long time no post....

"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time." ~ Stephen Wright

I am pretty sure I have used that title before when life has gotten out of control and I've lost contact with my blog! That happens way too much unfortunately!

So, what is new with us? A whole lot of the same unfortunately. Still working through issues with boy, but we are making progress. Maybe we've made a lot of progress, but I keep setting my goals for him higher and higher? Well, I'm not sure how much progress, but we are making progress.

The biggest improvement I see is at sensory therapy. In his session two weeks ago he noticed another boy playing in the sensory play room. His therapist asked him if he would like to go play with him and boy said no; he had it in his head that he wanted to make paper airplanes. Well, at the end of his session he told his therapist that he really *should* have gone and played with the other boy so she took him in there. She said she was utterly amazed because he walked up to the boy, told him his name, age, where he went to school and what he liked to do and then said.....
......wait for it........

...."So, what is your name?" ---- H U G E improvement there! HUGE! I swear her and I both nearly cried as she was telling me this. He interacted with the other boy, asked him his name, his age, and what he liked to play (after somewhat coercing the boy into stating that he liked Super Mario haha). They then decided that they they would play together at the next therapy session which was this past week.

So huge improvement right there, but I am beginning to think that he can interact with other kids like that when someone he feels comfortable with is around (me or therapist for example).

The reason I think this is because this week he is at camp and is having SUCH a hard time making friends. Each day I ask him to come home with just one kids name...finally he had a name yesterday and after I talked to him about it, it ended up that he finally got a name because he was able to read someone's name tag haha.

So, we continue to keep continuing on and as long as you continue to keep continuing on, then you're doing a really excellent job.

And just some random black and white thinking for ya...

His therapist asked him yesterday "Have you tried any new food lately?" (he doesn't like to try new foods) and he responded "Yes, I ate dirt today." and she said "Really? Dirt? You ate dirt?", his response "Yes, that's what they called it, but I'm pretty sure it was crushed oreos."

Love him.

oh monkey bread, how you thwart me!

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." ~ J.F.K

Happy Earth day!

Now on to the monkey bread. Last night we made monkey bread, sweet delicious, gooey yumminess that we all enjoyed thoroughly....and seriously within 5 minutes Boy was in his out of focus, can't be reasoned with mood....that quickly I saw the reaction to the milk, totally bizarre. It seems like now that we have been on the diet for a while, the more quickly I will notice a milk attack.

I understand the entire theory behind why this happens to some children and especially children on the spectrum, but seriously? That much of a reaction to just some simple milk? It makes me question the use of milk at all. Why do we as humans ingest the milk of a different species? That's totally weird.

Things that make you go hmmm.....

autism awareness - 1 in 110 children

(re-post of one of my old posts that I recently came across...the numbers are amazing)

The most amazing video

One of the most astounding facts from the video...

1980 1 in 5000 children
1990 1 in 1000 children
2000 1 in 500 children
2007 1 in 150 children
2010 1 in 110 children

what have you done this month for autism awareness month?

How about bouncing?

Pump it Up of Shelby Township will be holding a 'Bounce for autism' event tomorrow, April 22nd from 5pm to 8pm.

Please consider coming out to this event! Good times to be had by all while spreading autism awareness.

really? why?

there are so many parents undeserving of having children and even more upsetting are the crappy parents who happen to have special needs children. All children are vulnerable, but especially special needs children..why did some of them also have to be given awful parents?

Case in point at therapy today...an autistic boy here with his mom, maybe 4years old...the mom was talking to the therapist and the boy was crying wanting to be held..she wouldn't hold him, he kicked the therapist and what did she do? she hit him SO hard you could hear it, right across his chest then repeatedly yelled at him 'you don't ever hit'...uhm seriously??? That sounds logical..teach a 'no hitting' philosophy by beating your child...AWESOME idea.
Thankfully the therapist picked him up and cuddled hm and he calmed.

Me to parents - get a grip!!!! Our children, no matter how much they may drive us nuts, are vulnerable and scared. They are the most precious gift given to us and the easiest cheapest thing we can provide them with is our love. Don't mistreat them.

sensory news update

"Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat." ~Malcolm S. Forbes

Quite excited to report that boy has conquered the 2 wheeled bike beast! After working on it for several months during sensory therapy, he finally took off on the 2 wheeler last Tuesday. I felt badly that I got to witness the first solo bike riding moments while practicing...our sensory therapist has worked so hard that I really felt she should have gotten the honor haha, but she was more than excited the following day when he showed her how well he could ride--seriously, we both started screaming and jumping up and down when he told her.

Each day that he takes the bike out he gets better at steering straight, maneuvering around obstacles, keeping his balance...I am so proud of him! We have gone from a kid who couldn't even keep the bike up with training wheels on AND while someone was holding onto the bike to a kid who can balance correct himself, stop, turn, swerve....amazing, absolutely amazing.

Kudos to our therapist who has worked so hard with him. If you are looking for a sensory therapist, please keep in mind that you need to find someone who connects with your child and is, to a degree, emotionally invested in the partnership. You cannot have a therapist who is simply working through the motions of therapy. You need someone flexible who can adapt to your child -- your child should not need to adapt to the therapist. We are extremely blessed to have our therapist!!

got milk?

"Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit." ~William Somerset Maugham

Ah, we had milk in excess for certain over the weekend! Chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs and cheese pizzas and grilled cheese sandwiches...oh did boy get to "cheat" and oh are we paying dearly for it now.

Not only do the milk products affect his behavior and personality, but they also do a number to his tummy...which I still am in shock that he does not have an "official" gastrointestinally diagnosed issue, but I guess overall children with Autism tend to have these issues.

So now we are back to more strictly enforcing the no milk products rule. Thankfully we don't have to truly be strict or use force because he does understand how milk affects his mood and his body and he agrees that milk free is the way to be.