Yesterday, Reiss and his new therapists built a monster-sized tent fort in his room constructed from blankets, beanbag chairs, and aluminum-framed kids papasan chairs. Reiss loved it so much, he asked if he could keep it up and sleep in there last night. And that is exactly what he did.
Of course no fort would be complete without rules so Reiss and his cohorts drew up a list. These make me laugh out loud:
1. No stepping on the roof.
2. No licking the wand. (Referring to the princess wands Milla brought to the project.)
3. No sitting on beanbags.
4. No running.
5. No stepping on the chair.
6. No knocking down the (Lego) tower.
7. No taking the blankets off.
8. No pushing the chair.
9. Do not tell anyone the password (which was "blah blah." Oops...I told the password.). Only friends.
10. No banging the wand on the floor.
Those ten rules completed the list yesterday but after playing in the tent for a little while this morning, Reiss and Milla felt they needed to added an eleventh rule.
11. No tearing down the chimney in the tent.
This last one may prove itself to be a difficult rule to follow, especially considering I have no idea where the chimney is located inside the tent.
Showing posts with label ABA therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABA therapy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Freedom!!!
I've got a feelin'...
That tomorrow's gonna be a good, good da-a-ay......woohooo!
(Anyone else out there a Peas fan too?)
Remember a few weeks back when I mentioned a BIG change we had coming our way?
Originally, I had not planned to spill the beans until this coming weekend but due to an unexpected turn of events, I have the freedom to go ahead and reveal the big surprise. Do not get too worked up - it is really only a big change for my family and not something others will find much excitement in knowing.
Are you ready?
(Drumroll...)
We are changing providers for Reiss's in-home ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy program!
See, I warned you. Not terribly exciting, right? However, considering the intensity and numerous hours of ABA therapy Reiss puts in on a weekly basis, it is a big change for our family and one we are certainly looking forward to making.
The decision to change providers was not an easy one to make. Actually, the decision to change providers began not at all as a quest to find another provider but rather, as a mission to simply research other options in our area for in-home ABA and ABA centers should we decide to make a change in the future. After a series of events occurred and subsequent tension began to build between ourselves and our current provider, we felt it was best to really dig in and do our homework regarding looking into the other options we found available to us. There was the unfortunate tension building, but at that point, our efforts were still only meant to provide us with options in the event of a "what if" situation were to happen.
A funny thing happened along the way though, and once we began looking into several other options, including one center and three in-home providers, we became quite impressed with one particular provider who services our area. The more we talked with her, the more confident we felt that she was was a great option to go with now and not just to use later as a "just in case" option. It felt right and it felt like a change now was in our best interest after all. She was very open and honest with everything we asked of her. She made no qualms about meeting with me on two occasions. She did not skip a beat when asked to provide references of other families with whom she works. I, personally, checked each of her references not once or twice, but four separate times, calling them back whenever we thought of something else we would like to ask.
Tomorrow morning I will meet with our new provider and the two therapists she has hired to work with Reiss. I stress the number because our current provider has four therapists working with Reiss. At one time, we had six therapists working with him for a total of only thirty-five hours per week. At our best, we had three therapists. The unusually high number of therapists has always presented me with a level of frustration, as I knew from speaking with other parents whose children receive ABA through other providers that they typically had two therapists, and a maximum of three therapists for a full forty-hour week of therapy. If your own child receives ABA or has in the past, I would love your input as to the number of therapists you have/had and whether or not you feel more is better or less is best.
Next Monday, Reiss will meet his new therapists and begin therapy and a whole new fresh start. I am so excited for him and I am excited for my family, as it feels like we are about to embark on a totally new journey. I feel free and like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
It is almost as though the dreary and cloudy bitterness of winter has dissipated and the sun is shining and Spring has arrived. Well, until I remember that it will probably be around 30 degrees when I wake up tomorrow morning. But I'm on this high, so who cares if there is frost on the windows and the furnace continues to run non-stop for the next few weeks?
And now it's official. My high has caused me to babble meaninglessly about frosty windows and other nonsense. So I will leave with that.
To be continued...
That tomorrow's gonna be a good, good da-a-ay......woohooo!
(Anyone else out there a Peas fan too?)
Remember a few weeks back when I mentioned a BIG change we had coming our way?
Originally, I had not planned to spill the beans until this coming weekend but due to an unexpected turn of events, I have the freedom to go ahead and reveal the big surprise. Do not get too worked up - it is really only a big change for my family and not something others will find much excitement in knowing.
Are you ready?
(Drumroll...)
We are changing providers for Reiss's in-home ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy program!
See, I warned you. Not terribly exciting, right? However, considering the intensity and numerous hours of ABA therapy Reiss puts in on a weekly basis, it is a big change for our family and one we are certainly looking forward to making.
The decision to change providers was not an easy one to make. Actually, the decision to change providers began not at all as a quest to find another provider but rather, as a mission to simply research other options in our area for in-home ABA and ABA centers should we decide to make a change in the future. After a series of events occurred and subsequent tension began to build between ourselves and our current provider, we felt it was best to really dig in and do our homework regarding looking into the other options we found available to us. There was the unfortunate tension building, but at that point, our efforts were still only meant to provide us with options in the event of a "what if" situation were to happen.
A funny thing happened along the way though, and once we began looking into several other options, including one center and three in-home providers, we became quite impressed with one particular provider who services our area. The more we talked with her, the more confident we felt that she was was a great option to go with now and not just to use later as a "just in case" option. It felt right and it felt like a change now was in our best interest after all. She was very open and honest with everything we asked of her. She made no qualms about meeting with me on two occasions. She did not skip a beat when asked to provide references of other families with whom she works. I, personally, checked each of her references not once or twice, but four separate times, calling them back whenever we thought of something else we would like to ask.
Tomorrow morning I will meet with our new provider and the two therapists she has hired to work with Reiss. I stress the number because our current provider has four therapists working with Reiss. At one time, we had six therapists working with him for a total of only thirty-five hours per week. At our best, we had three therapists. The unusually high number of therapists has always presented me with a level of frustration, as I knew from speaking with other parents whose children receive ABA through other providers that they typically had two therapists, and a maximum of three therapists for a full forty-hour week of therapy. If your own child receives ABA or has in the past, I would love your input as to the number of therapists you have/had and whether or not you feel more is better or less is best.
Next Monday, Reiss will meet his new therapists and begin therapy and a whole new fresh start. I am so excited for him and I am excited for my family, as it feels like we are about to embark on a totally new journey. I feel free and like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
It is almost as though the dreary and cloudy bitterness of winter has dissipated and the sun is shining and Spring has arrived. Well, until I remember that it will probably be around 30 degrees when I wake up tomorrow morning. But I'm on this high, so who cares if there is frost on the windows and the furnace continues to run non-stop for the next few weeks?
And now it's official. My high has caused me to babble meaninglessly about frosty windows and other nonsense. So I will leave with that.
To be continued...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
A Reminder of the Prevalence of Autism
Today was the best, if not the strangest, afternoon I can remember having in quite awhile. It was a great day but with the number of other autism moms I saw today (amongst only a few moms total), it also served as a reminder of the prevalence of autism.
First, we started off by going to the dentist. Both kids behaved fairly well. That is, if you don't count the timeout Reiss got for banging on the side of the aquarium in the dentist's waiting room. It was not very hard but certainly hard enough to scare the bejeezus out of any fish unfortunate enough to call the tank their home.
In the waiting room, it was nice to recognize and talk with another autism mom whose children used to go to the same physical therapy office where my children went. Her boys' appointments coincided with my kids' appointments and we used to chat each week. Our insurance allotment of appointments ran out mid-year last year and I kinda lost touch with the mom, other than the occasional passing of one another on Facebook.
Our visit to the dentist's office reminded me once again of my spectacular memory, or rather, the lack of it. The dentist found a somewhat large cavity in one of Milla's teeth but it was nothing new to me. He told me about it on the last visit but I forgot to make an appointment to have it fixed. It was only after the dentist examined Milla on this appointment that I remembered that she had a small cavity. That small cavity is no longer small.
When Milla was finished with her exam and had picked out her Princess and the Frog toothbrush, her ABA therapist took her to her social skills group. Cavity-free Reiss and I then left and headed to the Y.
At the Y, I hadn't even taken my coat off when I saw there was another autism mom I know. This one I knew from her son and Reiss being in the same developmental preschool. We started talking, or maybe venting is a better word for it. We both feel lost about where to send our children for kindergarten next year. Another mom heard us talking and came over and joined in our conversation.
Thank goodness for eavesdroppers, especially when they are other autsim moms!
I felt especially fortunate for this other mom listening to our conversation because when she joined us, I learned that she is not only in my school district but, with a son who is ten years old, is also experienced in dealing with my school district's ways - two traits that I have found particularly difficult to find simultaneously occurring with other autism parents I meet. We hit it off immediately and an added bonus is that she has a daughter Milla's age. We exchanged phone numbers and I am excited at the prospect of having a new playmate for Milla.
