Today was Monkey's first day of preschool and also the first day with his new speech therapist, so naturally, he is now jumping up and down and playing and I am utterly exhausted. I explained the Monkey what we would be doing today, each step of getting ready, where we were going, etc. Everything went smoothly this morning as I prepared my son and myself for the first day of preschool and my husband prepared himself to head off to his new job for some last minute preparations before he starts teaching again tomorrow. Then it was off to the school. I had no idea where the school was, so I'd printed off directions and it's a good thing I did because even though I could presumably walk to the school, it's off the main roads and there are no signs to tell you that you are even close to a school until you are right next to it (where there is a school speed zone).
Monkey and I walked into the school fifteen minutes before his class started, which proved to be far too early. There were other parents waiting outside of the classroom, but Monkey didn't want to wait in the hallway. To him, the hallway was too small and there were far too many people in it for his liking. If I had been the only person who brought their child that early for the class, my son would have been fine because no one else would have been in the hallway. However, that was not the case. He screamed several times and told me, "no" a lot. I tried to comfort him using everything I could think of from OT. I used the brushing protocol, tried deep pressure, held him until my arms felt like they would fall off, and turned him upside down several times. I tried to explain to him that the other kids were scared, too, but that it would be okay, but nothing seemed to help until it was time for class and the hallway began to clear. There were just too many people for him. Monkey and I finally walked into the classroom last. His teachers were really nice and they could tell how stressed I was as I hopelessly watched my son have one of his worst meltdowns. He laid in the floor on the group rug, sucking his thump, pulling his ear until it was red, crying and screaming, "no" at anyone who touched or talked to him. This lasted for a while, but the teacher continued with the days activities, holding Monkey as she taught and doing anything she could to help keep him clam.
Then it was time for the kids to go to lunch. Monkey is in the afternoon preschool class, which is 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. I didn't know that lunch was the second thing on the agenda, so I'd given Monkey some food before he went to school. As I followed the class to the cafeteria, I talked to the schools speech pathologist while Monkey's teacher carried him up the stairs (he's afraid of stairs, which I told the speech pathologist and was later told by his teacher that he was shaking as she carried him). His teacher took him through the line, shouting out the question, "Does he want yogurt or pizza?" as she went through the door. "Yogurt, I yelled back." I knew if he was hungry at all, he'd eat yogurt, but probably wouldn't touch pizza today. I continued to talk to the speech pathologist through most of lunch, explaining all the progress that Monkey has made over the summer and what he still needs to work on, how to calm him and the different approaches to language that we are using, including PECS and ASL. By this time, Monkey had calmed down sufficiently.
After lunch, which Monkey's teacher had to feed to him because he has trouble using a spoon, but not a fork (which I will mention to her tomorrow), we went back to the classroom for what the teachers call "centers" which means the entire class gets to choose which activity they would like to do. Monkey was fascinated by the fish and continually pushed other children who attempted to get near the aquarium. He even pinched a girl at one point and the girl was pretty big. She looked like she was going to punch him for pinching her. It wasn't long, though before he found the sensory table, which was basically a plastic box that was filled with sand and had paddles for the kids to shovel the sand with. At that table, he even shared space with another kid as well as shared the paddles and before I knew it, it was time to take Monkey to speech therapy. (I'm currently working with his school to get therapy at the school, but in the meantime, have to take him out of school early two days a week. The great thing, though is that at the beginning of the day, I thought I might have to be with Monkey in the classroom well into next week, but by the end of the day, I felt like being out of the classroom by Thursday would be good.
