Autism and Plexus?!

First let me start by saying *Plexus products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.* I'm not claiming that Plexus has cured Ronnie, but it HAS helped him in SO many ways. I am NOT an Ambassador, just a happy customer! Prepare for a long post, but it's amazing seeing and now sharing with all of you how much Plexus has helped him!

I will say that I personally have seen great benefits from using Plexus products and you can read more about that here. But today, this post is all about my son, Ronnie. He's 6 years old and has Autism.

This is a typical reaction when we say "Ronnie smile" and I love it!

Ronnie has dealt with constipation pretty much his entire 6 years of life. And if your child has ever dealt with chronic constipation you'll understand when I say, it has been so heartbreaking to watch. When Ronnie was diagnosed with Autism (around the age of 3) the psychologist recommended we do a dairy free diet, at that time he was taking in large amounts of dairy. Yogurt, it was one of the few things we could get him to eat. She talked with us about how removing dairy may help improve his constipation and that "might" help improve :some: behavioral issues. So we tried. It helped some, but not enough.

We spoke with his pediatrician because despite going completely dairy free (wow, what a challenge that was) he was still having pretty severe constipation. She prescribed him Miralax and told us to give him some every day. We did this for quite some time and guess what? Still no relief. After researching, I found out that Miralax A) Shouldn't be taken daily and B) Can cause chronic constipation. Yes, you read that right, extended use of Miralax can cause chronic constipation, the one thing I was trying to help my child with.

So a friend recommended trying a probiotic. I found some chewables that luckily he could tolerate and after doing some more research I added Aloe Vera to his juice. And eventually we went gluten free. While doing all this helped improve his constipation problems a lot, he was still having problems (just not as severe). We kept with this routine for quite some time (years) until he could no longer tolerate the chewable probiotics. So I moved on to a liquid probiotic that I could just add hide in his juice.

*CUE PLEXUS*

I started taking Plexus products and LOVED THEM (read more about it here). My husband and I had to take Ronnie to the doctor because he was peeing so frequently we thought maybe a bladder infection!? Nope. It was from constipation. So I showed her my Probio5 and she gave us the green light and things have been amazing ever since. He no longer has problems with being constipated. For the first time ever my little guy isn't in pain when he goes to the bathroom and he's regular. But that's not all that Probio5 has helped him with.....
*Note, he occasionally will have a half of Slim, but he IS consistent with Probio5.

Behavior. His behavior has drastically changed for the BETTER. I cannot stress that enough. Before Probio5, it was rough around here. And that's putting it mildly. My husband had just gotten back from his assignment in Turkey, Ronnie was having problems with transitioning from one parent to two parents. Daily, we were dealing with being screamed at, slamming doors (I'm honestly surprised it didn't fall right off the hinges), throwing things, hitting, kicking, screaming, saying the most awful things, he couldn't focus and was extremely hyper. If you're an Autism parent, you'll understand when I say....they were meltdowns from hell. And as a parent I felt so awful, like I wasn't doing everything I could to help my baby. I hated seeing him like that, he didn't understand why he was behaving that way...it was hard hearing him say "I don't understand why I'm this way Momma." We aren't seeing this behavior anymore, I mean....rarely....when we do it's usually around a full moon and it's not as severe. Thank you Jesus.

Schooling. We homeschool and that journey has been rough. We began kindergarten last year. He couldn't focus, he couldn't sit still long enough to try to focus and the moment something difficult came up...he would lose it. We weren't getting much work done during the day. We ended up taking a break from homeschool for months because of his behavior, honestly....I felt like a failure. But now, we're a couple of  months back into homeschool and he's doing GREAT. He can focus better, he is much more emotionally and mentally prepared for school work and his behavior...AMAZING. When something frustrating does arise, he communicates with me instead of automatically resorting to screaming at me or melting down. Do we still have a few rough spots here and there? You bet, but it's not something that we can't manage now. Even his OT has commented on how much he's changed and how much improvement she's seeing in his sessions.

