Archives for November 2012

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Body for Life: Week 2

November 18, 2012 By

I am two weeks into the Body for Life challenge, and considering that I was only able to get in one run this week, I am pleased with my progress.

First, the hard numbers:

* I have lost two pounds this week, and four pounds in total.
* I lost one inch from my hips and one inch from my waist this week (in total, I have lost two inches from my waist and one from my hips).
* My oversized boobs are just as oversized as they were two weeks ago.

I haven’t dropped a clothing size yet, but I have noticed that my current size is feeling less snug. There is a bit more wiggle room around the vicinity of my rear end.

This may seem somewhat paradoxical, but although I have my second cold in as many weeks, I actually feel healthier than I did before I reformed my eating habits. Yes, the snotty nose and sore throat aren’t great – me and my older son have been passing a cold back and forth like a football. But I have not had any cravings for junk, my energy levels have been a lot more consistent, and now that my body is getting used to smaller portions, I don’t feel hungry during the day and I’m not weighing myself down with large quantities of carbs.

Most of the recipes I tried this week were a success. Although I am following the Body for Life system, I am using recipes from the Precision Nutrition plan, and I love them. The recipes are reliable in terms of yield and cooking time (did you ever follow a recipe to a T, only to find that whatever you were cooking needed an extra 30 minutes in the oven?), and they are nutritious and tasty. There were a couple of misses this week, but they were misses because of personal taste rather than the recipes themselves.

As I said earlier, I only ran once this week. I had a high-pressure week at work, and then I caught a cold. The cold is on its way out, and work will be less intense this week, so I have high hopes for a more active week.

I still need to plan my time better and do more meal prep during the weekend. I am spending so much time on food preparation during the week that I am going to bed at a ridiculous hour. I’m afraid that if I don’t figure out a solution, this will not be sustainable. The time issue is definitely my biggest threat to this whole healthy eating plan.

How do you manage to maintain a healthy eating regimen? Do you have any tips on how I can save time during the week?

(Photo credit: Jamiesrabbits. This picture has a creative commons attribution license.)

 

Filed Under: Body for Life, Exercise, health, Nutrition, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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New Autism Diagnosis? 5 Tips for Parents

November 17, 2012 By

It’s a scene that many parents are all too familiar with. You’re sitting in a doctor’s office and you’ve just received news that your child has autism. You did know, of course, that something was wrong – after all, that’s why you had your child assessed – but you’ve been in a weird twilight zone of denial, in which you have managed to convince yourself that this thing that’s wrong with your child is just temporary, that it’s nothing a bit of speech therapy or O.T. won’t cure. And now, here’s this doctor telling you that your child will be living with autism for the rest of his or her life.

You can barely listen as the doctor goes on about how your child’s trajectory through life will be atypical, delayed, and fraught with challenges. You are too stunned to pay attention to anything but the hopes and dreams you had for your family crashing all around you.

How do you cope? How do parents find out that their child has a lifelong developmental disability – one that will in all likelihood necessitate some level of permanent care – and then go on to live some kind of a normal life?

Tip #1 – Remember that the doctor does not have a crystal ball

The doctor can’t just say to you, “Your kid has autism. See ya!” He has to talk to you about therapies, strategies, next steps – and that inevitably involves talk about how he sees your child’s future. But the thing is, many doctors tend to be a bit pessimistic, and they will give you the worst case scenario.

When we were getting my own child’s diagnosis five years ago, the doctor could not have painted a bleaker picture of the future if he had tried. We heard all about the stuff my son would never achieve, experiences he would never have, things he would never be able to do, the intensive level of care he would need for the rest of his life.

The doctor was not trying to be mean. He wasn’t trying to be negative. He was just presenting what he saw to be the reality. He had no way of knowing that in the first year of IBI therapy, this kid would make 23 months worth of gains. He did not know about the mathematical aptitude or unique problem-solving skills, and he could not predict that given the right educational environment, my child would be able to soar.

