her room for some serious wrestling and tickling. She wrestles, I tickle. Her eye contact is still great, but not much vocabulary. She understands what your saying, but still leads me by the hand when she wants something. At this time, she is taking a probiotic for her belly, a calcium supplement, and a very potent multi-vitamin. Her Mom also has her on a dairy free diet. At the beginning of June, her Mom is going to remove Gluten (wheat products) from her diet. The number 1 recommendation for Austic Children is a GFCF diet (wheat and dairy free).
After about 45 minutes, I told Brooke I had to go bye-bye. She ran over to me and pinned me on her bed. I stayed there a few minutes, and told her again, time to go bye-bye. No luck, pinned again. This went on for about 10 to 15 minutes. I tried telling her again, she looked me in the eye, puckered up, gave me a big kiss, and walked away. I told Grandma Linda it was ok to leave now. Sure enough, we walked out of the house with no problem at all. It's only ok to leave when Brooke says it's ok (:

Brooke The Contractor

2010-04-15T20:15:00.003-05:00

I got home from work yesterday, and noticed Linda and Cora standing alongside Linda's store. I walked over, and there was Brooke crawling across my scaffolding. It is 4 foot off the ground, being used to paint the store's trim board's. Brooke and I have spent time together on the scaffolding, closely supervised of course. When she saw me, she lit up like a Christmas tree. I walked over to her, and she wrapped around my neck with a massive hug. I put her down and she started running toward our house. I yelled at her "Brooke, do you want to ride over in the Jeep?" She always ignores me and keeps running. Except this time. She stopped, turned around, and ran to the jeep passenger side door. I could not believe it.
After spending a short time in the house, we went back outside. She went back over to the scaffold and climbed up to the deck board. Once up, she let out a loud "Ta Dah" and starting clapping. I got her down and she ran over to the dump truck. Grandpa has trained her to be a future contractor. It was warm outside, so I rolled down the driver side window. We rode around the yard and then we parked. The window was rolled back up and I got out, leaving the door open. Brooke slid across the seat and closed the door. Next thing I know, she is rolling the window down by herself. This is an old dump truck with a crank style window. As I told her Mom, Brooke may have a disability, but she sure isn't disabled. She is one smart little turd. Her Mom got her out of the truck and told her it was time to go home. Brooke usually isn't happy about this. She wanted me to carry her, hoping I would by-pass the car. When I went to the open car door, she reached out and tried to close it. That didn't work, so I put her in her car seat. No major fit, but she wasn't happy. After I got her strapped in, I bent over to give her a good-bye kiss. She proceeded to smack me in the face. She was, as they say, a woman scorned.

Brooke Doing Great

2010-04-10T19:49:00.004-05:00

Linda and I went over too see Brooke Friday night. She is doing great. Her Mom has her on a dairy free diet now. We played for over an hour. She pulled me and Grandma to her bed and made us lay down. If we try to get up, she pushes us down again. She was using my stomach and chest for a trampoline. Brooke is so full of life now. She'd pull my hat off my head and go walking around the room with it on. A few months ago, if you put a hat on Brooke, she would get extremely angry and rip it off. When it came time to leave, I talked to Brooke about 10 minutes that I had to go. She resisted at first. Giving me big hugs and trying to hide my hat. After a little while, she said "bye" and we walked out of the house with no problems.
I received an email from Brookes daycare worker, which I love receiving because she sees Brooke alot more than I do. Here is an insert from the email:
I have seen great improvements with eye contact, socialization and trying to verbalize. Just today after lunch amanda & brooke were running around me (I was in the middle) and I would say to brooke " I get you" and she would repeat it back to me. Amazing!! I have not heard her put three words together.

A Slight Slide Downhill

2010-04-07T18:44:00.005-05:00

Linda and I went to check on Brookes progress last night. It did not go as well as expected. Brooke was in some ways like the old Brooke. More interested in TV than in playing. She was rougher than normal, head butting me in the mouth, trying to bite and hit. When it came to time leave, even with lots of advance notice, it didn't go well. Brooke didn't even use any words last night, except to say "bye" when she wanted to leave with us.
This did cause some concern for me. What caused the change for the worse? We had increased her DMG on Monday, which can cause hyperactivity in some kids. But the pieces of the puzzle had me stumped, until today. Brookes Mom, Cora, informed us that Brooke had found Mom's secret stash of Cheetos yesterday, and enjoyed them immensely. Unfortunately, they are loaded with dairy, which Brooke has shown to have bad reactions with. That explains the negative change in Brooke. To be safe, we are also stopping the DMG for now. Cora has noticed Brooke being more hyper since the increase in DMG. Brooke now also has official doctors orders for day care, and school... no more dairy products. Her calcium supplement arrived today to take the place of no dairy products. Hopefully things will even out for her now.

