A Big Surprise

I went away for a few days to meet up with my husband in Baltimore. I took Kaitlin and had my grandma fly in to keep Austin so he wouldn't have to miss any of those therapy sessions I worked oh so hard to get. And when I came home, I got the best surprise ever. Austin is now doing some nonverbal AND verbal imitation!!! This is so huge to me b/c I am so hopefull the sounds will one day become words.

For the "ba" and "mm" sounds they are just asking him if they are using objects or looking at pictures that begin with those sounds, like the Monkey book or playing with balls or getting him to say book. Then they'll say "ah", "oo", "ee", "ssss" and ask him to do the same and he is getting those expecially "ah" and "ee" and he is really trying to do they others. Then for the nonverbal imitation, they do things like patting their heads, touching their lips, opening and closing mouth, and sticking out tongue and he repeated them all CORRECTLY when asked. It's so very exciting!!!

Round 2?

I've been thinking about Austin alot (well actually I'm always thinking about him) but I often wonder if I'm doing a good enough job as a parent especially when it comes to him. I wonder if I need to at least try to see a DAN! so I can make sure that I gave it a shot even if it doesn't work for us. Lately I've really been thinking about going GF/CF again. We did 3 months last time and saw zero improvements but then I always tell myself I should have waited 6 months and I should not have given him soy milk but by time I found out that soy wasn't so great either, we were already 2+ months into the diet. Another reason I've been thinking about it so much is the fact that he has been having little spells of diarrhea ever few days. I'm still debating what to do from here but for now I'm keeping a food journal to see if I can pinpoint a food culprit.

ABA from EI starts tomorrow so now we will be in full swing. 14 hours per week! I wish it was the recommended 30-40 but 14 is more than I ever expected he would get so I am just really thankful. Last week he started PECS both the book and a schedule. He understands checking the schedule but has yet to realize the picture is representative of what is coming next.

Oh and before I forget, Thomas over at the autism experience tagged me to write about 5 of my favorite things so here they are:

1. Spending time with our families back in Texas - I just love it when we are all together. It may sound cheesy but it really does give you that warm cozy feeling inside.

2. Reading - I don't get to do very much of these days, in fact the 3 library books I checked out have been renewed once and they are all over due as I type this and I only made through half of one! But I digress...I love true crime books the most.

3. Going on vacations - Usually just the vacation part though. I hate getting there and leaving LOL. I just enjoy getting to do stuff away from everyday life and love seeing new places.

4. Mexican Food - There is some good places here in California but I still miss Tex-Mex food very very much!!

5. My children - Thomas is very right; There isn't anything better than being a parent. I just love watching them grow, learn, smile, laugh, everything.

ABA update

We start ABA next week, Tuesday to be exact. ABA through EI hasn't started yet; this will be through our special insurance. For now, we will be working with a BCBA named Maryann 2 hours and 15 min. every Tuesday and Thursday. This weekend I'll be working on rearranging Austin's room to be more of a therapy room. Here's hoping to see lots of new progress. I already know that she is planning on introducting him to PECS and will be working with me on how to get those oh so terrible tantrums under control.

We are still horseback riding and Austin is loving it every single time. I think it is still too new to see any results but I'm just happy that he enjoys it for now.

We Love Horses

Today was Austin's first day at hippotherapy and he did so good!! He was a little cranky when we first got there but once he saw the horses he was happy. He didn't even try to take off the helmet! He rides a little pony named Pancho. They start out by taking him riding on a little trail so he gets used to the movement and I get to walk with them. Then they go into an arena and do activities with him and I'm not allowed in there. He has 3 people around him at all times and they do things like blowing bubbles, stacking rings, and tossing balls in buckets and he has to do all those things sitting and keeping his balance. He also has to ride sideways and backwards and laying down. They also work with signs and teaching him go and whoa. He did the go one a few times when they stopped. It's a good motivator since he really really likes riding. And then at the end, he gets off, has to put his helmet away and goes and gets carrots to feed the horse. It's really nice and I'm happy and hope to see some good benefits!! Thanks so much to Thomas over at the GFCF Experience for introducing me to this wonderful type of therapy!

Psych Eval

Austin had his psych eval on Thursday. He's been evaluated by a neuro-developmental pediatrician in the past who diagnosed him but the regional center here in San Diego won't provide autism services unless you see the child psychologist. She didn't do any formal testing but did bring out several toys to see what he did with them. She also watched his eye contact with me and noticed that several times when he was signing, there was no eye contact but he did look at me when she was approaching him and he also responded really well to praise. She said that he was stimming a lot - hand flaps, toe walking, running, and climbing. And then he also had a few of his tantrums and even hit the dr. during one. I was dissapointed that he tantrummed while we were there but later realized I'm glad. As much as I would like for him to be the perfect angel during dr. appointments, I know it is important for the dr. to get an accurate (or at least as much as possible in a short time) picture of who he is so they can recommend exactly what he needs. The result of all this is we are getting ABA 2 hours per day and 5 days a week!

In other therapy updates, the therapeutic horseback riding center that I enrolled Austin in called and his first session is July 2nd!

I finally feel like we are getting somewhere now and I have something to look forward to.

updates!!!

Oh wow! It's been forever since I last posted but I haven't really had much to report either.

We moved to San Diego finally and got all settled in here. I'm trying to get Austin set up with EI here which is a real big pain in the you know what. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before services start. He has to see a child psych within the next two weeks and they have to determine what therapies he will get. I'm hopeful that we will at least be getting some ABA. I've also taken the first steps to getting him enrolled in hippotherapy. I'm really excited about that from what I've read online about the program and from what Thomas wrote in his blog about his children improving with it.

Also, I had my baby. 9 months went too fast and then too slow at the end. Kaitlin Adrianna was born April 28th. So far Austin really hasn't warmed up to her. He kisses her goodnight at nap and bedtime and that's about all he wants to do with her. He also tantrums whenever she cries. I'm sure it is due to all the changes and a little bit of jealousy and hoping to get some good ideas from therapist on how to help him handle this major change.

Using that fork and spoon sure is hard work!

We are currently working on getting Austin to use a spoon and a fork regularly. He knows what the fork is for and can do it but it has been difficult to get him to use it consistently b/c he is so used to using his hands to eat anything and everything. He is also going through a phase where most of the time he tantrums if we even put a fork near his food :( Other times when he is in a patient mood, he will let us help him eat his entire meal with utensils. Tonight, for instance, he let me help him eat spaghetti with a fork and then he had a small pudding cup with a spoon! The pudding is supposed to help him b/c it is so thick, it just sticks to the spoon automatically. I can see how frustrating it is though when food doesn't always just stay on his fork!! Slow and steady....we will keep on making progress :)