Anything the doctor tells you about your child’s future is just a guess – an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless. Don’t let bleak predictions make you give up hope.  Your child needs for you to believe in his or her potential, and to be frank, if you have a bit of faith, it will do your own spirit the world of good.

Tip #2 – Watch out for information overload

Human beings are curious by nature, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of their offspring. I would venture to say that most parents, on receiving their child’s autism diagnosis, go home and make a beeline for the computer so they can Google “autism”. I know I did.

The Internet can be pure crap, though. A Google search for “autism” yields over 76 million results. If we very generously assume that 10% of the information on the Internet is completely solid and scientifically proven and not the subject of any debate or controversy, that leaves you with seven million pages of “good” information.

It is a daunting task, trying to filter out the seven million pieces of “good” information from all the junk. It can make the most hardy of souls feel like they’re drowning.

Information is all well and good, but it has to be consumed in manageable doses, especially in the beginning. The diagnosing doctor will give you fact sheets and other information. That is all you need in those initial days while you are trying to adjust to this new reality.

Tip #3 – Get your name onto waiting lists and find out about funding

Your doctor will probably give you the names and phone numbers of local services, like speech therapy, O.T. , and autism intervention services. If he doesn’t, call him back and ask. Then call and enroll for the services. Some areas will have one central place that organizes all of the services; in other places it is more fragmented. No matter which way it works, it is better to start services as early as you can, and unless you live in some kind of Utopia, the places you call are bound to have waiting lists.

At the same time, find out about funding. If you live in a country with socialized health care, as I do, then many of the services for your child could be covered by the government. You may be entitled to disability tax credits and funding for respite care or specialized equipment. Your local autism foundation should have information about the available funding, and they may even have experts who will help you fill in the forms.

Tip #4 – Don’t let autism define your child

This may seem self-evident, but in the wake of receiving the blow of an autism diagnosis, it is hard to think of anything else. Parents of newly diagnosed kids often go through a kind of grieving process as they come to terms with the loss of what they thought their “reality” was. You may find your heart breaking every time you look at your child.

But remember that the diagnosis itself has not changed anything. Your child is still the same person he or she was yesterday, or last week, or last month. Your kid may have autism, but he or she is first and foremost a little kid, with those little quirks and personality traits that guarantee uniqueness.

Autism will always be a part of who your child is, but it is far from being the full picture.

Tip #5 – Take care of yourself and your relationships

When I saw my family doctor shortly after my son’s diagnosis, he gave me a startling statistic: about 80% of couples who are parents of kids with special needs or chronic illnesses split up within two years of diagnosis. It is easy to be on the outside looking in, and say that parents should draw strength from one another, but the truth is that something like this puts a huge strain on many relationships.

The thing is, each parent is thinking about autism, and how they can help their child. This becomes the singular focus consuming both of them, so much so that neither of them has room for anything else. And so they neglect themselves, and they neglect each other. It’s not their fault – they are just putting their child’s needs ahead of their own.

Do we not deserve to be happy, though? Yes, parenting our kids is the most important job we’ll ever have, but we are also individuals in our own right, and if we neglect ourselves and the relationships with the people we care about, we will drown.

So make sure you take time to be with your partner, just because. Spend time with your other children. Nurture your friendships, and most of all, take time out for yourself.

And don’t feel guilty about taking care of yourself. You deserve it.

(Photo credit: Kirsten Doyle)

Filed Under: autism, Autism Diagnosis, Autism Services, Coping Skills, Doctor, Information, parenting, relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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George and the Big Wide World

November 16, 2012 By

Today’s prompt in the National Health Blog Post Month challenge is to write a post inspired by a picture or a video.

“Peep And The Big Wide World” by George

One of George’s favourite shows is a charming little cartoon called Peep And The Big Wide World. It’s about a chicken (Peep), a robin (Chirp) and a duck (Quack) who are best of friends and make all kinds of discoveries about the world. It is entertaining – even to an old fogie like me – but it is also educational.

