tiny update

We had Alden's annual IEP meeting yesterday. Thankfully it went very smoothly & everyone is one the same page. He is really thriving in his new classroom and I really like his teacher. He has been having a lot of fun this year and actually seems to be enjoying school.

He finished his February reading chart in 7 days! I'm really proud to be raising a fellow bookworm!

Not much else going on at the moment, just hanging out watching him watch America's Funniest Home Videos right now (his commentary is SO much funnier than the show itself), while I sit here and read my book.

I can't think of anything clever for the subject this time...

On a complete whim about 2 weeks ago Alden & I decided to give his room a total makeover. The walls are all officially painted and ready for the detailing. I am absolutely exhausted from painting at least 4 coats (two of Kilz, two of paint) every day for the past three days. I am really glad the big part is over and it's all just little stuff from here on out. There is an album on my Facebook full of photos of the project that I've been updating since the idea came to fruition.

Today was Alden's first field trip! Josh & I tagged along as chaperones and had a great time. We went through the corn maze, went on a hay ride, played games, and they played in the corn crib. I'm so thankful that he was moved into the big kid class this year. I realize that he is the baby, everyone else is at least a year older than him (and some of them are three years older than he is) but he is thriving and this is just the environment he needs. They are all rough and tumble and funny and verbal. All things he wasn't getting from the previous class he was in.

He isn't doing Halloween this year, we aren't sure why. He is afraid of it or something and refusing to participate so we're just going along with it. We'll be going out this weekend to celebrate with friends and he'll be hanging out with his grandparents. I'm pretty bummed that he isn't wanting to do anything because Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I don't want to upset him any more than he already is, so I'm not pushing it.

I guess that's about it, now to attempt to get him into bed after a long day that has totally thrown us off schedule.

so tired

Alden is doing absolutely brilliantly. I heard from a professional that I'm in touch with that his school teacher has been bragging about how well he's doing in class and how much speech he's gained in just a month and a half.

This week is the book fair and he's spent $28 there, and I thought I was obsessed with the book fair when I was a kid!

He and I have started a project together to give his bedroom a makeover. We bought about $50 worth of paint to fix it up. We're going to paint over his current theme (Dr. Seuss characters) with a comic book theme. It's going to be so cool! We got my old drum kit out of storage and it's now in his bedroom. He is loving it! I'm having to get used to them being in the house. If you aren't the one behind them it can be quiet scary if you're sitting in another part of the house & there is a huge cymbal crash!

gotta go back, back, back to school

We found out yesterday that Alden will be in a different class this year! I'm so pleased as I was not a big fan of his other teacher. He is going into the second grade but he will be in the 3-5 class. All the children we met who he will be in class with were verbal so he will actually have someone to talk to this year! His friend Joey (the only friend he ever talks about because I guess Joey is verbal as well) will also be in his class. He wasn't sure about moving across the hall at first but once he saw the new toys they had he was game. I personally thought the room was laid out in a much more aesthetically pleasing way. There was a large space in the middle of the floor instead of all sorts of shelves all over the place like his previous class.

I can see him growing a lot in this environment. Especially since I noticed that they will be using technology this year! He will get to work with an iPad in class instead of just the computer in ST and OT. He will also have his communication device that I'm going to go program at the seminar tomorrow.

We will still be having an IEP meeting at the beginning of the year (likely in October to give him a chance to settle into a new environment) and we will still be pushing for at least one inclusion class. We feel it's important that he grows up with neuro-typical peers as well.

Waking up for school tomorrow should be interesting because I keep forgetting he has to get up at 5:50 to get out to the bus on time. We haven't bothered fixing our schedule yet. Oops!

update

I've been a bad blogger. I've just been so busy lately. Alden ALMOST got all As on his report card. He got one B which was one point away from being an A. I'm so proud of him & the progress he's made. He didn't even get asked to go to any sort of summer schooling program this year and I'm so pleased about that. They said he's pretty well on target with his IEP goals. His speech is rapidly increasing and his sentence structure is getting much better. He is still struggling with a few things like different pronoun usages but that's pretty typical for autists.

He's been spending time away from the house with my inlaws while I'm at school and suckering my father-in-law to take him to WalMart and buy him toys. The other day they had like a carload of stuff, it was ridiculous. He's recently taken on an obsession with posters which is awesome because they are cheaper than toys and they don't clutter up his room. He's covering the walls pretty quickly and the other day wanted to hang one in the kitchen. haha

He's also recently become obsessed with the tooth fairy & keeps trying to wiggle all his teeth.