Sleep. Where do I start? Around the age of 2 sleep became such a huge problem area for Ronnie. It was a battle....a long, hard and exhausting battle. It was taking him usually around 2 hours to go down for a nap and at bedtime. I eventually gave in and did away with nap time, thinking he would fall asleep easier at night. Nope. It was still taking him up to 2 hours (usually right at 2 hours) to go to sleep. PLUS he would wake anywhere from 3-5 times a night. So it wouldn't wake my husband, I eventually just started sleeping in Ronnie's bedroom floor. I was EXHAUSTED. We took him to his pediatrician several times and kept getting the same "oh that's normal for his age, just put him in his bed and he'll go to sleep eventually." They would not hear our concerns. Before you say, "oh why didn't you just find a new doctor?" It wasn't that easy when you lived on a military base and they were short on pediatricians. I expressed my frustration and exhaustion on Facebook and a friend recommended melatonin. What a life saver that has been for Ronnie (and the tired Mom). Ronnie has been taking a total of 6 mg for quite some time now and that helps him fall asleep, but he would still have night time wakings. Now, since being on the Probio5 and thanks to our amazing Young Living Essential Oils, I've been able to back him down to 4 mg. AMAZING! He's not getting up before dawn anymore either. *insert angels singing* He's sleeping anywhere from 7 ish to 8 a.m., sometimes as late as 9 a.m. That is HUGE for him y'all. HUGE.

If you read my blog post that I linked above, you'll see that I said I ran out of Probio5 while waiting on my order....yeah, he ran out of his too. NEVER again will I let that happen. EVER. He was off his Probio5 for 2-3 days and the difference we saw in him during that time was....SO ROUGH. His constipation returned and his behavior....let's just say we weren't able to get ANY school done those days and a lot of tears were shed (between the both of us). It was hard. And it was a great reminder of how much Probio5 has been helping him!

Over the years, I've done and tried so many things to help Ronnie. It's hard watching your child, in a sense, suffer. For us, Plexus has offered a bit of normalcy and relief for Ronnie. For both of us. I hashtag this a lot because it's true, we're a #plexusforlife kind of family. I am so thankful that I took a leap of faith and tried Plexus for myself. I'm even more thankful that I introduced it to Ronnie.

So if you ever wonder why I LOVE Plexus SO MUCH and share about it a lot, THIS is why!

His first time climbing Pinnacle Mountain. My husband and I weren't sure if he would be able to handle climbing to the top. But here he is. He conquered it. He conquered it like he has so many other things in his life. I'm so proud to be his Mom.

I will continue sharing with everyone how much Plexus is changing lives, for the better! I'm so thankful God answered my prayers and helped bring something in our lives that would make a difference!

#plexusforlife

***UPDATE***
As of 10/26/15 Ronnie still CONSISTENTLY takes Probio5. When he's eaten more things we typically don't do, especially with the holiday's rolling around, we bump him from 3 Probio5 to 4. I have also started adding 1 Biocleanse to his chocolate milk (he can't swallow pills) and he drinks that at dinner. He is still seeing AHHHHMAZING benefits and I still get SO emotional when I talk about it, so it's probably a good thing you can't see me typing! ;)

Be sure you check out the updates in my blog entry about how Plexus has helped me! 

So.....Ronnie decided we needed to add a updated photo and so I said of course! I just love him to pieces! He picked this photo to share. He's going as Binx, the black cat from Hocus Pocus! :)


****UPDATE****
 12/2/15 - Ronnie still consistently is on 3 Probio5 and we have now added 2 MegaX. One during the day and one at night. He still consistently takes BioCleanse, but now between breakfast and lunch. But GUESS WHAT??? He can now SWALLOW his meds, no more mixing it in his milk! That's so HUGE for him, so YAY! :)


****UPDATE****
3/7/16 - Ronnie is still consistent with Probio5 (3 right before dinner), 2 Biocleanse between lunch and dinner and 2 MegaX. I switched giving his MegaX 1 in morning and 1 at night to taking both (2) at night. But GUESS WHAT???? As of 2/20/16 Ronnie is officially OFF Melatonin. Yay!! Ronnie had been taking it for about 4 years and was up to 6 mg. I slowly weened him down to 4 mg before MegaX and then slowly weened him completely off. He sleep beautifully....PRAISE GOD! :) 

**These statements are not endorsed or provided by Plexus nor am I medical professional; this is just my personal experience and/or research.

Bag Burst Science Experiment

Looking for a fun Science experiment to do with the little ones? The kiddo and I both enjoyed this. We started out with a smaller bag first and the decided to go bigger. Because, why not?

If you're doing the smaller ziplock bag, here's the recipe:

Put 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a small torn of square of a napkin. Fold the napkin into a little packet. In your ziplock bag add 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. Go outside, put folded napkin inside bag and quickly close bag, you may need to give the bag a little shake. Then the bag will slowly start to fill up and after a few seconds should pop.

