World Autism Day

April 2 has been designated as World Autism Day.
I urge you to do a couple of Internet searches to find out more information regarding Autism, more specifically Asperger's.
Did you know that more children are diagnosed with an Autism spectrum disorder than childhood cancer or Aids combined?
Did you know that 1 in 110 children will be diagnosed with this and 1 in 70 are males?
Did you know that this is real, I am not lying?
Did you know that there are no cures?
Did you know that this is something that Owen will live with everyday of his life?
Did you know that "this" consumes his family every day and eats his mother alive?
Did you know that this affects every single thing that he does?

If you didn't, try walking in his shoes...

The South Carolina Project

Ansley recently had a project due for her South Carolina History. There were many things she could have chosen but she decided to do the project on Hunting Island near Beaufort, SC.

This place holds lots of memories for Greg and I. This is the place where his Grandmother used to RV at. Greg and I were able to RV with her one time while we were in college. Since that time we have been back. 2 Spring Breaks ago we took the kids there to camp. It was almost a disaster. :) It was freezing out, we had to buy another tent, etc, etc...
This past summer we talked our friends into camping with us (our anniversary weekend June 27)there to. It was so HOT and buggy! But, it is a beautiful place.

Ansley did a diorama. It looks great. Greg and I helped her, but she did a lot of the work herself.

IEP postponed again

Hmmm...What can I say? This one may be my fault. I asked for another evaluation (concerning speech and language) and this time they listened. Whoa! It made more sense to do the evaluation and have all the results then try to piece them together. Actually the test that I wanted to give him was not really the test I had in mind. I had some information wrong but that is cleared up and hopefully we will have a mtg next week before Greg goes to Florida. Our psychologist had a family emergency so I haven't even seen her report or plan of action. I truly am an understanding person---I just need to know what's going on. As for today, well, it is Thursday, so it is my most dreaded day of the week. Dance and allergy shots. ughh!

Lemonade anyone?

So, I have been avoiding the blog lately. Not sure what to write, how to write. I really didn't want to say this/write this stuff out loud. Then it wouldn't be true. I tend to avoid things b/c then I think they don't exist. I had my time so now I am going to make some lemonade with what I have.

For weeks now we have been anticipating what the psychologist is going to say. What the diagnosis will be. I have the news. Not great but not horrible. A mild case of Asperger's syndrome ---which is on the Autism spectrum.

Our IEP mtg is Thursday to determine what the appropriate education for him will be. It may just be pulling him out for some Applied behavior therapy and some resource--when he needs it. And, we will still continue with the OT for the sensory processing disorder--which is common in cases like Owen.

My good friend Kris has supplied us with information regarding a couple of seminars that deal with sensory issues, Autism, and Asperger's. I will probably attend one of these to get more information. I take the approach of knowledge is power.

OT seems to really help Owen. We stopped things at home for a week to see if it would make a difference. It did. He got in trouble at school and had lots of focusing issues. If it works don't change it, just reevaluate every so often.

So, I promise to post more often, lemons or lemonade. I know that there will always be lemons. But today I think I'll go with lemonade.

Isabelle and Dad

Ansley and Dad

Father/Daughter Valentine's Dance

Drumroll...

I wish! Do you ever have that feeling that something is just not going to pan out? Well I had it all week. Today was "D-DAY". Diagnosis day. And wouldn't you know that this morning I got a call saying that my appt. had to be rescheduled until next Wed. b/c she has laryngitis. I was not really sure how much I had been anticipating this appt. until I got the news. I just wanted to know so that I could move forward in whatever direction we needed to go. Truthfully, I am really not sure that I can go another week. In the end, though, what's another week. Whatever is coming has been there or not been there for years, we just didn't know...

Whose side are you on anyways?

Without divulging too much information, I have to wonder this out loud: whose side are you on anyways? I get the feeling that there are going to be some fierce battles ahead for me, Owen's Mom. But that is okay. I think I'm prepared. The way I see it, Owen has one Mom. I'm his only chance. I'm not going down without a fight. As Princess Lea said, "Help me OB Wan, you're my only hope!" Owen would appreciate that. Huge Star Wars fan. LOL

In other related news, the psych appt. went well. Thursday is the big day. The day of diagnosis. I'm starting to become very anxious about this. Not sure why. A couple of words is not going to change Owen, I hope. He'll always be Owen. I guess I'm scared. Scared of the future that I can't control. SO, I will take one day at time, for now.