As if all that excitement was not enough for one afternoon, another mom I have seen at the Y on occasion came over and spoke to us. She has two nephews with autism. We talked for awhile and she offered that her nephews recently went gluten-free and have shown amazing improvements.
While all this was going on Reiss played and played and played for nearly two hours straight with minimal intervention on my part. He played so wonderfully that I doubt anyone realized Reiss is just a little different than other children. Had it not been for seeing so many other autism moms, I may have even felt like any other parent just having an afternoon out at the Y. I think, just maybe, I may have even relaxed a little bit....
First, we started off by going to the dentist. Both kids behaved fairly well. That is, if you don't count the timeout Reiss got for banging on the side of the aquarium in the dentist's waiting room. It was not very hard but certainly hard enough to scare the bejeezus out of any fish unfortunate enough to call the tank their home.
In the waiting room, it was nice to recognize and talk with another autism mom whose children used to go to the same physical therapy office where my children went. Her boys' appointments coincided with my kids' appointments and we used to chat each week. Our insurance allotment of appointments ran out mid-year last year and I kinda lost touch with the mom, other than the occasional passing of one another on Facebook.
Our visit to the dentist's office reminded me once again of my spectacular memory, or rather, the lack of it. The dentist found a somewhat large cavity in one of Milla's teeth but it was nothing new to me. He told me about it on the last visit but I forgot to make an appointment to have it fixed. It was only after the dentist examined Milla on this appointment that I remembered that she had a small cavity. That small cavity is no longer small.
When Milla was finished with her exam and had picked out her Princess and the Frog toothbrush, her ABA therapist took her to her social skills group. Cavity-free Reiss and I then left and headed to the Y.
At the Y, I hadn't even taken my coat off when I saw there was another autism mom I know. This one I knew from her son and Reiss being in the same developmental preschool. We started talking, or maybe venting is a better word for it. We both feel lost about where to send our children for kindergarten next year. Another mom heard us talking and came over and joined in our conversation.
Thank goodness for eavesdroppers, especially when they are other autsim moms!
I felt especially fortunate for this other mom listening to our conversation because when she joined us, I learned that she is not only in my school district but, with a son who is ten years old, is also experienced in dealing with my school district's ways - two traits that I have found particularly difficult to find simultaneously occurring with other autism parents I meet. We hit it off immediately and an added bonus is that she has a daughter Milla's age. We exchanged phone numbers and I am excited at the prospect of having a new playmate for Milla.
As if all that excitement was not enough for one afternoon, another mom I have seen at the Y on occasion came over and spoke to us. She has two nephews with autism. We talked for awhile and she offered that her nephews recently went gluten-free and have shown amazing improvements.
While all this was going on Reiss played and played and played for nearly two hours straight with minimal intervention on my part. He played so wonderfully that I doubt anyone realized Reiss is just a little different than other children. Had it not been for seeing so many other autism moms, I may have even felt like any other parent just having an afternoon out at the Y. I think, just maybe, I may have even relaxed a little bit....
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Where Have I Been?
That title reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Well, where have I been? That's a good question! I have been a bad mommy blogger and have all but totally neglected this little piece of my world for around two months now.
Just like a lot of other folks, one of my excuses for absenteeism is the busy-ness of the holidays. My other excuse? Stress.
During the month of December, Reiss had three seizures and a fourth episode that can only be described as what looked like a seizure trying to happen. I say "trying" because Reiss is on anti-seizure medication and the symptoms he displayed during that particular episode appeared the same as his symptoms at the beginning of any other seizure (look of extreme fatigue, unresponsiveness, but still conscious) but he did not progress any further to some of the more extreme symptoms such as his eyes being fixed to one side or convulsing. Instead, he got a little bit spacey, told me he wanted to lie down and then, he simply fell asleep...for nearly six hours straight! And that was right after he had gotten up for the morning and eaten breakfast.
That was not all. We also had the return of Reiss's persistently bloody nose. We think we have that one figured out though. We added a zinc supplement back into his regimen, which he had been lacking for a few weeks because we had run out and we were not sure how much of a difference it was making. Once that was added back in, the incidents of Reiss having a bloody nose on a daily basis disappeared immediately and he has not had one since then.
So that was our December. As if December, with its holidays and preparations and special events, does not already present itself with enough stresses and frustrations without the addition of daily bloody noses and the riddling of seizures here and there.
On a happier front, we did have our share of holiday good times...
Above is a photo of Reiss and Milla decorating Christmas cookies (GFCF, of course!) at the house of our good friends, Matt and Staci. Staci is a registered dietician and is very familiar with the restrictions of the diet we follow in our house. They invited us over for cookie decorating and Staci so generously accommodated our needs by making cookies Reiss and Milla can eat.
It would not have been Christmas had we not gone out on a few occasions to check out decorations in several different neighborhoods. I read about the decorations of the house above in an Indy Star newspaper article featuring the best light displays around town. Granted, it's not really very Christmas-y in nature, but living in Indianapolis and being Colts fans, it was indeed cool to see.
On December 21st, Reiss achieved quite an accomplishment for any five-year-old. One of his ABA therapists made him the award pictured above. It has been hanging on the wall since that day and Reiss has counted to 1000 many times since then as well.
This is the only photo we have of both children on Christmas day because, not long after this was taken, Reiss had a seizure. No, the poor little guy could not catch a break even on Christmas Day.
I think this photo (taken the day after Christmas at my dad's house) of Milla looking at me makes her look so sweet. Please don't look at my big, pointy nose or double chin.
Milla was quite the little helper with Reiss's gift. As a matter of fact, she was so helpful that day that she opened most of my gifts while at my dad's house and I had no idea of what I received until we got home and got everything unloaded and unpacked. I still have no clue who gave me which gift.
That just about covers our holiday season. Yes, I am quite late to the punch, I know.
January has been snow and appointments and school cancellations and exercising and weight loss and oh yeah, did I mention that I have lost nine pounds since the beginning of the year?
I do not mean to brag but I have remained extremely dedicated and focused on losing this weight...again. At least I did not let it get really out of hand before tightening the reigns again. In the past I have been - how shall I say this? More tolerant of my own weight gain before getting it back under control. I was fat. There, I said it. In the past, I have let myself get to what doctors categorize as being obese. Personally, the image of obesity that comes to mind for me is someone who is so morbidly overweight that s/he can barely walk. But for the record, "obese" in medical terms generally means a BMI of more than 30 and/or being more than 20% overweight. This time around, I met neither of those requirements, thank goodness.
Weight loss is not the only change that is coming in our household. We have another BIG change coming soon. BUT I cannot tell about it on here just yet. It is a secret. Stay tuned...
Well, where have I been? That's a good question! I have been a bad mommy blogger and have all but totally neglected this little piece of my world for around two months now.
Just like a lot of other folks, one of my excuses for absenteeism is the busy-ness of the holidays. My other excuse? Stress.
During the month of December, Reiss had three seizures and a fourth episode that can only be described as what looked like a seizure trying to happen. I say "trying" because Reiss is on anti-seizure medication and the symptoms he displayed during that particular episode appeared the same as his symptoms at the beginning of any other seizure (look of extreme fatigue, unresponsiveness, but still conscious) but he did not progress any further to some of the more extreme symptoms such as his eyes being fixed to one side or convulsing. Instead, he got a little bit spacey, told me he wanted to lie down and then, he simply fell asleep...for nearly six hours straight! And that was right after he had gotten up for the morning and eaten breakfast.
That was not all. We also had the return of Reiss's persistently bloody nose. We think we have that one figured out though. We added a zinc supplement back into his regimen, which he had been lacking for a few weeks because we had run out and we were not sure how much of a difference it was making. Once that was added back in, the incidents of Reiss having a bloody nose on a daily basis disappeared immediately and he has not had one since then.
So that was our December. As if December, with its holidays and preparations and special events, does not already present itself with enough stresses and frustrations without the addition of daily bloody noses and the riddling of seizures here and there.
On a happier front, we did have our share of holiday good times...
Above is a photo of Reiss and Milla decorating Christmas cookies (GFCF, of course!) at the house of our good friends, Matt and Staci. Staci is a registered dietician and is very familiar with the restrictions of the diet we follow in our house. They invited us over for cookie decorating and Staci so generously accommodated our needs by making cookies Reiss and Milla can eat.
It would not have been Christmas had we not gone out on a few occasions to check out decorations in several different neighborhoods. I read about the decorations of the house above in an Indy Star newspaper article featuring the best light displays around town. Granted, it's not really very Christmas-y in nature, but living in Indianapolis and being Colts fans, it was indeed cool to see.
On December 21st, Reiss achieved quite an accomplishment for any five-year-old. One of his ABA therapists made him the award pictured above. It has been hanging on the wall since that day and Reiss has counted to 1000 many times since then as well.