In one of the episodes, Chirp and Quack find that they have been inadvertently joined together by a rope, so wherever one goes, the other has to go. This presents a conflict, because Chirp wants to sit in a tree, and Quack wants to float in his pond. They resolve the problem by taking turns to pick the activities of the day.

When George first started tying dressing gown cords around people’s ankles, I didn’t immediately make the connection. It was only when he tied one end of the cord to my ankle and the other end to his own ankle that I realized that he was role playing the scene in the show.

For a kid with autism, this is huge. I mean, HUGE. Pretend play is a fairly complex skill, and because it is socially based, it is one that autistics tend to have quite a lot of trouble with.

And so I encouraged this play and made attempts to expand on it. Before long, George was playing “turtle” by crawling around with his T-shirt pulled down over his knees, and he was being a dog, crawling around going “Arf!” It was a lot of fun witnessing this evolution in George’s play skills.

What really got me excited was the picture he drew. Up until this point, I didn’t think his fine motor skills were good enough for him to draw an actual picture. And here he was, coming up with a clear representation of the scene from Peep. This is the first real picture George drew.

This is all such a massive leap for George. It shows a new level of social awareness, it shows imagination, and it shows intent.

The best part is how proud George was of his picture. As well he should be.

(Photo of George’s artwork taken by Kirsten Doyle)

Filed Under: autism, National Health Blog Post Month, Peep And The Big Wide World, Pictures, Play, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , ,
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Teen Series Part 5: Teenage Life

November 15, 2012 By

Over the last month or so, we have heard from three teenagers about how they think, what their dreams are, and what they want us “old” people to know about them. I am wrapping up the series the same way I started it: with South African teen Alex Zeeman. Today, she gives us a candid view of life as a teenager. Here are her words, uncut and unedited.

People think that the life of a teenager is easy, that we have no worries or, that we care not what the world thinks of us, that we’re unscathed by the world around us ……..

But the truth is that we, you, me and all the teens in the world feel, think and care what the world thinks of us.

Sure you get the rebels, people pleasers, the nerds, geeks and freaks, the jocks, athletes and bullies you get the popular and even little miss OR mister perfects …… people think that teen life is the PINICLE, the ABSOLUTE best stage in a humans life ……

But they forget, they forget what it was like to be mocked, bullied and ridiculed just because you had a higher IQ than those around you or what it was like to have no say in the way your life progressed or even what it was like to be everyone’s favorite, some may think that being popular is easy, sure for some it is, some thrive in the adoration of others …..

But to me, I personally think that “POPULARITY” is just too much hassle. Why you ask well, the answer is simple you always have to watch what you say you must walk this way, and wear that …… to be “PERFECT” to me means to basically be a robot, the way people look at you, talk to you and even interact with you dictates the way you look, act, speak, walk and even think ….. I mean teenage life is hard enough as it is why burden your-self with the added responsibility of being everybodys  favorite or by lashing out at people who just want to help you ….. There is too much in life that we have to worry about …. WHY ………

If every one tells us that we are kids, do we worry about what we’re going to be studying in 3, 4, 5 years we’re young but we act like were 40 ….. If we’re kids we should act like it we should have FUN, we should laugh and cry and do STUPID, STUPID things with our friends because the role of a child, of a teen is TO BE STUPID!!!!!

So if you want to be 20 when your 16 then act it, wear the shortest skirts you can find, sleep around with whomever looks at you the right way but DON’T get mad at the world when your decisions get you hurt, don’t lash out when you find yourself in a dark, dark hole with no escape because if you want to act older, then you should be able to face the problems, worries and stress of an older life ……..

Teens should be teens.

We are not children but neither are we adults so we either think like a child and so are usually categorized as such or we think like an adult and are categorized as such …… But we NEVER think as a teen you shouldn’t worry about the future ‘cause that’s what parents are for …. You shouldn’t worry about the past ‘because that’s what the dead are for ….. You shouldn’t even worry about the present ‘cause then you’ll never LIVE!!!!!

So think about what I wrote comment about it, and spread it ‘because it might not help you but maybe it’ll help someone else…….

