Trip to San Diego

Just outside the San Diego Airport Baggage claim

This is not news for most of you, but I went to San Diego to attend a Defeat Autism Now (DAN) Conference for parents and practitioners. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about the alternative, biomedical treatment of autism for Jack. Not only that, I was able to do it on the cheap! I had left over frequent flyer miles that paid for my plane fare, I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law, Kris & Mike, I got a parent scholarship called "angel money" and only had to pay 1/2 the cost of the conference. The other half was paid for by a sponsor! I rented a car for $75 bucks for the entire weekend. The whole trip cost less than $250!

Kristin and Mike were kind enough to buy dinner for me 2 times! What a treat! We went out to dinner one night and ate in the next. I even got to babysit for my nephew and Godson, Alex! What a treat and rare one-on-one time for Alex and me.



I learned so much information about biomedical treatment of autism. We have been on the biomedical "track" since April and have seen significant improvement in Jack--so it was nice to know that there are even more options for treatment and also to learn about the science behind it all!

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to meet Jenny McCarthy 2 times! She signed shirts for Mike and I and was so very nice.

The worst part of the trip was being away from Mike and the kids, but it was nice to have a little "me" time even though it was while sitting in a conference all day!

I did bring back a shirt for Jack. Here he is modeling it for me. He wears it proudly. That's our boy!

Mike and I hope to attend a DAN Conference together in the near future and bring the fam. One year it was in Seattle. Perhaps the next time they have it in Seattle, we will be able to swing it. I know they are lobbying for it to be in Portland soon :).

If you have a child with autism, I cannot stress enough about considering the biomedical track for treating autism. I have one major regret, I wish I would have done it sooner. So if you have any doubts, STOP! Go to www.autism.com and find a DAN doctor near you!