He is continuing to see the OT in Hartsville and is making good progress. Greg took him today and is starting to understand the whole concept better. She gave us more "homework" to do and wants to see him next week.

What day is it?

Sometimes I feel like the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. He is the one who has no brain. Yep, that was me today. I must of left it in my crock pot.

My husband has been out of town so I have been flying solo. This morning I had to get all the kids out the door and dinner in the crock pot--all before 7:15am.

I dropped the carpool off, minus Owen and Isabelle. Owen had a DR. appt. at the psychologist office this morning. My plan was to take Isabelle to the appt, then drop her off at school and come back to get Owen. Amazingly I got there on time. No one was there though. That's strange. So, I decide to go back to the car and a nagging suspicion made me look in my red bag and find the note that said Owen's appt. was tomorrow. Wow!

So back to school. I enter the building when I notice the 3rd grade asst. looking at me funny. She says kindly, "How did Ansley make it to school on time and not Owen?" I had to laugh. When I told her what happened she laughed along with me. So did Owen's teacher and his OT, who we managed to track down to let her know that Owen was indeed at school this morning. I went to Ansley's classroom and Ansley looks at me like I am crazy. SO, I had to tell her teacher what happened too.

After all the excitement, I managed to drop off Isabelle, go to the library to pick up some books that were on hold for me and pick up Isabelle.

The off to the carline to pick up the older two. The bus has been very late and Owen had another OT appt. in Hartsville that we couldnot be late for.

Good news there though. My appt was indeed today at 4pm and the OT says that she can see improvement in Owen already. He is going back next week and is going to talk to his school about implementing some things in his classroom.

Tommorrow is the psychologist appt. I hope I don't forget. LOL

I'm not ready for a basket yet!

This happened this morning and I really wanted to share!

My 4 year old attends pre-school 5 days a week. Every morning on our way to school, we drive by a cemetery. Isabelle likes to ask questions. I try to make them brief, especially when dealing with a sensitive subject such as death. But, I have told her that when people die they are buried there and then you go to Heaven to be with God. I went as far as telling her that they put the body in a casket and bury it in the dirt. I think I may have confused her.

Well, today she asked what that place was while we were driving by. I again explained that it was a cemetery. She responded with an "Oh yea" and went on to say that that is where you get buried in the dirt when you die. She then said she didn't like the dirt because it was messy and yucky. She wanted to go in the basket instead. What? She then asked me if I wanted to be buried in the dirt or be put in the basket. The basket? I told her I would really have to think about that. She said, "No Mommy! You really don't want to be buried in the dirt. You should choose the basket!"

Chic-fil-A?

My neighbor Melanie invited me to Chic-fil-a after preschool today. That was before I dropped off the big kids carpool, took Isabelle to pre-school, took Owen to the Dr.s for a "I think he has strep" but doesn't office visit, back to the house to get Owen's backpack because he wasn't contagious, a stop by Sonic to get him to go to school, sat as he ate lunch at school, a chat with his teacher, a visit with Ansley's teacher and to tell Ansley that Owen was at school, a call from my loving husband to come eat lunch him at Heavely ham and off to the car line at pres-school again.
As I sat in Chic-fil-a, all I could think was wow, I am glad that we are so over this stage. There were all these cute little Mommies with their infants and toddlers. I kept getting flashbacks of those hard times. Kept getting flashbacks of why I stopped going to public places like that. It made me a little sad. Sad because I stopped doing things like that b/c it got too hard. Sad because I wonder how many things I have done to protect one child but never let the other experience.

Clarification

Okay. I need to clarify a few things. The first, I have always loved my son. But, it has been very difficult. Especially when he was younger. I was trying to figure him out, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Trying, trying, trying. When at the same time he was trying to tell me something too but didn't know how to. SO, I think we are even. :)

Secondly, the sensory processing disorder. It is not exactly a diagnosis. It can't be--it is not in the big DSM book. Owen has symptoms of this, especially the vestibular sense. As far as getting help for him at school, there is not much more that can be done unless he is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Those tests are coming next week. But, it is a start and has helped me understand all the frustrations I have been feeling for nearly 6 years. Ultimately, it has given me peace of mind and a way to let go of a lot of guilt.

And, there is treatment. Therapy usually helps a ton with this disorder. I am optimistic. It is going to take a lot of time, commitment, and money.