Sincerely yours
A.E.Zeeman

(Photo credit: James Laurence Stewart. This picture has a creative commons attribution license.)

Filed Under: Alex Zeeman, Guest Posts, life, National Health Blog Post Month, Teenage Years, Teens, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , , ,
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My Life Is A Reality Show

November 14, 2012 By

Reality show material?

Today’s prompt in the National Health Blog Post Month invites writers to describe why their lives might resemble a reality show. To be honest, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine my life as a reality show, especially when you consider the kind of stuff they’re putting on TV these days. They have everything from teen pregnancy to Mafia ex-wives to pig hunting to people getting simple trivia questions horribly wrong as they attempt to not have their cars repossessed. Several months ago, there was a show – an entire hour-long time-slot – devoted to a discussion about cricket poo.

I’m not even kidding.

Something tells me that a show about my life would be infinitely more entertaining than a show about cricket poo, and if people were watching that, then my show would be an absolute hit.

Let’s take a look at the cast of characters:

The Autie

Like many kids with autism, George is a complex little fella, seemingly full of contradictions. At nine, he still needs hand-on-hand assistance to brush his teeth, and yet he would probably be able to assemble a computer in three seconds flat, reminiscent of that scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest put a rifle together in record time. George has meltdowns when you least expect it, and at times when you just know there’s going to trouble, he is the picture of serenity. Every good show needs a dose of intrigue, and with George there is plenty of that.

There is also a feel-good element in watching George. Every day the kid comes out with some action or some little phrase that demonstrates the trajectory of his learning. Anyone watching would surely celebrate every little accomplishment.

The Hyperactive Neurotypical Kid

What would a reality show be without a hefty dose of drama? With James, there is plenty of that. So much that we have to be on guard against Shakespearean troupes taking him away to be in theatrical productions. He has strong opinions, and a strong sense of what he perceives to be justice, and he’s not afraid to express that.  When I tell him to put on his pyjamas, he cries bitterly and says I’m ruining his life. He threatens to run away and says he’ll never hug me again.

Five minutes later he always hugs me. Because as much as he is a drama queen, James has a big heart and a generous spirit. Only the most hard-hearted soul would not feel utterly moved at the sight of James comforting his brother.

Besides, the kid has an imagination second to none. His mind takes him to all kinds of places, and sometimes, when he feels like telling a story, he takes the rest of us right along with him.

The Dad

My husband is so weird, he could have a reality TV show all to himself. I mean, he once deliberately got into the shower with all his clothes on. He says things that sound offensive but are actually hilarious. Like the time he said my hair makes me look like Gene Simmons, or the time he said the lunch I had made him looked like gorilla puke. He has a whacky sense of humour that would have the viewers rolling on the floor with laughter.

He would also have the female viewers swooning with his sense of romance. This is a man who approached a complete stranger in a park and told her she had beautiful eyes, who many years later proposed to that same woman in a grand gesture at her citizenship ceremony. When I was in Winnipeg on business years ago, he sent me a singer. A guy with a guitar showed up at my hotel room, and sang me a song while my husband was on the other end of the phone line.

The Mom

If it’s suspense you want, I’m your girl. I’m the one who’s always rushing around in a tearing hurry, trying to complete about 37 tasks all at the same time. I juggle so much at any given time that it’s anyone guess which one I’ll drop and what the consequences will be. Viewers will watch in slight bafflement as I take multitasking to a whole new level, and they will not be able to help sniggering as my exhaustion makes me do stupid things, like put lipstick on my lashes and mascara on my lips.

Here’s the thing, though: I may have a  lot on my plate, like special needs parenting, distance running, a full-time job, commuting, the husband’s business – but I’m happy. Yes, I have my issues with depression and anxiety (which could also have a show all of their own), but I have this weird and wonderful family to keep me going.

