Posts
Tyler had a lot of one on one time with his parents this weekend which of course he just loves. The one thing we've really noticed that is significantly different now is that Tyler does not want to be left alone. He used to not care if he were around people or not but now he wants to be and for the most part he wants to be interacting with his caregivers. Also, Tyler went on a walk with Dad last night and they stopped and talked to a neighbor. The neighbor had toys in the garage so that helped Tyler stay occupied while dad talked, but the great thing is.. Tyler tried to get the neighbor to play ring around the rosie. This is realy impressive because not only was he dealing with all the sensory/distracting elements of the outdoors but he was also out of his normal "play" environment and he was wanting to play with a stranger! Yeah, Tyler.
Ben had a wonderful weekend. He got to go to the zoo with grandma and dad and then he got to go to a birthday party last night with mom. He was a tropper staying up 1.5 hours past his bed time without complaint.
Wanted you to see a video of Ben so you can see how happy he is! This is a video of him playing with Dad in the tub.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
6/25/08 Part 2
I have a google alert set to send me any articles that have teh words "Autism & Recovery" in the article. Which often brings me to another mother's blog site http://blog.anautismrecovery.com/ I often like to see/hear stories about the how to explain autism and it's heartbreak to someone who hasn't personally experienced it on a day to day basis. She wrote a story about heartbreak of water day at her son's school so I decided to share it with you all. I know some of you think we are crazy for all we are doing and someone very very close to meeven admitted she thought I was going over board until she saw the presentation at our house and then realized that we are just great parents. If you read this story, it's just another reason one out of a million that we will never give up on helping Tyler reach his fullest potential. On a great note... the other day, Tyler initiated ring around the rosie with another child at daycare (usually he only does this with adults) and then when another girl wanted to play, he let her play too :) 8 Months ago, Tyler would have been sitting in the corner with his truck/car flipped upside down, spinning the wheels while the other kids played. He would have been oblivious to the fact that they were even in the room and certainly not interested in playing with them. Initiating any type of play would have been unheard of! THANK YOU EVERYONE for helping him come so far. Just remembering back to how it was just a short time ago compared to now, brings tears to my eyes. THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU...
The Heartbreak of Water Day
On summertime Fridays, Logan’s preschool has water day. Basically, their morning playground time is accompanied by a water sprinkler. The kids wear their swim gear and sunblock and then after water time, they get changed into regular clothes.
Logan enjoys a good time around a water sprinkler at home in our backyard. But he absolutely hates it at school. He always chooses to just watch the other kids play in the water. I really don’t know what that’s about, but he’s been very consistent with it. At this point, he doesn’t even want to consider wearing any swim clothes to school, even “just in case” he changes his mind. And we don’t fight him on that point, which I sometimes wonder about being a mistake, since...well, “just in case” he changes his mind once he gets there.
Anyway, so last Friday I take him to school and the kids in his class are already outside playing in the water. He of course is not dressed to do the same. We walk through the empty classroom together...sort of. I’m more dragging him along toward the outside door so he can join his classmates.
Noting his hesitation, I ask him if he wants to swing instead of playing in the water. He says “Yes. Can I swing the other way?”. I told him he could if he wanted to and we said our goodbyes. Once he had made his first steps onto the playground, I went back through the building to my car.
As I drove away, I saw him swinging, his back to me, the playground, and all the other kids, facing the fence, and all alone. Autism.
My heart broke, and I nearly cried on the way to the office.
I wish I had taken a picture of that scene. I would keep it to remind me what we were fighting to change. And I could use it to visually explain Logan’s particular point on the spectrum to anyone who might ask.
I picked him up early that day and we played hard. I wasn’t worried about therapy, co-regulation, resilience, episodic memory, vitamins, or anything else. That day, I just made sure he had fun.
The Heartbreak of Water Day
On summertime Fridays, Logan’s preschool has water day. Basically, their morning playground time is accompanied by a water sprinkler. The kids wear their swim gear and sunblock and then after water time, they get changed into regular clothes.
Logan enjoys a good time around a water sprinkler at home in our backyard. But he absolutely hates it at school. He always chooses to just watch the other kids play in the water. I really don’t know what that’s about, but he’s been very consistent with it. At this point, he doesn’t even want to consider wearing any swim clothes to school, even “just in case” he changes his mind. And we don’t fight him on that point, which I sometimes wonder about being a mistake, since...well, “just in case” he changes his mind once he gets there.
