Yes, Jill, I'll definitely give you a call if we make it to the
area. Most of the area Moms don't do a lot of biomed and have never
heard of VBA, etc, so it'd be nice to finally get to talk to some
moms who speak the same "language". My husband has gotten calls from
5 pharmacy recruiters and one direct e-mail from a large teaching
hospital in Eastern North Carolina, since Monday.

I also found out that there are apraxia classrooms in a school in
Cincinnati. Gee, wouldn't life have been simpler if my kids had in
fact had the same thing? The only thing that we do that's the same
for both kids is biomed. We're just having a really hard time finding
someone to do our EDTA infusions that is a reasonable distance from
us so we can fit it in with school and work.

My 9 year old would probably be in a regular classroom as that's
where he is now. My biggest concern is that reading comprehension is
falling behind because of residual language issues because he didn't
get the help he needed when he was younger. We haven't been
successful in finding any therapists in our area who are good with
language. Our RDI program hasn't been successful either as I have so
much trouble fitting it in around both kids. (Did I say, I also work
3 days a week to try to pay for all of this?) It's also put a strain
on my marriage as my husband didn't get involved with it (RDI) at all.

PROMPT is a form of speech therapy that is used with kids who have
apraxia. I can't even get any of the local therapists to drive an
hour away to a workshop this fall to get trained. I've decided that
I can no longer drive 30 minutes to see them for therapy as well. I
mean we went for nearly 3 years before my daughter even started
talking. The irony of it all is we weren't even going to speech
therapy when she finally started talking shortly before her 5th
birthday. What we had done, was start EDTA infusions and pulled out
a lot of lead.

Also, I think my son was diagnosed with Lyme's Disease the year after
the RDI conference in Atlanta. Strangely enough my daughter is now
testing IgM positive which would seem to indicate a recent infection.
Mason's story can be found on http://www.lymeinducedautism.com.

Vicki





--- In CharlotteSTAR@yahoogroups.com, "Jill Urwick" <jurwick@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Vicki,
>
> Yes! I do remember you!!! Well....it's really hard to advise
people where/what districts to move in to because as I'm sure is the
case just about anywhere, what works well for one family may not work
for the next (just like with our kids!). I would highly recommend
you look into Garr. I don't know if they have a waiting list or
not. But, it is an excellent school for kids with autism. There is
also the Cyzner Institute which has worked well for several area
families. They do not solely deal with children with autism. But,
they do have several children with autism there and have gone "above
and beyond" to help them...including offering HBOT, offering an
office space for Dr. Nancy O'Hara to come to Charlotte to see
patients periodically (approx every 3 mos.). Dr. Lisa Cyzner (the
administrator) has also attended a couple of DAN! Conferences. So,
they would be worth checking out.
>
> As far as public school is concerned...well, that's where my
initial statement comes into play more. We have had a very good
experience with our son in Union County so far. He is entering 5th
grade at Sardis Elementary. However, the autism program there has
changed a bit over the years. So, I can't really attest to what it
is like today. Our son "graduated" from that program after 3rd
grade. Others on this list could probably tell you more. From what
I understand, folks in Mecklenburg Co. have more difficulty getting
what their child needs on their IEPs than we have had.
>
> RDI consultants are Joanna Fielder and Amy Cameron. Joanna is
local. Amy is located a couple of hours away in Cary, NC. But, I
understand that she is good. We have not pursued RDI beyond the
first year. We ended up taking him to Houston for his evaluations
and consulting. But, it didn't progress as we thought it should
have...and $10,000+ later, we decided to go other routes.
>
> I personally do not know about PROMPT therapy. I'm assuming that
it is a form of speech therapy. There are several very good speech
therapists in the Charlotte area. Several people use Catherine
Leister (sp?) and Child and Family Development is also very good. We
used Lisa Peterson at C&FD for about 3 years and LOVED her. Child
and Family also has OT, PT, etc. services as well.
>
> If anyone has any better info on school services for SLP, OT, PT,
please chime in. We didn't use those services after about 1st or 2nd
grade.
>
> Hope this helps some! Please get in touch with me when you get to
town!
>
> Jill