There was a knock on the door about 15 minutes ago. As I went to answer it, I was racking my brain on what I had recently ordered that was being delivered or who would be visiting during nap time. I saw the UPS man getting back in his truck and then saw a package outside the door. I recognized the return address as that from Ohio and then saw an RA# written on the box...and realized it was Brycen's DEVICE BEING RETURNED!
Tears, tears, tears! It was like deja vu from the first time his device was delivered last Spring and the tears were pouring then and my heart was racing just as fast. Only a special needs parent with a child that is nonverbal or has a very difficult time communicating will truly understand why these emotions took over.
As you know, 9 days ago, Brycen decided to see if his device could "swim." That's a pretty nice way of saying he took it upon himself to move so fast that nobody could stop him while throwing his device into the Y pool. I'm a very anxious person and can easily get upset over stuff like this...but for some reason I was very calm that night and the following day until we knew what the outcome would be. I really do give credit to my anxiety medicine that I started several months ago to help me with this.
Just 7 days ago, I took the device to the nearest FedEx shipping store 25 miles away. We had found out his warranty would cover the incident and it would be fixed, so I sent it out to Ohio on 2 day shipping. Once again, only a special needs parent of a child that is nonverbal will understand the tears that came this day as soon as I walked back out to my car. I felt like I was handing part of my child off to the lady at the counter...and in a way, I was. I was handing over my child's "voice"...the one thing that has seemed to slightly help bridge the communication gap between him and the world around him. I called Mike on the road and explained this to him...and I think he thought I was going crazy! But I wasn't going crazy...I was trusting some strangers with a huge part of my child's life...a part that I have been protective of for the last 7 months and will continue to be. I was saying "goodbye" to it without knowing how long it would be before we would get it back...and without knowing how much the absence of the device would affect Brycen.
Fast forward to today...9 days post "swim" and 7 days post "goodbye"...and it has found it's way back to us! The notes say that certain parts of the board was replaced, new software was downloaded, and everything was tested. As I turned it on, I realized they had been able to save EVERYTHING! His "voice" is back right where he left it (even though I also had most of it saved on my laptop and could have transferred it, but this saves me so much time!).
Once again, my thanks goes out to the wonderful company of Saltillo! After years of working with various devices, no tech, low tech, and high tech in my job...and after much thought and research of devices/companies last year, we chose Saltillo for this journey with us. Since Day 1, we have been nothing but impressed with their services, and of the service of our rep Sue through TalkToMe Technologies. The software is easy to understand, the device is easy to operate and program, the instruction book that comes along is easy to interpet and follow...and best of all their customer service at Saltillo and from Sue/her coworkers has been phenomenal! I can't say enough good things about them and encourage anyone that is thinking of a device for a loved one to contact them. Words aren't even adequate to tell them how thankful we are to have chosen both of them to journey through all of this with us! THANK YOU!
http://saltillo.com/
http://www.talktometechnologies.com/
"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
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
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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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