We got a bigger pop when we used a gallon size bag. The recipe for that size is:

Tear a napkin in half and add 1/2 cup of baking soda, make napkin packet again. In your gallon size bag, add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of vinegar. We added some food coloring to our second bag. Again, go outside and add packet. Zip bag close, give a little shake and enjoy! :)

D is for Dinosaur

D is for Dinosaur Unit includes:

D Dot Marker Sheet
Dd Color Sheet
Dd Letter Identification Dot Marker Sheet
Which Dinosaur is different?
Dd and Dinosaur Writing Practice Sheet
3 - Dot Marker Math Sheets
Which Dinosaur is next?
2 - Match the Dinosaurs
Sequencing Cards

I laminated to make re-useable worksheets (except Dd color sheet)!

Includes 14 sheets total.

 These are perfect for pre-school, kindergarten, homeschool, etc. If you are interested in purchasing this unit you can find it at my Etsy Shop or my Teachers Pay Teachers store for only $7.

*Please note this is a digital download only!

We also used Play-Doh to make Dinosaur Fossils, Ronnie LOVED it! :)

C is for Camel

C is for Camel Unit includes:

C Dot Marker Sheet
Cc Color Sheet
Cc Letter Identification Dot Marker Sheet
Which Camel is different?
Cc and Camel Writing Practice Sheet
3 - Dot Marker Math Sheets
Which Camel is next?
2 - Match the Camels
Sequencing Cards

I laminated to make re-useable worksheets (except Cc color sheet)!

Includes 14 sheets total.

  These are perfect for pre-school, kindergarten, homeschool, etc. If you are interested in purchasing this unit you can find it at my Etsy Shop or my Teachers Pay Teachers store for only $7.

*Please note, this is a digital download only!

B is for Butterfly

Last week we did B is for Butterfly Unit:

This unit includes:

B Dot Marker Sheet
Bb Color Sheet
Bb Letter Identification Dot Marker Sheet
Which Butterfly is different?
Bb and Butterfly Writing Practice Sheet
3 - Dot Marker Math Sheets
Which Butter is next?
2 - Match the Butterfly
Sequencing Cards

I laminated to make re-useable worksheets (except Bb color sheet)!

 These are perfect for pre-school, kindergarten, homeschool, etc. If you are interested in purchasing this unit you can find it at my Etsy Shop or my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for only $7.
*Please note, this is a digital download only.

We also do a Sensory Bin with each unit, I just change out the animals/letters to go with our unit. I picked up a Butterfly Life Stages (see 4th picture) from Mardel.

The Bully Bucket

Bullying is a problem that has been around for a long time but seems to be getting a lot worse, especially now that Social Media is so popular. Education is key in matters like this. I wanted to do an activity with our son, to talk about bullying. I grabbed a bag of rocks and a bucket from the Dollar Tree. 

My son has already dealt with bullying at the age of 4 (he's five now). The last base we were stationed at, he made a friend that was a year older than him. Things were great, they got along great. His Mom and I became friends, we met at the park everyday and let the boys play...all was fine. And then like the flip of a switch, her son started treating Ronnie...well, not nicely. This is only one of the things he would do to Ronnie. He would constantly run off from Ronnie. And at first Ronnie thought it was a game of chase, then Ronnie would become really upset and start crying. He just wanted to play and didn't understand why :blank: kept running away from him. It was as if :blank: found it funny to make Ronnie cry. He would stop running and say "here I am Ronnie, come on" and Ronnie would assume :blank: was done and they could play now. Once Ronnie started to run towards him, :blank: would run off laughing and then Ronnie would start crying again. As a Mother, it angered me to see him hurt my child. Anytime their other friends were at the park with them, :blank: would tell the other kids "Let's run from Ronnie" and they would. The Mom's would tell the kids to stop and would go right back to chit chatting and the continued behavior would go unnoticed and unaddressed. It got to the point that I would stop joining in on conversation and would just sit there and watch the kids. My husband would walk around the park while the kids played and would step in and say something when they weren't being nice. You may be asking, why didn't you just talk to the Mother, especially if you were friends? Oh, I did. She would "assure" me, "I talk to :blank: about not treating Ronnie that way, I just don't know what's gotten into him. He just doesn't understand why Ronnie gets so upset." Well, Ronnie is Autistic, and he takes things very literal. So when :blank: would say ":Blah blah: isn't your friend anymore, he's mine," he literally took that to mean, :blank: took his friend away. He didn't fully understand he was just saying something hateful. He takes things to heart. At the time he couldn't really communicate all of his feelings. To him, he was trying to play and didn't comprehend why they wouldn't play with him. As a Mother, all of this was heartbreaking. It got to the point that we would avoid going to the park when :blank: was there. We would go to a different park, or go to that park as long as :blank: wasn't there. Now, we didn't completely isolate him away from the kids. As long as :blank: wasn't there, all the other kids, including Ronnie got along great, there was no running away from Ronnie. They all played great together. Ultimately, my friendship with the Mother and other Mother's ended, they all stuck together. At first it was fine with the other Mother's. But then they started doing stuff together with their kids and we weren't invited due to the falling out with :blanks: Mom and myself, so...oh well. My child will always be more important than my friendships. So honestly, there is no loss there. 

