Posts Tagged ‘Autism’

H1N1 Flu

// October 11th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // My Life

I am up tonight keeping a close eye on my baby boy Aidan, he is the sweetest and most lovable little guy you will ever meet, but Aidan is autistic and isn’t very good on letting us know how he feels. When he does get sick it is hard for us to gauge how sick he is because he doesn’t complain at all, he just moves a little slower.  Fevers are a touchy subject with me as I had a terrifying experience when my daughter Kaydence had a febrile seizure a few years ago, I had no idea what was happening to her and was convinced that she was dying in my arms and there was nothing I could do… Thankfully she recovered,  But the event is permanently etched in my mind and I do not want to repeat it.  Tonight Aidan’s fever spiked to 103.5  so I had to put him in a bath… For some reason Aidan’s body functions do not always work like they are supposed to.  Normally when you have a fever your blood vessels in your arms and legs will dilate and will help cool you off.  When Aidan has a fever his arms and legs will sometimes be cool or normal temperature, but his chest and head will be burning up with fever.  Because of that it is really important to cool him down and keep him cool.  It is really heart breaking though because he is freezing to death and shivering from the fever and I am steadily pouring lukewarm water over his body.  I try to hold him and comfort him but he completely does not understand why I have put him in a bath in the middle of the night!  and all he can say is … “cold” through chattering teeth..

So after everything has calmed down and his fever is under control I have started thinking about immunizations… I know a lot of parents are avoiding the H1N1 Flu vaccine,  What it boils down to is that whether it’s true or not, we don’t know if we can trust the medical profession anymore to tell us the truth about medicine, I have personally stood face to face with a doctor and cornered him about what a medication actually does and he actually could not tell me. Sure he could give me a BS answer that would satisfy the average person. But my mom carries around a Physicians Desk Reference in her purse!  as a kid we never took anything without mom checking all the drug interactions and researching it fully!

There is more than a little stir about the possibility that vaccinations are causing autism,  something that Aidan has brought right to the forefront.  And we can absolutely confirm that Aidan’s development halted soon after his first set of vaccinations; many other parents can confirm similar experiences and I am pretty convinced this is more than anecdotal. So is the medical community ignoring this for financial reasons?   I have always been a strong proponent of “if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger” mentality.   I believe that if we allow our immune system to work for us and avoid antibiotics, or vaccinations unless absolutely necessary  then ultimately we will be healthier and more resistant to illness.   I have to say  that from our perspective it seems to be working,  our kids are pretty tough and get over colds and even the Flu in 2-3 days tops.

when I first heard about the H1N1 “swine flu” for some reason I was immediately suspicious,  call me a conspiracy theorist but these days ethics are unpopular, biological experimentation is done in basements, and there is a lot of money floating around for biotech these days… It just seems like we are primed for a good conspiracy! :)   it just seemed contrived that the hype around H1N1 was a little over the top… no ALOT over the top, considering that it is not even as bad as the seasonal Flu.  Then to cap it off some biotech lab in australia created the vaccine in record time?  seems a little fishy.

So how do you feel about vaccinations..    are they really helping us?  are  you getting the H1N1 vaccine?  are you giving this to your kids?   I am on the fence with this one… I would really like to avoid any more fevers but I also don’t want to go running for the drug store any time the wind blows.

(*Edit* I realized after I wrote this that at 3:00 in the morning that it is not a great time to write a blog post :)    it is very similar to “drunk blogging” in most respects.  Anyways, I freely mixed conversation about “booster immunizations” for babies and “Flu Vaccines” and really  did not distinguish between the two.  In general I was mostly speaking about the Flu Vaccines rather than the baby booster shots.  hope that clarifies things a bit! :) )

Tags: Autism, Sick, Vaccine

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CauseAidan…. (Autism and acceptance)

// March 28th, 2009 // 9 Comments » // My Life

Aidan

Aidan

I recently realized that in all of my blogging I was unintentionally leaving out an enormous chunk of my life, my family. The subject of my family is rich with so many moments of joy, fascination, revelation, exasperation..the list goes on… all of these experiences are often the motivation for the things that I write.

I was meant to be a daddy. From an early age, I wanted children of my own, to hold and hug and put to bed at night… there is nothing in the world like looking into the eyes of your children and seeing the unwavering trust and love of a heart that is fully devoted to you. It is the blessing of being a father.

Aidan my 6 year old is Autistic, he is the most perfect child you can ask for… he is perfectly loving… perfectly adorable… and perfectly frustrating! Autism spans a wide range of symptoms that are too numerous to name and vary from child to child. From about the age of 7 months Aidan began to show signs of delayed development… and has consistently fallen further and further behind the development curve over the past 5 years. He has struggled with communication and sensory issues and has yet to gain more than a few pounds per year… topping out at 32 pounds this year, the size of a healthy three year old.

We coined a phrase not long back that effectively captures the spirit of things in our household… “CauseAidan…” It seems odd at first look… I admit… but try it on just a little. “Honey where is the stack of CD’s that I set here a minute ago?” the answer… ” I have no idea! I am sure they are destroyed somewhere CauseAidan….” I think you get the idea… Lots of things happen Cause’Aidan!

Well recently Aidan received the official diagnosis of ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) which hopefully opens up several opportunities to connect with foundations that can give us tools to learn more about Autism and be prepared for the dangers ahead… and beleive me there are dangers! In just reading through a few Autism websites they are full of stories about Autistic children wandering off and getting lost… leaving the house at night while everyone is asleep.. Crazy stuff… we have to give information to the police now so that “when” Aidan wanders off they can more efficiently find him quickly…I am getting stressed out just thinking about it now!

There are so many things to do… we currently rent so we must soon buy a house that we can modify so that he has a room that is a “safe place” for him and to properly protect him from wandering off… we also want to purchase a service dog that will stay with him and will assist him in making good choices, and prevent him from wandering off.. he needs special toys that help him learn… and we need special classes just to keep up with him and deal with discipline and emotional issues… the amount of things to do and information to absorb is absoulutely staggering! to complicate things the costs of these things are far in excess of what my salary can provide… so we must depend on the provision of God… through hard work and determination and faith we know that Aidan will have what he needs. Our lives are rich with unique experiences and challenges… CauseAidan!

Jason Carroll

Jason the bald guy
jasonthebaldguy.com

Tags: anger, Art, Autism, beleive, blog, choice, choices, dad, dog, Faith, Family, God, Love, sin, spirit, stress, the past

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