An Autism Strep Connection?

Many years ago when Dylan was being diagnosed, I remember filling out questionnaires and repeatedly coming upon the question of if I had a strep infection during my pregnancy (I did, strep throat). I cataloged  that in the back of my mind as yet another possibile cause of D's autism, but hadn't thought about it much since, that is, until recently, as the events of the past few weeks have unfolded.

Dylan woke up one morning with terrible leg pain. It got so bad he became almost unable to walk. Blood work revealed his inflammatory markers to be 3.5 times higher than normal. The doctors were at first thinking septic hip, and he was admitted to the local hospital and then the next day taken by ambulance (photo) to the Disney Children's Hospital in Orlando. They were planning on possibly doing MRI's, Bone Scans, and fluid extraction, but were undecided and in a holding pattern, because Dylan wasn't running a fever and his leg even started to improve a bit. Then, in what seemed like an episode of "House", some new bloodwork revealed an explanation where none of these test would be necessary. The problem with Dylan's leg was a case of post strep arthritis. Currently we are waiting for results from some heart tests, but even if they come back fine, Dylan will have to be on antibiotics for at least a year. I am happy to say he is doing well and seems to be walking normally now (even though his normal "walk" is anything but normal).

Apparently post strep arthritis is very rare. With that in mind, you can imagine my surprise when my friend Susan Senator, the wonderful author and autism advocate, reminded me the other day that her son Nat, who also has autism, had post strep arthritis when he was 10 years old. ( She had written about this in her first book) It had manifested itself in exactly the same way, with doctors also thinking Nat had septic hip initially. I have to wonder if this is just a weird coincidence or something more, some sort of susceptibility an autistic child might have. Just another reminder of how little we really know about how autism affects the brain, and the body.

A Special Artist in the PTA Reflections Contest

Here is my dear friend Mary and my son Dylan last night at the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences. Dylan was receiving an award for being a county winner in the PTA Reflections Contest, in the visual art category, and his drawing is now moving up to the state level. The theme this year was "The Magic of a Moment" and Dylan drew the sun setting in St. Augustine, one of his favorite places (if we don't stay at a hotel with a snoring dad, but that's another blog post).

Dylan knew we were going to the museum last night because people enjoyed his artwork, but I don't think he really understands the concept of "winning" a contest for his art or that his artwork was chosen over others. With that in mind he quickly got the idea that we were going to the museum and he would draw for everyone. He said he wanted to draw "Baby Monet" which is one of his favorite Baby Einstein logos. I let it slide because I didn't want to sour him on the idea of going. He went and got out his suit that he wore on New Years Eve, and he insisted on wearing it, tie and all.

When we arrived at the museum everyone was already in the auditorium. I somehow had it confused and thought that the reception part was first. The winners were supposed to sit down separately from their parents but when I said he needed assistance, the woman in charge kindly looked at him and said, "Oh, you must be Dylan."

Sitting down in the front with Mary and I, Dylan was behaving beautifully. It was funny though because everytime a camera flash went off, even as we were sitting there he would very loudy say "cheese" (you just can't prepare for everything). When everyone clapped Dylan clapped along robustly. I would say there were about 10 adults on stage including the man who ran the museum and the superintendant of schools. A few of them started giving "speeches". After about 15 minutes I looked over at Dylan and he was quietly crying but trying to keep it together, just tearing eyes that he was trying to wipe with his hands. Truth be told it was after 7 pm and we had both been up since 5, and I know that it wasn't at all what he was expecting. Instead of trying to console him, because he wasnt disruptive I decided to let him suck it up and we rode it out. I whispered to him that it wouldn't be too much longer, but that was all. Finally we had to walk up the dark stairs to the back of the stage so we could come out when they called his name. While up on stage, he had to go down the receiving line and shake everyone's hand, which I am embarrassed to say he hasn't had much experience at. So, with my help, he did shake everyone's hand and they would say "congratulations", and he would respond by saying "congratulations" back to them. It was obvious he was trying to be big, and gracious, and he knew he was supposed to say something but wasn't exactly sure what. He received a lovely certificate and a gift card to Barnes and Noble. I don't think Dylan understands what a gift card does, so hopefully we can work on that this weekend when I bring him there to spend it.

I'm pretty sure he thought we would get to leave at this point, but we sat down again and the museum curator started giving a speech. I noticed the silent tears resumed so I motioned to Mary and we decided it was time to go. In the reception area, there was a lot of delicious food and Dylan immediately grabbed a huge cookie and suddenly looked so content again. Mary and I made ourselves a couple plates of food and off we went with our food "to go."

On the drive home Mary and I were discussing how great Dylan did, he had no idea what to expect and I know the setting stressed him, but he really kept it together and even displayed some social grace. I figure there will be more art awards for him down the road so he may as well get used to it!

Dylan drew his award winning entry on his ipad, with a program called drawing pad, and using his finger. He drew it in only a couple minutes. It never takes him long to draw because he always seems to know EXACTLY what he wants to do!!!

Special thanks to my dear friend Mary for coming with us!!! Love you Mare!!!

Every Picture Tells a Story.....

Welcome to my new blog! Here is where I will share some stories and adventures of my 8 year old son Dylan. He is an amazing little boy and there is so much I want to tell about him. In this picture I'm guessing my little guy was around one and a half. Some other autism parents may see something familiar here. We are all enjoying Disney and Dylan is studying the layout of the bricks. His attention to detail was evident at such a young age. Unfortunately, at that time, it seemed to come at the expense of paying attention to the world around him. We knew at 15 months that Dylan was on the autism spectrum, having taken him to Dr. Amy Wetherby's First Words Project in Tallahassee, and Dylan was most likely starting to receive some Speech Therapy and Occupation Therapy at around the time the photo was taken. Those early trips to Disney were especially painful to me, as Dylan seemed oblivious to all the things that so delighted typical children. How scary and uncertain those days were. We had many people trying to prepare us for the possibility of him never being able to speak or draw a line on a piece of paper. I'm happy to report that not only can Dylan verbally express himself but at age 8 he is already an award winning artist. That amazing attention to detail is really paying off!! I hope you will continue to follow this blog as I share some wonderful past and present stories, and talk about what worked for him and what didn't. For the most, part, I will say that Dylan has done things when he is ready, and often that has seemed like magically overnight. What an amazing adventure it has been so far!!!