Month: June 2018

Do you see these kids?  17 years ago, they were going to their first high school dance together.  He’s a junior.  She’s a sophomore.  (I’ll let you in on a little secret…she didn’t really like him yet…)

See them now?  This was the next summer, 2002.  They’re “official.”  I’d say they’re in love here…and young, oh my goodness, look how young…16 and 18, I believe.

Marshall Football game

                                                           Castle Campbell, in Dollar

Loch Ness

  The Highlands

They went to Outer Banks once….(really wishing we would have taken more trips in the early years of marriage, but college and work called…)

He is here!  The heir had arrived, and the next adventure began:  parenthood!!

And the spare to the heir arrived!  Colin Samuel, so much more than a “spare!”

Remember when they became farmers?  

And we can’t forget these fun memories:

We have been on a lot of adventures – from dating, to marriage, to parenthood.  From home, to college, to our first house, to our forever home.  From Niagara Falls, to Scotland, to Disney.  I’m excited for what’s next!

17 years ago, those two kids had their whole life ahead of them.  They had no idea the adventures that awaited them!  

Thirteen years ago, that 19 year old year girl sure thought she had it all figured out….but God had his own plans on His timetable.  

I’m so glad that you’re stuck with me!  

Happy Lucky 13th Anniversary, Curty!

This is my blog, so if I want to brag a little, that’s allowed…

Right?

Because I’m doing it.

My son is AWESOME. 

I’m just so, so proud of the progress Colin is making.  I could have only hoped six months ago that he would be where he is today.  He has just blown my mind in the last few months.

Now, to my story for today:

They are building a new playground at his school (ABA center).  It is a tree house with a big ramp up to the deck.  You can see it from the door…

He went to the outside door and used his device to say, “water.”

His RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) said, “No, no water play today.”

He goes back to his device and says, “car ramp.”

She says, “Yeah, Bud – your car ramp toy is in your room.”

He keeps saying “car ramp” to which she keeps telling him that the car ramp is in his room and he can play with it later.

He goes to his device and says, “outside car ramp.”

DO YOU SEE WHAT HE DID THERE?!?!

He was talking about the ramp on the tree house!!

I mean, that is language use at its finest!!  His device only has certain things on it right now (favorite toys, foods, a few places, actions,etc.) and he was able to combine those few things into a phrase that communicated what he wanted to say.

So, so smart.  He’s not just a pretty face, people.

And just look at this navigation process he had to go through:

Then today, the boys had well visit checks.  We went out to eat afterwards.  I am always terrified to take the boys out to eat by myself.  Will he sit?  Will he run?  How is this going to go?

It went smashingly.  (We don’t really use that word in my neck of the woods, but I propose that we start.  It’s a fantastic word.)

Both boys waited nicely with me while I ordered.  They chose a seat while I got drinks.  They sat and ate.  We sat for 30 whole minutes.  A manager came over and asked how things were going.  She asked the boys what they did to earn a cookie.  I said because they had been good at the doctor earlier, but I should have said, “because we are actually eating IN a restaurant!  and sitting!  and smiling!  and enjoying a family meal away from home!

Little things are big things and deserve cookies!  (Too bad I’m on a low-carb diet…)

(For anyone interested, Colin uses an iPad with the Prentke Romich app LAMP Words for Life.  LAMP stands for Language Acquisition through Motor Planning.)

The questions I get most often are about Colin’s communication device.  I talk about it a lot in my book, but wanted to share the specifics here too.

The device  itself is an iPad….I know, I know, I’m not an Apple person.  We are an Android family….I don’t even know how to use our Mac computer in the office…but the app he needs is for iPad, so we have an iPad.  The sacrifices we make for our children, right?!  I kid, I kid…I don’t really care about it, but some people are very much aligned with Mac or PC and have strong opinions either way, lol!

I’ll skip the whole AAC educational lesson because I can’t actually share parts of my book for legal agreement reasons (you can find my book here).  I’ll just tell you about how Colin uses his device.

He uses Prentke Romich’s LAMP Words for Life.  LAMP stands for “Language Acquisition through Motor Planning.”  You can read about it here, it’s pretty cool!

I got this from PRC’s website:

 “The Unity® language system is the most established AAC language system in the industry. It’s used by tens of thousands of people using AAC and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.”  