This is the only photo we have of both children on Christmas day because, not long after this was taken, Reiss had a seizure. No, the poor little guy could not catch a break even on Christmas Day.
I think this photo (taken the day after Christmas at my dad's house) of Milla looking at me makes her look so sweet. Please don't look at my big, pointy nose or double chin.
Milla was quite the little helper with Reiss's gift. As a matter of fact, she was so helpful that day that she opened most of my gifts while at my dad's house and I had no idea of what I received until we got home and got everything unloaded and unpacked. I still have no clue who gave me which gift.That just about covers our holiday season. Yes, I am quite late to the punch, I know.
January has been snow and appointments and school cancellations and exercising and weight loss and oh yeah, did I mention that I have lost nine pounds since the beginning of the year?
I do not mean to brag but I have remained extremely dedicated and focused on losing this weight...again. At least I did not let it get really out of hand before tightening the reigns again. In the past I have been - how shall I say this? More tolerant of my own weight gain before getting it back under control. I was fat. There, I said it. In the past, I have let myself get to what doctors categorize as being obese. Personally, the image of obesity that comes to mind for me is someone who is so morbidly overweight that s/he can barely walk. But for the record, "obese" in medical terms generally means a BMI of more than 30 and/or being more than 20% overweight. This time around, I met neither of those requirements, thank goodness.
Weight loss is not the only change that is coming in our household. We have another BIG change coming soon. BUT I cannot tell about it on here just yet. It is a secret. Stay tuned...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I'm Still Breathing. That's Positive Thinking, Right?
This day started out fairly awesome this morning but then turned to c-r-a-p by early afternoon. Our morning therapist, Jessica, and I took Reiss and Milla to a playground at a church that welcomes the public. It was a great time but while there I received a call letting me know our afternoon ABA therapist called off. No problem, that just meant we had more freedom to do whatever and go wherever the day took us. Or so I thought.
Being the health nuts that we are now and that we have been in recent years, and I say that with sarcasm because sometimes it would just be so much easier not being so knowledgeable of the different ingredients that go into consumable products on the market today, we do not keep over-the-counter cold remedies or pain relievers on-hand regularly. That's fine if we never get sick or if we never have aches or pains - and we rarely do except for the five week nightmare we experienced recently - or if natural supplements would work 100% effectively when they are taken. However, such as the case may be, despite downing capsule after capsule after pill after pill of Vitamins C, D, and Zinc and who knows what else for the last several days, James has a terrible cold and he asked if I could get him some Dayquil or something similar while I was out and about today. A trip to CVS seemed simple enough.
Before I go any further, let me explain that I really do try to remain positive with regards to outings with Reiss and Milla when I do not have James or a therapist along to help me, but deep down the mere thought of going places with the two of them and the possibilities and the what if's scare the bejeezus out of me. Reiss is a runner. Milla can be a runner. If you do not know what I mean by this, clearly you do not have a child with autism. Many typical children run too. Children with autism run and reeling them in can prove to be quite challenging. I don't really know how to explain why or how it's different when it's a child with autism running away from a parent as opposed to a typical child but that's not what this story is about anyway.
So we went to CVS and as I always do whether or not I have James or a therapist with me or I am by myself with the kids, we talked about The Rules before getting out of the car. I am not some drill sergeant mommy whose children are expected to stay in formation while walking through the grocery. Nor am I a Nazi dictator-type mother who only allows her children to stay crowded together like sardines to keep the order. I do, however, expect my two charges to refrain from running from me and to keep their outdoor voices turned off while out in public. The only other rule is that they are to look with their eyes and not with their hands unless given permission. Today they were told that if any of The Rules were broken, we would leave the store.
One minute into our CVS trip, the wandering from me had already begun. I gave Reiss and Milla a warning. They continued to wander as I tried to find the best deal on some sort of chemical coughing cure with the least amount of yuck in it. I gave them another warning not to run from me and darn it if Reiss did not outsmart me again! He told me, and I quote, "Mommy, it's okay because we're not running away. We're walking."
Really???
I could not decide whether to laugh, cry, or...or...or what. The same statement out of almost any other kid would surely be perceived as sarcasm but since Reiss has no concept of sarcasm and he processes everything in the literal sense, I had no one to blame for his and Milla's wandering but myself. After all, they were not breaking the rules because they were not running away. So I clarified that they were not to run or walk away from the area I was in and they needed to stay one arm's length from me.
Next thing I knew, Reiss and Milla were walking very fast towards the front of the store. I just watched and waited as they walked all the way down the aisle from the pharmacy to the front counter and when they saw me staring with probably the most evil look ever, they came back. When they got to me, I very calmly put the items I was carrying back on the shelves and we proceeded to leave. Or more precisely, I carried Milla screaming and kicking out of the store while Reiss walked with his hand in mine and whining all the way to the car.
All that and we still did not have anything for James and his cold.
Because I really needed to get something for James to take and because I felt Reiss and Milla deserved another chance to prove they could behave in a store, we drove up the street to Walgreens. Once again, we discussed The Rules before getting out of the car. We were in and back out with some cold medicine, cough drops, and Disney princess silly bands in a matter of about fifteen minutes and - dare I venture to say it - without any meltdowns from my children or stares from other shoppers. It was definitely a much different scene from the one at CVS just minutes beforehand.
I would like to say Reiss and Milla were angels inside Walgreens but that would be embellishing their good behaviors. They were pretty well behaved though. Well, if you don't count when Milla grabbed a bottle of fingernail polish and was about to paint Reiss' nails while I had my back turned for maybe all of ten seconds. And yes, I admit that I got roped into buying silly bands that they probably didn't deserve after the behavior they had demonstrated in CVS.
All was well and we all lived happily ever after. That is, until our next errand - to the cable company - where I had to contain myself and refrain from firebombing the place because of their lack of service and where Reiss and Milla danced and played on the floor and stood in the chairs and played with the gumball machine and asked other customers their names and rolled around on the floor being "Colts guys" and at one point, Reiss even locked the door and I just let them do all of it because goodness knows if I had to make them follow The Rules in the cable company's office while trying to stay calm with people who have left a cable running across our yard for close to four months now, I may have gone into cardiac arrest or stopped breathing or some other unintentional bodily destruction and I would not be here now to tell all about it.
Or to take another breath after that unbelievably long run-on sentence.
Edit: 10/01/2010 - Thank you, to a friend of mine who read my blog and so discreetly emailed me to let me know I used the word "wonder" where I should have used the word "wander." How embarassing! Judging by how I spell nowadays, no one would ever guess I won my elementary school's spelling be in the fifth grade and then went on to the county bee only to end up misspelling the word "measles."
Being the health nuts that we are now and that we have been in recent years, and I say that with sarcasm because sometimes it would just be so much easier not being so knowledgeable of the different ingredients that go into consumable products on the market today, we do not keep over-the-counter cold remedies or pain relievers on-hand regularly. That's fine if we never get sick or if we never have aches or pains - and we rarely do except for the five week nightmare we experienced recently - or if natural supplements would work 100% effectively when they are taken. However, such as the case may be, despite downing capsule after capsule after pill after pill of Vitamins C, D, and Zinc and who knows what else for the last several days, James has a terrible cold and he asked if I could get him some Dayquil or something similar while I was out and about today. A trip to CVS seemed simple enough.
Before I go any further, let me explain that I really do try to remain positive with regards to outings with Reiss and Milla when I do not have James or a therapist along to help me, but deep down the mere thought of going places with the two of them and the possibilities and the what if's scare the bejeezus out of me. Reiss is a runner. Milla can be a runner. If you do not know what I mean by this, clearly you do not have a child with autism. Many typical children run too. Children with autism run and reeling them in can prove to be quite challenging. I don't really know how to explain why or how it's different when it's a child with autism running away from a parent as opposed to a typical child but that's not what this story is about anyway.
So we went to CVS and as I always do whether or not I have James or a therapist with me or I am by myself with the kids, we talked about The Rules before getting out of the car. I am not some drill sergeant mommy whose children are expected to stay in formation while walking through the grocery. Nor am I a Nazi dictator-type mother who only allows her children to stay crowded together like sardines to keep the order. I do, however, expect my two charges to refrain from running from me and to keep their outdoor voices turned off while out in public. The only other rule is that they are to look with their eyes and not with their hands unless given permission. Today they were told that if any of The Rules were broken, we would leave the store.
One minute into our CVS trip, the wandering from me had already begun. I gave Reiss and Milla a warning. They continued to wander as I tried to find the best deal on some sort of chemical coughing cure with the least amount of yuck in it. I gave them another warning not to run from me and darn it if Reiss did not outsmart me again! He told me, and I quote, "Mommy, it's okay because we're not running away. We're walking."
Really???
