Hi, everyone

[Tonya]

I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I miss you all. Things are looking up around here. Mike is still recovering from the loss of his father but he is doing much better.

I have some very interesting news about Jaden. I took him to a famous brain doctor named Dr. Amen. You may have seen him on Dr. Phil. Anyways, he did some brain scans on Jaden and we found out some amazing things! First off, he isn't ADHD. He has Asperger's Syndrome which is a moderate form of Autism. Come to find out he's not hyperactive or inattentive at all. He's distraced because all sorts of things are shooting through his brain.

The way that they tell these things is by blood flow. To much blood flow would indicate overactivity. There is an interesting cause. Sometimes when a person has allergies, for whatever reason, the brain thinks that it needs to protect and fight for itself. Therefor, it send a ton of blood to it, which causes the overactivity. So in a round about sort of way, allergies may be causing his Aspergers. He prescribed him antihistamines that are supposed to slow the blood flow up enough to get his brain on track.

One more fascinating thing. His entire brain was lit up with activity, except for one small spot about the size of a quarter. It was underactive. And that spot is the portion of the brain that controls eyelashes and eyebrows. So when he pulls his hair, he's manually stimulating his brain. (He has tricotillomania which is obsessive hair pulling.)

Anyways, that's what's going on with us. I go back to work Monday. I love and miss you all!

[Kfamr]

Hi Tonya..
I'm glad you found out some interesting things about your son. I'm sorry Mike is still feeling down. :(

I know you probably don't care to hear anything from me but i've been worrying and worrying over Ron and Raven. What has happened to them? I'd like to know they're safe. What happened to giving them to Laura/Aly?:confused: :(

[sandragonfly]

hi too! glad to hear back from you...with at least some good news, tonya.

sorry, who's mike? your hubby I guess? and jaden is your son, correct? yeah, lot of people are misunderstood between ASAutism and ADHD. and those are interesting tests! humm. well, good to find - right?

how's the all animals? sorry too much questions, heh. take care this week!

[sirrahbed]

Hi Tonya!!!
I have been wondering about you so it was a nice surprise to see this just now:D Missy is going in to have *her* Tyler induced on Tuesday.

That is VERY interesting about Jaden!! I hope the medication change is successful. That is so very fascinating about the underactive area and the eyebrow/lash pulling.

Missy and I have a friend whose son has minor Asperger's also - she has talked about several support groups on the Internet - you might want to look into that:)

Again, nice to hear from you!!

[Tonya]

Sirrahbed-

I can't wait to see pictures of Missy's Tyler! I bet she's excited. If you have a chance, can you ask your friend what Aspergers forums she belongs to? I've been searching around but I haven't found any that are very active yet.

KayAnn- My husband's dad shot himself that Monday that I was talking to Aly about Ron and Raven. I'm not even thinking about rehoming them at the moment. There is no way that we (Mike especially) could emotionally handle losing the cats right now. I haven't even brought it up to Mike since his dad passed and I probably won't for several months. -Or however long it takes him to feel better. So as of right now, Ron and Raven are with us.

Sometimes I wonder if rehoming them is meant to be. It seems like everytime I come close, something comes up and prevents it.

Actually, at the moment, Ron is at the vets. There's something not right with him so he's having blood work done. He's urinating outside his litter box again and his gums look infected. He's been acting really needy lately also. And you know how cats are, they normally are independent. The doctor suspects diabetes. I left him there over the weekend so that they can put him under and clean his teeth and run tests.

Gina's Ark Inc.- Sorry. Yes you guessed correctly, Mike is my husband. Jaden is my 7 year old son and I have a 3 month old baby named Tyler. :)

[Tonya]

Oh! By the way, I just remembered, and I guess I should PM Laura and Aly to let them know. Since then, one of the rescues responded to my email. She is willing to take the cats whenever I'm ready. I wrote her back and explained the situation with my father-in-law. She said that was fine, to just email her when the time comes.

[Karen]

Hmm - interesting news about Aspergers and allergies. I hope they are able to help Jaden, and help you understand him as well. Mike is still in our prayers. At least you have that bouncing baby Tyler to keep you all going. How is Jaden doing at being a big brother? Still loving it? :) Hard to believe your Tyler is 3 months old already, and you're almost back to work! We love hearing from you when you stop by!

[sandragonfly]

oh ok, thanks! now I see why sirrah said " *her* ".. :)

erm, not another issue, ron! hope he'll get better, poor you tonya -- an extra stress .. you'll be in my thoughts to get everything out smoothly!

[Kfamr]

You have no clue how much that eases my worries. I was so afraid that with all of the emotions and having allergies that'd you would have had to go with the last resort of giving them to a shelter. I'm glad you've found a good rescue! :)

[NoahsMommy]

Tonya,

How interesting about Jaden. You know, I work for a Child Clinical Psychologist (a PhD)...and we deal with Autism all day long. The company is called "Autism Center for Treatment"...and I'm not being partial, but its the best program in So. California...by far! If you want any information, let me know, OK?