I’ll share an example of how it works:

We have this set on Colin’s specific vocabulary right now.  It has things he uses everyday, preferred toys, foods, places, etc.  

It starts on the main screen:

Let’s say he wants to eat a Popsicle, he goes to the EAT category:

Popsicles are found under the SNACK category:

And when he presses the “Popsicle” picture, the device will say it!  

This is where the LAMP app is special.  He is learning through motor planning.  He has learned exactly where the icons are, and his brain has created a memory of that.  Popsicle will never move on that device, even after you add all of the vocabulary in the world.    This makes it easier for him to learn to use new vocabulary every day.  Sometimes, if the iPad lags, Colin is actually faster than it is!  He will hit the first button and immediately move his finger to the next spot before that screen even pops up.  Mr. Smarty Pants, that boy of mine. 

This software has the capabilities to grow with him too (think Stephen Hawking’s device that he used).

He knows his way around the device like I know my way around an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Whenever he wants something, he grabs his device and tells us.  And, oh!  How I wish I could capture his face when he tells us what he wants.  He turns and looks at me with the biggest smile you have ever seen, and his eye just twinkle.  He is so proud of himself, but I also think he feels relief.  I am so thankful for technology!

You see, Colin is so smart.  He has always known what he wanted, but just couldn’t tell us.  I can only imagine what relief he feels to FINALLY be able to tell us what he wants in a way that we can understand him.  

Communication – it’s a powerful thing!

Last night was Finley’s preschool graduation!  He was so excited, and kept talking about it being “his night.”

Curtis begrudgingly said, “Are they going to play Pomp and Circumstance?”  (I think he doesn’t understand that preschool graduation is just as big of a deal as high school graduation…come on, Daddy!)

Finley says, “Yeah, we are gonna have pop!”  😄😄

When we got there, Colin had a meltdown.  We aren’t exactly sure why, but assume it was a combination of things:  balloons that scared him, lots of background noise, tons of people, a really hot room, we didn’t park in our regular spot – he just wanted out of there.  Colin has made so much progress, and nothing like this has happened in a very, very long time.  I feel like we have gotten his sensory processing disorder “handled” – meaning we usually know what to do to help him through things OR we know what situations we need to avoid.  So this was kind of a surprise.

He walked us out to the car and saying, “Help me, help me.”  He was shaking and crying.  Just so overwhelmed.  We stuck it out, and he calmed down and watched the graduation and even enjoyed some of the kids’ songs.  Then they pulled out the string popper things….but I digress.

For the most part, everyone there knew Colin and understood what was going on.  One woman I didn’t know kept looking at us.  Every time I scanned the room, she was looking at us…but I’m choosing to ignore that.  This time last year, I would have immediately removed Colin from the situation to help calm him down (and to avoid any looks).  I am proud of myself for sticking it out last night…and I didn’t even break a sweat!  Go me!!

I had told my sister-in-law beforehand that things like this make me nervous because I never know how it is going to go, I wonder how others will watch/judge, etc.  She said, “You just have to ignore other people, it doesn’t matter what they think.”  While I know that she is right, that is sometimes hard for this people-pleaser.  Surprisingly, I am getting much better at it though!

I cannot let the hard things get me down, and I cannot let them define the moment.  


This was Finley’s night, after all.

Instead, I am going to focus on the positives:

Finley graduated!  It was his night!  He sang his songs, accepted his diploma, and posed for every picture this mean ol’ mom asked him to pose for.  He has learned so much this year.  He has made some great little friends too.  He has had fun and matured so much!  I am so proud of him and happy for him!

At the beginning when Colin got upset, I took him into the bathroom because I knew it was quiet.  On two separate occasions, he got overwhelmed again.  Do you know what he did?  He removed himself from the situation and walked to the bathroom until he calmed down.   The fact that he knew that he needed to leave that room and seek a quiet place is awesome!  Self regulation! #win  I am so proud of him for making it through something that wasn’t easy for him.  He’s doing so well. 

I feel like I handled the situation much more calmly than I would have just a few months ago.  Personal growth, and all that jazz….

A friend (and another autism mom) came to check on us twice.  Thank you, Friend.

My family was there to help calm Colin and cheer on Finley.  💙

We made it through and now have a boy headed to Kindergarten!!

The Mighty has added me as a contributor!  Here is my first story: 

https://themighty.com/2018/06/how-autism-impacts-siblings/