"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, April 20, 2012

A "Hairy" Success

A couple months ago I shared that Brycen had received a weighted compression vest from Fun & Function after one of his Occupational Therapists had suggested it might be something to help with his sensory issues.  We have had some wonderful success with it and I was looking forward to any help we could get to help him conquer the dreaded haircuts.  We have worked through 3 home haircuts since receiving the vest...and each time I add in the weights a few minutes prior to starting the haircut. 

I am so happy to share that I am confident the vest has helped him work through the sensory issues that were plaguing him during a haircut!  I didn't want to share the success until it happened enough times that I was positive it was the contribution of the vest.  He has even been so good about haircuts that we were able to add in the use of the electric razor every time which was such a hassled before with one of having to hold him down in order to use it to trim up the edges. 


The haircuts still aren't "perfect" per se...he still gets quite fussy and stimmy during the parts around his ears and on his neck...but today he didn't even try to push me away once!  He just fussed a little and scratched his hands on his cheeks like he does when he is upset with something, but he worked through it.  The good news about using the razor and not having to hold him down or push his hands away any more means we went from a haircut taking 20+ minutes to only 5 minutes AND my stress level has decreased tremendously before, during, and after the haircuts! 
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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.