u/seau_de_beurre

My 21 month old daughter has congenital CMV and I feel like her hearing has gotten worse since our last test. We have another audiology visit on Wednesday and I'm worried (if that makes sense? sounds weird to say) that nothing will have changed when I really do think something has, because responses in a booth are so different from responses in the natural environment. How should I broach this with her audiologist, and how do they handle that kind of thing? Is it just wait and see until she's older or until she stops responding to those booth sounds?

Thank you!

TW suicide

I presume death by suicide.

A tragic end. No matter what the truth is regarding the allegations, no one should be hounded and shamed to this point.

My heart is heavy today.

I've always found this very confusing, as a Jewish person. I understand that per Paul, JC's sacrifice and teachings built a "new covenant" that means Christians are not bound by halacha, the Jewish laws, anymore. However, it seems that most Christians abide by some combination of "red letter words" and Pauline interpretations of halacha.

Why did Paul continue to advocate for following certain laws whereas others no longer apply? When the values of Paul vs JC seem to conflict, how do you mesh them?

For example, JC said that he did not come to abolish the law, and that in fact the law (halacha) should not be altered until it is totally met. This is similar to some Orthodox Jewish beliefs that the Messiah will not arrive until every Jew follows every Jewish law 100% for one day. If G-d intended for us to build a new covenant, why didn't he have JC say so? Why wait for Paul?

Does it matter that Paul was speaking to Gentiles? Are only Gentiles "allowed" to have a new covenant, or does that apply to Jews too? Or do Jews need to keep halacha?

Thank you!

I cannot believe I am writing this post.

Seriously, cannot believe it.

If you want to check out my old post history, here are some highlights:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Autism_Parenting/comments/1cxflxk/cognitiveintellectual_delay/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Autism_Parenting/comments/1ddlbhi/bad_news_at_neurologist/

My son was diagnosed with Level 3 autism at 18 months exactly--although he had been in a research study for kids at high risk of autism due to early symptoms starting at 10 months. I'm a psychologist and it was quite apparent to me from early on that he was on the spectrum. The final straw, so to speak, was when he had a speech regression at 15 months and went from having ~20 words to having zero. The only thing he would say was "daaaaa." Daycare said he sat in the corner all day rocking and moaning. He would hit himself in the face. He sucked his fingers until they blistered and bled. He had to shut every door he saw. He eloped--and living in NYC, this was very scary. If you read him a book and didn't do it the exact same way you had every time before, he'd have a meltdown.

We were told he showed symptoms of profound autism during his original assessment and diagnosis. He had a GDD, where he was at least 50% delayed in every domain. When we went to a neurologist for confirmation, he told us that our son was most likely intellectually disabled, nonverbal, and would never be independent.

Today, at our latest developmental peds eval, we were told he is now Level 1. And that he is likely profoundly gifted.

We started ABA at 19 months--4 hours x 7 days a week--plus OT and speech. His progress was slow at first, but had a definite positive trajectory from early on. I started thinking he might be Level 2 when he was around 3 years old; he had developed language again and we could finally talk to him and it felt like he heard and understood us. He also had emerging hyperlexia around 22 months--started spelling and reading sight words.

Over this 3-4 age year, we saw the biggest improvement.

We decreased to 20 hours/week of ABA after moving to a new state, and increased OT and speech to twice a week. He also went to a Reggio Emilia school, which I think did wonders for his social engagement and for facilitating his special interest in letters. He learned how to write and read over 100 words, learned how to spell by hearing the sounds of a word, and taught himself the ASL alphabet after seeing it once. He also transferred his love of letters to the piano--once he realized every note was a letter, he got very interested. He taught himself to play the ABC song, then happy birthday, then a Brahms sonata (one hand) that he heard his dad play, then The Planets from his Story Orchestra book. We started piano lessons officially last month and he has already learned flats/sharps, scales, how to transpose his songs to different keys, and how to play different things with each hand at the same time.

He also learned addition, subtraction, and division--mostly self-taught.

Don't get me wrong, he still has serious deficits, particularly in self-care, frustration tolerance, and sensory issues+repetitive behavior.

But we never in a million years would have thought this would be our future, based on what we originally saw from him.

We also got a diagnosis of ADHD. She said she typically doesn't diagnose this early unless it is extremely apparent, but said he most likely has severe ADHD which is responsible for a lot of his behaviors that we had been attributing to autism.

