Taurine!

Can I say just how much I LOVE having a doctor that not only feels that Kaiden's weight and size is just fine (he's a tiny little guy, 23lbs dripping wet at 3 1/2 yrs old), but believes in and supports what I'm doing for Kaiden?? Not only that, but takes the time to think about it, and suggest new things to try. That, my friends, is priceless.

So, for awhile now I've suspected that Kaiden's nervous system is too "noisy". Eliminating nightshades went a really long way to calming that down. At Kaiden's last doctor appointment (July 25th) we talked about Carly, the girl with autism that everyone thought had the mental capacity of a 6yr old, but once she found a way to communicate (typing) instead it was discovered she was brilliant. Carly said that her autistic behaviors are from her needing to create sensory output to cancel out the massive amount of sensory input her nervous system lets in. While Kaiden has never been even so much as suggested to have autism, he displays many of the same behavioral traits. Hearing Carly say that it was to cancel out the noise . . . that made so much sense. That's what Kaiden's doing, and I was right! Well, so was another doctor that wrote a little-known paper about it . . . funny how autism gets all the publicity, and Down Syndrome falls by the wayside. Personally I think that is because autistic individuals look "typical" whereas Down's individuals have certain facial characteristics. Humans at their very basest instinctual level, do not like individuals that look different. Neither do wolves, who have a very similar society structure. But I digress . . .

After we talked about Carly, it was like watching the lightbulb click on and Kaiden's doctor said, "What about taurine?"

Taurine an acid containing an amino group that among other things that does quite a bit for the body. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurine. "Taurine is essential for cardiovascular function, and development and function of skeletal muscle, the retina and the central nervous system." It's been useful for epileptics. I have yet to understand it all, but at any rate it is supposed to help calm a noisy nervous system. It's also essential for normal skeletal muscle function among many other things.

He gave us a bottle to try, and since it didn't contain any excess ingredients that Kaiden can't have, we started it the next day. I didn't notice much of anything that first day, but the next day, Kaiden began free-standing and taking steps again, which while he does at preschool, he hasn't done at home since November of last year. His comprehension, performance, and attention has continually improved. When he stood up and hit his head on the table (LOL, he's getting taller!), he put his hand to the injured spot and whimpered a little. When given the drain cover for the tub at bath time, (he knows where it goes, but rarely gets it in the right place), he moved all his toys out of the way and made sure it was *exactly* in the right spot. When bathtime was over, he gave me every bath toy in the order I asked for them. When he had a tantrum at breakfast and pinched me (and received a verbal reprimand), he stopped, gave me the big "I'm sorry" eyes, then gave me a hug. When he indicated he wanted to watch a video (he likes "Your Baby Can Read" and "Teach 2 Talk" videos), he not only sat thru 1 video, but wanted to watch more and more and more, and didn't lose interest until the 4th one!

This is what I've been saying all along . . . I KNOW this kid is in there . . . it's just a matter of getting his body to cooperate.