I was glad that Monkey and left early because the parking lot wasn't yet very busy with parents lining up to pick up their kids and teachers and administrators coming and going. Monkey and I go to therapy right on time and were not waiting long before his new speech therapist came into the room to take my son. I decided to be in the room with him for the first couple of sessions, since this was a new person, but he did so well that I decided that it would be safe to be outside of the room at his next appointment. We are almost to the point where I stay in the waiting room while he goes off with his ST and OT without crying or having a meltdown. And then, I did something that I shouldn't have. I forgot to get Monkey's excuse for missing school along with filling out the medical release form for the school. My husband called me before I was too far away, which reminded me, so I went back, even though I knew that Monkey would not be happy about walking back into the building and doing something different than normal. Normally, I sign him in and then lead him to the kid's waiting room, which is enclosed and I am thankful for that. He was very patient while I filled out the papers and made my requests for an extended excuse from school on his therapy days, but then when I told him to follow me to the restroom, he refused to come. I had to pick him up and carry him. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it home without using their facilities. Then, while trying to get him to leave the restroom, he refused again, which always means a screaming fit and occasionally a meltdown. To avoid the worst, I picked up Monkey and put him on my shoulders and he was fine again once we were in the car and he knew that we were now really going home. Now that we've been home for several hours, Monkey has been extremely calm, almost as if the beginning of the day didn't happen at all. It makes me wonder if he wonders if it was all just a dream.
And what a way to end the day: As I was writing this entry I was informed by some of my online classmates that my homework that I posted yesterday was gone. And I didn't save it anywhere. So, I freaked out a little, especially since for some reason I couldn't open the syllabus to access the professors contact information and had to restart the computer. Luckily, someone is looking out for me though, because after my brief meltdown, I was able to find the professor's number and explain the situation that had just occurred, which was fixed with in a few minutes of my call. Apparently, the thread was down. I'm not sure how only a thread goes down, but that's what happened according to my university's IT department. Needless to say, I copied and pasted my work into a word document and saved it this time and I won't be making the mistake of not saving major posts again. So, now it's 9:00 p.m. here and only an hour before bedtime and then tomorrow, I'll do it all again, but hopefully with a little more sleep (I only got 5 hours last night because I was worrying about Monkey going to school most of the night and morning).
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Big Changes Ahead
Well, today was Monkey's last day with his current ST. She's been wonderful, but is moving on to a new job and so next week, Monkey will be seeing a new ST. Today he awarded his ST with a bounty of language. He said, "moo, cow, oink, quack," along with so many words that his ST actually wrote them on a piece of paper. Since she's been so successful in getting our son to begin talking and this was her last day seeing him, we've invited her to Monkey's birthday party, which is in a week and half. Monkey will be turning four.
After speech, it was again time for OT and today, I decided to spend most of the time outside of the room while his OT did what she does. I've been told that it is better for Monkey to spend a bit of time away from his parents so that he will be more prepared for preschool, which starts on Monday!!!
I'm still anxious about sending Monkey to preschool and it has been suggested that I ask for permission to sit in on his class for the first few days to help him ease into the transition. I've also talked to his teacher to set up a home visit before school begins. (We'll be seeing her on Friday.) As I was talking to her, the topic of Monkey's therapy came up because she suggested we meet on Wednesday afternoon (therapy day), so I told her that Monkey is in therapy at that time, so a different day would be better. Then she asked what kind of therapy, so I told her and then mentioned that Monkey was recently diagnosed with Autism and low and behold, she said that she would talk to the special education coordinator at the school and get Monkey set up with ST and OT at the school and get things taken care of, so no more of this "he can't get what he needs here" nonsense that the local Board of Education gave me when I went to drop off his diagnosis papers.
So, on Friday, maybe we can get some things straightened out so that Monkey is still getting what he needs without having to miss a lot of school just to go to therapy, which is what the Board of Education suggested that I do and can be done if necessary since preschool isn't required in our state. However, I do know that because of the American's with Disabilities Act, Monkey will qualify for additional things like ST and OT from the school. I just have to fight for it, which I know almost defeats the purpose of the ADA. It's really frustrating, but if that's what it takes, it's what I'm willing to do.
After speech, it was again time for OT and today, I decided to spend most of the time outside of the room while his OT did what she does. I've been told that it is better for Monkey to spend a bit of time away from his parents so that he will be more prepared for preschool, which starts on Monday!!!
I'm still anxious about sending Monkey to preschool and it has been suggested that I ask for permission to sit in on his class for the first few days to help him ease into the transition. I've also talked to his teacher to set up a home visit before school begins. (We'll be seeing her on Friday.) As I was talking to her, the topic of Monkey's therapy came up because she suggested we meet on Wednesday afternoon (therapy day), so I told her that Monkey is in therapy at that time, so a different day would be better. Then she asked what kind of therapy, so I told her and then mentioned that Monkey was recently diagnosed with Autism and low and behold, she said that she would talk to the special education coordinator at the school and get Monkey set up with ST and OT at the school and get things taken care of, so no more of this "he can't get what he needs here" nonsense that the local Board of Education gave me when I went to drop off his diagnosis papers.
