We know the child.  We are in tune.  We are dialed into every nuance of our child.  The doctors, the therapists, the behaviorists look to us for guidance, direction.  The parents, the moms are the ones who ultimately have the biggest role in aiding the recovery and advancement of our children.

Some of the most amazing mothers I have met, I have met through the world of Autism.  They are fighters, warriors.  They are intelligent, diligent and persistent.  These moms are an amazing resource of information, and expertise.  These moms will stop their busy daily steps, and speak about bowel movements, behavior problems, depression, marital problems, financial challenges and lack of sleep.  These mothers expose their deepest insecurities and strongest vulnerabilities for their children.

I have never met a mother with a child on the Autism Spectrum that I do not know all about their child, their issues from the first time we meet.  Because, a mother of an autistic child, knows that a mother with an autistic child is a wealth of knowledge, passion and drive.  You take down your barriers for your child.  I am privileged, honored to have met many wonderful Mama Bears.

The many brilliant people in the world of Autism discovered what could help with this, with this methylation process, is to administer Methyl B-12 shots. In the “subcutaneous fat”.  In the buttocks.  Nope.  Not a chance.  I ain’t sticking a needle into my child every. three. days.

This is “risky” in the sense that if a child’s body is already “methylating” at a high rate, giving him this shot could send the child into orbit.  Fortunately, the trip into outerspace would last only about 24 hours.  In our case, Armand was not one of those kids.  He responded immediately to this and wanted his shot every three days.  He even reminds us.

One of the immediate results was his sleep.  That boy did not let me sleep in about 4 1/2 years.  He could not sleep through the night to save his life, or my life.  The first night we gave him the shot, he woke up after sleeping the entire night through and saying, “mommy, I did not have a nightmare last night.”  We also saw changes in his focus.  For our child, the combination of the diet and the methyl B-12 shots, delivered, recovered Armand.

… continued

People we knew, people we barely knew and people we did not know but had seen Armand, started coming up to us and expressing awe, amazement and joy with the changes they saw in Armand.  Many said you can see it in his eyes, in his face.  The fog had been lifted out of him, and he really started to shine.  Armand has always been a beautiful and captivating boy.  For many, he always caught the attention with his captivating personality.  Now, his shine was truly hard to miss.

He was truly metamorphosing into the little boy God intended him to be.  God knew before he ever gave us this sweet boy what challenges Armand would face.  I know we were hand picked to recover him.  I am honored and privileged to have been given this treasure.

… continued

I acted quickly.  Armand deserved my attention and aggressive approach.  Instead of slowly ripping off the band-aid, we quickly removed it.  Armand got a crash course in “cold turkey”.  All the foods he used to eat and loved to eat, were gone.  Interestingly, my husband and son enjoyed the same snacks.  Armand was not alone in his suffering, his grieving.

Armand started going through withdrawals.  When you go through this drastic of a change, the body has an opiate reaction.  Armand experienced certain “highs” with foods, and that “high” was immediately removed.  A lot of upsetting behaviors occur during this time.  It is intense enough to make you rethink your decision.  I dug into my strong southern roots and stayed the course.

All of us went on this diet journey by purging everything out of the house Armand could not enjoy.  If we were going to make this a triumph, we were all going to agonize, endure, and grieve together.

After about the first two weeks, when the cravings diminished and the yeast and fungus in his tummy realized the party was over, my sweet boy returned, and really started to blossom. ~ cont’d.

It was forced to my attention that there may be cause for concern regarding the foods Armand eats and the foods affect on his sweet little body.  Mama bear came out of hibernation.  Another trial, struggle, challenge.

We made an appointment with a DAN! Doctor and had a plethora of tests taken.  The results exposed to us that changes were going to have to be made.  I could not get my hands on information fast enough, quickly enough, expeditiously enough.  We decided against pharmaceuticals to aid in his intestinal recovery.  We chose to go with Specific Carbohydrate Diet and the help of Julie Matthews.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet focuses on foods easy to digest.  Since Armand had difficulties digesting food, we decided to give his “tummy” a break.  This diet focused on Armand’s ability to heal itself, while providing Armand good nutrition.  We removed the obstacles that were generating problems, so his body could learn the correct way to digest food. ~ con’t

When Armand was 15 months, I heard a word I never knew I would hear.  Never thought would be a possibility.  Was just not on my radar.

Autism.

The next few seconds. moments. minutes. hours. days. weeks seemed like the teacher of Charlie Brown, ” Wa-waaa-wawawa-wa”.