We're starting to plan our Disney trip for this winter. He has no idea that we are going and it's going to be a surprise. I'm really excited, especially about going to Universal to the Harry Potter themepark. We will be able to get a special pass at Disney so that we don't have to wait in the long lines due to his autism which is absolutely wonderful. If you've ever been anywhere with a child who has autism you will know most of them are not very patient at all. We will also be able to have Breakfast With Mickey because they take precautions with food allergies and will make him a special Gluten & Casein free meal! I'm so happy that Disney is so caring about catering to special needs and allergies, we wont' have to miss out on anything!!! The only thing I'm concerned about is him being afraid of some of the rides. I remember when I was 5 Mr Toad's Wild Ride scared me so badly I started crying & I wanted to get off the ride. I'm assuming there is some sort of special protocol for this now too so hopefully it will be smooth sailing! For more info about going to Disney with a child who has autism check out this page.

long awaited update

So it's been, more than a while. Alden's foot healed quickly (likely within two weeks) but we made him leave the boot on an extra week because of how hard he is on his toes.

We ordered the sample enzymes from Houston Enzymes and next Wednesday we are planning to give them a try. It would be REALLY awesome if they worked but I'm not banking on it or anything. We got the TriEnza and the No-Fenol if anyone wants specifics. I'm planning to order some breadsticks because those seem to be the "regular" food he misses the most.

Alden has started drawing pictures of himself in various costumes and with certain super hero powers. They are pretty much the coolest thing ever. He's also recently started telling us his address and his birthday which is great. We waited this long because a few years ago (when a typical child would learn these things) he would just randomly start chanting words and phrases he knew over & over. We felt that this could lead to a safety problem but now that he understands speech a lot more and can answer questions we are comfortable with him knowing these things.

I've been sick as a dog this week but tomorrow I am going to an autism conference. I went last year as well, I didn't learn much but it's always good to refresh and meet new people.

Christmas Dread

Secret Santa is a pastime that I'd like to keep that way. I've never liked the idea of giving a gift to someone I don't know well or getting a gift from someone who doesn't know me well. Gifts should be personal and special and not something you are required to do.

This brings me to my point. Alden's class does Secret Santa every year. Every year I agonize over what I should get. There's a $5 maximum which even in the junky stores is hard to adhere to since the good stuff is all at least $5 most of the time.

Then there's the whole autism bit, lots of kids with autism are fixated on one thing, or have irrational fears of things, or just plain will not play with certain toys. For instance if you gave Alden a Matchbox car he'd probably set it down, and go get on the computer. He doesn't care about them at all.

I NEVER know what an appropriate toy is for his randomly selected classmate. I end up buying a Batman toy every single year because I'm at a loss for what to get. Some parents don't let their kids play with the "bad guy" action figures, which is stupid, Batman can kick Spiderman's ass just as easily as the Joker's in pretend play (and let's be real DC > Marvel & Batman > Spidey & could totally take him down.)

I have a hard time shopping for people I know and love, so shopping for a random 6 year old kid that I've met once for 5 minutes is impossible.

update

Things have been all over the place lately. Halloween is always a challenge what with the diet & all. Having to ask people repeatedly if they have any "fruity candy" "oh not that kind" gets tiring. Worse is the fact that we don't really give Alden food with artificial coloring and fruity candy is pretty much artificial coloring, flavoring, and sugar. Last week he got into trouble a lot. I suspect it was probably a reaction to the dye and since he ate loads of candy when normally he will have an (all natural sneaky vitamin) sucker a day.

Funnily enough he was absolutely great with trick or treating. We went to the zoo and a local gathering and he had a blast running around looking at the other kid's costumes. Speaking of costumes he was Lucky the Leprechaun from the Lucky Charms cereal. He chose it all by himself. I was really proud of him for choosing something unique. He was the only leprechaun we saw. I thought it was really cool he wasn't something generic like all the other 500 Spidermen we saw while we were out and about. He's definitely my kid about costumes.

Then this week was the time change which is always hard for everyone but autistic children are particularly rigid in their routine. Since it was technically 7 he knew it wasn't bedtime because of the clock and he wasn't having any going to bed early. We've come to a compromise of 7:30 and he gets to watch Pink Panther on Netflix before I turn it off around 8:15 and tell him to go to bed because he has to be on the bus EARLY. He gets ON the bus @ 6 but that's a rant for another time.

Wednesday mornings have become hellacious at the bus stop. He screams, tries to run away from me, and keeps telling me "I WANNA GO HOME!!! BEDTIME! I SLEEPY!" I tell him he can sleep on the bus (hell he's on there for an hour and a half) but he still gets mad. Today he swatted his bus aide. She apologized like she had done something wrong and it made me sad.

I really think the Wednesday Morning Syndrome is because he knows I have school that day and he wants me to be home instead of going to school. He doesn't miss me because right now my school hours are during his & I'm home in time to shower and start my homework before he gets off the bus.

So today started off with a screaming swatting kid and it's ended with us spinning in circles and having a dance party to Florence and the Machine. Some days are funny like that.

i really should start updating this more

We received instructions for a yeast protocol from the doctor via the mail today. I'm so excited to start it. I can't wait the couple months for school to be out so we can get down to business.

We also found a place locally that sells weighted blankets with cute fabrics. We'll be getting one of those soon and I'll write about an progress we see with it. Right now Alden sometimes wears ankle weights or a pressure vest made of scuba material while at school.

We've been working in a math readiness book at home. He's doing well in it. We've also started doing addition & subtraction where I physically give him something or take things away. He understands that really well.