So, on Friday, maybe we can get some things straightened out so that Monkey is still getting what he needs without having to miss a lot of school just to go to therapy, which is what the Board of Education suggested that I do and can be done if necessary since preschool isn't required in our state. However, I do know that because of the American's with Disabilities Act, Monkey will qualify for additional things like ST and OT from the school. I just have to fight for it, which I know almost defeats the purpose of the ADA. It's really frustrating, but if that's what it takes, it's what I'm willing to do.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Mommy's Long Day
This morning, I woke up with a migraine and thinking that I wish more people knew and understood the importance of sign language outside of the deaf community. Not only is it useful to people who interact on a daily basis with the deaf, but it is also a useful communication tool for some children with Autism who respond well to signs, which in many cases leads to verbal communication. That was at 7:28 a.m. right before my alarm went off this morning to tell me it was time to head off to my local Social Security office to see if Monkey qualifies for SSI. Leaving Monkey and his daddy in bed, since I knew Monkey had therapy later today, I headed off by myself only to find that arriving 30 minutes early meant waiting outside the office for fifteen minutes because the office doesn't open it's doors until 9 a.m. As I waited in line I told the person in front of me that if I'd known I wouldn't be able to enter until 9 a.m, I would have slept a little longer.They, in turn, informed me that the line would be much longer once the doors opened, but the line wasn't longer. As, I spoke to two people in front of me, they asked why I was there. "For disability?" they suggested. "Well, for my son. He has Autism," I told them. One of them then said, "Oh, I had a cousin who used to have Autism." I told him, "The diagnosis doesn't go away. It's just that with help, the symptoms can become lessened." Then the man asked me, "So, does he talk too fast?" "No, he doesn't talk much at all," I told him. I feel as if every day I am reminded that people are still very uneducated about ASD and how it affects those who have it. After taking my ticket at the office, I sat waiting for 15 more minutes until my appointment time at 9:15 a.m. and began to realize that I probably could have arrived 5 minutes before my appointment and still been called back at 9:15 and not a minute before or after. Finally, I was called back only to find out that this month, my school refund check counts against our income and Monkey's eligibility. It doesn't matter to the SS office that that is money for school and I only get that money every six months. They qualify that as income, but it won't count against us next month, the woman assured me. This was a bit annoying because the money I get for going to school isn't income. It's a loan, which I have to eventually pay back. And other than this, we have no other means of income until my husband begins getting paid for his new job. He won't see his first pay check until some time in September. So, I went home wondering if it was even worth a trip back next month.
A little while later it was time to get my husband and son up and start getting them ready to go off to ST and OT. My husband gave my son a bath (my son almost climbed into the tub with all of his clothes on, he was so excited about bath time) and then I gave my son something to eat. Then I realized that I needed to go get some cash from the bank so that we could buy a surgical brush for the Wilbarger Protocol (which is explained here: http://www.thetherapyplace.net/newsletter/3_2.htm) for my son while we were at therapy today. I went off to the bank and withdrew $3, feeling silly doing so, but knowing that it was necessary. The surgical brush would only cost $2, but I wanted to account for any sales tax if any would be added. Once I got back from the bank it was time to go off to therapy. I was glad that this time I would be going along because last week ended up being such a disaster in my absence. (I had another appointment at the same time that couldn't be changed and Monkey already wasn't feel well, so he was so uncooperative once he got there that both his therapists suggested that my husband take him home and bring him back this week if he was feeling better.) We arrived and went into the play room where my son immediately went to play with Lego blocks while we spoke to another parent who will also be working with my husband this semester. At some point, my husband realized that he'd forgotten his wallet, so he left to go retrieve it and go to the grocery to pick up a couple of things and then Monkey's speech therapist showed up to take him back.
