So after taking a year off from reading "learning books", we still made some health progress. We've had a few chronic health issues that I've been trying to solve and it's been a slow process, but I have a hard time taking "no" for an answer. When you see your child struggling, do you just leave them be? Do you just accept their challenges as normal and okay? I have a really hard time doing that. And so, I kept on searching. I got also got tired of being told that I should keep our diet egg, dairy, gluten and nut free for 3-5 years at least. Feeding this large crew is extremely challenging as it is for my mom brain to figure out each and every day (likes/dislikes, budget, time, flavor, fridge space, etc). And those dietary challenges take away anything that is convenient or quick foods, for the most part (although it gets rid of the cheap, crappy foods with no nutrition as well, so it's a double edged sword). Our little Levi just had his first sandwich of his life, and he's almost 4! He didn't know what it was. He was so cute, "what is dis Mom?" But kind of sad too.
So, for James we used NAET to solve/desensitize his allergies. He's now able to eat all those foods again, although we do them in small amounts as to not overload his body all at once. He still has a bit of swollen lymph nodes that we're working on, but all the other symptoms from the past dozen years are gone. Previously we had done IgG and IgA allergy testing and although it showed us what he was reacting to, it didn't fix the problem. We did heal his gut (that did need doing), and so then the NAET worked much better. (Typically you need both to heal from leaky gut). I'd like to take Elise to this doctor as well, but we haven't yet (waiting for the tax return!)
The big progress we're making is to finally get some help for Isaac. He's had speech issues all his life, but as he has gotten older, his frustration level has gone up and his pleasant demeanor had almost disappeared. It's been heart breaking. All roads to get him help led to dead ends. I didn't exactly even know who to take him to. He graduated out of the speech program at the school, and I even had him retested there, as well as at the hospital speech program and both of them deemed him "fine, have a nice day". I looked into cranial sacral therapy (far too expensive at the time), had the chiropractor do her limited cranial sacral on him, had the pediatrician, the dentist assess him too, but no one could find anything wrong. As moms, we know when our kids aren't "fine", and a 5 minute speech test won't determine frustration or data processing rates or abilities. The next person I contacted was Dr. Ghaheri, who is an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor in Portland. I messaged him (on FB!) a picture of Isaac's mouth (he asked for it) and he said, "you don't need me, you need Barbara Erskine (Speech Language Pathologist)".
I waited a full year to get in to her (I was sure she forgot about us, but she hadn't), because she's so busy. She then did a 2 1/2 hour consult over 2 days. She spent 20 hours coming up with his diagnoses and formulating a treatment plan for him. She's ridiculously thorough and precise. Her attention to detail astounds me. In the meantime, I talked to my cousin who is a speech therapist in a school and she helped me understand why Isaac couldn't get enough help at the school. Here's why: in the school (in WA anyhow, most others would be similar though) the therapists cannot help kids who aren't 30% deficient. If they help kids that aren't that deficient, then the state thinks the therapists are scamming the system. So kids fall through the cracks all the time with "nuances" (subtle distinctions or variations) because they aren't bad enough to qualify. I also talked to our school's speech therapist that said she is not allowed to refer her kids to anyone who doesn't work in the school (OT, PT or herself). If they can't help the child, then there's nothing they can do. So, she can't tell anyone to go to a chiropractor or neurologist, or even a private speech therapist that can offer services that she can't offer. Parents have to seek that all out on their own and her hands are tied.
So Barbara wanted 2 things to get done on Isaac before she started speech therapy with him. She felt his hyoid bone was out of place (the free floating bone under your tongue held in place with cartilage) and she referred me to a Functional Neurology Chiropractor in Portland. She feels there's no use doing therapy if you don't get to the root of the problem first. She was right about the hyoid bone, it was shifted quite a ways to the side. His tongue couldn't launch properly off of it, making all talking and eating a huge effort. (I picture it trying to dive off a diving board that is crooked). The only reason for a hyoid bone to be out of place is from head injuries. Isaac did have 2 bad falls when he was about 18m-2 years old. He was bounced out of a trampoline that wasn't zippered closed and landed on his head, and he slipped right back on his head at a splash park that same summer. Definitely could have been either of those!
The other thing was a tongue tie release. I had him evaluated by Dr. Ghaheri (he uses Barbara to screen all the older children before he sees them), who is one of the top tongue tie doctors in the US, and he determined that it does need to be lasered to release it. Barbara feels that it is the root for most speech problems and connects the fascia of the whole body causing so many issues other than speech. Here's a photo of how the whole body is connected by the fascia. It's actually really cool! I have a feeling several other of our kids will need it done in the future too. Teeth crowding, trouble sleeping, messy eating? Yep, familiar with those! It falls into the midline defects category which seems to be related to vitamin A deficiency during the first 3 weeks of pregnancy. (too much vitamin A can cause the same defects, but most of us don't get too much). It is also can be related to the MTHFR gene defect, which is in the B vitamin family of deficiencies/malabsorption.