I'm glad you like your doctor...that's so important.

I deal with family's all day...I have so much empathy for you!! I hope you're able to get the services you need to help Jaden. Has your doctor talked to you about behavioral therapy? That's the newest and best treatment out right now.

If I can help, please let me know.

Hugs,
Kelly :)

Its good to have you back, I've missed you!

[Corinna]

Wow how amazing to find out It's not ADHD . Even more that our own Kelly can help so much and colse to you too. God does work in mysterious ways.
Hugs to Mike , I know he will need time to deal with such grief. Hugs to you having to hold all this together.

[NoahsMommy]

Just sent you a PM. :)

[MULTICATMOM]

I'M SORRY, I MUST HAVE BEEN LOST IN SPACE:confused: QUIET FREQUENTLY I AM!!
I JUST WANT TO SAY MY OLDEST SON, SOON 20, WAS DIAGNOSED ADHD 11 YRS AGO. MY BROTHER WAS MISDIAGNOSED WITH ADD WHEN HE REALLY HAS ASAUTISM, HE'S 15. MY AUNT SHERRY IS A SPED/EC TEACHER & HAS HELPED US GET OUR KIDS THROUGH SCHOOL. I'D BE GLAD TO ASK HER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING JADENS SPED IDENTIFICATION. SHE HAS HER MASTERS & 30+ YEARS OF CLASS ROOM EXPERIENCE. THERE ARE ALOT OF MANDATORY SERVICES, UNFORTUNATELY, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WILL SCREW YOU, IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. I PERSONALLY WENT TO THE SCHOOL BOARD & DEALT WITH THE SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR:rolleyes: SHE WASN'T KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THE LAW:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
JUST PM ME, I'LL HELP ANYWAY I CAN!! A

[catmandu]

Condolences,To Mike,and Family,on the loss of thier Father.And we are gald,that Jadens condition,is clarified,as now,they can start,the Proper Medical Procedures!

[Tonya]

Originally posted by MULTICATMOM
I'M SORRY, I MUST HAVE BEEN LOST IN SPACE:confused: QUIET FREQUENTLY I AM!!
I JUST WANT TO SAY MY OLDEST SON, SOON 20, WAS DIAGNOSED ADHD 11 YRS AGO. MY BROTHER WAS MISDIAGNOSED WITH ADD WHEN HE REALLY HAS ASAUTISM, HE'S 15. MY AUNT SHERRY IS A SPED/EC TEACHER & HAS HELPED US GET OUR KIDS THROUGH SCHOOL. I'D BE GLAD TO ASK HER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING JADENS SPED IDENTIFICATION. SHE HAS HER MASTERS & 30+ YEARS OF CLASS ROOM EXPERIENCE. THERE ARE ALOT OF MANDATORY SERVICES, UNFORTUNATELY, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WILL SCREW YOU, IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. I PERSONALLY WENT TO THE SCHOOL BOARD & DEALT WITH THE SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR:rolleyes: SHE WASN'T KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THE LAW:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
JUST PM ME, I'LL HELP ANYWAY I CAN!! A

Thank you. Jaden's school is so awesome. We got very lucky in that area. They're so excited and eager to help him. The resource teacher, his regular teacher, the school psych, and the principle are all closely working together. They have more patience and knowledge then I do. I just told them that I have to go back to work Monday, and they were all willing to come back to the school at 7pm at night for a meeting just so I don't have to miss work.

[Tonya]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
Tonya,

How interesting about Jaden. You know, I work for a Child Clinical Psychologist (a PhD)...and we deal with Autism all day long. The company is called "Autism Center for Treatment"...and I'm not being partial, but its the best program in So. California...by far! If you want any information, let me know, OK?

I'm glad you like your doctor...that's so important.

I deal with family's all day...I have so much empathy for you!! I hope you're able to get the services you need to help Jaden. Has your doctor talked to you about behavioral therapy? That's the newest and best treatment out right now.

If I can help, please let me know.

Hugs,
Kelly :)

Its good to have you back, I've missed you!

Kelly, If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made it this far. You gave me that link to the Drake Institute and from there, I found Dr. Amen. He does the same work at Drake except he doesn't rule out medication. He just believes it should be a last resort. I'll check my pms!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Tonya, It's great to see you posting again.:) I'm also glad to hear that Jaden had now been properly diagnosed and has a wonderful doctor too. My nephew is also believed to be slightly autistic. It seems like such a hard thing to diagnose. Take care.:)

[shais_mom]

glad to hear everything is working out Tonya

[catnapper]

Glad to see you again! Amazing story about Jaden... what a long haul, but you've finally got some REAL answers to help him. I am sooo happy to hear that you've got him correctly diagnosed and are now on the way to finding a way for him to correct the issues.

[smokey the elder]

I'm glad that they finally pinned down Jaden's condition. I just saw that they're working on a blood test for autism.

Weird synchronicity-I first heard of Asberger's as a defense in a Law and Order episode!