Anyway, so last Friday I take him to school and the kids in his class are already outside playing in the water. He of course is not dressed to do the same. We walk through the empty classroom together...sort of. I’m more dragging him along toward the outside door so he can join his classmates.
Noting his hesitation, I ask him if he wants to swing instead of playing in the water. He says “Yes. Can I swing the other way?”. I told him he could if he wanted to and we said our goodbyes. Once he had made his first steps onto the playground, I went back through the building to my car.
As I drove away, I saw him swinging, his back to me, the playground, and all the other kids, facing the fence, and all alone. Autism.
My heart broke, and I nearly cried on the way to the office.
I wish I had taken a picture of that scene. I would keep it to remind me what we were fighting to change. And I could use it to visually explain Logan’s particular point on the spectrum to anyone who might ask.
I picked him up early that day and we played hard. I wasn’t worried about therapy, co-regulation, resilience, episodic memory, vitamins, or anything else. That day, I just made sure he had fun.
6/25/08
Video taping went well yesterday, Carrie is on vacation which I think helped. Usually we see Carrie right before we are taped so I think he sometimes gets bored wth the routines since we just worked on them and so I never feel the video shows his true potential. He wasn't very talkative yesterday but he did exhibit his distal point which is one of his goals we've been working on. A distal point is when he points at or towards something without actually touching it.
He also did very well at daycare yesterday. He said "duck" and he also was playing with an alphabet spinny wooden toy and when the daycare provider would ask him to point to certain letters, he was able to do it. We've also been working with him on this with the animals in his picture book. he likes a few of the animal sounds so we are able to work on the eye gaze shift on those animals. He'll point to the animal so I'll say it's name, then he'll look at me which prompts me to make the appropriate animal sound. He's doing very well with one book in paticular so I'm hoping to find ways to incorporate this same type of technique with books that do nto necessarily have animal pictures. One more month of the parent intervention portion of the study and then we move to the parent education portion of the study which will consist of one monthly parent education meeting and 3 play group sessions at the U of M Clinic.
Grandma is coming for a visit this weekend so I think Dad adn Grandma are going to take Ben to the zoo so mom can get some one on one time with TYler (who doesn't really enjoy the zoo yet). Ben has been asking to go to the zoo for weeks, actually he says "I want to go to the zoo now" pretty much every time we get in the car! Then on Sunday, my dear friend from California is in town and having a birthday party for her one year old so Ben and I will be attending that and allowing Tyler and Daddy to have some one on one time.
He also did very well at daycare yesterday. He said "duck" and he also was playing with an alphabet spinny wooden toy and when the daycare provider would ask him to point to certain letters, he was able to do it. We've also been working with him on this with the animals in his picture book. he likes a few of the animal sounds so we are able to work on the eye gaze shift on those animals. He'll point to the animal so I'll say it's name, then he'll look at me which prompts me to make the appropriate animal sound. He's doing very well with one book in paticular so I'm hoping to find ways to incorporate this same type of technique with books that do nto necessarily have animal pictures. One more month of the parent intervention portion of the study and then we move to the parent education portion of the study which will consist of one monthly parent education meeting and 3 play group sessions at the U of M Clinic.
Grandma is coming for a visit this weekend so I think Dad adn Grandma are going to take Ben to the zoo so mom can get some one on one time with TYler (who doesn't really enjoy the zoo yet). Ben has been asking to go to the zoo for weeks, actually he says "I want to go to the zoo now" pretty much every time we get in the car! Then on Sunday, my dear friend from California is in town and having a birthday party for her one year old so Ben and I will be attending that and allowing Tyler and Daddy to have some one on one time.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I love you
So we finally found a way to get the video up. Steve recorded the TV while the DVD was playing so the quality isn't good but you can definetly hear him. You'll see/hear two things in this video.. First you'll see me working with Tyler on saying "up" where i model the word using inflection that he uses and then after a few tries, you'll hear him say "up". It's soon after that you hear him say I love you. THe first time it sounds like a muffled "I love you Mama", the next time it's a clearer "I love you". Remember, this was a horrible video session. The things we are doing in the chair are not our typical "routines" that we go through but I was not having luck getting him happily engaged in any of those activities so I finally just brought him up to the chair with me to give him some cuddles and it seemed to work.
