Weekend Update: Swine Flu & Soccer

Good morning! Hope you had a lovely weekend as we prepare to enter into autumn. This past weekend we made some decisions about the swine flu (H1N1) vaccine and had soccer practice.

Soccer
Gus had a crisp morning for his 2nd soccer practice & game of the season. The team has grown quite a bit and I've seen several new faces. Their workout is more geared toward teaching the game and giving the kids some time to run around and interact with each other. Half the time is spent working on a skill and then there is a shortened game with usually half the kids on the field at a time, playing against the coach and a mentor or two.

Gus has been having a great time and I see a big difference from last year when he was often very sluggish. He's got a better handle on the ball and appears much more confident and engaged in the game overall. It should be a good season! Hopefully next week I'll remember to take some pics!

Swine Flu Vaccine
Before I go any further, let me make it very clear that I am no doctor and anything I post here is strictly my layperson's opinion. Don't make any decisions based on my thoughts. Please consult with your medical professional (or several) before choosing whether or not to get the H1N1 vaccine whenever it becomes available.

That being said, I also want to state for the record that I am not against vaccines as a matter of principle. On the contrary, I would prefer to prevent my children from illness if it can be done safely and if it is necessary. We've always chosen pediatricians who lean toward the conservative side as far as medicating children, so there's never been a concern in my mind that we were being advised to take a medication or get a vaccine that wasn't warranted. The two times I disagreed with our doctor was over the chicken pox booster and over the Hepatitis A vaccine. Instead of getting a chicken pox booster, I had both my children titered, and our doctor had no problem with that. Last year she started giving the Hep A vaccine because there had been some cases in the state. I declined because neither of my kids were at risk and would not be likely to be put into a risky position. This year, after Gus developed a taste for sushi, we got him the vaccine because the disease can be spread through contaminated raw fish (as well as other foods that he's been more apt to eat as he's gotten older). All this is just to make it clear that we do the shots when necessary, and if not, then we don't.

On Thursday, I made inquiries to 3 different doctors regarding the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available next month. One RN said that it was, "a good thing to get," but offered little in the way of explanation. Maybe she thought that it was the most obvious conclusion and required no further discussion. I was very interested to hear that the other two doctors - both pediatricians - were not comfortable with the vaccine that's coming out. Their collective reasons were that a) it was rushed to production and therefore hastily tested, so b) there is little knowledge of what the side effects or possible long-term effects may be. Neither intends to offer the vaccine to their patients, and at least one has decided not to give it to her own children. She has instead adopted a "wait and see" stance.

The New York State Health Department has posted tracking information on the swine flu within the state and there is also a vaccine information page. You can also obtain information from your own state's health department.

To my way of thinking, the pros for getting the vaccine are that it will be available in mist form (no shots) and will be available without preservatives (some of the injected versions and all of the mist formulas). It is being made by the same companies, in the same manner (as opposed to the way it was made in 1976) as the seasonal flu. That being said, on the con side, side effects are anticipated to be the same as for the seasonal flu, but no one really knows because it hasn't been widely studied or for any length of time. And while my kids fall into one of the target populations, I don't see enough cause (especially judging from the relatively small number of cases in NYS) for an extra vaccination. My daughter is very conscientious about hygiene, especially hand washing, and Gus does not interact with the general population of his school enough for the benefit to outweigh the risk. So with all that in mind, we have decided to pass on the vaccine when it becomes available, unless some compelling reason arises.

What are your thoughts on the swine flu vaccine that's coming out in October?

Solo Outings

I generally avoid taking both kids out by myself (or letting anyone else do so) because it can be difficult to keep them from jetting off in different directions. Sometimes though it can't really be avoided. My husband had to be away for the day, and the kids had doctor appointments. Then it turned out to be a glorious day - how could I keep them cooped up? So after the appointments were done, we went to the beach. Here's how we managed:

Despite Gus's Asperger's syndrome, I've found that many basic parenting tricks work just fine with him.

• On the way to the doctor's office, I gave the kids a brief overview of what we were doing for the day. If they were good at the doctor's, we could go to the beach if the weather was nice. I was very specific about the possibility that we might not go to the beach under certain circumstances in order to preempt a tantrum if we couldn't go.
• At the doctor's office, I gave them specific expectations for behavior - no climbing around the exam room like maniacs, basically. They did just fine.
• When it came time for vaccinations, instead of having them both in the room for the shots, I took Gus out and let MM get hers first. They tend to amp each other up, but by separating them, MM had no one to perform for, and Gus didn't get extra freaked out by her antics. He was a little anxious, but after getting the shot said, "That didn't hurt." Surprise!
• On the way home, we revisited the plan, then went home for lunch. After giving them the option not to go, we packed everything up, changed into swimsuits and headed to the beach. In the car, I went over the beach rules and let them know that if they broke the rules, we'd go home immediately. One reason my kids behave pretty well for me instead of taking advantage of the double-team is that they know there are swift consequences for breaking rules. I'm pretty consistent with this, and I think that's made it possible for us to hang out together now.
• Since I only had limited hands to carry stuff, I left the beach toys home in order to make sure I could carry plenty of healthy snacks. I didn't go overboard, but sun and water make kids want to eat. And there are usually a million toys at the beach - no need to carry more in all honesty. In the past, I've left the door open for many a meltdown by not having ample snackage. Neither of them has ever had a fit over not having a shovel. I try not to make those mistakes at this stage of our lives.
• We got to the beach, which is small and usually not very crowded, early in the day, around 12:30. For obvious reasons, we avoid the really busy times, although today, it never got as packed as I've seen in the past.

