As most of you already know, Brycen decided to see if his communication device could swim the other night at the Y with his staff. Yep, he took it upon himself to grab it from the bench and throw it into pool! We of course will never know why he did this...he wasn't mad or anything, probably actually excited because he was getting out to dry off to go to McDonalds for dinner. All we know is that Autism has prevented Brycen from developing impulse control and understanding of his actions.
After quite a few hours of worrying how it was all going to work out to replace it, we did find out yesterday that the Saltillo company WILL fix/replace it under his warranty! There was never a question about us not wanting to replace it...if we had to go on a payment plan, eat ramen noodles for months, ask/plead for money to borrow from our family...we would do anything to fix his "voice." Lucky for all of us, we chose a fabulous and understanding company to partner with us in this communication journey and the only cost to us at this point was to pay to ship it back to Ohio (which I did this morning by FedEx). Now we just wait and see how long it will take to get it fixed or have a new one sent to him. Transferring the programming will be simple because I frequently updated the software on my laptop with what I was programming on his device so all I will need to do is flashdrive it over to the new/fixed machine.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support through that rough 24 hours! As upsetting as it was, we know it was not an intentional thing that he did. We don't blame him...we don't blame the staff...we only blame Autism and what it has stolen from him. We are so grateful to be able to supplement his life with a "voice" like his Alt-Chat provides for him! We are grateful for a company that has exceeded all of our expectations in the 11 months since we started this journey with our technology rep.
"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
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
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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.
I'm so glad everything worked out! I was saying prayers for you!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that long ago that Racer had no voice and after intensive 1:1 therapy and PECS he has one. So I know where you were coming from and how important it was to get it back! Love to you guys!!