I could not decide whether to laugh, cry, or...or...or what. The same statement out of almost any other kid would surely be perceived as sarcasm but since Reiss has no concept of sarcasm and he processes everything in the literal sense, I had no one to blame for his and Milla's wandering but myself. After all, they were not breaking the rules because they were not running away. So I clarified that they were not to run or walk away from the area I was in and they needed to stay one arm's length from me.
Next thing I knew, Reiss and Milla were walking very fast towards the front of the store. I just watched and waited as they walked all the way down the aisle from the pharmacy to the front counter and when they saw me staring with probably the most evil look ever, they came back. When they got to me, I very calmly put the items I was carrying back on the shelves and we proceeded to leave. Or more precisely, I carried Milla screaming and kicking out of the store while Reiss walked with his hand in mine and whining all the way to the car.
All that and we still did not have anything for James and his cold.
Because I really needed to get something for James to take and because I felt Reiss and Milla deserved another chance to prove they could behave in a store, we drove up the street to Walgreens. Once again, we discussed The Rules before getting out of the car. We were in and back out with some cold medicine, cough drops, and Disney princess silly bands in a matter of about fifteen minutes and - dare I venture to say it - without any meltdowns from my children or stares from other shoppers. It was definitely a much different scene from the one at CVS just minutes beforehand.
I would like to say Reiss and Milla were angels inside Walgreens but that would be embellishing their good behaviors. They were pretty well behaved though. Well, if you don't count when Milla grabbed a bottle of fingernail polish and was about to paint Reiss' nails while I had my back turned for maybe all of ten seconds. And yes, I admit that I got roped into buying silly bands that they probably didn't deserve after the behavior they had demonstrated in CVS.
All was well and we all lived happily ever after. That is, until our next errand - to the cable company - where I had to contain myself and refrain from firebombing the place because of their lack of service and where Reiss and Milla danced and played on the floor and stood in the chairs and played with the gumball machine and asked other customers their names and rolled around on the floor being "Colts guys" and at one point, Reiss even locked the door and I just let them do all of it because goodness knows if I had to make them follow The Rules in the cable company's office while trying to stay calm with people who have left a cable running across our yard for close to four months now, I may have gone into cardiac arrest or stopped breathing or some other unintentional bodily destruction and I would not be here now to tell all about it.
Or to take another breath after that unbelievably long run-on sentence.
Edit: 10/01/2010 - Thank you, to a friend of mine who read my blog and so discreetly emailed me to let me know I used the word "wonder" where I should have used the word "wander." How embarassing! Judging by how I spell nowadays, no one would ever guess I won my elementary school's spelling be in the fifth grade and then went on to the county bee only to end up misspelling the word "measles."
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Really??? Lighten Up, People!
Excuse me while I get a superiority complex for believing that if I can keep a sense of humor after all my family has been through and goes through on a daily basis, then just about anyone should be able to do so as well. Of course, keeping a sense of humor would require that a person have one in the first place.
I won't go into the long, boring details that fueled this latest little rant but suffice it to say that I think people who cannot distinguish humor online either need to stay off the computer or at least ask questions before they get all offended.
Here is the short list of things my family has dealt with over the last several months:
*First, and foremost, having to deal with autism on a daily basis, which is more than any human should be expected to do. And then on top of it, multiply it by two children. No, Milla is not diagnosed.....yet. That will surely follow towards the latter part of this month. (Yeah, we hit the jackpot on that one!)
My reaction? With all the therapies our children require, we are helping to keep people employed. Go autism! We are helping the economy!
*A bathroom remodel that lasted three months, ending with my firing of our contractor, and an incomplete project. Okay, maybe I didn't keep people employed on this one but we did keep him and his crew employed much longer than anyone should have to be employed for a simple bathroom remodel that should have taken two weeks, at most.
My reaction? At least they were out before Thanksgiving!
*Beginning of full-time ABA therapy, resulting in people being in our house five days per week for the majority of our waking hours.
My reaction? Finally, I have a motivating factor for keeping the house in order. It doesn't mean I do though. Hey, I only said I have a motivating factor, not that it actually motivates me.
*A flooded basement due to a busted water heater.
My reaction? Free water heater!!!! The old (relatively speaking, that is, because the old one was only three years old) one was still under warranty.
*Two seizures, one requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital.
My reaction? It was a good thing we didn't get things worked out with the school for Reiss to attend kindergarten. The day the most recent seizure happened would have been his first day of school. How's that for initiating a new teacher into the world of autism and its comorbidities?
*Numerous bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody noses.
My reaction? Between Reiss and Milla, they were happening fairly close together so I was able to wash the soiled clothes together.
*Endless doctors appointments, lab tests, supplements, medical bills, and newly occurring autism-related ailments appearing just as soon as we clear up a separate ailment.
My reaction? Our incredibly high insurance deductible gets met very early in the year. BONUS! One less thing to worry about during the year.
*Several instances of discrimination towards our child or our family because of our child's autism.
My reaction? We are spared the wonder of how much we need to tell people in regards to our child's autism. They let us know upfront that they are ignorant!
*And today: a flooded basement AGAIN. This time due to a leak where the water comes into the house.
My reaction? Yaaaayyy!!! We get to tear out those hideous bushes in front of the house! Better yet, someone is tearing out the bushes for us. Bonus again! Those backhoe operators tomorrow are not going to give a diddley about those bushes!
Again, that is the short list. It also does not include the stresses of events happening outside our family that directly affect our family.
My point? Is it really that difficult to keep a sense of humor? I figure if I can still laugh when most days I feel like crying and if I can keep a sense of humor while having no access to running water for two days, no shower, and getting the privilege of paying thousands of dollars for having BO, then surely other people should be able to take a joke.
Or, at the very least, laugh now and ask questions later.
I won't go into the long, boring details that fueled this latest little rant but suffice it to say that I think people who cannot distinguish humor online either need to stay off the computer or at least ask questions before they get all offended.
Here is the short list of things my family has dealt with over the last several months:
*First, and foremost, having to deal with autism on a daily basis, which is more than any human should be expected to do. And then on top of it, multiply it by two children. No, Milla is not diagnosed.....yet. That will surely follow towards the latter part of this month. (Yeah, we hit the jackpot on that one!)
My reaction? With all the therapies our children require, we are helping to keep people employed. Go autism! We are helping the economy!
*A bathroom remodel that lasted three months, ending with my firing of our contractor, and an incomplete project. Okay, maybe I didn't keep people employed on this one but we did keep him and his crew employed much longer than anyone should have to be employed for a simple bathroom remodel that should have taken two weeks, at most.
My reaction? At least they were out before Thanksgiving!
*Beginning of full-time ABA therapy, resulting in people being in our house five days per week for the majority of our waking hours.
My reaction? Finally, I have a motivating factor for keeping the house in order. It doesn't mean I do though. Hey, I only said I have a motivating factor, not that it actually motivates me.
*A flooded basement due to a busted water heater.
My reaction? Free water heater!!!! The old (relatively speaking, that is, because the old one was only three years old) one was still under warranty.
*Two seizures, one requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital.
My reaction? It was a good thing we didn't get things worked out with the school for Reiss to attend kindergarten. The day the most recent seizure happened would have been his first day of school. How's that for initiating a new teacher into the world of autism and its comorbidities?
*Numerous bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody noses.
My reaction? Between Reiss and Milla, they were happening fairly close together so I was able to wash the soiled clothes together.
*Endless doctors appointments, lab tests, supplements, medical bills, and newly occurring autism-related ailments appearing just as soon as we clear up a separate ailment.
My reaction? Our incredibly high insurance deductible gets met very early in the year. BONUS! One less thing to worry about during the year.
*Several instances of discrimination towards our child or our family because of our child's autism.
My reaction? We are spared the wonder of how much we need to tell people in regards to our child's autism. They let us know upfront that they are ignorant!
*And today: a flooded basement AGAIN. This time due to a leak where the water comes into the house.
My reaction? Yaaaayyy!!! We get to tear out those hideous bushes in front of the house! Better yet, someone is tearing out the bushes for us. Bonus again! Those backhoe operators tomorrow are not going to give a diddley about those bushes!
Again, that is the short list. It also does not include the stresses of events happening outside our family that directly affect our family.
My point? Is it really that difficult to keep a sense of humor? I figure if I can still laugh when most days I feel like crying and if I can keep a sense of humor while having no access to running water for two days, no shower, and getting the privilege of paying thousands of dollars for having BO, then surely other people should be able to take a joke.
Or, at the very least, laugh now and ask questions later.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A Monster Of A Party!
Last week, our first-born monkey turned five years old!
I always have to laugh when other parents make the observation of their children growing up so quickly or empty-nesters whose grown children reached adulthood "in the wink of an eye." They all seem to say the same thing: "Where in the world does the time go?" Well, I will tell you where it goes or at least, where it went for me. For the first three-and-a-half years of being a parent, it ticked by so incredibly slowly all while I wondered if my "baby" - who was definitely no longer a baby - would ever stop waking every hour through the night, sometimes two or three times per hour, and if I would ever get any sleep again in this lifetime.
