After a quick evaluation and observation this morning, the SLP at the Spencer hospital has recommended 2-3 times per week of speech therapy with 1/2 hr per session due to Brycen's limited attention span. She did emphasize that she preferred 3 times per week, but no less than 2 times per week. While I did not receive any info on where they feel his communication development is right now (prob because that is hard to do off of an hour evaluation), I did receive info on their plans for working with him, which I have never, ever received from the school's SLP. The plan is to use a social schedule and work in various areas for 5-10 minutes at a time to build up attention span. They are also going to duplicate the schedule for us at home so we can all be consistent which is something I have wanted for the entire school year. She is going to work on functional communication, more sign language, obviously more spoken words, and also work on identifying emotions due to his aggressive behaviors. The hope is that he can identify and communicate to us through a picture if he is feeling angry so we can be proactive before the aggression starts. Same with feeling happy of course!
I decided that their thoughts and actions are more aligned with what Mike and I want for him, therefore I am not hesitating to pull him from school over the next week and half to take him to therapy. Since he spent an hour with her today and seemed to respond so well to being around her, I do not want a gap in between today and the time he sees her next, so we are already scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week. He will actually be seeing a different SLP in same office on the Friday as I would like him to have a little variety and not get too attached to one person.
Though I know that driving three times a week there and back, 75 miles round trip and 2-2 1/2 hours of our time, will take a toll on our finances and available time for work (though I still have hope that Medicaid will help with the mileage), our child is far more important! If he was diagnosed with cancer and they were recommending chemo or another therapy three times a week that would help save his life, I would never hesitate to do that...so why would I hesitate to do this?! Same concept to me. Communication is something we all need to succeed in this world, so we are willing to do all that is in our means to help him along. And since we have finally found some people that seem to feel the same way and have knowledge of what he needs and are willing to address it...another reason to not turn down this opportunity!
"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
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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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