After the  noise slowly, painfully receded from my head, I went into battle.  I did things the only way I knew how.  I was obsessed, possessed.  I became engrossed, immersed, absorbed in everything Autism.  Hours on the internet.  Hours on the phone.  Conversations with strangers.  Arguments with my husband.  Tears over my son.

Mama bear was in full attack mode.  No one or nothing stood in my way while I bulldozed through the “spectrum” of the Autism spectrum.  Armand was taken here, there, and everywhere.  God had given me this special boy, and I took this responsibility very seriously.  Many thought I was a “little too over the top”.  My response was, “is there any other way to be?”

My husband.  I am sure many times he wanted to perform some sort of exorcism on his possessed and autism haunted wife.

We got into a groove, a routine when I originally launched this blog.  I had a creative outlet to explore my favorite medium, my son.  Armand was making amazing improvements.  Two words.  Early Intervention.

Then, why the gap in blog posts?  Did I loose my creativity, my passion?  No, my energy went elsewhere.  The noise started up in my head again.  I became obsessed, possessed.  Our normal, stalled.  ~ cont’d

It does not matter if you know or do not know Armand.  He does not discriminate, or differentiate.  He speaks to everyone, anyone who will listen.  And if someone decides they do not want to have a listen, he perseveres until he is heard.  If you are the object of the dismissal, he projects his introduction until you acknowledge.

You hear him say, “My name is Armand.  I am four years old.  My name is spelled A R M A N D.”

Or, we have the full length version, “My name is Armand La Douceur William ( a little out of order, but okay )  I live in Capistrano Beach and there are big waves where I live”.

Hence, enjoy this rarely seen subdued picture of Armand caught on camera.  Like a rarely seen albino koala bear, this may never be seen again.

During a recent trip to Hawaii, Armand evolved into a green sea turtle.  A spinner dolphin.  A bottlenose dolphin.  An eel.  A black tip shark.  A stingray.  So many personalities in seven days.

At first, this mother was relieved not to hear the roar of T Rex.  The growl of T Rex.  The stalking of T Rex.  Hiding from T Rex.  The relief was.  Brief.  Armand manifested into the behavior and sounds of each new animal he discovered in Hawaii.

Armand was no longer Armand.  He was emphatic about not being a person.  He was resolute that he was not Armand.  He was unrelenting.  Strangers would ask his name and he immediately stated the animal of the moment.  Parents would look to me for guidance, assistance. Understanding. 

Then it dawned on me.  Armand is fine tuning his art.  He is transforming to understand the true nature of his subject.  He is reconstructing to truly understand the animal.  He is going through a metamorphosis to connect. 

He is method acting.   Method acting is a technique in which actors aim to engender in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters in an effort to create lifelike performances.

Stay tuned … new characters to be added at a blog near you.

Enjoy some pics from our trip to Hawai’i :

http://picasaweb.google.com/Armandsmommie/May2009_OahuHawaiiVacation

The La Douceur Family

Armand as a Bottlenosed Dolphin.

Armand as a Stingray.

Armand as a Bottle Nosed Dolphin.

Armand as a Spinner Dolphin.

Armand as a Green Sea Turtle. Protecting the eggs.

But.  Of all the fish.  Over all the world.  The Killer Whale is his passion.  Recently we have read a lot about Killer Whales, quenching his thirst for knowledge.  We learned a killer whale is in the dolphin family.  We try to explain his love is now called an Orca, but to the steadfast mind of a four year old, he endearingly refers to his love as a Killer Whale.  Star Fish are now called Sea Stars.  Pluto is no longer a planet.  So, we let it go.   

We go to Sea World with Isabella celebrating the glorious day of her birth.  She adorably turned three.  Because of the crowds, we waited to see the Killer Whale show at the end.  As it turns out, we were teaching Armand the fine art of patience.  Everyone visiting Sea World knew Armand wanted to see the show.  He was not ashamed of sharing is passion.  his dreams.  his desire.   It was as if he was waiting to breathe.

His thirst was finally alleviated.  He saw his love.  His fascination.  He was in awe.  He longs to be in the water with the Killer Whale.  He craves to be their friend.  He yearns to give them his hugs and kisses.

When he grows up, he wants to be a Killer Whale.

I cannot remember what I did on Thursday, but I can clearly remember Armand’s first smile.  The first time he looked at me with love in his eyes.  The first time he hugged me tight with his arms and legs. 

I knew I instantly loved Armand when he was born.  I truly understood when my mother say’s she loves me more than I love her.

Four years later.  I love him more.  Four years later. 

Check out some pictures from his party : Armand’s Birthday Party Album