Two for the price of one

Yes, you've guessed it, I have not one but two poxy children. Fun and games all round here. I guess we've been rather lucky that neither of them have been particularly unwell with it, no prodromal fever or coryza and not too many spots. But I feel like I'm stuck here, and am getting cabin fever. There have been a few bonuses - as James isn't being picked up at 740am we're getting a lie in (although Bea joined us at 6am this morning, putting a dampner on that plan!) and he's more tired than usual so is sleeping until 9ish. He's also less "busy" than usual and far more amenable to instruction and requests.

I read a very small newspiece in the British Medical Journal a few months ago. It related to a finding that children with autism appeared less autistic when they had a fever. I suppose that the background assumption might be that as they have areas of the brain that function in a different way to typically developing children, their brain's response to a temperture may be different too. I must dig out the reference and read it properly. When I first saw this, it made me think about James. He is certainly less autistic when he's ill, but he doesn't need to have a temperature. He is quieter, less frenetic and more predictable. He moves a bit more slowly and is easier to engage. He allows himself to be hugged and reciprocates more than when he's well. His language is a bit more clear at times, although he will sometimes mumble and not bother speaking at all if he's really unwell. But it makes me wonder whether in his case the fact that he is slowed down by being ill is what reduces his autistic features. This is pertinent at the moment, because we are going through an assessment for probable ADHD and the outcome is likely to be a trial of medication. I am in two minds - on the one hand if the medication allows his brain to slow down, he may be able to access more from the curriculum and hence make greater progress at school, on the other hand we're looking at giving him a drug which has some pretty impressive side effects. I think we'll probably agree to give him a trial period and then make an informed decision about long term treatment once we've seen how he reacts.

I guess just as we might as well have both children with chicken pox at the same time, we may as well have ASD and ADHD....