She recommended having him IQ tested to see whether it's worth having him skip straight to K instead of going through pre-K.

I hope this gives some people some hope. Even if this transition--Level 3 to Level 1--is probably super rare, it shows how much kids can improve with early intervention. It also shows that the kid you have when they're really young is not the kid you'll have forever. I'll always be angry that we were given such a grim prognosis when he was still under 2 years old. He was so, so young. And it is clear now that you cannot predict anything from how they are at that age, and before starting therapies.

This is the post I was looking for two and a half years ago when we first got diagnosed.

I hope it helps someone.

Aalok

Adonis

Alexandra

Amos

Andrei

Ansel

Ariah

Artemis

Ava

Avery

Bear

Betty

Boaz

Bowen

Cameron (Cam)

Cassius (Cash)

Chloe

Clyde

Damian

Daphne (x2)

Eliora (Ellie)

Evan

Evy

Ezra

Finley (x2)

Gabriel (Gabe)

Hamdullah

Henry

Hunter (x2)

Isabella

Ivy

Jordan

Julian

Juniper (x2)

Leonardo (Leo)

Lilah (x2, same spelling)

Matthew

Max

Maya (x2)

Miles

Mina

Nadav

Noa (x3)

Nora

Oliver (Ollie)

Poppy

Remi (x3, one is Remy)

Reuben

Robert

Romi

Rowan

Ruby (x2)

Ruhi

Russell

Sawyer

Sophie

Varsha

Yotam

Zoe

I posted some of these from the spring semester (Adonis might ring a bell for some), but classes have mixed up and there are many new kids, and so new names!

My son, who will be 4 in October, is autistic. He also is quite gifted in reading/writing and math - he can read, can teach himself to spell almost anything, can write very legibly. He can also do basic addition and subtraction. He is also gifted in piano - he is playing one hand of Brahms already, which he taught himself after hearing his dad play it, in addition to Holst (because of his Planets book) and some kid songs/nursery rhymes, and can transition to different keys (like from G major to D major) when told to try it.

Our school district has a program where they allow exceptionally gifted kids to enter into k or first grade early. Apparently it is extremely hard to get into and most gifted kids just go into k/1st on schedule, but my son's preschool teacher suggested he might qualify for it next year on the basis of his advanced reading/writing and math abilities, as he is already at or beyond k level now.

He was born late October, but the cutoff date for starting k was October 1, so right now he is scheduled for pre-k next year and k the following year.

I'm kind of torn on what to do tbh? Because I don't want him to be bored in k and thus act out or bother other kids. But he is also still socially/behaviorally and verbally behind kids his age. His preschool teacher said she doesn't think this will be a problem as he's been improving so quickly since we increased his OT hours. She suggested increasing his speech hours as well and said he would probably be ready for k by this time next year.

But again i just don't want him to be excluded? He would only be 3 weeks younger than the youngest kid, but that can count for a lot, and i know redshirting boys is often a good idea. She said since he's a big lad he would be able to stand up for himself but that's not exactly what i'm worried about.

I also don't know if him having autism and needing some special ed resource supports (speech/ot) would disqualify him...

I will consider applying and getting him evaluated either way, but I'm curious from a teacher's perspective about this. I can see an argument for having him go early so that he isn't bored. I can also imagine him being socially behind enough that it's more frustrating to him than the boredom is. I also worry that having to sit around and wait while his peers work on something he mastered 2-3 years ago might ruin his love of learning.

Additionally, in your district, do you have kids with autism/2E do this? How does it work out?

Thanks in advance!

ETA: His developmental pediatrician just got back to me and said she had been thinking the same thing, that he always seems so much older than his age and like he needs the challenge. ARGH. Just when I had decided it was best to keep him on schedule! I swear I don't know what to think....

When referring to your specific grandparents, do you sign just “grandpa/ma” or do you use their special name? If the latter, do you finger spell it or do they have a specific sign name?

Thank you!

I live in the Front Range Colorado, where it is hot and extremely dry (think like 12% humidity). I'm hoping to plant Kyoto Red carrots this summer, but I'm curious what people's success has been like with various planting methods, particularly in dry, hot climates.

