As most of you know, our son Mikey has high functioning autism as well as ADHD. We put him on a good supplement routine, a whole foods diet, and tried out many different kinds of therapies, and saw a lot of improvement in him. However, he was still struggling. Although we were always very intentional about putting him on natural remedies, we decided to see how he would respond to more conventional medications leading up to his third year of school. In this episode, we discuss the self-contained autism classroom that Mikey was in for his first few years of school, the difficulty he had engaging in a classroom environment, and the apprehension we felt about medications. You’ll also hear about the almost 180-degree switch in Mikey’s behavior after going on the meds and how he was able to start participating in school to the extent that his IEP (Individual Education Plan) was amended for full inclusion from grade three! We speak about the difference this made to ours and Mikey’s lives and how grateful we are that he will have access to all the learning that comes with mixing with the other kids in a classroom environment. We also touch on some of the challenges and side effects and the different ways that we found to work around those. Join us today to find out what a difference a mixture of natural and conventional treatments made to our son’s experience of the world!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The natural treatments we’ve tried with Mikey and why we were curious about medication.
• Why we prioritized Mikey’s autism over his ADHD at first.
• The classroom setting in Mikey’s self-contained autism classroom.
• When we decided to try medication out for Mikey and why it was during the summer break.
• The apprehension we felt about putting Mikey on medication initially.
• Different positive and negative effects that Mikey experienced.
• The drastic change in Mikey’s behavior and how he could start engaging in school.
• How Mikey’s IEP was amended for full inclusion after second grade.
• How we had to tailor Mikey’s diet to keep him from being underweight.
• Intentions to find alternative treatments mixed with gratitude that the medication is working.
• Our decision to put Mikey into the Montessori school and the opportunities he will have there.

“I let Mikey’s teacher know that he was on medication now, just a small dose that we were trying out. She let me know the first week of school that she thought Mikey was night and day different.” — Heather [0:14:00]

“By the end of second grade, his IEP was amended again to say that, for third grade, he would be full inclusion.” — Heather [0:16:04]

“He was starting to apply rules and was starting to be self-realizing about his behavior, which was really cool.” — Mike [0:17:20]

“I’m always going to be looking for the next best therapy that will help Mikey reduce his medication or not need it. I’m still not 100 percent that I want him on it forever, but I’m thankful that it is working for right now.” — Mike [0:25:41]

DON'T FORGET: You can call us at 469-249-0425