Some of things we have written on the rocks, are things that have been said or done to Ronnie. I asked him what are some things that :blank: said that made you feel sad or hurt your feelings, or what are some things :blank: did that wasn't okay? He would tell me and I wrote them down. We only wrote on about 8 rocks or so, but used the whole bag of rocks for the activity. We discussed each rock and how it made Ronnie feel when that was said or done, or how it might make someone else feel if it was done to them and then he put the rock in the bucket. You don't realize really just :how much: of an impact behavior like I've mentioned can impact your child/children. This has been well over a year ago and Ronnie still talks about it like it happened yesterday. He will randomly bring :blank: up and the things he would say/do to him. It hurts me to know that it still bothers Ronnie. Doing this activity was a little bit emotional for Ronnie, after talking about all of this...he needed to take a break. I teach Ronnie to pray for those who hurt us and the days that :blank: is on Ronnie's mind, he will. He prays for him when we go to bed. And it is my prayer that Ronnie never has to be in a situation like that again.

Gotta love that blurry hand in motion. He's too fast for my camera, what can I say? :)

The point of this activity is to show how heavy the bucket is. Hold the bucket for a little bit, walk around with it. Imagine that bucket of rocks is much like the words that one may carry around with them. Words/actions that have been said/done to them, eventually that person starts to feel heavy, sad, angry etc. Ronnie is only five and doesn't fully understand the concept. He did blow me away when he asked "why did :blank: control?" I asked him what he meant. He said "well he would control the other kids to run away from me." That wasn't something we covered in our conversation, so the fact that he put that together himself, pretty amazing. He did also later recognized that the heaviness of the bucket stood for the sadness someone who is being bullied might feel.

There is no age limit for bullying, children/teen/adults....we've all experienced bullying at some point in our lives. And if you haven't, that's really great to hear! I personally believe that bullying is something every parent should discuss with their kid/kids because it starts there. Either your child or someone your child/children knows will be bullied. Talk to them about how to handle the situation, even if they see someone else being bullied. Their friend may be too scared to speak up or ask for help. If we educate them on bullying, appropriate/inappropriate behavior, this is how they will learn. I think it all goes back to this,  

Do to others as you would have them do to you. 
Luke 6:31

I hope this activity inspires you to talk to your child/children about bullying. Education is key and it starts at home! God Bless!

A is for Alligator

I am homeschooling our son Ronnie, who is 5. Even though I have curriculum, I wanted to add some stuff to it. Ronnie loves animals, LOVES. So I decided to create worksheets for A-Z, animal themed. We're doing a letter a week. Also, we will use our Sensory Bin to go with each unit. I'll change out the animals/letters to go with what unit we're doing.

I'll be posting each unit after we finish it. Our first week was A is for Alligator. He really enjoyed them and I loved making them! Each unit comes with the same sheets, just a different animal. I laminate all the sheets except the Aa Color Sheet, so we can reuse them! :)

Unit Includes:

A Dot Marker Sheet - They can use dot markers, stickers or they can color the dots! 
Aa Color Sheet - I let the kiddo decorate this sheet how he wants. Markers, crayons, stickers.
Letter Identification Aa - Use dot markers to identify all uppercase and lowercase letters.
Which Alligator is different? - Circle the alligator that is different
Aa and Alligator Writing Practice Sheet
3 - Alligator Math Sheets - The kiddo uses dot markers for this activity.
Which Alligator is next? - Cut out the squares on the second sheet, place which is next!
2 - Match the Alligators Sheets
Sequencing Cards

These are perfect for pre-school, kindergarten, homeschool, etc. If you are interested in purchasing this unit you can find it at my Etsy Store or my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for only $7.

We did Aa letter practice on the board

He drew an Alligator on the board

Like I said earlier, the kiddo really enjoyed these sheets and I loved making them! Next week is B is for Butterfly!