8/10/09

Really great news clip to watch on a girl with autism. http://abcnews. go.com/2020/ MindMoodNews/ story?id= 8258204&page= 1#atabc

Also a good reminder for us all to remember to talk TO Tyler not about him as if he's not right there. Everyone forgets that he can hear and is aware that you are talking to him, even if he doesn't respond. I sat down at dinner the other night, he was playing with ab book and eating and doing his own thing, Ben was talking away and I sat next to Ben. Then I said, "hi Tyler".. he was not looking at me and then he waved hi. He is listening to us... so please everyone remember that although he cannot talk, he can hear you and is very very smart.

Speaking of being smart, he's starting to get interested in words in his books instead of pictures of objects, letters or #'s. He'll point to words and want you to tell him what they are, I think he's starting to memorize them. We also said "bye bye" to his booster chair finally..and are going back to the basics. Although it's appropriate for him to use utensils independently for his age, he's finally doing really good at touching his food. He'll pick up sticky and messy things and used to have an aversion to any of his food so we are gonna start giving him little bits of food here and there so its not overwhelming and he can get his hands messy. Very good from a sensory standpoint and of course we want to encourage him to feed himself so we felt this was a good move. So finally for the first time in years... there are no infant seats at our table, wahoooo...

Speaking of growing up.. Ben is finally interested in being a big boy and wants to go on the potty. He did pretty good this weekend. Daycare this morning was rough for him but I think he gets playing with the other kids and forgets. When he's home I'm gonna try to keep him in underwear so he can feel when he's going and stop it and then go on potty, this happened a couple of times this weekend. We also say it's time to go potty vs, asking if he needs to go, especially when he's busy playing something he really likes and this seems to help. And of course get really really excited when he goes. We are going to see the dinosaur robots this weekend if all goes well.

Ok back to Ty.. so far we've noticed the following negative things from the new supplements/medication: insomnia (nothing major), loose stools, and increased headbanging. The positive things.. he's so super chatty, happy, involved and not chewing as much. He's not napping at all but is just worn out by dinner time so he goes to bed shortly after dinner which is ok if we are home (hard to go anywhere after work that's for sure) and it also allows us to have some on on one time with Ben.

Camp is going really well. They send a newsletter home on Friday's with pictures, so cute. At the end of camp they are gonna give us a cd of pics so I'll post them at that time. Ty did really good eating today, had cantaloupe, I haven't been able to get him to eat this before. He is having a Little bit of trouble transitioning but in general is doing well at all activities. He's playing well with the aides and even some other kids and participates in the sit down activities which is great. My meeting with the new speech therapist is the week after next and I'm super excited to get that moving forward.

Still really happy with the fact that we changed DAN doctors... he sends out weekly informative emails about upcoming sessions, etc. and also sends out information on nutrition and I just feel like he really cares about autism, adhd, etc. even if he doesn't know each individual kid, you can tell he has a passion for what he does and is dedicated to helping everyone feel better and lead healthier lives.