What a fabulous first week of school for Brycen! He has adjusted so much better than we ever thought he would and we have definitely realized starting school is the best decision we have made for him so far.
Here is a rundown of the progress he has made in the last week:
-He is spontaneously asking for juice "ju" by going to the fridge and saying the word on his own
-He pointed to the changing table at school when he had a dirty diaper to tell the teachers he needed changed!
-He carries and tries to hang up his backpack each day at school and at home (this afternoon without any prompts too!)
-He is willingly stopping at the "work" table when he gets to school to check in his name tag and lunch card, though he needs hand-over-hand to actually put the cards in the baskets
-After 4 days of protesting the "greeting circle," he actually participated today! The teacher said he sat down and very discreetly waved his red flag...huge progress in just one week!
-He is not eating very well at school and then comes home and climbs into his booster wanting a snack right away. We are trying to determine if it is the noise or distractions in the cafeteria or if he doesn't like the food. We'll try some cold lunches next week!
-He has been imitating the word school- comes out like "hoo" but we know what it means and it's another word approximation to add to the list!
-He has been washing his hands and picking up his toys way more willingly than before since he has these expectations all day long at school also.
-We have not had a huge temper tantrum all week and he even slept all night on two different nights this last week!
I am excited to see what progress the upcoming weeks will bring! These things may seem very small to other parents of 3 year olds, but to our family, these are signs of the right direction and bring so much excitement and many smiles to our face!
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller
Friday, August 28, 2009
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Autism and Our Family
"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
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