MOBODOJO

[WARNING: This is a post unlike that which usually gets posted on The Dojo. I'm not modifying the content direction of the site, though. I've also trimmed out a lot of detail, so this is, by no means, an exhaustive history of my daughter's issues. -Ed.]

No. I’ve not composed a grandiose ode like Beowulf of anything. I just though I’d fill you in on what’s been occupying my time of late. Sadly, its not a technical thing or some new gadget. Its my daughter. She was born Autistic and with significant food allergies. A couple of years ago she started having seizures. Were it this simple, though, I’d be pleased as punch. Not that she has these challenges to deal with, but… you’ll see in retrospect. Some years back when we tried to place her in school (she’s now 11) we started to hear from her teachers that she was having difficulties. Not long after that, the school “declared” that she had ADHD (Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder) and demanded that we medicate her. We disagreed, myself having spent my youth with ADD around my neck like an Albatross and her issues being nothing like mine. 

Needless to say, that started off a long round of tests with a wide range of professionals. In most cases the results clearly indicated High Functioning Autism with dozens of small, related sub-diagnosis which poor, old dad doesn’t quite recall. We figured out the allergies when one day she came home from daycare with a cold. We stopped giving her milk for a few days and, miraculously, the horrible coughing and wheezing went away. The minute she had any dairy, it returned. Later we would find that she is allergic a wide range of foods and additives, so she has what I call a “Whole Foods Diet”. We were able to arrange several different services for her through New Mexico’s liberal services department, but when we moved back to Los Angeles, that’s when the game changed, and that which forms the basis for my lament.

Continue reading A Blogger’s Lament