She was really glad that my son was feeling better, but once we got back into the little room, she informed me that she has taken another job, so Monkey will only have one more appointment with her before she leaves. I understand her need to make this decision, however, I know that we are going to miss having her in my son's life. She plans on exchanging emails and keeping in touch. She also informed me that she does not want my son to have to wait for another ST, so she attempted to get me a new one right away. The upside is that the new ST has a lot more experience with Autistic children. After this big bombshell, I left my son in the room, so that therapy could take place and things sounded like they were going really well. I still sit outside of the room so that I can hear how my son is doing. When his ST came out of the room, she was amazed at how wonderfully my son had done. He had said several words including cat and some other words I can't recall now. I also asked his ST whether or not it would be useful to buy a PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) binder. If you are a fan of the show House and watched the episode about the autistic child who had worms and saw squiggly lines, then you've seen such a binder in action. They look like this: http://www.difflearn.com/category/picture_communication. She assured me that this would definitely benefit Monkey and I have intentions of either buying or making one of my own, though making one is a lot more difficult than just buying the binder and making the pictures to go inside.
Then it was time for OT, which is almost always a difficult time because we usually have to wait for several people to clear out of the room that we use and then have to walk through said people to get into the room. This always puts my son in a bad mood and I don't blame him since it bothers me to go through that many people as well. Though my son was fairly uncooperative in OT today, it was still quite interesting since my son decided to grab a peanut ball, which looks like this: http://avonshop.co.uk/shop/Assets/images/prod/prod_1046110.jpg and say, "Gimme that!" I know I heard him correctly because his OT responded with, "Hey now, that's not very nice." A few minutes later, while she was attempting to get him to color with finger crayons, (he wanted two of them; one for each hand so that he could visually stimulate himself) he said, "Gimme that," again several times, crying when he didn't get what he wanted. I was really glad that he was talking, but not very pleased with him being mean. I'm extremely happy that the talking has begun to emerge, but now it is also time to teach my son to be polite and use nice words. Before we left, we also informed Monkey's ST about what he'd said during OT. She was thrilled with Monkey's progress and seemed genuinely sad that she wouldn't get to see him every week anymore. Then we paid for Monkey's surgical brush and left.
After we got home, I had to take a nap to attempt to get rid of the migraine. It's still not completely gone, but I am feeling better than I was before and upon waking, my son was playing with a blue marker and I was able to get him to say, "blue." So, it's been another great day for verbalization and I am so happy about that. This makes me glad that my son will be starting preschool soon, but being a mom, I'm still dreading sending Monkey off to school because of how much I'll miss him during those hours. Preschool is only three hours a day, but just like any mom, I'll still be dreading those first days of school.
A little while later it was time to get my husband and son up and start getting them ready to go off to ST and OT. My husband gave my son a bath (my son almost climbed into the tub with all of his clothes on, he was so excited about bath time) and then I gave my son something to eat. Then I realized that I needed to go get some cash from the bank so that we could buy a surgical brush for the Wilbarger Protocol (which is explained here: http://www.thetherapyplace.net/newsletter/3_2.htm) for my son while we were at therapy today. I went off to the bank and withdrew $3, feeling silly doing so, but knowing that it was necessary. The surgical brush would only cost $2, but I wanted to account for any sales tax if any would be added. Once I got back from the bank it was time to go off to therapy. I was glad that this time I would be going along because last week ended up being such a disaster in my absence. (I had another appointment at the same time that couldn't be changed and Monkey already wasn't feel well, so he was so uncooperative once he got there that both his therapists suggested that my husband take him home and bring him back this week if he was feeling better.) We arrived and went into the play room where my son immediately went to play with Lego blocks while we spoke to another parent who will also be working with my husband this semester. At some point, my husband realized that he'd forgotten his wallet, so he left to go retrieve it and go to the grocery to pick up a couple of things and then Monkey's speech therapist showed up to take him back.
She was really glad that my son was feeling better, but once we got back into the little room, she informed me that she has taken another job, so Monkey will only have one more appointment with her before she leaves. I understand her need to make this decision, however, I know that we are going to miss having her in my son's life. She plans on exchanging emails and keeping in touch. She also informed me that she does not want my son to have to wait for another ST, so she attempted to get me a new one right away. The upside is that the new ST has a lot more experience with Autistic children. After this big bombshell, I left my son in the room, so that therapy could take place and things sounded like they were going really well. I still sit outside of the room so that I can hear how my son is doing. When his ST came out of the room, she was amazed at how wonderfully my son had done. He had said several words including cat and some other words I can't recall now. I also asked his ST whether or not it would be useful to buy a PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) binder. If you are a fan of the show House and watched the episode about the autistic child who had worms and saw squiggly lines, then you've seen such a binder in action. They look like this: http://www.difflearn.com/category/picture_communication. She assured me that this would definitely benefit Monkey and I have intentions of either buying or making one of my own, though making one is a lot more difficult than just buying the binder and making the pictures to go inside.