Alas, after starting our special diet and being convinced of its effectiveness on the very first night (the first night Reiss ever slept through the night in his whole entire short life!), we were finally getting some sleep and everyone thankfully survived. And now we are at five years old! FIVE! Who knew I would make it this long and live to tell about it? But I am definitely here and, unlike back then, time does not tick by nearly as slowly now that I am asleep for at least part of it in any given twenty-four hour period.
Enough of my woes....Can you tell I am so thankful for sleep?
Last Saturday we had a party for Reiss and rented a bounce house in the shape of a monster truck. Yes, I know how much bounce houses cost and I am also aware that our rental cost almost as much as buying one. And furthermore, I have chosen to say "enough is enough" regarding toys and clothes and stuff and things that require space for storage and I made the wise decision to go with the option of having someone else worry about where to store such a large item as a bounce house.
Yes, renting a bounce house is not an investment with endless returns but not having to store it makes up for all those "lost" returns.
Reiss wanted to keep the bounce house, as trucks are one of his favorite things but, as we explained to him, by having people who come to get the bounce house (instead of keeping it), we get to choose a different one every time we rent one. Milla has already called "dibs" on the princess castle bounce house for her birthday in October. Little do they know that renting a bounce house is not something that will happen with a whole lot of frequency.
We took some really adorable photos, however, due to privacy issues with other parents' children, only photos of Reiss and Milla are posted.
All of the above photos were taken before Reiss's party began and while Reiss and Milla were the only children playing in the bounce house. Just prior to the start of the party, I changed Milla into a perfectly-party-appropriate dress with a cupcake on it.
Reiss painting a car bank. It was one of the prizes leftover in the prize bin after the party.
From left: Crystal (Reiss's BCBA for his ABA therapy), Reiss, Milla, Heather (one of Reiss's ABA therapists)
Reiss getting ready to open his first gift. In this photo, we also have Anne, who is not one of Reiss's therapists but works for Crystal and was here with one of the children present at the party.
Reiss had $23 from his birthday to spend at Toys R Us. So what'd he get? A princess dress for Milla! We tried to persuade him otherwise but that is what he wanted to buy. He also bought himself one of those hippity-hop balls. I have no idea what the real name is for them. They are those things a child sits on, holds onto the handle, and jumps around on.
My little five-year-old prince and princess....
I always have to laugh when other parents make the observation of their children growing up so quickly or empty-nesters whose grown children reached adulthood "in the wink of an eye." They all seem to say the same thing: "Where in the world does the time go?" Well, I will tell you where it goes or at least, where it went for me. For the first three-and-a-half years of being a parent, it ticked by so incredibly slowly all while I wondered if my "baby" - who was definitely no longer a baby - would ever stop waking every hour through the night, sometimes two or three times per hour, and if I would ever get any sleep again in this lifetime.
Alas, after starting our special diet and being convinced of its effectiveness on the very first night (the first night Reiss ever slept through the night in his whole entire short life!), we were finally getting some sleep and everyone thankfully survived. And now we are at five years old! FIVE! Who knew I would make it this long and live to tell about it? But I am definitely here and, unlike back then, time does not tick by nearly as slowly now that I am asleep for at least part of it in any given twenty-four hour period.
Enough of my woes....Can you tell I am so thankful for sleep?
Last Saturday we had a party for Reiss and rented a bounce house in the shape of a monster truck. Yes, I know how much bounce houses cost and I am also aware that our rental cost almost as much as buying one. And furthermore, I have chosen to say "enough is enough" regarding toys and clothes and stuff and things that require space for storage and I made the wise decision to go with the option of having someone else worry about where to store such a large item as a bounce house.
Yes, renting a bounce house is not an investment with endless returns but not having to store it makes up for all those "lost" returns.
Reiss wanted to keep the bounce house, as trucks are one of his favorite things but, as we explained to him, by having people who come to get the bounce house (instead of keeping it), we get to choose a different one every time we rent one. Milla has already called "dibs" on the princess castle bounce house for her birthday in October. Little do they know that renting a bounce house is not something that will happen with a whole lot of frequency.
We took some really adorable photos, however, due to privacy issues with other parents' children, only photos of Reiss and Milla are posted.
All of the above photos were taken before Reiss's party began and while Reiss and Milla were the only children playing in the bounce house. Just prior to the start of the party, I changed Milla into a perfectly-party-appropriate dress with a cupcake on it.
Reiss painting a car bank. It was one of the prizes leftover in the prize bin after the party.
From left: Crystal (Reiss's BCBA for his ABA therapy), Reiss, Milla, Heather (one of Reiss's ABA therapists)
Reiss getting ready to open his first gift. In this photo, we also have Anne, who is not one of Reiss's therapists but works for Crystal and was here with one of the children present at the party.
Reiss had $23 from his birthday to spend at Toys R Us. So what'd he get? A princess dress for Milla! We tried to persuade him otherwise but that is what he wanted to buy. He also bought himself one of those hippity-hop balls. I have no idea what the real name is for them. They are those things a child sits on, holds onto the handle, and jumps around on.
My little five-year-old prince and princess....Sunday, June 20, 2010
Our Sunday BEST: A Revelation
For nearly five years in our house, every Saturday morning, without fail, we have had Pancake Saturday. In that time, I cannot recall a single Saturday when we have not made pancakes and we always make them from scratch.
For several months now, we have also eaten the same thing almost every Sunday morning as the previous Sunday morning and it was just this afternoon when I had a revelation. The acronym for our bacon, eggs, smoothies, and toast we eat on Sundays spells out the word "BEST." So from this day forward, our weekend breakfasts will consist of Pancake Saturday and our Sunday BEST.
Yes, I will admit I have some oddities. It's okay - I'm fine with owning up to those oddities.
By the way, I was going to wish you all a Happy Father's Day but with it being 12:22 AM on Monday morning, it looks like I am a little late to the punch. Hope it was a good one!
For our Father's Day.......
--- I called my own father and wished him a happy birthday and a happy Father's Day. My dad's birthday falls on the same date every year (one would hope so, right?) and some years that happens to be on Father's Day. This year was one of those years.
--- Reiss gave James a "hot glove" (that is a Reiss-ism for what others might call an oven mitt) he made at his ABA social group. It says, "Hands down, you're the greatest dad! Happy Father's Day!" Reiss wrapped it in some paper with the ends still open and set it on his and Milla's toy kitchen. He then waited to give it to James this morning. Too bad he already told Daddy two days ago what he was going to give him. Nonetheless, James reacted with surprise and excitement today when given his gift.
--- We went for a short road trip to Bloomington, a city approximately 45 minutes away from our home. We went to see two sets of aunts and uncles on my mother's side of the family who are currently in town for "mini-college," a week's worth of informational seminars on various topics at Indiana University. One set of relatives are in from Albuquerque, New Mexico and the other calls Clover, South Carolina home. It was really great to see them and unfortunately, we do not see them enough. I know they were disappointed that we could not go have dinner with them but Reiss and Milla were going downhill fast after already having visited for two hours and we are only just now beginning to get a hold on the whole dining-out-with-a-child-who-cannot-sit-still-for-five-minutes-let-alone-an-hour-or-more kind of thing, so long story short, we bid our good-byes and headed for home. They all went out for Indian cuisine and we came home to chicken satay with 100% buckwheat soba noodles and peas. The grilled chicken and peas were leftover from last night's dinner leaving me with only having to cook the soba noodles - for seven minutes, not eight like the package directs. I learned that little tidbit from Kelly over at The Spunky Coconut.
--- Before the visiting with the relatives, we went and bought a cooler and a bunch of ice at the superstore where I do some of our grocery shopping so that we could take it with us to go to another kind of grocery - a natural foods market. The irony that I was buying a cooler at one grocery store so that I could shop at another almost makes me laugh out loud. Actually, I would let out a good chuckle if it weren't for the fact that my children sometimes seem to sleep as light as special forces military personnel.
After purchasing the cooler, we set out on our little roadtrip and then to Bloomingfoods once we arrived in Bloomington. Peppadew peppers, maple sugar, 240 Sweet artisan marshmallows, and Himala Salt were just a few of the wonderful little treats I picked up while there. I have not found Peppadew peppers anywhere locally. Perhaps I could find them and any of the other items if I were to go to Whole Foods but that is a bit of a drive from us as well. The Himala Salt is easy enough to find at my usual health food stores but neither carries the large rock crystals for grinding.
Bloomingfoods was a nice little diversion and I will admit that I'm just plain giddy with my artisan marshmallows and Peppadew peppers (I bought both the red and yellow variety!) but the produce at Bloomingfoods was a bit pricier than I'm used to paying. For example, their organic bananas were $.99/lb. I am accustomed to paying $.69 or $.79 per pound at regular price or $.29-$.49 per pound when they are getting overripe and are marked down.
