The Brookston Family Blog
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After we picked up Sarah from the ferry, Porter was asking to go to the “grasses,” by which he means the Civic Center park. We had a pleasant little outing in the dwindling early evening light.

Sarah and Alice went for a little stroll.

Then Alice went on a pine cone hunt.

Sarah helped Porter launch the Stomp Rocket.

Then Porter ran after the rockets to retrieve them for another flight.

Out in front of the ferry building in Larkspur, where we pick up Sarah, are two machines that dispense transfer tickets for the bus. You press a big green button and whoosh, a ticket pops out, making a clanking sound. Porter loves this machine and if we let him he’d probably empty it of transfers. Lately, we’ve been playing a game where we get out of the car and he runs across the street (which is a large walkway for ferry goers) to the ticket machine. He then presses the button, grabs the ticket and hustles back to me, looking both ways before crossing the street again. Since this is a relatively slow and/or untraveled stretch of road (and one I can easily keep an eye on) it’s been a great opportunity to teach him about crossing the street safely. And he just loves those tickets.

Pressing the button at the machine across the street.

Showing off his transfer ticket.

We received a request from a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Gary Brown, asking us to post the following information. He’s looking for mothers of children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and mothers of normal (NT) children under the age of ten to take a short 60-question survey. He claims to be looking into the causes of autism. So please take a look at his website and decide if you’d like to help out by participating in the survey.

Dr. Brown is an avowed proponent of the ABA teaching method, which personally I have reservations about. But I’ll keep an open mind about it for the time being. From what I’ve read it seems a bit too Pavlovian and harsh for my tastes (kids are literally drilled with flash cards and other devices for up to 40 hours a week) but there are lots of success stories by children who have tried the program. It definitely appears to work for some kids, but be wholly ineffective for others. Dr. Brown’s website, ABA4autism.com, also has information on ordering two books he’s written about ABA along with an on-line course on ABA and he runs a blog about ABA, as well. So at least he’s putting out information about his views, which is appreciated.

At this point, obviously, we’re more persuaded that thimerosal (mercury) along with genetic factors regarding the processing of mercury and other heavy metals is the most likely culprit in the whodunit game. So while part of me thinks it’s a waste of time to look for other causes, another part of me says it’s a good idea to rule out other factors because ultimately it will strengthen the thimerosal link. Plus I also like a “leave no stone unturned” approach since this is such a complicated issue and deserves to be approached from many angles.

Here is Dr. Brown’s Press Release:

ABA4Autism.com and the Psychology department at the University of Tennessee at Martin are conducting a second survey on the causes of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This survey is for mothers of children with ASD as well as mothers of normally developing children who are ten years of age or younger. Mothers who participate in the survey will receive a free ABA program to teach their children to follow directions as well as free ABA mini programs for common problems like sharing. To take the surveys please go to http://www.aba4autism.com.

Thanks for your consideration,
Dr. Gary Brown
Professor and Chair
Psychologist/HSP

Believe it or not, Porter asked to go to the doctor. He’s actually been asking for a couple of days. When we drove past her office, Porter talked about looking out the window. Yesterday he told us that his ears hurt and he wanted to go to the doctor. Well first of all, we were thrilled that he could tell us that something was wrong at all, and especially that he was being specific. Second, that he actually wanted to visit the doctor is a huge leap forward. Prior to this, the idea of going to the doctor was always met by fierce resistence. And the visit itself was his most cooperative to date. On the downside, however he does have another ear infection. But for now, I’m going to focus on the positive.

“Say aaaaaaaahh!”

“How does this thing work again?” Porter and his pediatrician.