Summer

It inevitably starts in April every year; the unavoidable compulsion to plan a summer escape of any kind. After a glorious winter, the envy of every snowbound friend and relative, it is time for the sweltering heat. The goal is to make it until May before we succumb and turn on the air conditioning. We never seem to make it that long, but we cling to the idea of putting off summer a little longer. As the temperature increases so does my desire to leave for cooler and far more exciting adventures. So every year I plan a glorious vacation. This year's plan was the trip of a lifetime. A European tour followed by a Mediterranean cruise. It sounds amazing doesn't it? I'm sure it will be . . . someday. As always my dream of exotic vacations comes face to face with reality and we end up having a very nice and quiet time visiting family.

This year the vote was for Utah to visit "all the Popes" and enjoy some time 4-wheeling at Grandpa's cabin up near Park City. To add the missing exotic element we planned a side trip to the Grand Canyon. We've lived in Arizona for 14 years and we've been to the Grand Canyon only once, 14 years ago. Rather shameful don't you think?



The views were spectacular, but the drops were terrifying. We kept a tight hold on Ben.

It was quite the challenge getting Nate to control his face long enough for a lovely family picture and when he finally did.....

The other clowns had to act up.

What you can't see is the drop off just to the right of the trees. Obviously Joshua did not inherit my aversion to heights.

He just can't help himself.

The clowning around seemed to be quite contagious that day.

After a long week at girl's camp Amanda was a trooper. She was kind enough to only "cheerfully" complain about the heat and length of our stay.

Jacob seemed to have endless energy.

Benjamin putting on a show.

No trip to the Grand Canyon would be complete without a thorough Geology lecture. The natural consequence of having a scientist for a father. I learned long ago when to make myself scarce and they will too eventually.

It was a lovely visit with great company.

New Supplements

We have discovered some new supplements and started the nightmare of getting the nasty things into an unwilling 2 year old.

Ben has regained his losses in speech progression, but has not progressed any further. Essentially we are back where we were in March: a limited number of 2 word sentences. We noticed an improvement after introducing a stronger probiotic from Klaire labs and after even more endless hours of research we are going to introduce several new supplements in hopes that these will provide his body with the nutrients that will help his brain continue to recover.

Glutamine -- Research has suggested that glutamine levels may be significantly decreased in individuals with autism (Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Volumn 87 Issue 5). Glutamine plays a role in neurotransmision, providing energy to the neurons, metabolism and function of the intestinal mucosa, and glutamine is utilized at a high rate by immune cells and is required for optimal immune system function. 

Silymarin -- Essentially milk thistle;   it is believed to strengthen the cell membranes and limit liver toxins from entering the cells as well as increase ribosomal protein synthesis and thus increase the remarkable regenerative ability of the liver. Many studies have been done but since they are poorly structured it is difficult to accurately gauge the benefits (if any) of silymarin. However, since there are no significant risks it is on the list of supplements.

VSL #3 -- One of the few probiotics supported by clinical double blind placebo controlled studies. Although the studies focused on ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and IBS, anecdotal research is suggestive of significant gains when used as a biomedical supplement for autism spectrum disorder. It will be the most powerful probiotic we've tried to date.

Cod Liver Oil -- Although we have been giving Ben an Omega 3 6 9 supplement daily, a switch to cod liver oil is likely to benefit him. Cod liver oil is high in readily accessible vitamin A and rich in Omega 3 fatty acids which help reduce inflammation. Vitamin A is a supplement that has shown promise in autism treatment and research has shown we have an abundance of omega 6, which increases inflammation,  in our modern diet and an imbalance of Omega 3 fatty acids.

There are many more supplements I am researching. However, in order to assess the impact of each supplement on behavior and language development it is necessary to introduce new supplements a minimum of one week apart.  So these list will take us at least a month to go through; that's assuming we can get Ben to take any of them.

Let the torture, ahem, adventure begin.