The Set

The reality show would be filmed in my own home, and I wouldn’t be obsessively cleaning up and putting things away before the camera crew came. This is supposed to be reality, so it would have to include the ever-growing piles of paper on my desk, and the Lego all over the floor, and the discarded clothes lying around, that I swear reproduce when I’m not looking. Viewers would get a glimpse of my kitchen sink that’s always full of dishes no matter how much cleaning up I do, the holes in the drywall from where George has banged his head during meltdowns, and the unruly pile of shoes and coats by the front door.

So I have a cast and a set, and the plot is built-in to the fabric of our daily lives.

All that’s missing is a title.

Filed Under: autism, Children, family, National Health Blog Post Month, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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Guest Post: Living with Marfan Syndrome

November 12, 2012 By

When my friend Maya Brown-Zimmerman first said she had Marfan Syndrome, my first thought was, “Huh?” Marfan Syndrome is not something I had ever heard of. During National Health Blog Post month, I want to put a spotlight on some health conditions that affect other people – conditions that there may not be a lot of awareness of. Marfan Syndrome seemed like a good place to start, and I am delighted to introduce you to Maya, who tells about life as a “Marf”.

I’d like to thank Kirsten for the opportunity to share my story with you here today. She’s asked me to talk about Marfan syndrome and how it affects our family.

Marfan syndrome is a rare, life-threatening connective tissue disorder. Connective tissue is basically the glue that holds your body together, so most of the body can be affected, specifically the eyes, heart and aorta, lungs, skin, bones, and dura sac (which protects your spinal cord). The most dangerous aspect of Marfan syndrome is aortic aneurysms: weak bulges in the aorta that can tear, which is life-threatening.

Some signs of Marfan syndrome include a tall (in relation to your family) stature, being thin, having long fingers, disproportionately long arms and legs, scoliosis and kyphosis, lens dislocation, a concave or protruding chest, and stretch marks that appear in odd places, like the shoulder blades. There are not outward symptoms of aortic enlargement, so it’s very important to get a thorough scan of the heart valves and entire aorta via echocardiogram, MRI, or CT scan if Marfan syndrome is suspected.

I was diagnosed when I was 8 years old. My mother observed that I appeared physically unable to complete many gross motor tasks that other kids my age had mastered, like skipping or riding a bike. She took me to the pediatrician and told him she wasn’t leaving until he figured out what was wrong. Luckily for him (and me), he did! I’ll never forget him grabbing a tape measure and silently taking measurements, then standing back and saying solemnly: “I am so sorry. I should have realized this sooner,” before sending me off to have my diagnosis confirmed by a cardiologist and geneticist.

Marfan is a dominant disorder, meaning that I knew any children my husband and I would have, had a 50% chance of inheriting Marfan from me. Our oldest son, M, is not affected (though he does have autism), and our youngest son, J, has Marfan.

J and I are affected differently. He is almost 2 and by his age, I’d already had 3 abdominal surgeries. Thankfully, he is surgery free, but he has some mild leakage in his heart valves, asthma, and some GI issues. He also had global delays early on. Now he is only delayed in speech. He has mild dysphagia too, so we thicken all of his drinks. Although he will eventually have activity restrictions in order to protect his aorta and eyes, right now nothing holds J back! He climbs the furniture, chases his brother, and dances on the coffee table. He’s going to give me grey hairs, but I love his fiery spirit.

Growing up with Marfan syndrome was difficult for me. There was very little information available at the time and as I got older, I stood out from my peers more and more. I eventually connected with other “Marfs,” and have become very involved in the greater Marfan community (we refer to ourselves as the Marfamily). Currently I run the National Marfan Foundation’s teen program and am a member of their board of directors. While it took me until my teenage years to begin attending Marfan conferences and being involved with the Marfamily, J went to his first conference at 6 months of age. I’m involved with a tight-knit of Marfan moms of children J’s age, so he has a built-in group of Marfriends that he’ll grow up knowing. Since I was diagnosed, the life expectancy for people with Marfan has nearly doubled, such that with proper diagnosis and management it’s the same as the general population. It truly is a different world for J and his friends, and I am grateful and excited for that! I now view Marfan as a blessing in may ways, and I hope to pass on this outlook to my son.