Brooke, An Easter Story of Inspiration

2010-04-04T17:55:00.005-05:00

A couple of nights ago, Linda and I ran into Brookes day care worker at the Mart. She told us just how impressed she is with Brookes progress. She told us that in the past, Brooke often played off by herself. Now Brooke loves playing with the other kids in day care. She has to watch that Brooke doesn't hurt anyone, because she is bigger than most of the kids and hasn't total learned how to play gentle.
In the past when she wanted Brooke to go somewhere, she would have to grab Brookes wrist and lead her. Brooke now responds to voice commands. If Brooke is bad and has to go to Time Out (which doesn't happen often), she tells Brooke "Time Out", and Brooke walks to the time out area. Brooke remains there until she tells her it's ok to come out. She said that Brooke is also completely potty trained at day care.
The day care worker said that her Mother has seen Brooke off and on since she was in day care. She said that her Mother had literally cried the last time she saw Brooke, because she was so amazed at how much Brooke had changed.
The final story she told us was about her husband. He is a big man and has seen Brooke on occasion, but he is usually at work. She said the other morning, there was an empty chair next to Brooke at the table. Brooke would look at her husband, then pat on the chair next to her. After a couple of times, the day care worker told her husband that Brooke wants you to sit next to her. When he did sit next to her, Brooke kept patting him on the hand. He told his wife he had to get up and leave before he started to cry.
The little girl that has lived in her own private world for so long, is slowly by surely coming back to us.

Brooke, The Little Bundle of Joy

2010-04-02T20:25:00.003-05:00

Brooke made an unexpected visit today, along with her little sister Lila, in the 2 seat baby carriage. There is only one way to describe Brookes progess.... Amazing. She is so happy and has so much energy. When she wanted to go outside, she grabbed my hand and said "come on". She was running around outside, then she came over for a big hugger. While I was holding her, my roofing partner Roger was going to leave. I told Brooke to tell Roger good-bye. She started waving to him and kept saying "Bye...Bye....Bye". Her Mom wanted to go home, so I put Brooke back in the stroller. Bad idea without advanced notice. She was crying and fighting. Grandma said it looks like you can push Brooke home. Pushing a double stroller 8 blocks really sucks. I got a good workout and Brooke was a content little girl. When we got back to her house, she pulled me into her fenced in yard. She picked up a ball and threw it to me. I put the ball on the ground and told Brooke to kick it. She kicked it and said "kick". Her Mommy had bought her a bottle of bubbles. I would blow some bubbles, and then hold the wand in front of Brooke and told her to blow. She would blow, just not hard enough to make bubbles. So I would blow bubbles, and Brooke would chase them. Back she'd come and try to blow again. This went on for 15 minutes. Brooke then went over and got a Gatorade bottle. She peeled a receipt off the bottle that was taped on, then put out her arms and said " ta daaa" and clapped. She then walked into her house. In her room she put her hand over her mouth, and then pretended to sneeze by saying "ah ah ah ah choooo". Then I would do it, then she would do it again. She was very content tonight, so I was able to leave with no problem at all.

I am so happy at the progress Brooke is making. I must say though, that I am also very proud of her Mom, Cora. Without her efforts, the supplements wouldn't have a chance to work. As we have added more supplements, Brookes juice isn't very tasty. Every morning Cora takes on the daily battle of getting the supplements down Brooke. Some way, some how, she gets in done. We will make some changes next week to switch to better tasting supplements for Brooke.

I will be on a roof all day tomorrow in Courtland. But on Easter Sunday, I am going to share a story told to Linda and I last night by Brookes day care worker.