Since I do not have many therapy updates to give, I thought it would be a perfect time to put in my "Why I Walk" essay. This video shows how far Tyler has come in the last 8 months and well the essay just seems well suited to follow the video.
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
Dear Tyler,
Thank you for the patience you have given us in the past year as you endured so many tests and evaluations to finally receive that official autism diagnosis. I know that it was a miserable time for you, but believe me, it was miserable for your daddy and me too. In fact, it was so painful to watch you struggle through all of those tests when I knew in my heart that you had autism. Everyone just wanted to keep giving you more evaluations, but I so badly wanted to help you. Although it may seem more like work than help, Mommy is doing everything she can to help you. Please know that it takes all of my might not to run to your side and give you the world without having to make you work for it, but I can't. Thank you for patience and understanding.
It can't be easy to endure 30 hours a week of therapy, strange diets, weird tests, and vitamins. It seems every aspect of your life is spent "working" on something. Most kids don’t have to work on therapy type stuff during meals, bath time, diaper change or any of the other day-to-day activities. I hope you know that mommy and daddy try to make everything as fun as possible and would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. Daddy's heart breaks a little each time he has to give you a "poke". Mommy's heart breaks every day as I get glimpses of the Tyler that's trying so hard to come out of his shell. Thank you for your strength and endurance through it all.
Finally, thank you for readiness and eagerness to learn. Your success in the last few months is nothing less than amazing. I'll never forget when I realized you were saying ma-ma with meaning and not just babbling. There was always a fear that you may never say a single word. Now you know quite a few words and can say a handful of them, you want to play with people and you ask for help. You have come so far, I look forward to the successes you'll have in the next year. You are truly an inspiration and you motivate me to want to help all of those affected by autism. Thank you for your determination and perseverance.
I walk because I will never give up! I want you to know that I will fight like I have never fought for anything in my life, to help you. I will not allow you become a statistic, I will not allow society to generate a path for you based on your diagnosis, and I will not allow anyone into our lives that does not have an open mind in regards to your potential. I accept you today just the same as I will accept you five years from now. I love you the same regardless of the future or the past. You are amazing and you deserve every opportunity. I will make sure you get it. I love you so much baby boy, I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
Thank you for your love and inspiration!
Hugs and kisses,
Mommy
6/19/08
Unfortunately Steve hasn 't had time to get to the video yet so nothing new to show you, it will be worth the wait though to hear him say I love you! Anyway, that day we shot that video, Tyler was beside himself. It was strange because although he has good days and bad days, this day in paticular he was fine up until the time the video began and his disposition changed so quickly. I wondered that day if somehow he had somehow got a hold of something that wasn't GFCF or maybe he was getting sick. In the video, you hear me say how his eyes are runny and he doesn't look well. Carrie thought maybe he was exhibiting/understanding human behavior and just acting like a typical 2 year old and becoming testy. We realized last night that he had indeed ate something that wasn't GFCF. I was at our local deli yesterday and buying some lunch meat (which carries a brand that is acceptable for Tyler) and when I started reading the ingredients/labels I realized that the salami was not GFCF but that Steve had bought it a few weeks back and since Tyler loves salami we had given it to him for a snack a few times. We narrowed down the dates and realized what had happend. A good tip for us to always always always read labels before trying anything new regardless of whether or not it's included on a GFCF list! Sorry little buddy.
As for any progress we've made recently, we are trying to teach Tyler patience. the boys often fight when it's time to wash hands, Ben doesn't want to wash his hands so we struggle to get himt o do it and Tyler never wants to stop or wait his turn if Ben is washing his hands. We followed Carrie's advice and pulled over a chair for Ty ler to sit in while he waited patiently for his brother. Luckily Steve and I were both home because it took both of us to accomplish this. I worked with Ben on washing his hands and Steve worked with Tyler on sitting in the chair and waiting patiently. We gave LOTS OF PRAISE to both boys for washing hands and waiting patiently.
