Jaden loves the beach

Today I took Lance and Jaden to Ponte Vedre with me for the day. We had an appt to see Dr Buckley at 11. I managed to arrive without getting lost. I have made this trip three other times since November and I have gotten lost each time. Slightly embarrassing.
We took some blood and I brought along a sample of Jaden's diaper contents (in the trunk!) to be tested again. We are praying that the new results will show that Jaden's liver is handling the meds she is taking, and that the mineral levels in her body have risen to a good level so we can start chelation. Chelation is the removal of heavy metals from the body. Jaden has lead and mercury in her body. :O(
After our appt, we visited a small beach near Dr Buckley's office. We met a friend there, who I met online while talking about treatments for our special children. Pam's son is James, and he is six. He is making remarkable improvement as well, and it was good for me to talk with someone who has been walking this road longer than me! Lance dove right in the freezing water...and Jaden took a bit longer. She tripped at one point and was shocked! I removed her clothes then, and she sported her bright lime green Fuzzi-Buns diaper. She spent her time waiting for the waves to 'chase' her, then running from them in obvious delight! It was so much fun! As soon as we arrived at the beach, she said it spontaneously. I am sure she heard me mentioning to the family that we planned to stop there after our appt, and I am sure she knew where she was, as we had visited the beach last month, too (her first time) but it was too chilly to play for long.
So I set her down, and she said 'beach' plain as day. I asked her to repeat that and she wouldn't. Or couldn't. That's the way it is with autism.
Another wonderful thing happened at the beach. In our ABA therapy, we have been working on getting Jaden to respond to her name. I do this by holding tiny bits of gluten-free cookies in my hand and then get fairly close to her while she is playing. I call her name--over and over and over--the minute she looks at me, I reward her with cookie and hugs. So today at the beach, she was walking too far from me. So I called her, with nearly zero hope that she would actually turn around. But she DID! Not only that--she turned to me *every* time I called her name!
Praise the Lord!
I am so grateful to be able to share these things with you. I am sure I could never remember all of these little glimpses of hope if I didn't write them down. Every once in a while, I reread older posts and they give me such encouragement.
Remember, Autism is treatable!!