Brooke Still Moving Forward

2010-03-30T20:15:00.005-05:00

On Monday night Linda and I went over to see Brooke and help Cora with the new supplement, DMG. The suggested dose is 125 mg., but start with half for the 1st few days. It is not real easy splitting a capsule with powder inside. Linda, being a nurse, helped Cora with this. Brooke was extremely happy and bright. And, for the first time ever, she had almost constant eye contact with me. We played for awhile, then Brooke pulled me back into the kitchen to get Linda. She pulled us back into her room and pushed us both onto her bed. She then layed between us and pretended to be sleeping and snoring. Not as much eye contact with Linda, but some. We then went back into the kitchen to try and get some supper down Brooke. Not very much luck, so we went outside. Brooke went into the garage, so I went back inside to get my hat. When I came outside, Brooke was saying "Dad ?, Dad ?" When she saw me she said "Dad", and pulled me into her fenced in yard. When it got close to time to go home, I started warning Brooke I was going Bye Bye. She then said "Bye" to her Mom and climbed in my lap. I told her that I was going Bye Bye and she was staying with Mom. Going home is still the major problem, with Brooke crying and trying to come after us as we left. On a bright note, I called Cora when I got home, and she said it only lasted a few minutes, then Brooke was back to normal. It may be normal for any toddler to get upset when someone they care for leaves. I don't know for sure. All I know for sure is that Grandpa is a cream puff and it tears at my heart when I see her so upset when I leave.
Today was her 1st day with DMG. I have not been able to get ahold of Cora to see how it went. The Autism Research Institute claims that DMG works fast with Autistic children. They will either make great strides with speaking and less autistic behavior quickly, or they will have no results at all. Either way, Brooke is doing great and I can't wait to see her again to check on progress.

Finding Food For Brookes Special Diet

2010-03-28T19:38:00.007-05:00

Today Grandma and I headed for Clay Center to see what kind of food we could find for Brookes soon to be special diet. The 1st recommendation for children with autism is put them on the GFCF diet. GF stands for gluten free (wheat products) and CF stands for casein free (diary products). Wheat and Dairy are not easily digested by autistic kids, causing all types of problems. Casein not properly digested causes an opium like effect in their brains, and gluten causes a morphine like effect in their brains. Brookes Mom has decided to start the casein diet first. The quickest effect is seen taking away dairy products. Wheat products take a few months to leave the system. It takes a doctors order for day care and the school system to follow the diet, and thankfully Cora's family doctor has agreed to go along with the program.
Back to Clay Center. We went to Ray's Market, where there is a great selection of food. We hit pay dirt with a lot of GFCF foods. Linda picked up bread mix, chocolate chip cookie mix, pancake mix, almond(non dairy)milk, noodles, spaghetti, cake mix with icing, gluten free flour, gluten free crackers, and a brownie mix. After getting our groceries, we decided to show Cora our big finds. When I walked in her house, Brooke was laying on the couch with her. I called out Brookes name, and she actually responded. Usually, unless she sees me, she pretty much ignores me. She got a big smile on her face and came running over to me. Once again, a big hugger was mine. She pulled me to the closet where her dvd's are stored to get one. She can't quite reach them, so she took my hand and pushed it towards the dvd's. She knows what the dvd's are. I'm not quite sure how, but she knows. I started pulling one out of the pile, she made an agitated sound and pushed my arm back in. I went down the row and pulled out another. She took it from me a studied the front and back covers. It was Clifford the dog. She opened the case and tried to take it out. It was stubborn, so I helped her with it and put it in the player for her. She made sure I sat on the end of her bed so we could watch it together. I would get up and sneak into the living room. Brooke would say "Heah" and come walking over and drag me back to the bed. She even tries to pull me over so I will lay next to her and hold her. She loves being held. After 20 minutes of Clifford, I told Brooke I was going outside. She hopped in my lap and hung on tight, as if to say, ok, but I'm going with you. We stayed outside about 15 minutes, then decided to go home. I had not warned Brooke of this tonite, big mistake. I got in the car to leave and she saw us. She had to get passed Aunt Racheal and Mommy to get to our car. She broke right passed her aunt and Mom stopped her. She was crying and fighting for all she was worth. I got out of the car to give her a good-bye hug. She wrapped around me like a boa constictor and told her Mom bye. Mommy had to peel her off me, while Brooke was struggling and crying. I got back in the car, and Linda asked me if I had warned Brooke we were leaving soon. I said that I hadn't. I received a very good lecture on the importance of that missed step, and I totally agreed.
We were home about half an hour and my phone rang. It was Cora. She told me that Brooke had said "I'm Fine". Something had happened, and Brooke often says "U OK". Aunt Racheal had told Brooke she was alright and asked Brooke how she was. Brookes answer "I'm fine".
I asked Cora how long Brooke was upset after we left. She said she was sad a few minutes, then got over it and continued on her way.
Tomorrow, I call Kirkman Labs in Oregon to ask a few more questions about starting Brookes next supplement, DMG with folic acid and Methyl B-12.

