"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

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fighting Autism One Skill at a Time!


I don't even think I need to explain how amazing this video is!  I'm sure the Autism parents, teachers, and therapists that watch this can make a list of how many positive things they see in this 30 second glimpse of what happened at our house this evening.  Many people have worked hard over these last couple years to help Brycen with his social skills and other areas...and through this video you can see all of that hard work paying off!  These moments are very very rare in our household where Autism seems to take over even the simplest of interactions between our children.  Not only are we impressed with Brycen, but the patience and skills that Aubree is demonstrating just shows how much she has internalized over the last couple years of participating in his therapies and our day-to-day life.  There is no doubt in my mind that our 3yr old girl will choose a career path in an area that works with those with special needs in some way!  These are the moments that continue to push us along this path of building Brycen up to all he can be and continuing our fight against Autism one skill at a time!

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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.