Good Pediatricians in the SLC area?

I have a friend who is working with a family in SLC.  This family has a child who is not diagnosed but has some major medical issues.  The child seems like they possibly are on the autism spectrum, low tone, and non verbal.  They are in desperate need of a really good pediatrician.  I completely adore my son's pediatrician but when they called they found out that our doctor will not be taking any new patients in the foreseeable future.  This family needs a doctor that can really lead them.  The family is not experienced with this sort of thing and they do not know how to find their rights and answers to their child's problems.  Let's help them out!

School trouble

My son is 6 years old.  He is in first grade and goes to a life skills classroom.  We loved his teacher from last year.  I felt that he was really learning and growing.  She was supposed to be his teacher again this year but during the summer she left the school so he has a new teacher.  I have been feeling uncomfortable with this teacher.  I chose to put my child in the life skills class because all of the other public school options said that he would have to learn at the speed of a regular classroom.  He is unable to keep up with the typically developing kids his age when it comes to learning.  The life skills classroom is supposed to teach him at his speed.  However, with this teacher, I feel that he is being taught at a much lower level.  I am under no illusions, my son is intellectually disabled, but I still want him to be pushed to learn as much as possible and be as educated as he can be.  To be fair, I am in school as well and I haven't been able to stay for a whole day or anything to see what exactly they do.  The teacher sends me notes saying what they did that day and although there are times that she mentions one or two academic areas, most of it is popcorn parties, PE, recess, etc.  I have been there for the last hour of class (once), last half hour of class (multiple times) and I have not seen them do anything but watch an "educational" video in that last hour.  This worries me to no end.  I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do.  I don't know who to talk to, what my options are, nothing!  So while I was trying to figure out my next step another problem has arisen.  My son has had 3 accidents (wet his pants) while at school this week.  This is REALLY abnormal and we haven't had any trouble at home.  When I have asked him about it, he says he is embarrassed, frustrated, and mad.  When I ask why he didn't go he says he was scared.  If I press he says he isn't afraid of the bathroom, anything in the bathroom, or anything on the way to the bathroom, he says he is afraid of asking to go to the bathroom.  This has never been a problem in the past.  By this point, I spoke to the interning principal.  He said he and the actual principal have been spending every day, almost all day, in her classroom this past week to "support the teacher and help her get started".  Something that felt wrong and threw up red flags for me because it is a month into school.  Shouldn't they have done that in the first week or two?  Have other parents complained?  Throughout the weekend, as I have pressed further, my son started crying and saying "bo" (sound of a gunshot, and his name for his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Gunn).  I have asked him if he wants to get another teacher but he pretty much says if he can't have Mrs. Gunn, he doesn't want anyone.  I don't know what to do, who to talk to, and what my options are.  I am sure that this teacher is a perfectly nice teacher, but I do not feel she is right for my son.  He needs someone he connects with better and someone who will push him to learn.

Proloquo2go

My son has been using Proloquo2Go for quite a few months.  I hate all of the voices.  They are too old! He is only 6.  All of the American voices sound so robotic.  And when you raise the pitch of the voice to get it to sound more "child like" it gets worse.  I want my son to have a more normal child like voice for this app.  There is the option to download more voices but when I go to that it only gives me one more FEMALE American voice.  All the rest are British or Indian.  Has anyone found another way to download a new voice?  I just want a male child voice with an American accent who does not sound completely robotic.  Is that too much to ask?

Kangen Water

Hi,
Our last post was about a GAPS diet we were trying. It worked pretty well for two weeks but we got hit hard with RSV season and went into survival mode.  We decided to put the diet on hold as it was to much to manage. I still want to do it but it might be something we try next year. 

But I did want to write about something cool that we have discovered and it has definitely improved our lives.  We came across Kangen water. 

"Kangen Water® is healthy drinking water rich in minerals, purged of impurities, and ionized through electrolysis. Alkaline ionized Kangen Water® is an excellent choice for healthy hydration. Not only does it taste great and refreshing, but it also helps you avoid impurities AND save money!" copied from www.drinkfancy.com.

So I went to a demonstration and my boys started drinking the water.  They just gulped it down like it was nothing.  That night, they slept through the night.  The next night, they slept through the night.  Since then, they have probably slept throught the night about 90% of the time.  Our 2 year old Max, he use to wake up and want milk about 3-5 times in the night.  Now, he may wake up once and ask for milk but we don't give it to him.  Max was just barely diagnosed with aspergers. 

Cohen who is 4 and diagnosed with autism, he's done pretty well at sleeping but this definitely helped.  One of the videos that I watched talked about how drinking plenty of water will help the brain produce melatonin and that you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces.  I try to drink about 100 ounces a day. 

Anyways, I thought I would pass this info on.  The person who gives this water away, yes gives it away, is really nice and has not pressured us one bit into buying a machine.  She is located in North Salt Lake.  Check out her site www.drinkfancy.com.  I've posted more about this on our site www.lifeandhopewithautism.com

Jake