My parents came for the weekend to babysit for us. Our friends eloped and had a reception in Greenville on Sat. When we got back, my Mom told me Owen missed me. I have hardly ever heard that before. Now, I don' t get away very often, but when I do, I don't get or hear the greeting I long to here. But yesterday was different. It was probably the first time that I felt really connected to Owen. I think he knows that I am starting to understand him. And, that feels good.

It's official

It's official. After seeing a specialized OT, Owen indeed has sensory integration disorder/sensory processing disorder. I am not sure that the label is worth $500.00 but...
One of the therapies that this OT uses is brushing. It is kind of odd at first, but I am a believer that it works after our first try at home. Lots of commotion at our house and I could not get Owen to settle down to do his homework. So, I decide to try the brushing. All the kids wanted a try. So, i indulged them a bit, obvioulsy paying Owen way more attention. After the brushing, he settled down a bit and we were able to get though almost all his work with no problems. I mean, NO PROBLEMS. Was it a fluke? Not sure. Stay tuned to find out.

I have recently come to the conclusion that I love Owen. I mean really love him. I would explain Owen like this. He is an acquired taste. At first you don't know what to do, don't know how to handle it. YOu want to like/love it but can't almost. So you wait. Years. And wait. And then somebody guides you in the right direction. You put it all together and then...then you are able to love completely. Because you understand. And you know that it wasn't your fault. And love prevails.

Report Card time!

Congratulations go out to Ansley for making the ALL A HONOR ROLL again!! It was close. She had a high B in Reading but managed to pull it up after a good week of tests!
Congratulations go out to Owen for making some good progress this nine weeks! He improved in all areas. Way to go Idaho!

How long does it take to make a scarf?

Hmm...that depends on who you are. If you are me, then one year, almost to the date.

Pretty sad, huh.

I consider myself a pretty crafty person. However, I will be the first one to admit that I like to dabble in lots of things, but don't consider myself "good" at anything. Sounds like I may need to take a class or two. Or, just consult my very crafty sister in law Carrie. I know she will probably chastise me for saying this, but I often wonder if there is anything she can't do? I am not saying I am jealous--well maybe a teeny bit, but I am not sure that she knows how much I admire her. She follows her Coast Guard husband around the country, raises three kids, goes to nursing school full time, works part time and then goes back to school again. She cooks, cleans, and crafts, all while maintaining a pleasant personality. And I never hear her complain.
So, I am posting this in honor of her. Because, she is the one that taught me, for over a year, how to knit. Are you proud? My first completed scarf!

The Tooth Fairy came to our house!

Well, Owen finally lost a tooth, with a little help. The last time the kids were at the dentist (in November), the dentist warned us that Owen had permanent teeth that were about to abrupt in back of the baby teeth that had not fallen out yet. Literally, the next week while helping Owen brush his teeth, I saw that one of the permanent teeth pushed its way through. A quick call to the dentist and we were literally getting the pliers out trying to loosen his tooth. It was that or let the dentist pull it. I was a little scared. If you know Owen at all, you just have no idea how he might act to things like this. Astonishing enough, he loved the fact that Daddy was using the pliers. He looked forward to it everyday. And, he even got mad at me when I refused to do it when Daddy wasn't home. ( I was afraid I would loose my grip and end up putting a whole in his mouth!) Monday night we worked on the tooth but It was attached by one little root. Tuesday morning Owen made me brush his teeth because he did not like the way his tooth was feeling. Then off he went in the carpool. The about 15 minute after the kids left I got a call from very pregnant neighbor's cell phone who was driving them to school. I picked up the phone and all I could hear was kids yelling! I panicked and so did Greg (who was home doing work). I thought the worst. I though that Kelly had either had a car accident or she had gone into labor. But, alas, it was her giving the phone to Owen to tell me that he twisted his tooth and it came out. He was so proud! And, I was so relieved. Who would have thought that Owen screaming into the phone telling me he lost a tooth could bring me such pure joy. Whoa! When did I turn into my pessimistic mother (Sorry Mom!) After all the excitement he even forgot to put it under his pillow. But boy did he remember the next night. And you know what? He got eleven whole dollars. And you know what I got? Probably eleven years shaved off my life. LOL

Do I get a cookie for this?

I finally started a blog! Wow! I'm not even sure I have time for this, but I am going to give it a whirl. There are so many things that happen each day, good and bad, that it would be a shame to let it go. So, here I am.