In China, children with autism spectrum disorders may be more likely to receive acupuncture or herbal medicines than applied behavior analysis (ABA).
Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in China,but there are few resources for autism therapy for children these disorders. Therapies often included a mix of traditional medicines and acupuncture with sensory integration therapy. ABA was used less often. A Chinese study reported improvements in social and communication skills with acupuncture. There were very few scientific studies that evaluated the effectiveness of these therapies in China. The largest problem is the severe shortage of trained therapists to help children with autism in China. Few schools and hospitals are currently able to provide therapy services.
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Soap Nuts
Aug 13, 2009 by AnonymousIn an attempt to cut down on the amount of toxins not only for my family but also for the environment as a whole, I bought some soap nuts. What the heck are soap nuts? They are "the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree" - so says the package they came in. Instead of using detergent, throw 3 to 5 of these little babies into your wash and voila clean, toxic free laundry. We shall see.
Rather than switching right to soap nuts, I want to test these things first. I have set up a couple of key batches of dirty laundry to see how well the soap nuts work on my typical stains. One of the highest concerns is pee. We seem to still have accidents in our house so clothing and bedding go through the wash often. I want them clean.
Another concern is popsicles. We have "five-o-clock-sicles" in the afternoon when I need a little more time to fix dinner and the kids are starving to death. I generally by the Edy's whole fruit pops but they still stain purple, red, and green. For some reason the boys think shirts are napkins.
Finally, greasy oily stuff. We seem to have an abundance of it.
The soap nuts say they work for 5 plus loads so I will be testing them over the next few days. If they work, I will figure out a cost comparison to my standard detergent. Unfortunately, Costco is not carrying soap nuts, yet.
If you've got a question, I've got an answer
Dec 12, 2006 by AnonymousAfter a couple of hectic days, Thomas and Hayley’s new cousin has arrived! Jonathan and I were the first to know (besides the expectant parents) that labor had started on Sunday night when we were called to fetch their dog. We had offered to dog-sit for them while they were in the hospital.
So Thomas awoke on Monday morning to find the little dog Reese running around and getting very excited as I poured Cookie Crisp into the kids’ cereal bowls. Thomas had no problem with it at all. There was really no way we could have prepared him for Reese coming over because we didn’t know when we were going to be called to get her, but Thomas really seemed to take it in stride. Even Hayley has a great time running around with a doggie cookie in her hand while Reese chases her. Actually, Reese is earning her keep around the house. She’s a terrier and very good at digging under the china cabinet and refrigerator with her dainty paws and slender snout. She’s found a couple dollars in pocket change so far.
My mom came over to watch the kids this morning while I went to the hospital to visit the new baby. She had to get Thomas off the bus when he came home from school, and she said he did a fine job with it…and it’s nice to know that Thomas doesn’t pester everyone for mac-n-cheese for lunch. My mom said that he ate all of his turkey (and most of his sister’s) for lunch without complaint. It went really well and the kids were in a happy mood when I came home (so was my mom!). Even Reese seemed pleased to see me. And I was happy, of course, after getting to hold my newborn niece!
The main problem with Thomas’ behavior recently has been unpredictable screaming. I mean “lady being chased by an axe-murderer” screaming. It’s so loud that it actually rattles my eardrums and I have to fight not to clamp a hand over his mouth. I think that the best thing to do is ignore it, since right after he does it he smiles and laughs as he watches my face contort. He especially likes to do it in the bathroom where he gets a nice reverberation. I realize that he may be stimulating himself (perhaps he likes the feeling of his eardrums vibrating) but he seems to think it’s so funny when I get upset about it that I feel there must be an element of attention-seeking involved. I’ll have to get better at ignoring it and hope that it’s another phase that will pass.
And why shouldn’t it pass? So many of his other undesirable behaviors have almost disappeared that I feel confident most of them will, eventually. He only throws things (with malicious intent) when he’s really upset or angry. I think that was the thing that concerned us the most because we were worried about injury to Hayley, ourselves and the windows. Thomas still tosses things into the air for fun, which is something we’re trying to modify. Usually he’s tossing something heavy up really high so that it hits the popcorn-textured ceiling and little bits of it sprinkle to the ground. (Actually, I don’t mind that so much. I don’t like the textured ceiling and hope that Thomas can at least break it down evenly.) We try to get him to “throw Homer;” a Homer Simpson doll that’s very light and soft, but he usually doesn’t go for it.
Thomas has been asking so many questions, as he has been doing for a while now. He's really doing well at asking for someone's attention before he makes a request. Usually, it's, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Umm...could you go get Hayley?" Lots of times, he'll ask me to do something or get him something that I've just done or he already has. Sometimes, it's just talking to talk, or asking to ask which I think is a great sign that he's interested in what's going on around him.
Thomas’ birthday party is less than two weeks away, and we’re trying to prepare him for the people and the presents. It’s going to be difficult getting him off the gifts after the holidays, because his party is on the 23rd, we’re going to open Jonathan’s family’s presents on the 24th, Santa will come on Christmas and we will open presents with my parents that afternoon. I’m pretty sure he’ll wake up on Boxing Day and wonder when he’ll get to open his daily gift-ration.