"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

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Brycen is FIVE!



Great day for Brycen!  It all started with a full night's sleep in the camper with Grandma and Grandpa last night which is always excited to do.  Then we had a little cuddle time this morning after they brought him home...Brycen, Mommy, and Daddy...before the sister woke up.  Brycen took turns rubbing our hair and giving us hugs :)  Then we started getting ready for his "party" with the grandparents...decorating the dining room and preparing food.
 
Then we mentioned presents...and it's so awesome to see that Brycen understands what that means.  A couple years ago, it was very hard to get him to sit down and realize they were for him and how to open them.  The Christmas before his dx, he would just pick up a present and sit it back down, maybe shake it a little, before we did mostly hand over hand with him to open it.  It's probably a very materialistic thing to say, but it's great to see his eyes light up like other kids when we mention presents!

We planned the presents early enough so that if he became overwhelmed, we could stop and restart after lunch.  He opened his handful of presents over an hour's time...opening one and playing with it a little bit before we moved onto the next.  We've just learned that he can get overwhelmed with even too much of agood thing, so it's better to take it slow and at the pace that keeps him content and engaged.


Brycen enjoyed lining up his new wind-up trains in multiple ways.  Side by side, in a straight line, on the floor, on the couch...over and over and over!




Grandpa and Daddy put together his new train track in his room and that is where he decided to spend the next couple hours!  He wouldn't even come back downstairs to eat lunch!  Of course, we decided to choose our battles and just let him eat in his room.  Since he hasn't been eating much lately and it was his birthday, we wanted to ensure he had a good relaxing day and give him a little more control over the routine. 



After lunch, we had a little downtime (sister needed to take a nap) before moving onto cake.  Spacing the celebration out was definitely good!  He was ready to engage in more interaction at this point and immediately came running.  He had yet to see what his cake looked like (Grandma made and decorated it), so his face lit up and he began flapping away when he saw the train track and a new James train!  He wouldn't even sit still for a picture for a couple minutes since he was so excited.  Once we started singing "Happy Birthday" to him, he couldn't wait until the end to start blowing out the candles.  Just in the last year or so, he has worked so  hard at this through blowing bubbles and was able to blow out all 5 by himself with some verbal prompting from Daddy (and a little spit on the cake).  What a big boy!!!  He had no problems with finishing his piece before heading back in to play with his multiple trains (3 new wind up trains from Grandma & Grandpa Timmer, James from his cake, and his new Polar Express set from Mommy, Daddy, and Aubree).


After a walk, SCL time with Grandma, and some homemade pizza for dinner, we went outside to play with his new soccer net and goal.  He knew exactly what to do!  It wasn't long before he began sweating from all the running, but the smile never left his face.  He was so happy...doing everything he loved and surrounded by people that adore him!  He then enjoyed some more 1:1 time with Mommy & Daddy (sister left for the camper), before taking a bath (working on learning how to wash his own hair and body), having his favorite bedtime snack of popcorn, and then went to bed about 7:45pm.  I'm sure he fell asleep dreaming about his new trains, cake, and soccer!

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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.