Coping with Autism

I'm hoping that over the next few weeks I will be able to convert this blog to a WordPress Blog also. I did that with my politics blog and love what I am able to do in WordPress. If I am able to do the update, this blog with stay up for at least a year to redirect everyone to the new site.

The spinning top I bought for Peter was a huge hit but it couldn't hold up to his abuse and was destroyed inside of a week. He kept it around as long as he could but when it fell apart, it was basically shaped sheet metal so there were sharp edges that prevented us from keeping it past a certain point of destruction. But Peter did love it. Nathan, of course, loved just about everything he received. The light saber/swords I bought broke within the first week also but the boys continued to play with them anyway. Nathan loved a put-it-together-yourself Handy Manny toy and still carries it around from time to time. Nathan's newest obsession is R2-D2. I bought them the LEGO Star Wars game for the Wii for Christmas and Nathan is head over tails for R2-D2. Now he wants R2-D2 this and R2-D2 that. He even wants to build one a life-size working robot (uh, no, not happening--too expensive).

More evidence is coming out about Oxytocin as a possible treatment for autism. I don't want to use the word "cure" because I think a healthy dose of optimism should be tempered with a healthy dose of caution. The Washington Post reported on the story today. Oxytocin is also known as the pleasure hormone because we release under certain cirmcumstances. It's also released by a mother's body during delivery because it causes muscle contractions. I think for some children it could be a great help. I know my son Peter engages in all kinds of stimming activities and if we could calm those down and get him to focus, he is capable of so much more. He's already reading and doing well in school. His teachers and therapists all agree that his speech and focus are his biggest challenges. Oxytocin has the potential to help with eye contact and possibly even stimming. There is hope!