Regression yet again....

I have come to discover with autism recovery that there are seemingly endless bumps in the road and the occasional mountain to climb. This one feels like a mountain; we have entered another period of regression. I guess it's the proverbial two steps forward and one step back scenario.

After Ben's glowing assessment last month he has stopped using the few simple two word sentences he had acquired. Possible causes are the reintroduction of gluten into his diet in February and the change to a less potent probiotic in March. Both biomedical interventions could possibly have a delayed behavioral impact. The obvious solution is to remove gluten from his diet again (frustrating because I hate cooking gluten free) and to reintroduce a much more potent probiotic. We'll add fasting and prayer for good measure and hope to see him leap out of this regression.

We have stopped all outside speech therapy and are implementing our own program within the home. I am grateful for the time he spent in therapy because of the skills I learned and the research it let me to. We are now able to achieve much greater gains with the comfort and familiarity he has at home with his family. What an amazing thing to see teenage boys down on the floor working hard to teach their little brother to communicate. Their fresh enthusiasm helps me keep going day after day.