If you have questions about Marfan syndrome or related disorders, please check out the National Marfan Foundation.

Maya Brown-Zimmerman, MPH, is a patient advocate and volunteer with the National Marfan Foundation as a member of the board of directors and coordinator of the teen program. She also chronicles the ups and downs of parenting two sons with special needs while having a chronic illness herself at Musings of a Marfan Mom and WebMD.

(Photo provided by Maya Brown-Zimmerman)

 

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Marfan Syndrome, Maya Brown-Zimmerman Tagged With: , , , ,
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Body for Life: Week 1

November 11, 2012 By

A week ago today, I started the Body for Life challenge. I completely revamped the way I eat, ditching the carb-heavy lunches from the cafeteria-style shop downstairs from my office in favour of meals brought from home, consisting primarily of lean proteins and salad. In the evenings, I started making more of an effort in the kitchen, selecting dinners based on nutritional value rather than convenience.

At the same time, I have started getting myself into something resembling an exercise routine, following my post-half-marathon hiatus.

So, how has this all gone? Has my week been a success?

Well, in terms of hard numbers, I haven’t seen as much of a change as I would have liked, but the change I have seen has been in the right direction. I have dropped two pounds, and I have lost an inch from my waist measurement. I am off to a start, so yay!

I have had a surprisingly easy time where discipline is concerned, and I believe this is the result of planning. Last Sunday night, I meticulously planned out and wrote down what the week’s meals would consist of. Once I have a written schedule, I tend to follow it quite rigourously. I have not been tempted by all of the Halloween candy in the house, nor by any of the processed junk food in grocery stores.

In fact, I have been having something approaching fun in the kitchen, as I have tried out new recipes. To my astonishment, none of my cooking experiments ended in disaster, although there are some that I clearly need to practice.

The thing that killed me was time, and this makes me realize that the obesity epidemic can, at least in part, be blamed on the fact that many people just do not have enough time to accomplish everything. I don’t care what you tell me, eating healthily is a lot more time-consuming than the alternative. When I’ve just worked a nine-hour day and spent an hour and a half commuting home, it is so tempting to just throw some processed crap into the microwave instead of taking the time to prepare something that’s actually good for you. It is so easy to blame people for the poor eating choices they make, but honestly, in this day and age it is not easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Lesson learned: do more prep on Sundays to save a bit of time during the week. Even if I do that, it may take a while for me to adjust and do things as efficiently as I need to.

With Week 1 done, I am looking ahead to Week 2. The menu is planned, and I have some specific goals with regard to runs and workouts.

Check this space for another report-back next Sunday.

(Photo credit: Andy Roberts. This picture has a creative commons attribution license.)

 

Filed Under: Body for Life, Exercise, National Health Blog Post Month, Nutrition, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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Autism and Oddities

November 10, 2012 By

We are a third of the way into the National Health Blog Post Month Challenge, and I have actually managed to post every day! Today’s prompt: LOL post – write about something funny.

Me and George

My son George – the one with autism – has a thing about my hair. He buries his nose deep into my hair and then gives an almighty sniff. His enjoyment of this activity is directly proportional to my absolute dislike for being on the receiving end. I can just about tolerate one or two sniffs, but when it happens on and on ad nauseum, I end up feeling so agitated that I want to rip my scalp off my head.

This morning it went on from 3:30 until 5:30. And even then it didn’t stop – indeed, the hair-sniffing was accompanied by both boys and my husband bouncing off the ceiling, telling jokes, wrestling with each other and singing funny little songs, all while I was trying to sleep. At about 7:00 I reached the point of being too wound up to sleep in spite of being utterly exhausted. I had to deposit a cheque, so I got dressed and left. I was so tired that I drove to the wrong bank’s ATM. Not only that – I actually inserted my card into the machine, and it only when I was presented with an unfamiliar-looking PIN entry screen that I realized something was not quite right.

Kids with autism are known for having quirky little habits, like George’s hair-sniffing thing. While the hair-sniffing has been going on for some time, it has recently been paired with him blowing in my face. Sniff-blow. Sniff-blow. Sniff-sniff-blow.