2010-03-27T13:05:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I watched Brooke for 1 hour while her Mom went to a college class. It was day 2 on her new supplements. She was still very happy and bright. She wanted to watch cartoons on You Tube. She communicates very good without actually speaking. I speak fluent Brooke, usually knowing what she wants by the way she pulls me around.
I was concerned how she would do on her new supplements. Some autistic kids get extremely hyper on the supplement containing high levels of B-vitamins. For other kids, it calms them down. That is what so tough about treatments for autism. Everyone is different, nothing carved in stone.
In the past with Brooke, while she was watching a video, I could go outside for a smoke and she wouldn't notice. Not the case yesterday. I started Tom & Jerry, got on my coat and turned to go to the door. I didn't get one step. Here comes Brooke, grabs my finger and pulls me back to sit on the chair next to her to watch the video. For some reason, yesterday was counting day for Brooke. She sat watching videos, saying on occasion " one - two ". She can count to seven, but usually only if she wants to.
When it was time to go, I took Brooke outside for a quick ride around the yard in the dump truck. She is big beans sitting in the cab. She climbed in the cab, starts counting "one - two - free - four ". So I say, "1,2,3,4". She says " five - sicks - seff - eight". The truck starts moving and I pull up close to her Mom. Brooke says "go - go - go". I said to her, no no no, time to go home. (I had told her that when Mom arrived, and again when we went outside.)She wasn't very happy about going home (as usual). I carried her to the car and put her in her car seat. She climbed out and got on the floor. I put her in the seat again and she started crying. She stopped fighting as soon as the seat belt was put on her. Just that fast she stopped crying and just sat there.
Next week, if all continues well with her current supplements, she will start on one more. Each new supplement is started at one quarter the recommended dose, and used for awhile until the next one is started.

Talk About A Happy Little Girl

2010-03-24T21:30:00.001-05:00

Brookes new supplements arrived today and Grandma and I delivered them to Brookes Mom. I have not seen Brooke so happy and active for a long time. I played non stop with Brooke for 1 hour. In the past, 5 minutes tops, and then back to watching videos. Brooke didn't even have any videos on tonite. She ran, she climbed on my back for rides, she made me get on a 4's so she could crawl under me like a bridge. She was just a happy little girl that wanted to play. Verbal skills are still minimal, but she was rattling off loads of words I couldn't understand. Ten minutes before it was time to go, I kept telling her I had to go bye-bye. After about 10 minutes of telling her that, she grabbed my fingers, lead me out of her room to where Grandma was sitting. She pulled Grandma out of her chair and then pulled us both over to the video player. Her Mom got up to put a DVD in the machine for her. As we walked out of the house, Brooke was sitting there watching us and started to cry. Very sad to see, but an improvement from the past when her Mom had to restrain her until we were gone.

