This week started with Brycen's last speech therapy appointment at home and will end with the start of pre-school on Friday! The speech therapy went fantastic this morning and was one of his best sessions ever...we hope his first day at school on Friday will go just as well!
Here's a rundown of his great accomplishments during his therapy session today:
-He became excited when he looked out the door and saw the therapist and the Early Childhood Coordinator arriving (he used to ignore, hit, yell etc at them)
-He sat down at his kid's table willingly and looked through a book about colors with very minimal resistance.
-When we asked him to point to the kitty-cat in the book, he matter of factly said "I did!" (the only phrase he spontaneously says), even though he didn't...he received tons of praise anyway!
-He waited patiently for next toy to come out with physical prompting to put his hands in lap
-He spontaneously said "choo choo" when he saw the puzzle piece of the train
-He would sign "please" with a verbal imitation of the word also spontaneously (after a minute or so of waiting for him)
-He took turns with the bubbles outside...also spontaneously signed "please" and "more"
-He transitioned from activity to activity with NO resistance!!! (This is huge as just a couple of months ago, he would not allow this if he was enjoying an activity too much).
-These are the words he imitated (considered word approximations as he does not say all the sounds, but we can decipher it still) multiple times throughout 1 hour session: boat, car, help, cracker, more & bubbles
-Waved and said "bye" to them when they left with verbal prompt from me
When comparing these to the first few sessions back in the winter, huge steps have been made! We went multiple months with very little or no progress and Mike & I really weren't sure what to do...but it seems like we have reached a turning point! We have high hopes that going to school will encourage the social interaction and following directions...and we are encouraged by the 1:1 speech therapy! Unfortunately he will not be receiving this from the school district at home anymore, so we are looking into other possibilities that our health insurance may cover. According to BCBS, the doctors will need to recommend the 1:1 speech in order for them to cover it, and they also limit the number of sessions covered which may not be as much as Brycen needs. I try not to dwell on the financial aspect of all of this and just focus on what he needs and what is available to us right now...but my recent conversations with DHS and Social Security regarding Medicaid insurance has not been very encouraging.
Although Brycen's speech, nonverbal communication, and social skills are still far behind the average 3 year old, the MOST important thing is he has made progress! And we have no doubt that this progress is going to be even better once school starts!
"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
Monday, August 17, 2009
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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.
Yay!! How exciting. I hope that school goes well for him. It may be a little rough at first because it's a totally different environment for him, but I know it will be worth it. Let me know how it goes.
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm really impressed. What a great approach, and it seems like it's obviously really helping him. I hope you're able to continue it at home. I can see how letting go of being there for his therapy would be pretty hard.
ReplyDelete