Transitioning to "School" (dum dum dum dum dummmmm)

Man guys I have so much to tell you! So much has went on since my last post! Raymond is now three years old! YAYY! Well in the state of Missouri when you are 3years old then that means you graduate from a program called the Missouri First Steps Program. And what the First Steps program is, is a team of professionals that come to your home and provide all the services that your child needs such as PT,OT,Speech and various other resources. This is an excellent program that I would highly recommend to anyone in the Missouri area. Anyway the program ended and it was then the time that I was dreading for a while and that's the school setting. Initially it was very hard at first to choose a school. Not that I didn't know what to look for but the fact that I did know what to look for was the problem because I went to several schools that were not giving the children what they needed and some were even not in compliance with some of the basics that I expected to see in a room with children with special needs, such as adequate teachers aides, and proper supplies. I went through a period of great grief and talked with the principals of several of the non-compliant schools and told them they were not right and even threatened to call the special school district. I looked and talked and worried until I found an okay school with a GREAT teacher with 10 years of  experience with children with Autism. When I first met her I literally cried when she told me her thoughts of how each and every child has limitless possibilities and that she believed that every child is capable of learning and growing and becoming independent. We have formed such a great bond however the (dum dum dum dum dummmmmm) moment  is when I had to go through so many steps and meetings just to assure he was getting the ABA service that was stated in the IEP. The school had not hired an ABA therapist so in turn he had to wait for them to hire one which was a two month process. I remember thinking at the time why are you open? If you are servicing the needs of the children then why don't you already have the therapist in place? But anyway everything has worked out fine. Raymond has already finished on semester of school and is doing well. I want to cover in my next blog post all the signs and signals of a good classroom versus a  bad one. I really think if everyone knew before they signed there child up it would be so so helpful and it will allow you the opportunity to confront them on there issues before your child enters the room. It really does help to keep them on there toes which is a shame but a very true fact. We expect  our children to be treated professionally but that is not always the case. So as parents we have to know what should be expected of the teacher, the therapist, and what the classroom set up or model should look like. Thanks for reading and I will post my observations of an adequate classroom in my next blog. :<)      

Everything is going just fine.

I have not wrote down my thoughts in such a long time. Everything with Raymond is going very well, as a matter of fact today is his final first steps meeting. First Steps is a company that provides various services for children with special needs. Well since Raymond will be turning three soon the services will be turned over to the special school district. This is really a nerve rattling time for me right now. There are just so many unknowns. Will he have a great Speech Pathologist? How will he react in the classroom setting? What will be his teachers response to his tantrums? I just really wish I could look to the future so I can know what is coming down the road for him. I am handling every thing pretty well in my opinion, just waiting right now. I can say that this is a very nervous time for me and if you are going through the same thing just remember that your child will always be covered by the hand of God. This really gives me comfort in my time of waiting and wondering.

 Just like he is doing on this picture always look up and know that God see's all knows all and will never give you more than you can bare. I want the best for my baby and you  do too. That is why gave you your mother roll. He gave you that child. He is yours and by-golly He will give you the strategy you need to navigate through this stage in his life. Just Believe!

Thanks for reading.

Circles

There are days when words are flowing, concepts are being understood, and goals are being met. During these times I am just elated. My day is great, the sun is shinning all in my smile and attitude. Then there are days when there are very little words, instead of goals being met every goal is a challenge, and life at that moment  is just a complete struggle. During these times instead of sunshine I am in complete disarray, there is no sun, and I think that the progress that had just taken place weeks prior is completely over and now here we are back at the beginning. This is why I entitled this post circles because this is exactly what I go through providing love and support for a child with Autism.

I was at the lake and captured this image. The circle was created as a reaction to the twig that I threw in the lake. Well as I think about this image I can apply it to my thought life. Autism is the twig and the ripple effect which is the reaction of the fallen twig is my minds circle of thoughts. All I am trying to say is whenever there is a bad day or a series of bad days I can just have all sorts of rippling thoughts. Will he ever get better, I haven't heard him speak in a while, is he losing what he lost previously, can he still understand me? These are my thoughts which are just circles because they go around and around. Now I know that you are wondering well okay how do you get through that? How do you overcome these emotions and or thought patterns? Well for me I just have to remember that this condition directly affects the Nervous System in the body, and therefore there is a misfiring of the neurotransmitters that send signals to tell his brain to do a certain thing. This is the cause for the series of bad days. With that being said I always have to remember that and always keep a sunshiny attitude no matter what. Since I have noticed that I have these circles of thoughts I have made a conscious effort to keep them in check. I am not a master at this. I definitely still  have struggles but I am willing to share my struggles because I know that I am not the only one with these circles of thoughts, and I am here to be a support for parents by sharing the details of my daily battles in hopes of you reading and gaining the strength and encouragement that you need to know that you too are going to make it through this.
Besides this smile just gives me so much hope.

