Empoopen!
It’s September, and my son is back in school. Well, technically daycare, but it’s really more of a preschool, loaded with activities, songs, etc. I think the structure is good for him, and I also know that he gets things from his peers that he simply cannot get from us. Also (and it may be awful of me to say this, but…), it helps me to get a break from him for a couple of hours a day. I find that I’m a happier, more energetic parent upon his return.
My mom just had hip replacement surgery, and we’ve been calling nearly every day to check in on her. I was chatting with her two nights ago, when MJ came running into my office exclaiming, “Daniel! Come quick!” Such exclamations are not unusual for my spouse, who shouts for me to appear (in a “this is an emergency, so get your ass over here” kind of way) at least three or four times a week. The situation usually proves not to be as emergent as her exclamations would lead one to believe, and as such, I seldom come sprinting for the door nowadays. But this time, she added something that made me quicken my pace. “He’s singing.”
I hit the hallway at a dead run, and did indeed arrive to hear a little voice singing (or at least speaking in a singsongy way): “Empoopen… empoopen…”
I instantly recognized the tune from one of his Dora the Explorer videos. Dora and the gang push their pirate ship into the water singing, “Empujen, empujen…” Empujen means “push” in Spanish, for those who are curious. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard, despite the slight mispronunciation. The odd thing is, he actually hadn’t seen that video in the last week or so. Odd.
Empoopen. What a lark. It sounds like the faux German my father sometimes likes to use. “Hey, which one you is empoopening my klo? Rausch mitem in the kleinem Poop!”
It’s clear that the candida suppositories are doing their thang. Now, we have to figure out a way to keep the progress going once this round of treatment ends.
As an aside, María José and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary yesterday. Rubén has blessed us for three of those five years. Man, I think back on the time before, back when we both had friends, career aspirations, lives… We had no idea what was coming. I don’t think either of us in a million years expected our new family to be this tested, this soon.
Chin up, baby. If we can get through this, we can get through anything.
September 22nd, 2005 at 7:31 am
Happy anniversary, you two! Five years … that’s wonderful.
It seems that every child loves Dora. Isn’t that amazing?! I find it hard to sit through 5 minutes of that, and her little songs are sticking in Rubén’s head days later!
October 15th, 2005 at 4:53 am
I just came across your blog while searching for information on ABLC. My son turned two in July and has “autistic tendencies.” We use a DIR/floortime approach with him and have seen considerable progress, but speech is still quite delayed.
I have a question for you - how did you decide on chelation and “gut” treatments? My son, Diego, has really never had any digestive problems at all. I tried a strict GFDF diet for a few weeks with him and did not notice any difference on it or when he came off it. I just don’t want to miss out on something that could help him.
One more thing - do you only speak English at home? We have always (and continue to) speak Spanish at home, but sometimes I wonder if it is wise as we live in the US and he hears more English outside the home. I wonder if the fact that he does not have words reinforced as much as another child might because he hears English from some sources and Spanish from others makes language acquisition more difficult. I know that two languages are not confusing for most children if that is what they are exposed two from infancy, but what about a child that struggles so much with language? We also have a hard time finding therapists that speak Spanish.
Thanks for your help. Your posts are an encouragement to our family.
October 17th, 2005 at 3:36 pm
Hi Lori:
As to how we got started, well, that’s actually a pretty long story. How would I recommend YOU get started? That somewhat easier. Go to www.generationrescue.org, and find a rescue angel in your area.
I thought GFCF was the pits. There’s too much processed food in most GFCF recipes. These boxed GFCF foods are pretty disgusting, too. My wife prepares a much stricter version of the diet for Rubén: all organic, no grains, no sugar, no soy. We’re toying with the idea of going low-oxylate as well, at least for a brief trial period. We didn’t really notice any difference in his behavior until we went grain-free.
We’re bilingual at home. MJ speaks Spanish, and I speak English, at least ideally. In reality, we both speak Spanglish, while leaning toward our native tongues. I think we’ve gotten a lot better about this in recent weeks, though. Even coming in fresh from the diagnosis, we were determined to raise him bilingual, despite some speech therapists’ objections (those guys didn’t last long with us). They would say that “research shows that delayed kids should concentrate on one language.” Perhaps you’ve heard that line yourself. Go ahead and ask them to produce the research, and then watch how fast they backpedal. The only studies I’ve managed to locate demonstrated only positive effects of bilingualism in delayed (and even mentally retarded) kids. If a speechie instructs you to only use one language, run.
Also, the therapist doesn’t need to be fluent in both languages. We have a speechie through a special school that he now attends for an hour a day. We informed her what words he had in English, so that at least she wouldn’t be confused when he tried to use his English words.
Rubén is far from conversationally verbal, but I reckon he has at least 100 words in each language, so I would call our gamble a success. He acquiring new ones constantly.
Best of luck to you in your quest for health, wealth, happiness, and RECOVERY.
-d.
October 30th, 2005 at 6:08 am
Just wanted to say “thanks” for your help and advice. I really do appreciate it.