We are going to continue to work on this type of thing with Tyler because getting him to hold still for longer than a few seconds w/o having something to occupy him is nearly impossible. For example, we were no a walk last night and some neighbors and kids came over to see Clifford, we stopped to talk to them. Most kids, including Ben, woudl be interested in the new people and kids but Tyler however just wants to keep walking his route and doesn't understand why we are stopping and gets fussy when we do, so it's literally a work in progress trying to keep him entertained and happy, i.e. lifting up and down into the hair, praising for holding still, etc. We really can't ever carry on a conversation with anyone outside because Tyler doesn't stop moving so we are constantly chasing him. We had neighbors invite us into their backyard a few weeks ago and same situation. other parents were sitting at the patio table chatting and watching their kids play with the sandbox and in the house and I was chasing Tyler around the yard while Steve was talking to one of the parents. So we are going to slowly and repeatedly expose Tyler to outdoor situations where he has to stay in one area, Carrie is going to help me work on this. we'll put in supports i.e. favorite toys at first and then slowly fade out those supports. In general, this is how we'll approach everything we do with Tyler.
Today was our first day at the playground/playgroup. I had invited Carrie along so we could count this as one of our "community vists" as required by the study and she could help show me ways to work with Tyler in this community location. She's going to help me build an agenda for the playground which will switch between preferred and non-preferred activities. He loved tic-tac-toe but wasn' t so fond of the sand box so we'll build an itinerary based on what we observed today.
Tyler did try to pull one over on me the other day. We require him to throw away his diaper after diaper change, there is a receptacle near our diaper changing area. He walks over and puts it in normally. however, during diaper change on Tuesday (during video session) he was frustrated at me (can't remember why) so when it came time to throw away his diaper, he went over to the bin and threw the diaper behind the bin instead of in the bin. I was pretty sure he had done it on purpose so when he turned around I said... YOU TURKEY, I nkow you did that on purpose and he had the biggest smile on his face. I knew I had caught him and what was better.. I was happy he not only thought to do that but also then laughed when I called him out. He's really come so far.. this social exchange may have never happend 6 months ago. we could barely get him to look at us 6 months ago!
As for any progress we've made recently, we are trying to teach Tyler patience. the boys often fight when it's time to wash hands, Ben doesn't want to wash his hands so we struggle to get himt o do it and Tyler never wants to stop or wait his turn if Ben is washing his hands. We followed Carrie's advice and pulled over a chair for Ty ler to sit in while he waited patiently for his brother. Luckily Steve and I were both home because it took both of us to accomplish this. I worked with Ben on washing his hands and Steve worked with Tyler on sitting in the chair and waiting patiently. We gave LOTS OF PRAISE to both boys for washing hands and waiting patiently.
We are going to continue to work on this type of thing with Tyler because getting him to hold still for longer than a few seconds w/o having something to occupy him is nearly impossible. For example, we were no a walk last night and some neighbors and kids came over to see Clifford, we stopped to talk to them. Most kids, including Ben, woudl be interested in the new people and kids but Tyler however just wants to keep walking his route and doesn't understand why we are stopping and gets fussy when we do, so it's literally a work in progress trying to keep him entertained and happy, i.e. lifting up and down into the hair, praising for holding still, etc. We really can't ever carry on a conversation with anyone outside because Tyler doesn't stop moving so we are constantly chasing him. We had neighbors invite us into their backyard a few weeks ago and same situation. other parents were sitting at the patio table chatting and watching their kids play with the sandbox and in the house and I was chasing Tyler around the yard while Steve was talking to one of the parents. So we are going to slowly and repeatedly expose Tyler to outdoor situations where he has to stay in one area, Carrie is going to help me work on this. we'll put in supports i.e. favorite toys at first and then slowly fade out those supports. In general, this is how we'll approach everything we do with Tyler.
Today was our first day at the playground/playgroup. I had invited Carrie along so we could count this as one of our "community vists" as required by the study and she could help show me ways to work with Tyler in this community location. She's going to help me build an agenda for the playground which will switch between preferred and non-preferred activities. He loved tic-tac-toe but wasn' t so fond of the sand box so we'll build an itinerary based on what we observed today.