Dear Lord, give me strength.

My friend Lesa’s son is another kid who has both autism and a strange habit. He is into elbows. He will grab the skin of someone’s elbow and twist it, and if the recipient is clued-in enough to stop him on time, he satisfies himself with a “drive-by lick”. It drives his parents crazy but at the same time makes them chuckle, just as George’s hair-sniffing thing tickles me just a tiny bit. Because as annoying as these habits may be, they are kind of funny.

Amy, another fellow autism mom, describes how her son watches movies. Instead of watching a DVD from beginning to end like most of us, he gets stuck on specific scenes, like a cat falling out of a tree, and replays them over and over. His family goes up the wall, thinking, “Just play the damn movie, already!” but the sound of his laughter makes them incredibly happy.

I can identify with that. George has a habit of repeatedly saying, “Daddy loves Albert!”, and sometimes it gets a bit much, but it is such a small price to pay for the laughter that follows. Just for the record, I have no idea who Albert is.

It is easy to believe that these little quirks are a result of autism, but is that really the case? Or do we all have our odd mannerisms? Granted, most people don’t go around sniffing hair or licking elbows, but perhaps we all have our “thing”. I mean, whenever I walk anywhere, the number of steps I take has to be a multiple of four. Whether I’m walking to the bathroom, down the street or around the block, I mentally count off my steps in fours. I have mastered the art of doing this while having a conversation. When I get to my destination, I will take one, two or three steps in place if necessary, just to get to my multiple of four.

Do you explain away your child’s odd habits with autism or some other condition? What quirks do you and members of your family have?

(Photo credit: Kirsten Doyle)

Filed Under: autism, Habits, Hair, National Health Blog Post Month, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , ,
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Book Review and Giveaway: Running Ransom Road

November 9, 2012 By

My sports massage therapist once told me that “all runners are the same”. Apparently, we all have a dedication to our sport and a streak of stubbornness that makes it very difficult for the medical gurus to rehab us after an injury. I’m sure that’s true to a large extent: I once twisted my ankle one kilometre into a planned 15K run, and instead of hobbling home and plunging my foot into a bucket of ice, I ran the remaining 14K, because that’s the distance that was on my training schedule for that day.

For all of the qualities that we share, runners are actually very individual. We have our own style, our own strategies, our own odd little rituals. Most of all, we all have our own reasons for running, be it weight loss, general health, competition, fundraising or stress relief.

Caleb Daniloff started running in order to deal with his past.

As a young man, Daniloff spent several years blazing a trail of personal destruction, failed relationships, and substance abuse. His days started and ended with alcohol, and he frequently woke up in the morning with gaps in his memory from the night before. For a while, his life seemed pretty bleak.

But where there’s life, there’s hope, and Daniloff succeeded in knocking his addictions on the head and turning his life around. Roughly a decade after he had his last drink, he ran his first marathon.

In his compelling memoir, Running Ransom Road, Daniloff describes how he traveled from city to city running marathons, revisiting the places where he wreaked the most havoc. Over eighteen months and many agonizing miles, he confronted the demons within and faced his past head-on.

The book includes fascinating accounts of Daniloff’s early years, which included several years in Russia and a meeting with the President in the Oval Office following the family’s return to the United States. It tells the story of destruction and redemption, despair and hope, apathy and determination. Above all, it is a tale of courage and triumph.

The smooth narrative of this book makes it easy to follow, as the author skilfully interweaves accounts of his marathons with snippets of his life.

Running Ransom Road is a story that will appeal to runners and non-runners alike. If you are looking for inspiration or simply a good read, this book is well worth your while.

I have one copy of Running Ransom Road to give away to a reader in Canada or the United States. To enter, just check out the magic Rafflecopter below. The winner will be contacted within 48 hours of the giveaway ending. Good luck!