His 3rd report card came & he has all A's & B's again. He had more B's this time because we recently updated his IEP so many of the things he's working on are brand new. He's doing well in OT and even impressed her with his typing & reading skills.

busy little bee

I've been BUSY this week. First off with Alden's doctor's appointment. We went on Wednesday to see a highly recommended Nutritionist/Family Practitioner that we were on a wait list for since December. He was absolutely fantastic. The appointment was scheduled as a consult but he actually went a head & got blood & urine samples from Alden to be sent off for testing @ Great Plains Lab. I was impressed by that because most doctors just tell you what they're going to do eventually but he jumped right in with both feet & already started actually doing something. He also broke down all the different tests for us and showed us the best & most cost effective way to go about getting all the tests we need done. While we were there Alden also got an Rx for an ear infection. I realized that morning that he was acting like he does when he has an ear infection (falling down a lot, crying, feeling warm but not enough for a fever). Anyway the appointment was a huge success and we'll be going back either later this week or sometime next week for more tests. He has to fast for them & he's going to be annoyed when I can't give him his cereal in the morning.

On Friday my friend Allison & I went to an autism conference downtown. I didn't really learn anything. I wasn't really expecting to, I've read basically everything on the internet about autism so nothing really surprised me. I did really enjoy a few of the speakers and just getting out of the house for a day to sit in a room full of people who knew exactly what I was going through was refreshing. The did a little bashing of some of the more unorthodox methods but I went in expecting that as well.

Alden got out of school early again this week. They have been having snow days nearly once a week for the past month. I don't mind having him home (actually I miss him when he's not here) but I don't want him to have to make up days all freaking summer.

His OT overbooked for IEPs this week so she called me today instead to talk about his goals for this year. She mentioned that he is reading more than 30 words at school...which is awesome. Then she mentioned that they were "really impressed with his reading skills" because 30 is the required amount to pass regular kindergarten and even her own NT some was only reading 27 words. Then I got really super excited because I know he can read way more words than that (like character names and things like that). So I'm super proud of him. They are going to start him on a handwriting program which is cool because we've been working on writing his name (legibly) at home and he's been doing a lot better. They are going to start with tracing, then copycatting and then independent. She said if he has a hard time & gets frustrated they will help him begin to type. Then I told her we have been doing that at home as well. Right now if he sees something he can type it. I made him a huge list of all his character/movie/book names a while back because he wanted to Google someone new every 5 seconds and I needed to do things like fold clothes so I just made him the list & told him he could type them himself. He's now pretty good at knowing where the letters are.

Anyway it's been busy but we're getting things accomplished. His regular teacher keeps commenting on his hyperactivity and extreme cases of handflapping & clapping that are preventing him from concentrating. I understand her concern but honestly, what does she think I can do about it? I'm just hoping that at his IEP she doesn't bring up medication or anything like that because we will have words if she does. I'm not anti-medication, I'm anti-medicating MY child.

IEPs & MB12

It's report card time! Alden's second Kindergarten report card came today. He is in a self contained classroom and it contains only children who have autism spectrum disorders. These classes are designed so that these kids don't get lost in regular classes and also so they aren't taking away attention from children with more severe special needs who need more specialized attention.

If you don't have a child in the special education program you probably have no idea that 11 page report cards exist. They do! Our school gives a "regular" report card for English, Reading, Science, Social Studies, & Athletics. These are graded on an A-D scale. Alden has made As & Bs on both his "regular" report cards. These are required by the school because the children have to have number grades. The next 10 pages of the report card are his specific IEP (Individualed Education Program) goals. I am actually glad he gets this kind of report card since when I ask him what he did at school today he says "learn" or "sing" and never goes into any detail.

An IEP meeting takes place when your child joins a school program, the meeting is designed to set realistic & a few ongoing goals for the child to reach by the end of the year (or next meeting which is the end of that IEP). I was completely estatic today because Alden's report card says that he has accomplished all but one of his goals for specific tasks. The only ones that he is still "working on" are the ongoing Speech & OT goals. The one specific task he hasn't accomplished is rolling a car or a ball and they even said that he just flat out is not interested in either (which is true). I have a feeling if they gave him an action figure and told him to roll it down the hill away from enemies he'd have no problem rolling it. He has never really has much use for cars, rolling a ball *though he will throw one*, or stuffed animals.

We are so proud of him!

Another thing I want to mention is that I got a call from his teacher yesterday asking if he'd gotten into any food that wasn't on his safe list. I knew he hadn't but I remembered that we were out of MB12 and that last time we were out of it he was a bit all over the place pulling out every single book from the bookshelves and every toy out of every corner of the house. She clearly thought I was insane telling her that the absence of a vitamin would make him act that way but it's true. We ordered a 3 month supply this week so we shouldn't be running out for a longggg time. Anyway I thought it was nice to see that I wasn't the only one seeing a difference when he's off them. I never tell them when we're starting something new just to see if they mention progress and they had, and when it went away they even called. We're doing something right.