Tyler did try to pull one over on me the other day. We require him to throw away his diaper after diaper change, there is a receptacle near our diaper changing area. He walks over and puts it in normally. however, during diaper change on Tuesday (during video session) he was frustrated at me (can't remember why) so when it came time to throw away his diaper, he went over to the bin and threw the diaper behind the bin instead of in the bin. I was pretty sure he had done it on purpose so when he turned around I said... YOU TURKEY, I nkow you did that on purpose and he had the biggest smile on his face. I knew I had caught him and what was better.. I was happy he not only thought to do that but also then laughed when I called him out. He's really come so far.. this social exchange may have never happend 6 months ago. we could barely get him to look at us 6 months ago!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
061808
I don't know if anyone has noticed or not but as of last night, I'm currently the top fundraiser for the SE Michigan Autism Speaks Walk for Autism, yeah! Thank you to all the donators so far, I'm really excited about this years walk. They are going to have all sorts of activities for kids and the family so it should be a great time for everyone.
Starting in August, Tylers schedule will change. We no longer be having Carrie come to our house and instead Tyler will be participating in weekly play groups at UMACC. I'll be attending a parent education class once a month. In addition to the services he already receives from the school district, I"ll also continue to stay home an additional morning each week to work with Tyler on the things we've learned so far and to continue to implement new routines to increase Tyler's independence and communication skills. He's doing so well, we want to make sure to keep everything moving forward.
Starting in August, Tylers schedule will change. We no longer be having Carrie come to our house and instead Tyler will be participating in weekly play groups at UMACC. I'll be attending a parent education class once a month. In addition to the services he already receives from the school district, I"ll also continue to stay home an additional morning each week to work with Tyler on the things we've learned so far and to continue to implement new routines to increase Tyler's independence and communication skills. He's doing so well, we want to make sure to keep everything moving forward.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
6/17/08
We now have video of Tyler saying "I love you" but it's too big to upload :( I'm going to see if Steve can use his laptop to cut it down in size so we can try again. So hopefully soon, sorry for the delay but it will be worth it. Although it's not 100% articulated, Carrie told me today that someone walked into the media room when Caitlyn was copying the video and they said, "did he just say I love you", ha! So a total stranger that does not know me or Tyler figured out what he said, yeah!
Things are going well though. We had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend with Grandma. We went to a water park on Sunday. Tyler did get a little stimmy on the water fountain area and we struggled a bit to get him away from it. I used all the techniques I've learned but wasn't having much success. After speaking with Carrie today she mentioned since it's "novel" i.e. it's the first time he's been there this year, we may have to just let the excitement wear off, trouble is, his hands start turning blue from being in the cold water. So she suggested next time that we have more of an itinerary and to let TYler nkwo the plan in advance and remind him each step of the way. We'll try this next time. How many families have an intinerary when they go to a water park..... Everywhere we go has to be a planned event in order for it to be a success.
We also went to an open house this weekend. Luckily it was at daycare so it was a familiar environmetn for Tyler, and they had an inflatable which both the boys love. Tyler did very well with teh other kids in the inflatable. He did get frustrated and cuddly a few times but overall he tolerated it well. WE were even able to get him to eat a little (thanks Karen for making TYler's special food and giving him a special chair). Ben of course loved the cake and tried M&M's for the first time and didn't like them. We realized this weekend that he had never had chocolate before. In fact, the only candy he's had are jelly beans and he had one twizzler on halloween so I was happy to see him spit out that M&M, however, there was no way he was gonna put down that piece of cake until it was gone. Grandma watched the boys for us on Saturday night, thanks Grandma!
Tyler did well in today's session. He's really doing well at meal time without supports and for the most part feeding himself. he's also really wanting to get involved in more group activites, i.e. reading, etc. he even brought me over to his piano today which is shocking becuase he doesn't need me at all to work the piano and it has lights and music (becoming rare in our house) and he still wanted me to look at it with him and he even let me touch it a few times.
As for goals, I currently only have 3 goals because we are gonig through them so fast, Carrie wants to make sure to space them out until the end of the study to make sure we don't run out. yeah mom! Tyler is doing very well with his goals as well. He's been really really talkative lately, we feel he's on the verge of saying so much.
We have somenoe coming over once a week to give Clifford some extra attentino, he's feeling left out lately and we may have one of Steve's coworkers take him for a weekend here and there as well.
Hopefully we'll have the video up soon, it's so great!