Then it was time for OT, which is almost always a difficult time because we usually have to wait for several people to clear out of the room that we use and then have to walk through said people to get into the room. This always puts my son in a bad mood and I don't blame him since it bothers me to go through that many people as well. Though my son was fairly uncooperative in OT today, it was still quite interesting since my son decided to grab a peanut ball, which looks like this: http://avonshop.co.uk/shop/Assets/images/prod/prod_1046110.jpg and say, "Gimme that!" I know I heard him correctly because his OT responded with, "Hey now, that's not very nice." A few minutes later, while she was attempting to get him to color with finger crayons, (he wanted two of them; one for each hand so that he could visually stimulate himself) he said, "Gimme that," again several times, crying when he didn't get what he wanted. I was really glad that he was talking, but not very pleased with him being mean. I'm extremely happy that the talking has begun to emerge, but now it is also time to teach my son to be polite and use nice words. Before we left, we also informed Monkey's ST about what he'd said during OT. She was thrilled with Monkey's progress and seemed genuinely sad that she wouldn't get to see him every week anymore. Then we paid for Monkey's surgical brush and left.
After we got home, I had to take a nap to attempt to get rid of the migraine. It's still not completely gone, but I am feeling better than I was before and upon waking, my son was playing with a blue marker and I was able to get him to say, "blue." So, it's been another great day for verbalization and I am so happy about that. This makes me glad that my son will be starting preschool soon, but being a mom, I'm still dreading sending Monkey off to school because of how much I'll miss him during those hours. Preschool is only three hours a day, but just like any mom, I'll still be dreading those first days of school.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
A Day Away
Today was a very interesting day for Monkey. First of all, he woke up at 6:50 a.m. screaming so loudly that it woke up my husband. I'd put him to bed early, but I could hear him playing in his room until I went to sleep at 11:00 p.m., so it was unusual for Monkey to wake up before 10:00 a.m. Here's the problem: Monkey likes to suck his right thumb, but I noticed a sore on it the other day and have kept it bandaged to keep it from getting infected. He won't suck his thumb with the bandage on it and is not at all convinced that he has another thumb. He'd also been constipated from the potty party and he's cutting his four year molars, so he's been pretty difficult lately.
Now, today my husband starting training for his new teaching job, so he was going to be in the next town over where a friend of mine lives, so my friend and I made plans to hang out for the day. She needed to borrow a drill to hang up a shelf and I happen to have one. So, this morning, my husband and I decided to go to the next town together, but because our son was being pretty difficult when it was time to leave, I told my husband to go on and I would handle taking care of our son, so my husband left. Once I finally got my son calm enough, I decided it would be safe to go, put him in the car along with tools to hang the shelf and all of the things my son and I would need for the day and headed to my friend's house. Naturally, I took the wrong exit and got lost, but was easily directed to the correct location. Then once we'd gone to get some food and were back and settled in for the day, my son continued to be difficult until I finally gave him some medicine for his pain and he went to sleep on the couch. He slept for a few hours, but I was glad because I knew he didn't sleep well last night. So the real fun didn't happen until he woke up.