--- And finally, I was reminded that, on this day one year ago, Reiss had his first seizure.
For several months now, we have also eaten the same thing almost every Sunday morning as the previous Sunday morning and it was just this afternoon when I had a revelation. The acronym for our bacon, eggs, smoothies, and toast we eat on Sundays spells out the word "BEST." So from this day forward, our weekend breakfasts will consist of Pancake Saturday and our Sunday BEST.
Yes, I will admit I have some oddities. It's okay - I'm fine with owning up to those oddities.
By the way, I was going to wish you all a Happy Father's Day but with it being 12:22 AM on Monday morning, it looks like I am a little late to the punch. Hope it was a good one!
For our Father's Day.......
--- I called my own father and wished him a happy birthday and a happy Father's Day. My dad's birthday falls on the same date every year (one would hope so, right?) and some years that happens to be on Father's Day. This year was one of those years.
--- Reiss gave James a "hot glove" (that is a Reiss-ism for what others might call an oven mitt) he made at his ABA social group. It says, "Hands down, you're the greatest dad! Happy Father's Day!" Reiss wrapped it in some paper with the ends still open and set it on his and Milla's toy kitchen. He then waited to give it to James this morning. Too bad he already told Daddy two days ago what he was going to give him. Nonetheless, James reacted with surprise and excitement today when given his gift.
--- We went for a short road trip to Bloomington, a city approximately 45 minutes away from our home. We went to see two sets of aunts and uncles on my mother's side of the family who are currently in town for "mini-college," a week's worth of informational seminars on various topics at Indiana University. One set of relatives are in from Albuquerque, New Mexico and the other calls Clover, South Carolina home. It was really great to see them and unfortunately, we do not see them enough. I know they were disappointed that we could not go have dinner with them but Reiss and Milla were going downhill fast after already having visited for two hours and we are only just now beginning to get a hold on the whole dining-out-with-a-child-who-cannot-sit-still-for-five-minutes-let-alone-an-hour-or-more kind of thing, so long story short, we bid our good-byes and headed for home. They all went out for Indian cuisine and we came home to chicken satay with 100% buckwheat soba noodles and peas. The grilled chicken and peas were leftover from last night's dinner leaving me with only having to cook the soba noodles - for seven minutes, not eight like the package directs. I learned that little tidbit from Kelly over at The Spunky Coconut.
--- Before the visiting with the relatives, we went and bought a cooler and a bunch of ice at the superstore where I do some of our grocery shopping so that we could take it with us to go to another kind of grocery - a natural foods market. The irony that I was buying a cooler at one grocery store so that I could shop at another almost makes me laugh out loud. Actually, I would let out a good chuckle if it weren't for the fact that my children sometimes seem to sleep as light as special forces military personnel.
After purchasing the cooler, we set out on our little roadtrip and then to Bloomingfoods once we arrived in Bloomington. Peppadew peppers, maple sugar, 240 Sweet artisan marshmallows, and Himala Salt were just a few of the wonderful little treats I picked up while there. I have not found Peppadew peppers anywhere locally. Perhaps I could find them and any of the other items if I were to go to Whole Foods but that is a bit of a drive from us as well. The Himala Salt is easy enough to find at my usual health food stores but neither carries the large rock crystals for grinding.
Bloomingfoods was a nice little diversion and I will admit that I'm just plain giddy with my artisan marshmallows and Peppadew peppers (I bought both the red and yellow variety!) but the produce at Bloomingfoods was a bit pricier than I'm used to paying. For example, their organic bananas were $.99/lb. I am accustomed to paying $.69 or $.79 per pound at regular price or $.29-$.49 per pound when they are getting overripe and are marked down.
--- And finally, I was reminded that, on this day one year ago, Reiss had his first seizure.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Here You Are, June!
With my last post I hoped for warm weather and the arrival of June and now, here it is, the month of sunny days and strawberry picking in the Hoosier state. June is not only here but close to a third gone. My apologies for sounding cliche but seriously, where does the time go? What's more is it has been close to three weeks since my last post. Needless to say, I have become quite the blogging slacker. Not to be confused with a general slacker, which by far, does not describe me, despite my wishes to be able to do less and relax more.
So what have we been up to these last few weeks?
We have gone to downtown Indianapolis and rented a paddle boat on the canal. The photos from that outing.....
(To be read to the same beat as "Five Little Monkeys") Two little monkeys rolling down a hill, one got grass stains on his knee. Momma didn't worry and she didn't fret. She just let them play and frolic with glee.
Where might the photos of the actual paddle boat be, you ask? Well, long story short, paddle boats do not come equipped with seatbelts. Or at least, the paddle boat we rented did not come with them. Between trying to paddle the boat in a semi-sane path of travel through the canal and making certain none of our belongings - to include our backpack and children - fell overboard, conducting a photoshoot fell to the bottom of the priorities list.
Two weekends ago, we went to a USDA certified organic farm to "see the cows." There was not much to see but the man working the tiny little store there was nice enough to walk us out to the barn for the kids to see some calves and the bull. We purchased a few potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. We also bought a pound of ground pork and much to my disappointment, they were out of veal at the time. We have a few photos from that little outing but as with so many things in our house, they have gotten lost in the shuffle. Actually, there is a pretty good chance they are still on the camera waiting to be downloaded. Guess I will find out next time I use the camera.
We have also gone to a neurologist appointment, a DAN! appointment, and spent countless hours doing ABA, occupational, and speech therapies.
We had a laugh-so-hard-I-cried moment here on Monday evening. I'm not quite sure why I decided to set up the pool that day, as it was quite cool for a June day but for some reason I asked the kids if they wanted to set it up and (stupid question, huh?) of course they did. It was one of those impulse decisions that was not well thought out at all and coaxing either child into the water meant boiling water in a big pan in the house several times and pouring it into the pool. (Yes, I always make them get out of the water when we pour the boiling water in....give me some credit, will ya?)
Anyway, Reiss had gotten out of the pool and walked around in the grass and the driveway a bit before coming back to the pool and stepping in, only to yell "There's a SNAKE in the pool!" loud enough for the neighbors on the next street to hear. My husband went over to inspect where Reiss was pointing to discover our "snake" was a dried up dead worm that was two inches long if it was a mile. He pulled it out, held it up, and then discarded it into the grass. And then that is when my laughing and snorting and, eventually, the tears began to stream out of me.
As I am sitting here, I just remembered Reiss has also GRADUATED since my last post. Yes, I know, this seems like a rather big thing to forget but in my defense, a lot happens in three weeks and I have slept since then....even if only a little. His graduation produced several adorable photos. However, many of them have other children in them and due to privacy and blah, blah, blah...they are not on here. Here are the photos I can post. Enjoy....
So what have we been up to these last few weeks?
We have gone to downtown Indianapolis and rented a paddle boat on the canal. The photos from that outing.....
(To be read to the same beat as "Five Little Monkeys") Two little monkeys rolling down a hill, one got grass stains on his knee. Momma didn't worry and she didn't fret. She just let them play and frolic with glee.
Where might the photos of the actual paddle boat be, you ask? Well, long story short, paddle boats do not come equipped with seatbelts. Or at least, the paddle boat we rented did not come with them. Between trying to paddle the boat in a semi-sane path of travel through the canal and making certain none of our belongings - to include our backpack and children - fell overboard, conducting a photoshoot fell to the bottom of the priorities list.
Two weekends ago, we went to a USDA certified organic farm to "see the cows." There was not much to see but the man working the tiny little store there was nice enough to walk us out to the barn for the kids to see some calves and the bull. We purchased a few potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. We also bought a pound of ground pork and much to my disappointment, they were out of veal at the time. We have a few photos from that little outing but as with so many things in our house, they have gotten lost in the shuffle. Actually, there is a pretty good chance they are still on the camera waiting to be downloaded. Guess I will find out next time I use the camera.
We have also gone to a neurologist appointment, a DAN! appointment, and spent countless hours doing ABA, occupational, and speech therapies.
We had a laugh-so-hard-I-cried moment here on Monday evening. I'm not quite sure why I decided to set up the pool that day, as it was quite cool for a June day but for some reason I asked the kids if they wanted to set it up and (stupid question, huh?) of course they did. It was one of those impulse decisions that was not well thought out at all and coaxing either child into the water meant boiling water in a big pan in the house several times and pouring it into the pool. (Yes, I always make them get out of the water when we pour the boiling water in....give me some credit, will ya?)
Anyway, Reiss had gotten out of the pool and walked around in the grass and the driveway a bit before coming back to the pool and stepping in, only to yell "There's a SNAKE in the pool!" loud enough for the neighbors on the next street to hear. My husband went over to inspect where Reiss was pointing to discover our "snake" was a dried up dead worm that was two inches long if it was a mile. He pulled it out, held it up, and then discarded it into the grass. And then that is when my laughing and snorting and, eventually, the tears began to stream out of me.
As I am sitting here, I just remembered Reiss has also GRADUATED since my last post. Yes, I know, this seems like a rather big thing to forget but in my defense, a lot happens in three weeks and I have slept since then....even if only a little. His graduation produced several adorable photos. However, many of them have other children in them and due to privacy and blah, blah, blah...they are not on here. Here are the photos I can post. Enjoy....
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Kicking Myself
While we are enjoying the results and benefits of the last three weeks of Reiss receiving ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy, at the same time, I am kicking myself every day for having not fought more intensely for him to receive such therapy since learning about it more than a year ago.
When I first discovered ABA therapy, I did what I now look back on and think of as a very casual, half-hearted effort to seek ABA therapy as part of our treatment plan for Reiss' autism. After coming up with basically no resources for ABA in our area, I gave up. A few months later, once again, something apparently sparked my interest in seeking out ABA services for Reiss but the only results I came up with at that time were Lovaas and ABA centers that are a one-hour one-way trip from our home.
I didn't want the hassle of being responsible for submitting our own insurance claims that came with Lovaas services and driving a one-hour drive to a center and sitting for four to eight hours while Reiss received therapy was simply out of the question. Laziness has nothing to do with my reluctance to file our own insurance claims. No, my hesitancy stems more from past experiences with insurance companies and how they frequently try to pass the financial responsibility on to the consumer rather than own up to their entire purpose for providing insurance - paying the claims.
Making a one-hour drive to a center was not even something I would have considered doing. It's not that I would not do just about anything to improve Reiss's autism symptoms, but rather, many factors combined to make considering such a trek on a daily basis totally unfeasible. First, I also have Milla to think about. Making such a trek daily when she was barely a year old would have been like packing up our lives every single day so that we could go and sit all day in the parents' area of the center waiting for Reiss to come out. How would that even be fair to a one-year-old? And that's not even considering the factor of inconvenience. Second, Indiana is not the greatest place to be during the winter months. It's not unusual for what is usually a five- or ten-minute drive during warmer months to transform into an hour-long expedition out into the tundra during the winter months. So imagine what an hour-long drive under normal driving conditions translates to in blizzard-like conditions. Not fun. Not to mention, stressful, and somewhat dangerous.
During all this, there was also the question of "How in the world are we going to pay for this?" When your child receives an autism diagnosis, no one hands you a nice little manual on how to proceed after you leave the doctor's office. Most of this stuff you learn by trial and error, talking to other parents of autistic children that you meet along this journey, and by spending countless hours doing your own homework - and God knows that's necessary since no doctor out there is losing sleep over my child or spending his time advocating for him.
Anyway, so it's no surprise that I learned about ABA and then went for months wondering how all the families in these success stories I was reading about could afford ABA for their child(ren). No one ever bothered to mention anything to me about autism mandates or the fact that - regardless of my loathing Indiana winters - my family lives in quite possibly one of the best states in the United States when it comes to having a child with autism and the mandate that entitles my child to insurance coverage for autism treatments.
Depending on the source one consults, a full-time ABA program for a child can cost upwards to $100,000 per year. Yes, that's per year - approximately two times the total median individual (as opposed to a family) income for a resident of the United States and approximately three times the annual cap of $36,000 that many states provide for in their own autism mandates. Luckily, as I later found out, Indiana is not only lucky enough to have an autism mandate, but we also currently do not have any dollar amount caps on the benefits a child can receive annually. At $100K per year (and that's quite a lot more than the average I am finding), or even $36,000 per year for autism treatments alone, it begs the question of why the insurance companies themselves are not calling on politicians to demand funding for further research into autism and its causes....but that's a whole 'nother rant.
It wasn't until early this year when I declared myself to be on a renewed mission of seeking out the best possible routes of treatment for Reiss that I really began paying attention to what the autism mandate meant for us. When I researched it further and learned that basically the mandate states our insurance plan cannot deny ABA services to Reiss, it was like we had won a small victory that I had never really fought very hard to achieve. It was a victory, nonetheless, and when the former director of one of the centers I had previously contacted gave me a call to tell me she and her husband were opening a center on our side of town, I was ecstatic. Little did she know that in the following days the introductions she made possible between myself and another former employee of the same center where she was employed would result in our family getting started with ABA by means of an in-home program, much sooner than her own center was opened.
Do I feel guilty for facilitating Reiss's in-home ABA program with a different individual than the person who was trying to get us onboard as clients in their own facility? No, not really because we may still end up sending Reiss to the center once it opens so that he can continue having social interactions on a regular basis.
Long story long, that is how we arrived where we are today. Reiss is doing an in-home ABA program for around 22 hours per week and we are in Week 4. After school is out for the summer, Reiss will bump up to forty hours per week. If you are not familiar with ABA, this probably sounds like a grueling schedule to keep, especially for a child who isn't even five years old. However, ABA therapy is very play-oriented in its teaching techniques. Reiss generally runs three to five "programs" and then gets a free period in which he can choose the activity he wishes to do for the duration of his break until the next set of programs.
The results we have seen so far are amazing.
We are experiencing many less tantrums.
Now, unlike before ABA, Reiss sometimes gets water or something on his shirt and there is no meltdown. Sometimes, in these instances, my husband and I find ourselves looking at one another while both of us are thinking, "Okay, where is the tantrum? Is it coming and is just delayed?" But it never comes and we are shocked and amazed.
Car rides are actually enjoyable - something I have never - post children -been able to say prior to now. Reiss and Milla sit. And they are often quiet. No screaming. No stressing me out to a point where a three minute car ride is like enduring a non-medicated root canal. And at the risk of jinxing myself, I will even go so far to say they often watch DVD's while in the car, as in, they actually pay attention to them.
And discipline....oh, where do I begin? Prior to ABA, nothing and I really mean nothing has ever proven effective with Reiss for any given amount of time. Timeouts were the worst. Sending him to his room was like a reward. Reward systems meant nothing to him. Positive reinforcement was like a permission slip to follow his good deeds with an undesirable behavior. If parents of typical children thinks it's difficult trying to discipline a child, they have no clue what it's like for many parents of autistic children. These children simply think and process things differently - and that's not my opinion, it's a fact.
Reiss is writing and drawing and - I don't even know how to word this to give it the magnitude it deserves - recognizing written words. I would venture to say he is reading. Reading by rote memory recognition of words used repeatedly in visuals with his ABA programs, but reading, all the same.
The most amazing thing though, is that Reiss is actually initiating conversations - no, wait, I mean meaningful conversations with people. He is asking people their names, their middle names, last names, birth dates. Before ABA, Reiss barely noticed the existence of other people around him, much less engage in conversational speech with them.
With ABA, I feel like we have our sanity back. Literally.
Finally arriving where we have has been quite a lesson in researching our options and digging for that information that no one is going to spoon-feed us. The whole process has left me wondering why we didn't get ABA for Reiss much sooner - at any cost or inconvenience or whatever. But I know the answer to that - I just didn't put up enough of a fight.
And while the ABA is costing us an arm and a leg, even with insurance coverage, that sanity isn't something one can put a pricetag on.
I can just see the commercial for ABA....
Autism: Your child's ability to develop "normally" out the window.
Effects autism has on a family: Feelings of isolation and lack of others who understand and can relate.
Treatments for autism: More money than any average person makes in a year.
ABA: Too darn much.
Getting one's sanity back after ABA: Priceless.
When I first discovered ABA therapy, I did what I now look back on and think of as a very casual, half-hearted effort to seek ABA therapy as part of our treatment plan for Reiss' autism. After coming up with basically no resources for ABA in our area, I gave up. A few months later, once again, something apparently sparked my interest in seeking out ABA services for Reiss but the only results I came up with at that time were Lovaas and ABA centers that are a one-hour one-way trip from our home.
I didn't want the hassle of being responsible for submitting our own insurance claims that came with Lovaas services and driving a one-hour drive to a center and sitting for four to eight hours while Reiss received therapy was simply out of the question. Laziness has nothing to do with my reluctance to file our own insurance claims. No, my hesitancy stems more from past experiences with insurance companies and how they frequently try to pass the financial responsibility on to the consumer rather than own up to their entire purpose for providing insurance - paying the claims.
Making a one-hour drive to a center was not even something I would have considered doing. It's not that I would not do just about anything to improve Reiss's autism symptoms, but rather, many factors combined to make considering such a trek on a daily basis totally unfeasible. First, I also have Milla to think about. Making such a trek daily when she was barely a year old would have been like packing up our lives every single day so that we could go and sit all day in the parents' area of the center waiting for Reiss to come out. How would that even be fair to a one-year-old? And that's not even considering the factor of inconvenience. Second, Indiana is not the greatest place to be during the winter months. It's not unusual for what is usually a five- or ten-minute drive during warmer months to transform into an hour-long expedition out into the tundra during the winter months. So imagine what an hour-long drive under normal driving conditions translates to in blizzard-like conditions. Not fun. Not to mention, stressful, and somewhat dangerous.
During all this, there was also the question of "How in the world are we going to pay for this?" When your child receives an autism diagnosis, no one hands you a nice little manual on how to proceed after you leave the doctor's office. Most of this stuff you learn by trial and error, talking to other parents of autistic children that you meet along this journey, and by spending countless hours doing your own homework - and God knows that's necessary since no doctor out there is losing sleep over my child or spending his time advocating for him.
Anyway, so it's no surprise that I learned about ABA and then went for months wondering how all the families in these success stories I was reading about could afford ABA for their child(ren). No one ever bothered to mention anything to me about autism mandates or the fact that - regardless of my loathing Indiana winters - my family lives in quite possibly one of the best states in the United States when it comes to having a child with autism and the mandate that entitles my child to insurance coverage for autism treatments.
Depending on the source one consults, a full-time ABA program for a child can cost upwards to $100,000 per year. Yes, that's per year - approximately two times the total median individual (as opposed to a family) income for a resident of the United States and approximately three times the annual cap of $36,000 that many states provide for in their own autism mandates. Luckily, as I later found out, Indiana is not only lucky enough to have an autism mandate, but we also currently do not have any dollar amount caps on the benefits a child can receive annually. At $100K per year (and that's quite a lot more than the average I am finding), or even $36,000 per year for autism treatments alone, it begs the question of why the insurance companies themselves are not calling on politicians to demand funding for further research into autism and its causes....but that's a whole 'nother rant.
It wasn't until early this year when I declared myself to be on a renewed mission of seeking out the best possible routes of treatment for Reiss that I really began paying attention to what the autism mandate meant for us. When I researched it further and learned that basically the mandate states our insurance plan cannot deny ABA services to Reiss, it was like we had won a small victory that I had never really fought very hard to achieve. It was a victory, nonetheless, and when the former director of one of the centers I had previously contacted gave me a call to tell me she and her husband were opening a center on our side of town, I was ecstatic. Little did she know that in the following days the introductions she made possible between myself and another former employee of the same center where she was employed would result in our family getting started with ABA by means of an in-home program, much sooner than her own center was opened.
Do I feel guilty for facilitating Reiss's in-home ABA program with a different individual than the person who was trying to get us onboard as clients in their own facility? No, not really because we may still end up sending Reiss to the center once it opens so that he can continue having social interactions on a regular basis.
Long story long, that is how we arrived where we are today. Reiss is doing an in-home ABA program for around 22 hours per week and we are in Week 4. After school is out for the summer, Reiss will bump up to forty hours per week. If you are not familiar with ABA, this probably sounds like a grueling schedule to keep, especially for a child who isn't even five years old. However, ABA therapy is very play-oriented in its teaching techniques. Reiss generally runs three to five "programs" and then gets a free period in which he can choose the activity he wishes to do for the duration of his break until the next set of programs.
The results we have seen so far are amazing.
We are experiencing many less tantrums.
Now, unlike before ABA, Reiss sometimes gets water or something on his shirt and there is no meltdown. Sometimes, in these instances, my husband and I find ourselves looking at one another while both of us are thinking, "Okay, where is the tantrum? Is it coming and is just delayed?" But it never comes and we are shocked and amazed.
Car rides are actually enjoyable - something I have never - post children -been able to say prior to now. Reiss and Milla sit. And they are often quiet. No screaming. No stressing me out to a point where a three minute car ride is like enduring a non-medicated root canal. And at the risk of jinxing myself, I will even go so far to say they often watch DVD's while in the car, as in, they actually pay attention to them.
And discipline....oh, where do I begin? Prior to ABA, nothing and I really mean nothing has ever proven effective with Reiss for any given amount of time. Timeouts were the worst. Sending him to his room was like a reward. Reward systems meant nothing to him. Positive reinforcement was like a permission slip to follow his good deeds with an undesirable behavior. If parents of typical children thinks it's difficult trying to discipline a child, they have no clue what it's like for many parents of autistic children. These children simply think and process things differently - and that's not my opinion, it's a fact.
Reiss is writing and drawing and - I don't even know how to word this to give it the magnitude it deserves - recognizing written words. I would venture to say he is reading. Reading by rote memory recognition of words used repeatedly in visuals with his ABA programs, but reading, all the same.
The most amazing thing though, is that Reiss is actually initiating conversations - no, wait, I mean meaningful conversations with people. He is asking people their names, their middle names, last names, birth dates. Before ABA, Reiss barely noticed the existence of other people around him, much less engage in conversational speech with them.
With ABA, I feel like we have our sanity back. Literally.
Finally arriving where we have has been quite a lesson in researching our options and digging for that information that no one is going to spoon-feed us. The whole process has left me wondering why we didn't get ABA for Reiss much sooner - at any cost or inconvenience or whatever. But I know the answer to that - I just didn't put up enough of a fight.
And while the ABA is costing us an arm and a leg, even with insurance coverage, that sanity isn't something one can put a pricetag on.
I can just see the commercial for ABA....
Autism: Your child's ability to develop "normally" out the window.
Effects autism has on a family: Feelings of isolation and lack of others who understand and can relate.
Treatments for autism: More money than any average person makes in a year.
ABA: Too darn much.
Getting one's sanity back after ABA: Priceless.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
No, I Have Not Gone Missing In Action
But one might thing so considering this is the longest stint I've gone without posting something since I began blogging last year.
Wherever shall I begin? So much has gone on in the last few weeks that I barely remember a lot of it. I suppose I will just begin with the most exciting parts.
Yesterday we started ABA with Reiss!!!!! Yes, this is very exciting news and hence, the exclamation points. It is not only exciting because of the spectacular results we have seen in only two days of therapy, but also because we have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for the therapy itself to begin. Long story short, we went with a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) who used to work in an ABA center and then left the center to go out on her own and create in-home ABA therapy programs for children. Because she is relatively new to being out on her own, she is still building up her group of therapists she employs to go out and do the actual therapies.
Today was Day 2 and already I feel like I have learned so much simply by giving all control to the therapists and watching how they handle particular situations. Last night was probably the most "normal" evening we have had since Reiss was born. We sat. We ate dinner. Everyone was calm. I actually feel like it may be the first time I was able to relax in close to five years. And breathe.......I got to breathe without feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders from caring for a child who can go from zero to all-out ear-piercing repetitive screaming in 4 milliseconds.
For the first time ever, Reiss is saying "I'm sorry" when he does something wrong, like screaming at someone for no reason. Granted, he does have to be prompted to say it and he does hesitate but he's doing it! And without having to be carried kicking, hitting, screaming, and biting on the way to the timeout chair to sit for a spell for not doing as he is told.
All of it is just totally amazing! It's like a friend of mine says, "I don't know what they're doing but it WORKS!" Actually, I do understand what they are doing and much of it seems so simple, it is like we have been doing much of it all along - now it's simply in a more organized and purposeful way. Needless to say, I think this is going to be a very good thing for Reiss and our entire family.
So much more has happened around here but I really must figure out what to have for dinner besides roast. Until next time.....
Wherever shall I begin? So much has gone on in the last few weeks that I barely remember a lot of it. I suppose I will just begin with the most exciting parts.
Yesterday we started ABA with Reiss!!!!! Yes, this is very exciting news and hence, the exclamation points. It is not only exciting because of the spectacular results we have seen in only two days of therapy, but also because we have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for the therapy itself to begin. Long story short, we went with a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) who used to work in an ABA center and then left the center to go out on her own and create in-home ABA therapy programs for children. Because she is relatively new to being out on her own, she is still building up her group of therapists she employs to go out and do the actual therapies.
Today was Day 2 and already I feel like I have learned so much simply by giving all control to the therapists and watching how they handle particular situations. Last night was probably the most "normal" evening we have had since Reiss was born. We sat. We ate dinner. Everyone was calm. I actually feel like it may be the first time I was able to relax in close to five years. And breathe.......I got to breathe without feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders from caring for a child who can go from zero to all-out ear-piercing repetitive screaming in 4 milliseconds.
For the first time ever, Reiss is saying "I'm sorry" when he does something wrong, like screaming at someone for no reason. Granted, he does have to be prompted to say it and he does hesitate but he's doing it! And without having to be carried kicking, hitting, screaming, and biting on the way to the timeout chair to sit for a spell for not doing as he is told.
All of it is just totally amazing! It's like a friend of mine says, "I don't know what they're doing but it WORKS!" Actually, I do understand what they are doing and much of it seems so simple, it is like we have been doing much of it all along - now it's simply in a more organized and purposeful way. Needless to say, I think this is going to be a very good thing for Reiss and our entire family.
So much more has happened around here but I really must figure out what to have for dinner besides roast. Until next time.....
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