"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, February 25, 2011

Ummm...a weekly update??

Things just seem very calm right now...please, please, please tell me this isn't the "calm before the storm." Brycen has just been...well, Brycen! There isn't really anything that has happened lately to warrant an entire post so this is just going to be a brief update on a few things.

First of all, I miss the communication device so much! We had to give it back on Monday after our 4 week trial. So far, so good...but I am crossing my fingers that we don't have to wait more than a couple months to get his permanent one.


Secondly, we have noticed some positive effects from the new medication (Fluoxetine 4mg 1x per day). We adjusted the time and he now takes it mixed with chocolate milk with supper. We have had no trouble with getting him to drink all of it for the last 4 weeks. The child. psych. had said it would take 4-6 weeks to be effective though it may need to be increased if we don't see much improvement in this time.

Well, we have noticed multiple things...as well as a couple family members have made comments about how well he accepted certain things last weekend. He did not get upset when his balloon from the hockey game popped on G'ma & G'pa's ceiling...nor did he get upset when 2 minutes later, his little sister's balloon also popped which meant no more balloons to play with. I have also noticed mornings are so much easier when leaving for school. Back in December and January, he would get so mad when I told him it was time to get his shoes and coat for school. Despite the crazy Iowa weather that once again has prevented him from having a full week of school for weeks, he now just immediately puts his toys down, gets his shoes and coat...and has not protested ONCE in the last couple of weeks!

Time-outs have never been effective with him. Trying to get him to sit still is pretty much impossible, and forget about trying to get him to understand the reasoning behind a time-out. We typically go by the philosophy of "remove him or remove the object" to discipline. Well, we reached a couple times lately where I just told him to go sit in the kitchen (he was poking his sister in the eye and pushed her) AND HE DID IT! Mike walked into the kitchen to see this in amazement...as I was too! He just seems to accept life a little bit more lately. Now I don't want anyone to think he doesn't still have his moments because of course he does...but these are just a couple things we have noticed are tremendously better compared to just a month ago.

The final thing I wanted to share is how absolutely amazing Brycen is with puzzles! He loves doing them...the same ones multiple times per day. It can keep him occupied as he is very content just doing it by himself in his own order. I would love to videotape the process someday and show it on here, but I'm sure I would get frustrated with a 7-8 minute video loading. Here are some regular photos of his "work" recently! The Thomas the Train puzzles he put together in these pictures are for ages 4-8...and he is only 4 1/2 and can put them together by himself and in a matter of minutes. It's very interesting to watch!
Posted by at
Labels:

1 comment:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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.