After my son woke up, he started being quite vocal. At one point, he held out a water bottle and said, "More." Then, later, he was trying to open a box, but couldn't get it open, so he said, "Open it!" A TWO WORD PHRASE! After that, my husband stopped by once he was finished for the day. Our original plan was to cook out at my friend's house after our husbands were finished at work, but my husband decided that he was too tired and went home. I stayed to help put up the shelf because we'd spent the whole day cleaning. (My friend has a two month old baby and I could see that she was a little swamped and volunteered to help.) After my husband left and once my friend's husband returned, I went to show my friend's husband that we'd cleaned off their back porch. My son followed us outside. When he wanted to come back inside, I was standing in the way, so he said, "Go in there." A THREE WORD PHRASE! After we came back in, we all went up stairs to tend to my friend's baby. (No, it did not take all of us, but we all wanted to be near the baby.) So, my son comes in the baby's room and starts flipping her light switch on and off. He's visually stimulated by this. My friend has two cats and one of them was close enough to the light switch to try and flip the switch with her paw, but son decided that she didn't need to flip the switch, pushed the cat's paw away and said, "No, dummy." ANOTHER TWO WORD PHRASE! I have no idea where he learned the word 'dummy,' but it was hilarious to hear him call a cat dummy. I knew a little later that I had not mistaken what he said because the cat tried to flip the switch once more and when he pushed her that time, she batted my son with her paw and almost scratched him (with no intention to hurt him, though) and he said, "Dummy!" again.
Shortly after this, I decided to leave so that I could get home before dark and now my son has been sitting here next to me watching cartoons and interacting with the TV. All and all, he's been completely productive today and I'm not sure where all of these words came from. I called my mom and told her that maybe we should make him mad more often because it seems as if he's more vocal if he's upset than if he's content. Regardless, I am really glad we had such a productive day today and really hope that this behavior (not the being difficult, but the talking) continues.Then at the end of the day, I found a link to this video in my email and it made my day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34xoYwLNpvw&NR=1.
Now, today my husband starting training for his new teaching job, so he was going to be in the next town over where a friend of mine lives, so my friend and I made plans to hang out for the day. She needed to borrow a drill to hang up a shelf and I happen to have one. So, this morning, my husband and I decided to go to the next town together, but because our son was being pretty difficult when it was time to leave, I told my husband to go on and I would handle taking care of our son, so my husband left. Once I finally got my son calm enough, I decided it would be safe to go, put him in the car along with tools to hang the shelf and all of the things my son and I would need for the day and headed to my friend's house. Naturally, I took the wrong exit and got lost, but was easily directed to the correct location. Then once we'd gone to get some food and were back and settled in for the day, my son continued to be difficult until I finally gave him some medicine for his pain and he went to sleep on the couch. He slept for a few hours, but I was glad because I knew he didn't sleep well last night. So the real fun didn't happen until he woke up.
After my son woke up, he started being quite vocal. At one point, he held out a water bottle and said, "More." Then, later, he was trying to open a box, but couldn't get it open, so he said, "Open it!" A TWO WORD PHRASE! After that, my husband stopped by once he was finished for the day. Our original plan was to cook out at my friend's house after our husbands were finished at work, but my husband decided that he was too tired and went home. I stayed to help put up the shelf because we'd spent the whole day cleaning. (My friend has a two month old baby and I could see that she was a little swamped and volunteered to help.) After my husband left and once my friend's husband returned, I went to show my friend's husband that we'd cleaned off their back porch. My son followed us outside. When he wanted to come back inside, I was standing in the way, so he said, "Go in there." A THREE WORD PHRASE! After we came back in, we all went up stairs to tend to my friend's baby. (No, it did not take all of us, but we all wanted to be near the baby.) So, my son comes in the baby's room and starts flipping her light switch on and off. He's visually stimulated by this. My friend has two cats and one of them was close enough to the light switch to try and flip the switch with her paw, but son decided that she didn't need to flip the switch, pushed the cat's paw away and said, "No, dummy." ANOTHER TWO WORD PHRASE! I have no idea where he learned the word 'dummy,' but it was hilarious to hear him call a cat dummy. I knew a little later that I had not mistaken what he said because the cat tried to flip the switch once more and when he pushed her that time, she batted my son with her paw and almost scratched him (with no intention to hurt him, though) and he said, "Dummy!" again.
Shortly after this, I decided to leave so that I could get home before dark and now my son has been sitting here next to me watching cartoons and interacting with the TV. All and all, he's been completely productive today and I'm not sure where all of these words came from. I called my mom and told her that maybe we should make him mad more often because it seems as if he's more vocal if he's upset than if he's content. Regardless, I am really glad we had such a productive day today and really hope that this behavior (not the being difficult, but the talking) continues.Then at the end of the day, I found a link to this video in my email and it made my day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34xoYwLNpvw&NR=1.
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