Brooke at Birthday Party - March 22, 2010

2010-03-23T16:18:00.004-05:00

On Monday night we went to a family birthday party. When we arrived, Brooke was playing with some balloons. She still does not respond well when somebody calls her name or points for her to look at something. As soon as she saw me looking in the front door window, here she comes. She wants picked up, and a big hugger is mine. She then turns to the other people in room, starts waving and says "bye". I tell Brooke we're not going bye-bye, but we can go on front porch. She goes outside with me, hops in her stroller, and says "bye" again to people on porch. This is Brookes way of saying Grandpa and I are leaving in the stroller. I tell her we are not going to go bye-bye. She gets out of the stroller, takes me by the finger, and starts pulling me towards the road where our car is parked. I stop her and tell her, "let's go back in the house". Once in the house, she goes to the coat hook, grabs her coat and tries to put it on. It's upside down, but I get the meaning. Coats on grandpa, time to leave. I pick her up, carry her in the room, and tell her "let's watch a video". Off comes her coat, she unzips my jacket and peels it off me, and climbs in my lap to watch the video. What is truly amazing to me, is thru this entire process, not one time did she throw a tantrum. In the the past, that would not be the case.
After supper we go out on the front porch. It's about 60 degress outside. I put my jacket around Brooke, and Grandma, puts her arms in the right spots and zippers it up. Brooke leaves it on, she's comfortable. We go down off the front porch, Brooke has no shoes on, but she wants to go for a walk. Her cousin Mandy walks out front, with Brooke holding 2 of my fingers, walking about 10 feet behind. All was going well until we came to some broken up sidewalk. Brooke starting walking real gingerly and started saying "ouch, ouch, ouch". At the end of the block, she wanted picked up, I carried her back to the house.
The interesting thing about this is that autistic children have a very high tolerance for pain. It is believed that the neuro transmitters in their bodies don't work properly. They don't feel when it's cold outside, don't feel when they have to potty, don't feel when something hurts, like broken sidewalk on their feet. Brooke is starting to feel cold, or she would have peeled my jacket off, and Brooke is starting to feel pain on the bottoms of her feet. Very important signs we are going in the right direction with her.
We went back into the house for birthday cake. I came to find out her Mom was rewarded with Brooke having severe diarrhea in bed a few hours later. Most autistic kids can't tolerate some foods, especially dairy and wheat products.
Then after cake, it was time, according to Brooke, for some fun playing with the balloons. Throw them up in the air, try to catch them. She started saying to me "u catch, u catch". I personally feel that Brooke is getting real close to breaking out and started to speak more and more.
One other positive note, Brookes Aunt Monica told me that Brooke climbed in her lap and wanted a hug. In the past, she said Brooke would climb in her lap and try to bite her.

Brooke March 21, 2010 - Progress Continues

2010-03-21T14:16:00.000-05:00

Brooke continues heading in the right direction. Her Mom sent a text message that said " Brooke said 'Catch'. Her new supplements will be here soon. 1st is Cod Liver Oil, which is supposed to help brain function and eye contact. The 2nd is her new vitamin-mineral supplement without vit. A&D. The 3rd one contains vitamin methyl B-12, folic acid, and DMG.

DMG (N,N-Dimethylglycine) is a metabolic enhancer that can provide increased benefits when supplemented even if there isn’t a deficiency.
DMG makes the process of metabolism (breaking down or building up of compounds in the body) quicker and more efficient.
DMG is a completely safe hypoallergenic nutrient.

Also on the way are 3 new books from Amazon. 1 is about dairy-free living, with lots of recipes and helpful advice. The 2nd book is an all around book about autistic diets and supplements, recommended by a lady working with Brooke. The last book is written by a Doctor who works with autistic children, telling of his success stories and treatments he uses.

Brooke, February 2010, A New Beginning

2010-03-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

The amazing thing I had found on the internet was 2 different websites. TACA (Talk About Curing Autism)

and DAN (Defeat Autism Now). These websites told about the difference in autistic children with diet change and the use of vitamin and mineral supplements. I even watched videos of transformation of these kids before and after. Simply amazing. That was enough for me. Research, research, research. What I found was the difference in many autistic children is the way they digest food and absorb needed nutrients. Many of them have underlying stomach issues, bad bacteria and yeast. They also have bad reactions to milk and wheat containing foods.That may explain the diaper rash and boils on Brooke. I found out that the place to start with Brooke was to heal the stomach first. After more research, I decided to start her on probiotics (good stomach bacteria).

Before I go on, let me tell you that all treatments are all natural and totally safe, even for toddlers like Brooke. The company I buy the supplements from is Kirkman Labs in Oregon. They have been in business since the 1960's, specializing in the needs of autistic children. They are able to answer any question I may have.

Brooke started on probiotics in the middle of February. For 10 days, very soft and stinky pooh. Then something happened. Brooke started to change. Her attitude was improving. She was starting to say a few new words. Her mom called one night and said Brooke said "Pizza". Her day care worker has noticed a big change in Brooke. She is starting to flirt with the little boys in day care. The tantrums are not as severe. I go over and see her at least once a week. She is so loving now, wants to be held alot more. She is brighter, I cannot sneak out on her when I leave. She even lets me leave now without throwing tantrums. I do warn her 15 minutes before I go. She may cry alittle and say 'no no no' but she lets me go.

