Go, Brycen, Go!!!
What a wonderful surprise to come home from church to find Daddy & Brycen outside on the sidewalk with Brycen's bike. As we drove closer, I could see those little legs pedaling away...and Daddy not even helping! This video was taken by me in front of our house. Unfortunately, Blogger would not allow me to load the other video of him riding towards me, a little uphill so he does pause or accidentally applies the brake and needs a little nudge from Mike to keep going. This video has been loaded onto our FB pages instead. The second video which Blogger did allow me load below is of him riding to the corner which is slightly downhill...and you can see he gets some momentum and Daddy ends up having to run next to him. We are so, so, so thankful for the hard work of the physical therapist in the last few weeks to help him get to this point! She knew that he had the ability to do it, but just needed the extra encouragement to realize it and knew it wouldn't take long. I don't think any of us thought he would have come this far in only a few weeks! Once again, just when certain things can bring us down, he pulls through with something amazing that keeps our momentum going in this fight. We will NEVER take for granted these things!
NEXT UP, RAGBRAI 2012!!!!
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.
Oh Melissa, this video made me SMILE!! GO Brycen, go!! And Aubree wanting to chase after him, priceless!
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