"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, October 7, 2011

Sneak Peek into Conferences

Here's a little "sneak peek" into some of what will be discussed at Brycen's school conference next week with both of his teachers, OT, and SLP:



These two graphs were sent home this week in Brycen's Progress Report envelope.  The top picture is the graph showing progress on Goal #3 which includes 1-1, counting sets, patterning, initial sounds, and read/identifying words.  The second picture is the graph for Goal #4 which includes following directions, completing work, routine, social interactions, and play cooperatively.  He is assigned a certain number of points for how much he can do in those individual areas...and then the points are added together to get his total number for each goal. 

You can see that the goals are showing a start date of mid-September because we did an informal meeting a few weeks ago to adjust the graphing/documenting of some goals.  The gray line going vertical with the blue dot shows the baseline that was taken at that time...then you can see the red broken line slowly going upwards as the months go on.  That is the progress we are aiming for.  The best part of these is the blue dots a little higher...that means the data that was just taken shows that Brycen is already above the "aim line", therefore exceeding our expectations in overall points for each goal.  The documentation is set up where some of the items in each goal may be hard for him, therefore getting a lower point value for that one...but others may be easier for him which means that would have a higher point value.  So the general consensus is he is doing great, but of course there are some low scores in some areas that will need more attention to keep this going!

After conferences next week, we will update you on what those areas are and how everything else is going at school!

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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.