A new school year!

This post has been copied from our "Care Page"
Posted Sep 19, 2012 7:05pm


Well, the new school year is under way. The kids, Steve, and I already have one illness under our belts for the year!
Hayden started pre school!! He was assessed by our favorite pre school teacher…"Ruthie" and we found out he qualifies for early intervention too. Don't worry…it is not a bad thing, we are really excited about it. He qualifies because he is extremely shy, and although he can speak in full sentences…his enunciation needs a little help. Hayden had to need help in at least 2 areas of development in order to get into the early intervention program and into Ruthie's room. She feels that with just a little help he will be right on track!! He likely would have been just fine anyway…even without any help…but we are so excited he gets to "play" with Ruthie, and have a little socialization with peers because he has never had that since we do not use daycare. She said that if we assessed him again after a few months he probably would not even qualify, because he is so darn smart…but since he qualifies initially…he can be in the program until he starts kindergarten! He already loves it and had very little to no separation anxiety due to the fact that Ruthie's room if filled with toys!! She has tons of tractors and trucks!! He was in heaven!! Plus it helped that he was already so familiar and comfortable with Ruthie since she has been coming to our house all summer to work with Brady in his therapy room. Hayden even likes pre school so much that on Monday and Tuesday when we told him he could not go to Ruthie's because he was sick, he hung his poor little head and started to cry…poor little guy!
Piper is doing great too, and getting TALL, and her hair is still beautiful and down to her bottom. She loves playing in our neighborhood with all of her friends, and riding her bike and scooter! Piper loves art, and recess! Math and spelling…not so much!! Big surprise! Well at least we know she is completely normal!! ;o)
Brady has been working very hard in his new therapy room in our basement all summer. We have had some people come in from a respite group that I have trained to do the son rise program. Working with them has been helpful as it frees Steve and I up for a couple hours 2-3 times a week to get some stuff done around the house, and spend some quality time with Hayden and Piper. I am not sure how we will proceed with that into the next year because they are very expensive and to this point have not been as consistent as far as "regular" staff. It seems like every time they come it is a different person. Ideally I had requested it be only like 2 or maybe 3 different people so it would allow for some sort of routine for Brady. They do have 2-3 people but they rotate on a daily basis that he just seems more irritated by the inconsistency then anything. I understand that part of trying to overcome the rigidness of the autistic tendencies would be to allow this…but in my opinion if something is not broke…don't fix it. Right now what is working is the program we are running…and part of that still allows for some of his "routine". The words are coming and that is what is important. We need him to be able to first communicate. We will deal with all the other stuff later…when he can UNDERSTAND what we are telling him. I have considered putting an ad out there trying to find a college student who is interested in special ed or maybe social work to come in a few nights a week and do the son rise program with Brady. I would love to do it myself and would if not for the other two kids. I can't very well spend 2-3 hours in the therapy room with Brady and leave the other two on their own. The way the program works, is you need to be able to give undivided attention to Brady in order to bring him out of autism.
UUUUGH!! Every time I get down or discouraged I have to remind myself that things could always be worse. Brady is a cuddly loving happy little guy who everyone who knows him, loves him…and we need to be patient, and help him through this. We will get there and he IS making progress…I am just so anxious to be a normal family who does normal stuff…like go camping…or family vacations…like dare to dream…Disney World. I SOOO want to take my kids there someday. I want Brady to understand that we ride, we get off…and we move on. Instead of meltdowns and him hitting himself when it is time to get off a ride. Trust me we have tried…not Disney…but we took him to the Mall of America's Nickelodeon Universe…it was not ideal…and we had plenty of people staring and wondering what was wrong with our lil man. I will say this though…after the very first ride, when I had to explain to the gal running the ride why my son had a death grip on the bars of the car he had just had the ride of his life in…and was screaming so loud I am sure the whole city of Bloomington heard him, that I was sorry for the delay, and that my son was autistic, to her credit, she immediately called a manager over who brought with her a booklet that she signed for us that would allow Brady be able to enter through the handicapped entrance to each ride and to not have to wait in line…AND he could go twice on each ride without having to get off!! For once his disability was less of a curse, and more of a bonus for miss Piper!! She got to reap the benefit too!! She was his riding buddy!! She loved it!! It was hard between walking to each ride, because he would get really upset about leaving the previous ride, and he just never did quite "get" the fact that we were going on a different ride next. ***sigh*** But, I guess we have to start somewhere right?? Better to try that then to try to go to Disney and have either Steve or I take turns with Brady in the hotel because he just gets too overwhelmed…right? WOW…that went off in a whole other direction from back to school…huh? Well, these are just some of the things we face everyday. People with 2-3 or even one neuro typical child have no idea how blessed they are to be "normal". I love Brady, he is a very special child, but would I change things if I could…you bet! Would I trade him for another child…not our Brady, to make the autism go away?…not for a million dollars! When Brady was younger…maybe like 18 months or so, we would be riding in the car and Brady would BURST out in a giggle…for no reason at all. Steve and I would look at each other puzzled like what the heck did he find so funny?? Steve would tease and say "That's my "special" boy" at that time we had no idea how true those words would be. Brady IS special…and it is our job as his parents to help him be all he can be…no matter how hard, and bumpy the road may be.
Any hoo...Keep us in your thoughts, and even though we may be a little wrapped up in "our own world" here, we most definitely wish we could keep in touch better, spend more time with all of our friends and family, and we appreciate and love all of you dearly!

Disclaimer: The information on this blog is NOT intended to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified licensed healthcare provider. Any recommendations are for educational purposes only and are believed to be effective. However, since USE of any information provided herein by others is beyond the control of Michelle Bacon, RN, no expressed or implied guarantee as to the effectiveness of this information can be given nor liability taken.