I'm considering mixing with coffee grounds and then doing the cardboard method, but I'm interested in hearing all ideas. We do not currently have drip irrigation, so keeping the soil moist is a concern.

My son, 3.5, is fully pee-trained. However, he is still very afraid to poop in the potty. He has done it a few times, and clearly wants to. Just now we sat on the potty for an hour because he insisted he wanted to poop in the potty. Toward he end he had a single tear slipping down his cheek as he begged me to "help" him--only of course there's nothing I can do, as he's the only one who can help himself poop.

Does anyone have any advice? I've tried feeding him right before, giving him a book or his yoto player, reward systems, sitting with him, coregulating with him, leaving and giving him privacy, standing in the doorway, standing just out of sight beyond the doorway...everything I can think of.

He usually will hold his poop until he is in his pull-up at rest time or overnight, and then he immediately goes.

Anyone tried anything here that worked?

We had this alert and had our car serviced at the dealership three months ago. Now it’s back.

Is this something that is programmed in every x miles? Or is it detecting a legitimate issue?

I did my first half marathon on Sunday. Felt amazing for the first 10 miles. Took a Maurten 100 every thirty minutes starting at 35 minutes in. But around 10.5 miles my legs died. It was so hard to lift them that my foot would scrape against the ground sometimes between strides. Cardiovascularly I felt like I could have kept going another 10 miles, but my legs were just so unbelievably heavy.

This seems like classic glycogen depletion, but I thought I was on top of things. What could I have done differently?

37F, 5' 6" and 125 lbs (BMI 20.2).

I know train is usually the way to go, but we would love to take time to explore some of the countryside and be on our own schedule. We'll be there late Sept and early Oct.

We will be flying into Naples and spending the first night there before leaving. We want to hit up Herculaneum and Pompeii, obviously. And then some of the places we are interested in checking out are:

Amalfi Coast towns

Calabria

• Scilla
• Tropea
• Maratea

Puglia

• Polignano a Mare 
• Monopoli
• Ostuni
• Alberobello
• Lecce
• Cisternino

Probably/definitely won't hit all of those, but it shows the general kind of area we are hoping to explore.

Should we do the rental car thing? Or is it better to still rely on trains to go to the general area we want to check out then hire a private driver once there?

If we do get a car - it sounds like driving in Naples is a nightmare, even for two New Yorkers. Would it be better to get a car from the airport in the morning right as we leave the city, or take a train to Sorrento or similar, ditch the luggage, then rent a car there to go back north to the archaeological sites?

Or is it better to wait on the car til after Amalfi (and use boats while there)?

Thanks in advance!

My son is level 2, age 3.5. We have been very open about his autism, although often we hear “I wouldn’t have known—he seems like a typical 3 year old, but now that you mention it I can see it.”

It’s important for accommodations at school, but sometimes I feel like people treat him differently once they know. Or they hold him to different standards. For example, we recently had a conflict with school not allowing him to do a certain activity because of his autism behaviors, only to find out they previously allowed a NT kid with the same behaviors to do the activity, they just made accommodations for that child. (aside: We spoke to the director of the school; she didn't know this was happening, and it is now resolved.)

Similarly, I wonder if when his peers hear about his autism from their parents, they will view him differently (negatively).

I’m starting to wonder if I should just stop sharing this information unless absolutely necessary. Obviously school has to know. But should I share with his ballet teacher? Swim teacher? Parents of his friends? Neighbors? Or should I focus on behaviors like “he tends to run off so keep an eye out for that” or “he can get hyper sometimes" which could apply to any child?

But I also don’t want it to seem like something shameful that we are trying to hide, especially as my son gets older and begins to understand his differences.

Thoughts?

Ruby

Vienna

Daphne

Sawyer (f)

Noa (f)

Cassius

Finley (m)

Finley (f)

Ansel

Leo (pronounced Lay-oh)

Cameron (m)

Elliott (m)

Adonis

Naomi

Julian

Chloe

Nico

Mina

Jordan (m)

Clyde

Arlo

Ezra

Amos (pronounced Ah-mos)

Oliver

Damien (pronounced Dah-mee-enn)

Zoe

Lev

Gabriel

I feel like we have a good range!

Anyone have recs for arm sleeves that I could put ice in for summer halfs? I keep seeing people recommend this, but idk if there are sleeves with special pockets or if y'all are just stuffing ice down regular sun sleeves lol.