Things are going well though. We had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend with Grandma. We went to a water park on Sunday. Tyler did get a little stimmy on the water fountain area and we struggled a bit to get him away from it. I used all the techniques I've learned but wasn't having much success. After speaking with Carrie today she mentioned since it's "novel" i.e. it's the first time he's been there this year, we may have to just let the excitement wear off, trouble is, his hands start turning blue from being in the cold water. So she suggested next time that we have more of an itinerary and to let TYler nkwo the plan in advance and remind him each step of the way. We'll try this next time. How many families have an intinerary when they go to a water park..... Everywhere we go has to be a planned event in order for it to be a success.
We also went to an open house this weekend. Luckily it was at daycare so it was a familiar environmetn for Tyler, and they had an inflatable which both the boys love. Tyler did very well with teh other kids in the inflatable. He did get frustrated and cuddly a few times but overall he tolerated it well. WE were even able to get him to eat a little (thanks Karen for making TYler's special food and giving him a special chair). Ben of course loved the cake and tried M&M's for the first time and didn't like them. We realized this weekend that he had never had chocolate before. In fact, the only candy he's had are jelly beans and he had one twizzler on halloween so I was happy to see him spit out that M&M, however, there was no way he was gonna put down that piece of cake until it was gone. Grandma watched the boys for us on Saturday night, thanks Grandma!
Tyler did well in today's session. He's really doing well at meal time without supports and for the most part feeding himself. he's also really wanting to get involved in more group activites, i.e. reading, etc. he even brought me over to his piano today which is shocking becuase he doesn't need me at all to work the piano and it has lights and music (becoming rare in our house) and he still wanted me to look at it with him and he even let me touch it a few times.
As for goals, I currently only have 3 goals because we are gonig through them so fast, Carrie wants to make sure to space them out until the end of the study to make sure we don't run out. yeah mom! Tyler is doing very well with his goals as well. He's been really really talkative lately, we feel he's on the verge of saying so much.
We have somenoe coming over once a week to give Clifford some extra attentino, he's feeling left out lately and we may have one of Steve's coworkers take him for a weekend here and there as well.
Hopefully we'll have the video up soon, it's so great!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
6/11/08
Thank you to everyone who attending the presentation that Carrie gave to family regarding Tyler's progress over the past few months and other autism facts. It was nice for me to reflect back to how he was at the beginning of the study and how he was now. Carrie also confirmed at the presentation that Tyler did indeed say "I love you" on the parent fidelity video a few weeks ago so she's going to get me a clip of that as soon as she can so I can share it all with you, amazing :)
Tuesdays session with Carrie went great. Tyler was really working hard. He did great at snack time. He was feeding himself, stayign regulating and didn't require any supports. He also did very well during book time and feeding the baby (pretend play). His point is really coming together. He's signing "open" with very little hand over hand assistance. In fact I just grab his arms and then his hands make the open sign. He's also pretty consistently saying "uh-oh".
We got the results back from his urine test, FINALLY! The results showed a higher than normal level of yeast and a higher than normal level of a certain type of bacteria. We'll be meeting with the DAN doctor soon to discuss what supplements we need to add to his diet as a result of these results.
Tuesdays session with Carrie went great. Tyler was really working hard. He did great at snack time. He was feeding himself, stayign regulating and didn't require any supports. He also did very well during book time and feeding the baby (pretend play). His point is really coming together. He's signing "open" with very little hand over hand assistance. In fact I just grab his arms and then his hands make the open sign. He's also pretty consistently saying "uh-oh".
We got the results back from his urine test, FINALLY! The results showed a higher than normal level of yeast and a higher than normal level of a certain type of bacteria. We'll be meeting with the DAN doctor soon to discuss what supplements we need to add to his diet as a result of these results.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
6/4/08
Tyler had his monthly assessment at U of M today. They take data from these assessments for purposes of the study to evaluate Tyler's progress. According to Dad, Tyler showed off some of his new skills such as pointing. Tomorrow begins our first "community" visit so Carrie is joining Tyler and I at playgroup to help show me ways to get Tyler more socially involved in the group. Next week Thursday, Ben will be home to so we are going to use that as our community visit. Tyler and I have some new goals about him interacting with his peers so having Ben hoem while daycare is no vacation will be a great help at working towards are new goals.
