Baby steps

Though Nate has had no "amazing breakthroughs" with his therapy or developmental progress, I can't overlook the small steps he has taken. Those small steps really add up!

- Yesterday, Nate brought a book to me so I would read it to him.
- When he finishes a puzzle, he claps for himself and/or looks to me for praise.
- He signs "more," "please," "all done," and "thank you."
- He is now quite adept at using a spoon to feed himself.
- He understands and will sometimes obey when I ask him to pick up an object and give it to me.
- He also understands and follows (the "follow" part is key, since he understands a LOT but doesn't necessarily do) a number of simple commands like "put in" or "give Mama."
- He waves hello and goodbye to people with little or no prompting.
- Just now, Nate came across the house from his room to ours with a puzzle piece (a snake) to show it to me and show me how he can say "snake" (it sounds more like "nah"). Sweet boy! So now I'm going to take a break from writing and go play with him. ;)
I'm back.
- At therapy, the therapists say, "Ready, set, --" and try to encourage the kids to point or make some sort of gesture for "go" if they can't say it. I do this at home too. Nate has started waiting for the appropriate time (after the person has said the first two words) and then saying an enthusiastic "gah!"
- He makes much better eye contact.
- He responds much more often when his name is called.
- If he needs help with something (putting in a puzzle piece, getting a toy unstuck), he says "buppa"--"help." Sometimes he needs to be prompted/reminded to do this (he whines/cries first), but he's getting better!
- Just this past week, he began nodding his head to answer "yes" to questions.
- He likes to "tickle" Jon. He wiggles his fingers on Jon and Jon laughs and squirms as if it tickled. Nate loves it. (This is another good social/interactive thing.)

These are all things Nate wasn't able to do months or even weeks ago.

Here are some cute things Will, Nate's in-home therapist, told me this morning:
- When they are playing a game, Will will purposely look away to see if/how Nate will try to gain his attention. He said Nate did the sign for "more" but realized Will couldn't see him. So Nate moved into Will's line of sight and did the sign again. (Trying to gain an adult's attention is a great social step, even if Nate didn't try tapping Will's shoulder or something like that.)
- Will has also done an exercise with Nate where he will put three cards/pictures in front of Nate and request one of them in particular. Will said he has to keep a total poker face, because Nate will put his hand over one of the cards and then look up at Will's face to see if it's the right one; he'll keep his eyes on Will while he hovers his hand over each card. Will has to keep a straight face until Nate actually picks up the correct card on his own and gives it to Will. (This is also an indication that Nate's making gains in social development, as he's paying attention to facial expression.)

I've been looking into the gluten-free/casein-free diet for Nate but am quite overwhelmed with the huge amount of change and work that would take. (I'm not unwilling to work, but if I can find something else that will work, like enzymes, I'd like to try that first.) I do think there is a biological/intestinal component to autism, at least in Nate's case, and so I expect we would see results if we tried some of these things in addition to the therapies we're already doing.