"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, January 15, 2010

Basketball camp for Brycen...and lots of exercise for Daddy!


Brycen has gone to the Smart-start basketball camp 3 times so far and has two more times next week. To Brycen, being in this big and open space means time to run like crazy! Poor Daddy is definitely getting his exercise on these nights, chasing Brycen from one end of the gym to the other constantly. The camp is for 3-5 year olds and one of their parents or another adult. The camp is set up to start with stretching, move into drills in 4 different areas, then running. Brycen attempted some stretching with Mike on the second night when I was there to observe, he refuses to learn how to dribble, can pass the ball to us, but refuses to catch the ball and instead will try to hit it like a volleyball and then run as fast as he can away from it. He wouldn't learn the side-to-side shuffling, but of course loves the shooting drill. This is where we spent the most time the second night with me helping Brycen to take turns standing in line (which he actually did without yelling) and hand-over-hand shooting with him as otherwise he will go right up to the kid's sized hoop and "dunk it." The night ends with running drills which we all know Brycen is an expert at! Only the kids are supposed to stop at certain points or run backwards...ummm, maybe he'll catch onto this next year!

Otherwise, I think this "camp" is well worth the $15 spent...teaching Brycen to be in a gym full of 30 other kids and adults...attempting to teach him to listen to directions and tolerating taking turns...and definitely gives him the exercise and physical stimulation he craves day in and day out! Enjoy the video below of Brycen taking part in his favorite part of the night...and also notice he actually seems to notice the other kids running too!

Posted by at
Labels:

1 comment:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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.