Last Saturday, March 13, Brooke started on a vitamin - mineral supplement. No big changes in vocabulary, but her attitude continues to improve. Her and I went for a ride in the truck on Sat. the 13th. We sang the La, La, La song. Brooke even uses the jazz hands, and claps and says 'yeah' after the song is over. Brooke spent the night Saturday the 13th, and It was actually a fun time. We go to the potty now without much fighting. Don't always use it yet, but at least try. She also has to wipe, close the toilet lid, and flush when she is done.

Ring around the Rosey has become popular with her again after an absence of

1 1/2 years. On Sunday the 14th, when Brooke got up, she received her supplement cocktail. When handed to her, she said ' Oh What's This'. On Sunday the 14th, she also said 'Papa', when she was looking for me. She is also starting to make eye contact again. Another big change with Brooke, she now includes Grandma in some activities. At one time it was only Grandpa and nobody else allowed.

Next week we are changing Brookes Vitamin - Mineral supplement. This is being done to allow the use of cod liver oil, which contains vitamins A&D. She will no longer need A&D in her vitamin - mineral supplement. We are also going to put her on a dairy free diet soon, which her medical doctor has agreed to go along with.

Brooke, Jan 2010

2010-03-20T22:35:00.001-05:00

By January 2010, Brooke was not doing very well. She was still in diapers, and had severe diaper rash. She was also breaking out with large boils on her body. The little girl that I once couldn't get enough of, was becoming the little girl I didn't look forward to seeing. She still loved grandpa, but was getting almost impossible to handle. Her tantrums were out of hand. She would take her clothes off. She wasn't sleeping well, and her appetite was limited to Chicken Nuggets and junk food. But, by a fate of God, a change was coming.
It was at a Birthday party for my one step daughter at the end of January. Brooke came in the house and was in a decent mood. She hadn't eaten anything all day. Then it came time for ice cream and birthday cake. After 2 pieces of cake and 2 bowls of ice cream Brooke got back down and went to go watch her videos. Something changed in Brooke. Her good mood was no longer there. Off came her clothes. Mom said it was time to leave, then the worst tantrum I have ever seen. The child was like a wild animal. Grandpa loves her, but I can't handle this. After Brooke left and the dust settled, a light bulb came on in my head. The change in Brooke after eating. I went to the internet to do some research. What I found was the most amazing thing I could ever dream of. Hope of getting my little Brooke back.

Brooke, 2009

2010-03-20T22:07:00.000-05:00

It was in the spring of 2009, we were sure something wasn't right with Brooke. Severe tantrums, no speaking, and no eye contact. It was by chance down at my sisters, that her and one of her friends got to see Brooke. My sister and her friend both agreed, Brooke was showing sure signs of autism. To me, it was awful. Everything I ever heard about autistic children wasn't good. I had also heard that to help autistic children, the sooner they got help the better the chance for them. We decided to have a family meeting, and discuss the issue with Brookes Mom. It was a very tough thing for her mother, but it was agreed Brooke needed help.
We started first with OCCK, an organization for special needs people. They started seeing Brooke twice a week, and also got us information about getting a formal diagnosis for Brooke. In October 2009, we took Brooke to Kansas University Medical Center to meet with autistic specialist. The diagnosis, ASD or Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Brooke, Christmas 2008

2010-03-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

By Christmas 2008, a change could be seen in Brooke.

She was no longer the life of the party. The girl who once loved getting her picture taken, wanted nothing to do with it. At this time she could speak 3 words, (Bye,No, and Puppy). That would change soon after in 2009. She mostly just said 'No', and nothing else. She was also withdrawing into her own little world. She still loved grandpa, and would throw severe tantrums when it came time to leave.

Brooke, Christmas 2007

2010-03-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

At her 2nd Christmas in 2007, Brooke 14 months old, was the life of the party. She was happy and very busy flirting with her uncle Shannon. She was having so much fun. She also loved sitting on my lap watching Christmas videos. Still a normal little girl and a joy to be around.

About Brooke

2010-03-20T21:06:00.002-05:00

Brooke was born October 2, 2006. She was by most rights, a normal baby. She started walking right on time, and was very bright for her age. She was the apple of grandpas eye. Brooke and I had, and still do, have an extremely strong bond. Her mom was only 18, but very loving and mature for her age.