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Another interesting article from today's Guardian. This one touches themes from the book I'm reading (Making of the English Working Class, E P Thompson) about life before the Industrial Revolution. The illusion of constant progress is something that belongs to the world of the capitalist - and it is indeed an illusion. To paraphrase Marx, the freedom offered by capitalism is for many simply the freedom to starve.
Crumbs, Larry Elliot hits the spot again. The comparison of the challenge to US hegemony posed by Iraq not to Vietnam, but to Britain and South Africa around 1900 is very challenging - based very properly (I say this as a Marxist) on the basis that political power is based firmly in economic power. Hmm...
Back to school for the kids today after February half term. Neither of them particularly keen to go. Had to promise some fun stuff when I get home to get them going - playing Gamecube with Jessica, and Microsoft Train Simulator with Alex. That'll keep me busy!
Jessica travelled with me to visit Granny and Grandad at the weekend. A much easier journey without Alex in the back. Jessica was very well behaved throughout, and really enjoyed the visit. It was a bit of a push to do it all in a weekend though - 3 hours there on Saturday and 3 hours back on Sunday.
Alex is enjoying the new train set we built for him for his birthday. It now runs on a shelf built all the way around his bedroom - with a bridge acros the doorway. His contribution to the subject of India, which they study in Year 2, will be some stuff on transport, inspired I suspect by the fact that he knows there are still a few steam trains there (such as the Darjeeling railway).
He's gone very 'stimmy' at the moment. Lots of flapping, shouting, and running around. We're not sure what it's about, but it seems to be a legacy of coming off Strattera. He doesn't seem to be particularly stressed out. It can really wind you up though when he's perpetually running around the room. Might have to ask the paediatrician about it at our next appointment (although I doubt that'll do any good...).
Jessica is progressing with her judo - although she hasn't been for a few weeks as she wasn't well before half term, and then there was no session at half term itself. She's very into Mario Kart at the moment. She also managed to read an omnibus of Horrid Henry in a weekend - they're some of her favourite stories.
I'm going to sign off now, but will add some more to the blog as soon as I get the chance.
We started Alex on a daily 10mg dose of Strattera just after Christmas this year. We were expecting it to take a little while to kick - as I understand it, Strattera is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor or SSRI (and therefore related to Prozac). This means that it would take 4 weeks plus to get into his system.
We started him taking it in the evening, because there was a possibility it would make him drowsy. We didn't want this affecting him in school, and we hoped it might allow us to take him off his nightly dose of melatonin to get him to sleep. This didn't work at all, he was no drowsier than normal. We therefore switched to giving him the capsule in the morning.
The capsule itself was easy enough for him to take. Alex is used to taking EyeQ Omega 3, and Strattera is a little smaller. So no problems there.
OK, onto what happened. The information sheet mentioned that there may be side effects - including mood swings and irritability. We began to notice a change in Alex's behaviour within probably about a week of starting him on the new medication. Over the course of the following weeks he became more and more touchy. The slightest thing out of place would make him shout and stamp his feet - much more so than previously. When this happened his whole body would tense - you could see the muscles in his neck straining, his face going red.
In school, his one to one support, teachers, and classmates noticed that he had a very short temper. There were a couple of occasions when he hit other pupils, which he's never done before. They commented that he hadn't been this angry and unsettled since Reception 2 years earlier.
Needless to say, after about 4 or 5 weeks on this medication we stopped using it. We ascribe the changes in Alex's behaviour to the side effects of Strattera. At our last meeting with his school, his one to one commented that within a couple of weeks he began to return to normal.
So the outcome of our experiences with Strattera? It didn't work for us. In fact it made things worse. That's not to say it might not work for you, but watch for those side effects and be aware it will take 2-3 months to get through if it goes wrong.
Getting interested all of a sudden in research into autism. Thinking about whether we can get involved as a volunteer in research in this country. Will let you know how we get on.
Is this a possible cure for autism? Both Deb and I nearly fell off our chairs when we read this. All we need now is to find a way of doing this now, in this country. Answers on a post card. This is the first time I have seen anything that suggests a believable underlying cause holding out the possibility of an eventual cure - or even just to understand it better.
If your child has autism, go and ask your doctor about it! Let's start a campaign to get some research going in this country!
We'll keep you posted.
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