The results? We spent an extremely pleasant 4 hours at the beach; the kids played with some other children (yes, even Gus came across a little girl who was persistent and patient); I got to relax for an afternoon with my kids! For the win!!

What strategies do you use to maintain order when taking multiple kids out? Have a great weekend!



Image by Kratanuva on Wikimedia Commons

Robots for Autism?

image from Wikimedia commons

My mother-in-law pointed me to the Today show this morning as they were airing a story on the use of robots to help autistic children develop social skills. I can certainly see some exciting applications here. The kids in the studies seemed to show a significant increase in interactions when working with the robots. But then I heard words like, "humanoid robots" and one engineer spoke about robots that could understand how the child was feeling (to a whopping 80% accuracy) by hooking the child up to certain types of sensors. I'm sure I've been watching too many movies, but smart computers always make me think of Terminator or Artificial Intelligence: AI, both great movies, but scary in terms of technology going a little too far.

I'm on the fence right now, but I'll let you determine what you think for yourself:

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I'm further wondering what happens to the kids on the spectrum who have no interest in electronics or robots? Also, I think the statement that got under my skin the most was toward the end when Nancy Snyderman commented that for kids who are on the higher functioning end of the spectrum, the use of these robots "may be the key to get a child mainstreamed." I wonder when we are going to accept these individuals as different and stop insisting that they behave like everyone else? Is it so much to ask that society meet them at least halfway?

Does it sound like robots might be incredibly useful in helping autistic kids to express their needs and feelings so that others can more understand them? Sure, and I think that would be a great thing. But it doesn't seem that these technological advances will do much to help autistics gain acceptance as they are. It seems to me like more squeezing the round peg into the square hole, just with more refined tools.

I'm quite internally divided over this and I will readily admit that I may be overreacting to this story. Is this extensive use of robotics a good thing for people with autism? What do you think?

Gus's EEG

Gus went for an EEG (electroencephalogram) this morning. This test takes a basic measure of brainwaves and activity over a short period of time. It is often used to check for seizures, but can also give a broad picture of which parts of the brain are active under different conditions, can show which side of the brain is more dominant, or can provide other clues as to what's going on in the patient's noggin. When we went to the neurologist a couple of weeks ago, one of the first questions he asked was if Gus had ever had one. It was never done because our past specialists didn't think he's be able to stay still long enough to get a good reading. He did quite well this morning, despite a good deal of anxiety about wires being attached to his head.

The Preparation
I've learned the hard way that springing anything on a kid (particularly one on the autism spectrum) is a bad idea. But I don't always get my timing right - I told Gus last night instead of early this morning. He woke up a little nervous about the test. I told him that he would have some little wires placed on his head to check out his brain waves, and I attempted to make it sound as fun and cool as possible. He slept fine, but this morning the first thing out of his mouth was that he had a bad dream about wires in his head. He had questions and I answered them: no, it wouldn't hurt at all; all he had to do was stay still for a little while; no, there would be no zapping of his brain. The procedure was done in the doctor's office, which helped because he was familiar with the place. By the time we got there I had him pretty well distracted by talking to him about U.S. presidents; we spent some time trying to figure out who the 36th president was by counting backwards. When the usual distraction attempts fail, going to the subject of an Asperger's child's fixations can be a life saver.

The Test
The office was quiet and virtually empty at the time we arrived. When we were called, a technician, a lovely and calm older woman brought us in and explained to Gus what she was going to do. I thought he'd be able to sit in my lap, but he needed to lay down on a table, which he didn't much like, but complied. She took a bunch of little electrodes - mini half-castanets attached to a rainbow of wires - and stuck them to his head with a thick conductive cream. Then she placed 2 on his collarbone to monitor his pulse. I sat next to him to keep him calm and also to keep him from plucking the electrodes off (he kept wanting to touch his head and several times said he felt like Frankenstein). There was a portion of the test involving a strobe light that he was supposed to keep his eyes closed for. Aside from opening his eyes, he handled it fine, but I found it interesting that even with closed eyes, as the strobe sped up, he became more agitated. The next part of the test required him to do deep breathing for 3 minutes - he aced that section. The remainder of the time, we looked at a book about reptiles and amphibians and talked some more about the 36th president. (The technician went on Wikipedia and found the answer for us). All in all, it was harmless and mellow. When it was time to take the electrodes off, he got anxious again, this time just eager to be rid of them.

And now, Gus is perfectly fine and happy, as if he'd never had a Frankenstein moment today. While I doubt we'll find out anything spectacular from the test, I'm curious to see the results.

Has your child had to do an EEG test? If so, how did you prepare, and how did the test go?