Over the past few days I've read some really light hearted stories regarding autism. One was a video on You Tube where a boy with autism graduated from hich school and during the ceremony, he received a standing ovation. His mother said the class has embraced him from the time he started school. Another one was a story of a girl who won homecoming queen at her school, she got 95% of the vote and was very happy. I know i sometimes send the sad stories so I wanted to send the happy ones as well.
In light of our upcoming family event regardign Tyler, I thought you'd all enjoy this story/picture. Every child with autism is different, but this little boy and this story reminds me so much of Tyler. It's such a beautiful picture.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/ownwords/intheirownwords_picture_words.php
We are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.
Over the past few days I've read some really light hearted stories regarding autism. One was a video on You Tube where a boy with autism graduated from hich school and during the ceremony, he received a standing ovation. His mother said the class has embraced him from the time he started school. Another one was a story of a girl who won homecoming queen at her school, she got 95% of the vote and was very happy. I know i sometimes send the sad stories so I wanted to send the happy ones as well.
In light of our upcoming family event regardign Tyler, I thought you'd all enjoy this story/picture. Every child with autism is different, but this little boy and this story reminds me so much of Tyler. It's such a beautiful picture.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/ownwords/intheirownwords_picture_words.php
We are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
6/3/08
First I want to say thanks to all of you who followed the Chevy link, it worked, see below:
NEW YORK, NY (June 3, 2008) – Autism Speaks and Chevrolet today announced that the Help Chevy Help Autism campaign, held during Autism Awareness Month in April, resulted in Chevy meeting its fundraising goal of donating $1 million to support the work of the nation's largest autism advocacy organization.During the Help Chevy Help Autism promotion, more than 58,000 visitors to autismspeaks.org and chevy.com took a free virtual test drive of the all-new Chevy Malibu, the 2008 North American Car of the Year. Those who participated in the virtual test drive were offered a free 30-day online trial of XM Satellite Radio. Chevrolet committed to a minimum contribution of $500,000, but every virtual test drive taken got Chevrolet closer to its goal of donating up to $1 million to Autism Speaks to support its mission of increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research.
NEW YORK, NY (June 3, 2008) – Autism Speaks and Chevrolet today announced that the Help Chevy Help Autism campaign, held during Autism Awareness Month in April, resulted in Chevy meeting its fundraising goal of donating $1 million to support the work of the nation's largest autism advocacy organization.During the Help Chevy Help Autism promotion, more than 58,000 visitors to autismspeaks.org and chevy.com took a free virtual test drive of the all-new Chevy Malibu, the 2008 North American Car of the Year. Those who participated in the virtual test drive were offered a free 30-day online trial of XM Satellite Radio. Chevrolet committed to a minimum contribution of $500,000, but every virtual test drive taken got Chevrolet closer to its goal of donating up to $1 million to Autism Speaks to support its mission of increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research.
Things are going well in the Cretsinger household. We had a busy weekend this weekend. Grandma came for a visit and mom had a 10k race on Sunday. So Dad and Grandma got a chance to go out to eat and spend some time together on Saturday because mom wanted to stay in and go to bed early to rest up for the big race on Saturday. Thanks Grandma for all your support through the busy weekend!
Tyler is doing an AMAZING job of eating on his own. We also have went a few days w/o having to provide any supports for him during meals/snacks,i.e. usually we keep him occupied with books, cars, etc. while he's eating so that he stays regulated and continues to eat. He's doing so well at not only staying regulated but also feeding himself. He's really been more calm lately recently, we can see it in all areas. At the dinner table obviously, while watchign a video like you saw in the clip, but also after bath time he's just been hanging out in bed with us and he seems very well regulated and calm.
Other than that we are just trying to work on new schedules. The schedule for the study changed this week int hat we now do 1 home visit and 1 community visit. The community visit is a bit tricky for us due to commutes, time restraints, etc. so Carrie and I are working through that best we can. We are also trying to figure out how the new schedule will be when this part of teh study ends and the new part picks up. Lots of coordination going on between school district services, work schedules, study schedules, etc. HOpefully Tyler will take it all in stride.
We are looking forward to family visiting this weekend to learn more about autism and how it specifically relates to Tyler, etc. There will be plenty of time for questions, so please feel free to bring as many questions as you'd like. Thank you Carrie for doing this for us!
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