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 (Cover image, review copy and giveaway copy kindly provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Filed Under: Book review, Caleb Daniloff, Giveaway, National Health Blog Post Month, Running Ransom Road, WEGO Health Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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Five Early Signs of Autism: My Family’s Experience

November 8, 2012 By

My boy at the Autism Centre family day

When I tell people that my son has autism, the first question many of them ask is, “How did you know there was something wrong? What made you get him assessed?” Many people asking this question are having concerns about their own children, weighing up the idea of taking them to a pediatrician.

It would be so easy to point worried parents to websites listing early childhood development checklists and signs of autism, but that would only help a small number of people. The trouble with autism is that it is so individualised. It manifests in so many different ways. You get the kids who can’t string two words together but can rebuild a computer in two minutes flat. And you get the kids who are fully verbal but never learn to look both ways before crossing the street.

Here, I share my experiences with my son. Some parents will read these and nod along knowingly, identifying with every point. Others will wear a perplexed expression and say, “My child doesn’t do that.”

So, how did I know something was wrong?

1. Lack of speech or any other meaningful communication. By the time he was two, George was not talking. He had about thirty words in his vocabulary, but he was using fewer than ten of them in the right context. They were used as single words only, always for the purposes of requesting. Juice. Milk. Chee’s (Cheerios). He also did not have any kind of repertoire of meaningful gestures. He couldn’t point, and if he wanted something he did not know the word for, he would take my hand and move it in direction of the object he wanted.

2. No desire to play with other kids. When other kids his age were starting to play collaboratively with each other, George was still in parallel play mode. He did not object to the presence of other kids as long as he had the space to sit on his own and do his own thing. He did not see other people as potential playmates, but as functional beings: if he needed help to manipulate an object or separate stubborn Lego blocks, he would seek out an adult and shove the object into their hands. That was the extent of his interaction.

3. Not using toys for their intended purpose. Unlike some parents who say that their kids “became” autistic at a certain age, or after a certain event, I had a feeling fairly early on that there was something not quite right with George. One day, when he was at the age when babies are just learning to sit unsupported, I put him in the middle of the floor and propped him up with a nursing pillow. I surrounded him with all kinds of toys, just to see if he would respond to anything. There were stuffed animals, Lego’s of various sizes, fabric books, and a variety of planes, trains and automobiles. There was all kinds of stuff. He didn’t care for any of it. His attention wasn’t caught by the brightly coloured balls, and he didn’t make any attempt to grab at or swat any of the dangly things I tried to entice him with. He pushed a big red button on a train, and then grabbed a piece of string that was caught on my shirt and spent the next half-hour staring at it from different angles.

4. Prone to sensory overload. As a toddler, George hated going to the store. He would tolerate the grocery store for short amounts of time, but by the time I was at the checkout, he was usually having a meltdown of epic proportions. In those days before the autism diagnosis entered my orbit, I couldn’t understand what he was making such a fuss about. The only way for me to stop those meltdowns was by taking him out of the store. Looking back, I now realize that he was simply overwhelmed by everything that goes on in a store: fluorescent lights, lots of people, lots of displays, lots of sounds. Wal-Mart in particular set him off. Something about the checkout area sent him into a state of absolute panic.

5. Instinct. Ahhhh, there’s nothing quite like a mother’s gut feel. I have no idea if there is any science behind it, but mothers have this uncanny ability to just know there is something wrong with their child even though all looks fine and dandy to the outside world. This is why I always tell mothers that if they have a feeling something might be amiss with their child’s developmental progress, they should park themselves in their doctor’s office and insist on a referral for an assessment. There are doctors who will tell you to wait, that the range of development is broad, that boys reach milestones later than girls. Don’t listen to that guff. Don’t take no for answer. If you have to tell your doctor that you will sit in his office gathering dust until he gives you a referral, so be it. Listen to your instinct and don’t let anyone talk you into acting against it. I made that mistake and to this day, I bitterly regret the year of early intervention that my son missed as a result.

(Photo credit: Kirsten Doyle)

Filed Under: autism, Autism Diagnosis, Developmental Delay, Early signs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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