"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 13, 2012

Team Brycen 2012 is HERE!!

Please join me in kicking off our 2012 fundraising by either joining or donating to Team Brycen 2012 for the Iowa Walk Now for Autism Speaks!  The walk takes place the morning of Saturday June 9, 2012 in Des Moines.  Our goal for this year is to have at least 20 walkers and raise over $5000!  Last year we had over 30 walkers participate and raised over $5000....so we know we can do it again!  This is our 3rd year participating in the walk and we have found the support to be overwhelming each year.   
Here is the link to Team Brycen's fundraising page: 

If you would like to walk that day (please only sign up if you know that you are definitely walking as the numbers do mean something that day!), click on "Join Our Team" and follow the instructions to set up your personal walk page that is linked on his team page.  When the date gets closer, we will be contacting everyone who has signed up to walk to get sizes for our team shirt for that day!

If you are able to donate, there are multiple ways you can do so: 
  • If you want to donate online using a debit/credit card, click on the team member you would like to sponsor (Brycen, Brycen, Brycen!!!) or "general team donation" and follow the instructions.
  • Otherwise, you can also mail a check to me (let me know who you want to sponsor or team donation) and I will take care of sending it in to the office in California
  • OR you can print off a donation form by clicking on whomever you want to sponsor, then underneath where you would enter the amount of an online payment there is a place to "click here" to print a donation form.  The donation form has the address to mail it to...as well as the bottom portion to keep for tax purposes.
EVERY DOLLAR counts in the fight against Autism!

Autism Speaks is well known for their financial support of many research studies, as well as tools for not only families dealing with Autism, but educators and other caregivers.  Autism Speaks was started by family members of a child with Autism and gives back so much to the community in the fight.
Please visit www.autismspeaks.org for more information!

Thanks in advance for all that you do for Brycen and our family!!  We appreciate all support we receive!  All of the donations are paid directly to Autism Speaks and Brycen will see none of the money directly though it will hopefully be funding a study in the future for known causes and cures which would help not only Brycen but every child in the future that could be at risk. 

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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.