Update on child #1

[Guest guest]

To discuss current issues related to the increasing incidence of autism and the

potential link between excessive mercury exposuChild one is doing well. We have

only been able to chelate once a month, he is still making gains and not

regressing. Chelating since feb of 2006.

We upped the dose from 75 mg dmsa/ala to 100mg dmsa/ala for an aprox. 150lb boy.

The week after the upped dose, we noticed big gains...it made me so excited for

the next round...but then I've been taking child #5 to the ER and countless

doctors for her eyes, and it has been two weeks then this week he was sick so we

didn't do a round. Still, we are at the point where I think each round is going

to bring significant gains, so I can hardly wait to do the next one.

He makes his own food out of the microwave. He has been driving a car, and he

is a good driver. He loves driving. He is slowly gaining other interests

besides his single interest-video games, even though in many ways video games

are leading him into other interests. He has narrowed down the desision of his

career choice, video game designer. This is like a game scripter or level

designer for video games. He would like to create the puzzles and think up what

happens when and where in video games. He asked me to find him a school. He

takes the SAT in January.

He went rock climbing with friends. He has hair down to past his back. He

decided to get a haircut for the first time since he was about ten (he's

seventeen). His hair is getting in the way of doing things he wants to do was

his reasoning. He is getting a shoulder length cut on Jan. 2nd.

He has made plans to move out and live with a friend, off and on he has been

living there with a friend his age and his Father. He is making huge gains in

doing the everyday things on his own from that. He has spent half his time over

there in the past five months. This really makes it hard to be consistant with

chelation and supplements, but he does ok giving himself vitamins, he never

misses enzymes, and he has chelated himself many times over there.

We are seeing increased and deeper interaction with siblings, like helping them

with schoolwork (we homeschool). He on his own initiates, seeks out, and spends

time with them. He rallies them to complete their chores. He is much less

irritated by them. He taught the other children to fish with the Nintendo Wii.

His Dad trained hard for a year to be able to play professional level Halo 2

with child #1, so they can play together. Finally Dad is at a high enough level

to play with child #1 and his friends. Child #1 is training his Dad to be a

professional level player now.

Child #1 was gaming at tournaments and he decided that he didn't want to game

with the friend he was playing with. He has some friends he has gamed with for

years online, coming to visit the house in March. I thought it was neat that he

is picking and choosing his friends and who he wants to hang out with and why.

He also has very specific reasoning on Halo 2 about who he likes to play with.

Child #1 has spent countless hours this year training his own team of players

from scratch, so that he would have a team trained his way. Through this, he

has developed the ability to get very good at something and teach what he knows

to others.

Child #1 is more independent, he gains more independant living skills although

slowly, they are steadily coming along. He washes his hands, he knows how to

shave. He does these things and many little things without prompting.

Yesterday, we went bowling and didn't even think to invite him, and he wondered

why we didn't let him know so he could go. Before, it wouldn't have crossed our

minds that he would have wanted to go with us. For years we asked him, and the

answer was always " NO " . Now we will ask and he will probably want to do what we

are doing. He will want to go out to the store, or go with us when we go do

something.

Our youngest, Child #5 has uveitis and we may need to divert funding from child

#1 to child #5 in order to save her vision. I will try everything I can do to

keep child #1 going though. I worry about child #1 regressing if we have to

discontinue treatment so I just have to keep going somehow.