Signs of tongue-tie in newborns
- Open mouth posture
- Mouth breathing
- Sleep apnea symptoms
Breastfeeding tongue tie symptoms (for the child)
- Shallow or difficulty latching
- The latch cannot be sustained for long
- Sliding off the nipple
- Prolonged feeds
- Restlessness after prolonged feeds
- Refusal or irritable during feeds
- Dribbling and spilling
- Falling asleep on the breast
- Arching the back and pushing away
- Gumming and chewing on the breast
- Unable to use a dummy/pacifier
- Clicking noise while nursing (stridor)
- Inability to hold pacifier or use bottle
- Excessive gas
- Reflux
- Colic
Breastfeeding tongue tie symptoms (for the mother)
- Cracked, bleeding nipples
- Lipstick or inverted nipple
- Pain while nursing
- Over/under supply (inefficiently empties breast)
Developmental signs
- Delayed speech, problem with certain letters or sounds
- Lisp
- Food & texture aversions
- Tooth decay (even with constant brushing)
- Gagging or choking,
- Squirreling food
- Difficulty talking fast
- Can’t move tongue past lips
- Jaw joint and posture
- Jaw pain
- Migraines
- Neck and back pain
- Forward or slumped posture
I think this new information just opened a whole can of worms, likely in a good way that we've yet to find out. Barbara is also a myofunctional therapist, which most speech therapists are not (they need extra training on their own to become one). They look more into root causes of mouth issues (this includes dental issues, speech issues, sleep apnea and more).
We also learned about visual learners (Isaac, Luke and myself for sure) and how they do better at A to B sports (running, swimming, rollerblading, track, skiing, skating) rather than ball sports where they have to make too many quick decisions. Kids who rely on their eyes the most don't do well with the pressure of having to make many split second decisions that sports like soccer or wrestling require. These kids excel at things where they can go their own pace and there's very few decisions to be made in the sport. The decision making sports are good for building skills in areas of weakness, but these type of children will never excel at these sports and will often be left out and frustrated. Barbara uses obstacle courses for building up the weaker areas by using blindfolds for increasing the other senses. She taught us about muscle memory and increasing that as well. Often visual learners have poor muscle memory because they use their eyes so much.
We also learned about visual learners (Isaac, Luke and myself for sure) and how they do better at A to B sports (running, swimming, rollerblading, track, skiing, skating) rather than ball sports where they have to make too many quick decisions. Kids who rely on their eyes the most don't do well with the pressure of having to make many split second decisions that sports like soccer or wrestling require. These kids excel at things where they can go their own pace and there's very few decisions to be made in the sport. The decision making sports are good for building skills in areas of weakness, but these type of children will never excel at these sports and will often be left out and frustrated. Barbara uses obstacle courses for building up the weaker areas by using blindfolds for increasing the other senses. She taught us about muscle memory and increasing that as well. Often visual learners have poor muscle memory because they use their eyes so much.
Right now we're doing exercises with Isaac to help his mouth muscles move in new ways to get ready for the release (building muscle memory). She also is getting to the root of his inability to hold a pencil or utensil properly. I've been working with him for his whole life to get him to, but she said when we get the fascia released, it'll happen on its own. I had him sit by me during school for a full year, and every single day I'd remind him how to hold a pencil and he still couldn't do it. See how the tongue tie affects the whole body?! I'll keep you posted how this all shakes out. It does make me cry (I have shed a few tears of joy) that he's finally getting some help after all these years!
Last one~ Celeste also got adjusted by the neuro chiropractor for her head injury (remember the sledding accident?) and we're hoping it helps her eyesight. We haven't had her checked yet. The chiropractor said that if the balance is off (the crystals in the ears that maintain balance get dislodged in a head injury) the eyes will try to compensate what the ears aren't doing. Here's hoping she'll be soon rid of her specs, but time will tell. Her balance is significantly better after one adjustment, we have noticed.
If your kids are struggling, may I suggest you keep searching for answers, praying for answers and not giving up. Look to all the non-mainstream venues of healing, get off the beaten path because it's worth it!
If your kids are struggling, may I suggest you keep searching for answers, praying for answers and not giving up. Look to all the non-mainstream venues of healing, get off the beaten path because it's worth it!
