Kids+Mommy+2 Books= 15 Amazing Minutes
It's been a long time since I was able to read a book with both kids at the same time! Brycen is pretty sporadic in when he wants to sit long enough for a book...and he definitely doesn't have the patience or excitement for the ones that Aubree chooses. But both kids came home from school with a project to read 10 books with us for "Read Across America" celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday over the next week. I decided instead of focusing so much on writing for Brycen's work at home this week, we would focus on sitting long enough for books and having him participate in some of the simple words either verbally (his approximations/sounds) or with his device For Aubree, this isn't an issue as she would love if we had time to read her books all day long!!
I decided the best time to try this was before getting ready for bed. That way I could use the incentive of having ice cream for bedtime snack if Brycen would actually sit and listen to the books. I had Aubree choose "Brown Bear" and "A trip to the Zoo" since I knew that Brycen knows all of the first, and many of the words in the second one since it's based on beginner reading skills. I also decided to just go with his verbal word approximations instead of the device to see how much he really could read. Really, the only way to judge this is to listen for at least one of the sounds in the word since he rarely puts more than that together verbally for a word.
 |
| Brycen actually sitting for a picture with the books we read!! |
I was in AWE of him! Of course getting him to sit was the hardest part, so I had to wrap my legs around him while sitting on the floor with him, and put pressure on the tops of his legs. Aubree and he took turns "reading" each page of "Brown Bear." He did GREAT!! Of course most of that is memorization, but I could clearly hear "see", "you", and "me"! During "A trip to the Zoo" he loved every time the word "zoo" came up as that is one he loves to attempt to say and spell on his own. He also pointed out and attempted to say other words like "mom", "baby", "so", "to", "look", and "no." He needed quite a few reminders to pay attention to the books, some physical prompting to sit up straight, and hand-over-hand to use his finger to point at some of the words, but he did so much better than I ever anticipated. He loves verbal praise and hugs from us when he does something right!
 |
| Enjoying their ice cream after reading and putting on pajamas! |
It was an AMAZING 15 minutes! It was exactly what I dreamed about when we were married and starting a family...enjoying a book or something else with my kids sitting by me and happy as can be!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment