Month: March 2018

I am continually blown away by ABA therapy.

Colin has been working on so many important and useful skills, and I want to update everyone on his progress.  A friend told me that I will look back at this blog one day and see how far he has come…I can already tell that she was right!

When he started ABA therapy, imitation was merely starting.  He had just gotten interested in some imitation, like doing the motions for his Five Little Monkeys song.  While he would do the motions, he did not necessarily do it on command.  Actually, I don’t know that he had ever done something when I said “do this.”  Waiting was a no-go.  He wanted what he wanted and he wanted it right now. He would scream and get really upset if he did not immediately get what he wanted. He had started using some verbal communication in the last couple of months – his first word was “bye” about two months ago.

So he started ABA in February (it is now the middle of March).

• He is working on imitation with objects and did a fantabulous job today! (I know that isn’t a real word, but he did so well, I had to create a new word just to describe it accurately!)  Imitation is vital in therapy process.  Once he learns to imitate, the possibilities are endless!
• He can wait!  And he is an expert waiter.  We do a 10-count wait with him, and he usually smiles and bounces along as we count.  He even makes some of the sounds as we count, like /f/ for four and five. He just smiles, laughs, and makes amazing eye contact while he waits.  We can see that he is so proud of himself once his wait time is finished.  
• He is using his AAC device to make requests.  He still needs some guidance occasionally, but he often does it unprompted.
• He is trying to imitate more and more words.  We hear new words and word approximations all the time.  Just today he said water while he washed his hands.  
• The words that he has are becoming more natural for him.  His no is getting quite good!

This “thank you” is reserved for our photographer!

We have really lucked out in the photo department!  When the boys were younger, we had a great friend who was a photographer.  She captured everything from maternity pictures to Colin’s six month pictures.  We moved after that, and traveling to get to her was a stretch.  Kelly was so talented, and I wondered if we would ever find someone else who could tackle the challenge that we presented – two wild boys!

Then we found Amanda.  She is amazing!  Thank Heavens for her patience!  We just got our Easter/4-year-old/5-year-old pictures back and I could not be happier.

First, she is so very patient with Colin.  He is not one to sit still for two seconds, so capturing his beautiful smile is no easy feat!  It takes a lot of coaxing, singing, dancing, and straight-up making fools of ourselves to get his picture!  She might break a sweat chasing down the shot, but she stays calm and collected.  She works with Colin, giving him breaks when needed, and jumps in ready to go when he is ready to go!  She is super understanding of his special needs and always accommodates them.

I’ll share these pictures here, and let the photographs speak for themselves.  I always tell that I’ll be happy with one picture per session, but she always gets more than that.  She always captures my boys so well, and I see their personalities shining from these photographs:

Good afternoon, Friends!

Sorry that I have not posted recently!  I have been working on something else.

I have always enjoyed writing.  When we went through our fertility struggles, I actually started a little book.  I shared it with a few people who were going through the same thing.  I never reached the point where I published it though.

I am working on a new book!

This time is going to be different!  I have been encouraged by many of you to collect my writings into a book.  I have started doing just that!

I have used some of my previous blog entries, but I am also adding new content.  I am excited to share it with everyone once I finish it.

I have several topics that I highlight throughout, but if anyone has suggestions, or things that you would like me to include, please let me know!

Have a good week, everyone!

Just a little update on our home therapy room set up!

To Our Daycare Family,

Thank you.

You have been there for us for nearly three years now.  In that time, you have loved on my babies while I was at work.

When I came into your facility as a birth to three provider, I knew right away that you ladies were different.  You genuinely cared for the kids.  You knew them (and some daycare providers don’t know their kids).  I told Curtis that, if we were ever going to send the boys to daycare, this place was it.

I never had to worry about their safety or well being.  I knew you all were taking the best care of them.  I knew you were playing with them and teaching them new things every day.

When you have a child with special needs, finding someone you can trust and rely on can be tricky.  You never once complained when Colin had a bad day.  You always reassured me that he was just fine and that you love him and that you wanted him to be there.

So he was a big three year old, but still needed to be rocked in order to take a nap?  You did it.

He has a particular diet and needs special attention?  You have always done it.

I gave you sensory strategies to help him during the day?  You jumped right in and implemented them.

He started ABA and missed the last few weeks?  I got several messages saying that you missed him and want him to come back.

You know Colin, you get him, you do everything you can to help him, and you love him.  I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Both of my boy have been BLESSED to have you all.  I highly recommended you all any time someone says they need a good daycare.  I admire and appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.

Thank you for loving our boys like they are your own.

I recently watched a video from Kate Swenson over at Finding Cooper’s Voice.  She described an outing that she had with her son over a year ago.  She had taken him to the mall to see Elmo.  It was in that moment that she realized he was truly different and that “this isn’t okay.”  She received a lot of flack after she shared her thoughts on this experience.

This post is dedicated to Colin’s birth to three occupational therapist, Sonya.

As a speech therapist, I felt like I knew everything that needed to be done to help Colin.  “He just wasn’t talking, after all.”  I specifically had not called in early intervention services earlier because, and I quote, “I know what the therapists would do, and it is exactly what I am already doing.”

When my best friend (an OT) explained some sensory things to me, I knew that his needs were out of my zone.  I needed to call in extra help, because I was not personally equipped with that particular skill set.

I was most anxious for his OT evaluation because that is where we really needed help.  Sonya was with us for several hours during his initial evaluation.  She watched him, pointed out the things she saw, and explained his sensory difficulties.

Before that evaluation, I thought Colin’s receptive language was zilch.  

He didn’t follow directions.  She pointed out that he was understanding, but his processing time was so delayed that he was completing the task minutes after we talked about it.

I thought he was zoning out because he would randomly stare off.

She pointed out that that stare was what he did as he processed things.

I couldn’t understand why he would randomly crawl  at almost two and a half years old when he had started walking at 10 months old.  

She explained that crawling was a grounding task that he used to help with his sensory processing problems.

I knew he moved a little differently than Finn did, but I had not thought much about it. 

She noted that he was a very low tone little guy.

He was always jumping, climbing, moving.

She explained that he was a sensory seeker.

It all made so much sense after she explained it.

After that initial evaluation, I was in tears.  I felt like, on that night in August 2016. at almost two and half years old, I met my son for the first time.  Sonya, you introduced the real Colin to us.  You saw him underneath all of the sensory issues that I couldn’t understand.  I remember looking at him afterwards, and feeling so much heartache, because I had not seen him before that evening.  I had completely misread everything that his actions were trying to tell me (crawling, chewing on everything, the sensory-seeking behaviors).

We only worked with birth to three for about eight months, but your work in that short time changed the trajectory of our lives.  We learned to understand Colin’s sensory processing disorder.  You taught us how to help him.  He is a different kid today, and I give you so much credit for that.  Where would we have ended up without your help?  I’m afraid to wonder.

Colin was in there the whole time.  You helped us bring him out.  You gave us the tools we needed to work with his sensory system instead of against it.

You saw his true colors and helped us see them too.

Thank you, Sonya.