So. I took Stephanie to the doctor yesterday afternoon at 2:30. Had to get up early to do that.

There was nothing wrong with her ears. However, they said she was dehydrated a little. Their reasoning for this was that "her heart was racing."

Ok. There was a student doctor in there first, that we have never seen before. So he was poking and prodding, etc. Stephanie has severe anxiety disorder as part of her autism spectrum disorders. Severe. Anxiety.

So when some guy she's never seen before starts poking and prodding, it really doesn't matter how nice he is (and, to his credit, this guy was extremely kind-natured), she's going to experience anxiety. I'm pretty sure this results in a racing heart.

Sigh.

But the good doctor did help us with some ideas for another problem that we have.

You see...this child will not poop.

I'm sorry...I know, it's not a pleasant topic.

But she won't. She will hold it in for days at a time.

No matter that we have told her over and over that this results in harmful toxins being released into her body systems.

Turns out this was a major part of her ill feelings this week.

The doctor gave us some remedies, including lots of fruit, fiber, and the good-ole H2O. We stopped at the store and got her some fruit that she wanted, and went home.

And she promptly pooped.

Broke the toilet, as always...but she got it out.

Miraculously, she feels better. Huh. Go figure.

Christi and I both felt that she was having this issue again, because of the fits and arguments we've had over the past several days.

I would be interested to know if any other parents of autistic children experience this same phenomenon.

Heheh...the last resort remedy that the doctor gave us was the enema.

I asked Stephanie if she wanted to know what that is and she said yes.

Mwahahahaaaa....I started explaining it to her...she quickly told me never mind.

Heh.

Maybe I should just buy an enema kit and have it around to threaten her with whenever she starts holding it in like that.

Of course, it would take Christi, me, and the National Guard to do it.

Once again, I apologize for the uncomfortable topic of this entry. But...it's life, you know. Especially life with a high-functioning autistic child.

By the way...we saw a really good movie a few weeks ago called Snowcake. I had never heard of it before. Sigourney Weaver plays a high-functioning autistic adult. Alan Rickman plays a guy who happens to give Weaver's daughter a lift. They get in a wreck, daughter dies. Rickman feels that he should visit the mother. It's a very interesting movie. A very odd relationship ensues, including one with Weaver's next door neighbor, played by Carrie Anne Moss (Trinity in the Matrix movies).
I felt that Weaver did a good job portraying the autistic adult. Her character was much worse than Stephanie, but some of the mannerisms were very, very similar.

I guess that's it for now. I'm trying to finagle a way to go see Sweeney Todd yet again this weekend. Anyone one want to come down and go with me? I'll pay for your ticket.

Missed anything?
The Beatles--Abbey Road/Alice Cooper--Killer - July 04, 2012
The Beatles Eponymous Album - June 26, 2012
Autism's False Prophets - February 12, 2011
Santana--Guitar God? - November 11, 2010
Tribute To the Red Sox - September 29, 2010