    

Stares & Awkward Smiles.

Whenever I am invited to a party or a place where there are other children I always try to make sure that I am SUPER prepared for the event. Now  one may think what is the definition of SUPER prepared? Well first there is the mental preparation, all the things that you know will happen but is still awkward....like your child rolling a car on the table instead of playing and interacting with the other children. In your world that is the norm but to  everyone else that instantly is a conversation piece. So in that you have to prepare mentally for the round table discussion, followed by questions. So that's okay but then there are the things that may happen that you never would have thought could happen and that is where mental preparation is needed. Secondly you must be armed with your child's motivation bag, and in this bag are all the simple things you use to encourage good behavior and to prevent embarrassing melt downs. Finally there are all the details of preparation for the party, getting dressed, brushing teeth, transitioning from the house to the car, holding hands to walk to the party, adjusting to new people, sounds, and action at the party, whew.......I get exhausted just thinking of it but in these examples you can see just why I call it SUPER prepared. Now that I have you in the frame of mind of the struggles that are always present now let's proceed. Remember how I said that there are things that you know are going to happen, and things that you never thought  would happen.......well those things are how I came up with the title of this post, "Stares & Awkward Smiles."  Well at the party that I really just had all planned out had a slight bit of unexpectedness. It was the end of the party and the children were very excited to  have sung  the birthday song and now it was time for yummy cake and ice cream. Everyone received their cupcake and just began to eat and smile and laugh. Well  Raymond had another idea in mind...........

He decided that he wanted to smear icing on himself and then make shapes in the icing........too funny right!?
Well this could have been done by any typical two year old right......right! But because none of the other children were doing that and he was already involved in a round table discussion about Autism there were many Stares & Awkward Smiles.  So in conclusion I just cleaned him up said Uh-OH and we went on with our day. There will be people who don't understand and as long as I am his mother I will always be sure that the people in my life WILL! I will always be a voice for the Autistic child. For they are very different but NOT LESS!!!!!!

Naturally Healthy Kids....check it out!

Author, Jerry Ruben MD, Deon Prina, Nancy Lataitis, Jordan Klein
Book Review by CandisPixMoments

This book is a guide to integrating conventional and holistic treatments for common illnesses of children. For example if you look up the illness Asthma the book will then give you a physiological view of what's going on in the body, eg. (inflammation in the airways) The causes of the illness or the epidemiology, eg. ( asthma is often inherited but can be seen in children with no family history) This book is so detailed that under the illness that you seek there will also be:
* The expected Course
* Contagiousness
* Integrated Therapies
* Integrative Supportive Care
* Prevention
This book is a great reference guide, is really easy to read in a hurry or in leisure.

The Autism Cookbook Review

Recipes by Susan K, Delaine
A Book Review by CandisPixMoments

This is not your ordinary cookbook full of recipes and illustrations of food, but rather it is a wealth of information. To start of it is a how to guide for reading food labels. Other details include:
* Why Raw?
* A Healing Guide.
* Going Organic*Food Substitutions
This cookbook goes into depth about why all of these things are important. I don't know about you but who doesn't need help reading food labels...I mean some of the ingredients and contents of some foods are just extremely hard to pronounce and when you finally break down into syllable what the chemical is you then have to figure out what in the is it and why is it in my food. Lol, But this book has a guide to understanding those chemical preservatives and additives, as well as how to avoid them for they are harmful to our bodies. My favorite quote from this book is just so true so much so that it has changed my whole outlook towards some of our medical practices.
" Health and wellness is all about addressing and correcting the cause, headaches are not caused by a lack of aspirin. Indigestion is not a result from a lack of Pepcid. Depression is not a result of a lack of Wellbutrin, and Autism has it's origins, an imbalance of normal physiology. Addressing this physiology should be every parent's impulse."
This cookbook is a great source for recipes but also a source of wellness and vitality for all you read it!

Transitioning from Therapy in the home to the Special school district..........

Today was the BIG meeting......and I was excited yet fearful. Mixed emotions are raging. In Missouri we have a program that's called First Steps and the MO. First Steps program provides children with all sorts of special needs services like PT, OT, Speech Pathology, and ABA Therapy. Well this Co. is great, you have assigned therapist to your family that work with your child until they are three years of age and then the children that's in the First Steps program then are age eligible for the Early Childhood Special Education Department. Well the BIG meeting was Ray's transition meeting because he is now 2 1/2, so the special ed department begins to assess him and then begin to develop a IFS P. which is basically a plan of services and goals for his education. My first thoughts are YES!, he's growing up....and then my emotions quickly go to man.......I now have to rely on NEW people to take care of him, (sigh). I know these feelings are normal and I just need to accept the facts however I thought I share the sheer emotions of this time.  I will talk in the next post about how we made it through this time, and I really hope to have some helpful tips as well. Right now I am preparing mentally and remaining hopeful THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!