SJ sees a developmental special every 8 months. He has helped SJ so much. Because of him, we have SJ on a vitamin/supplement regimen. He had also encouraged us to continue with speech therapy and to start the reading tutoring. He always asks about his progress in school and with his peers.
He reviews his blood work to see where he has vitamin or mineral deficiencies. He has been encouraging us to limit his gluten (wheat) and casein (dairy) intake. His levels in those two areas were way higher than they should be. This has been an area that I have been very resistant to do wholeheartedly.
After I told him about the petechiae incident, he told me that it could be a result of the excessive intake of the gluten and casein products. I tried to argue my case, but at the end of the day I know he is right. I pledged to give it a much better effort (although I was dreading what this was going to do to SJ). He told SJ to remember this phrase "Wheat don't eat, dairy is scary."
He also suggested that we take him for 8 sessions of skin conductance and temperature biofeedback. He said that this treatment could help SJ learn to control his emotions and teach him strategies to calm himself down. I told him I would talk to my husband about this treatment. It is not covered by insurance and the sessions are 3 hours long. (That may be too long for SJ.)
He was very happy with his grades that he achieved in the 5th grade. I gave him a copy of the IQ testing the school psychologist had administered to him. Fortunately, his IQ is in the normal range. I also showed him a poetry book he created for his language arts class. He was very impressed with his abilities to create the poems and said I should save it forever. (That was the plan!)
I told him about him being on the swim team and that he gets social opportunities with neighbors and friends. He said that SJ is doing well making social connections. He has been able to attain "invite friends", which he says is the highest level of friendship. He said SJ should continue to do well socially if he is able to keep these "invite friends". He told me that SJ will be getting attention from girls as he approaches puberty. He was concerned that he may not understand how to deal with this attention. He suggested that SJ meet with a psychotherapist twice a month.
He gave me a list of supplements to continue to give SJ. He will continue to take zinc, omega D-3, calcium, magnesium, children's multi-vitamin, therbiotic and vitamin D. He gave us a prescription for blood work to be done in November.
Even though I am not happy or looking forward to eliminating the gluten/casein from his diet, I felt the appointment went very well. Hopefully, the November blood work will show all of our hard work.
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