I am sorry that it taken me all month to post what I thought would take a few short days. These posts taken a lot out of me emotionally, "going down memory lane." So thank you for being patient and praise God for a happy ending!
Our Autism Story Part I
Our Autism Story Part II
Our Autism Story Part III
First Steps ends services once a child turns three. At that time, if they qualify they go into Developmental Preschool through the public school system. Josiah was making wonderful progress, but we felt it was in his best interest to continue with the developmental preschool. He had to be assessed and that was done in June. Can you believe that he did not qualify for speech therapy? He was at age level, glory be to God! In the short time that he had been talking, he learned all his letters and their sounds, his colors, shapes and recognized his numbers up to 12. He did qualify for a “label” of developmental delay and started school in August.
He did very well at school and loved riding the bus. As a homeschool mom it is hard to let your child, especially a three year old, get on a school bus and leave you for four hours each day. It got easier with time, but I still missed having him at home and working with him like I used to. I knew he was in good care and he was still making great progress. Those two things put my mind at ease.
We had a teachers conference in October. I was not prepared for what she brought to the table. She told me that Josiah has met all of their/our goals for him and she does not see him needing any other services. She said that she had been around a lot of autistic children and she just didn’t see it in Josiah. She wanted him to be in the least restrictive environment (don’t we all?) and she felt that at the preschool he was being restricted, because he was the most advanced child in the class. He did need to be reevaluated before he could be dismissed. This process took a couple of months. When they gave me his results at a meeting, I was blown away. He was beyond his age for speech and was at age level in all the other aspects. So at this time he was dismissed from school. It was sad to say goodbye, because these teachers, therapist, bus drives had done so much for my son, but I was more than happy to bring him back home with us.
He has been home now for 4 months and is still doing well. There are only a couple of areas that I notice a difference in Josiah. One is when we are with other kids and he chooses to play alone. He does play with his brothers, but when it comes to socializing with other kids he has a harder time. The other is the fact he gets fixated on one subject and that is all that he talks about. Right now it is going to Florida and riding on the Spiderman ride. I think we talk about it five times each day! Both of these aspects make Josiah a unique individual and I am not concerned at all, because I know it could be so much worse.
I look back on his life and am amazed at how far he has come. I truly believe it is only because of the grace of God he no longer has autism. I can’t imagine what our life would be like now if it weren’t for all the prayer and early intervention that he received. He is still on the special diet, but doesn’t react nearly as poorly if he gets wheat or dairy in his system. He has started to read and is doing it on his own. I think it helps that his brothers are learning to read! He also knows all of the continents. He talks nonstop and loves to argue about everything. He is a very smart little boy and loves to learn about new things. I plan on keeping him home and homeschooling him from here on out.
If you have any questions about autism, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, gluten/casein free diet, DAN or anything from our story, please contact me!
Showing posts with label autism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autism. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Our Autism Story Part III
Here is the third part of our autism story. If you haven't read the first two parts click below.
Our Autism Story Part I
Our Autism Story Part II
The therapists are not doctors and First Steps does not want them giving a “ diagnosis”, but they were kind and knew I needed some answers. They told me that they thought Josiah had PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder). I had no clue what that was, so as soon as they left I started searching the web. It wasn’t long before I figured out that PDD was a nice word for AUTISM. My first thought was that couldn’t be right, my child cannot have autism, but I knew deep in my heart that is maybe true. Josiah just wasn’t like other kids and still was not talking. Of course, this was very hard, but I did know that if in fact it was autism, he was mild. I clung to that and asked for prayer. I also went to the library and got out many books about autism and started reading and researching about it.
The next time that the therapists were here they spent the whole hour just talking to me and answering all my questions. There were a lot of them! Monte and I both knew we didn't want Josiah on drugs and would do anything to avoid it. We also knew that we couldn’t afford for him to have intense therapy 40 hours a week. They recommended a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) Dr. in Indianapolis. Dan Dr.'s treats autism with diet and supplements. I knew immediately that this is what I wanted for Josiah. If you wanted to become Dr. Hulseman’s patient (the DAN Dr.) you had to go to one of her seminars (about the diet) and start the diet before your first office visit. I was pumped and we got on the waiting list for the seminar. On October 26, 2006 Monte and I went to the meeting and our lives were forever changed. Her information was so in depth and I walked away very overwhelmed, but knew this was worth a shot. DAN believes that a lot of times children with autism can be helped with a gluten and casein free diet (no wheat or dairy). They are not allergic to these products, but their digestive and immune systems can’t handle the breakdown process of them and their bodies react in unpleasant ways.
Dr. Hulseman recommended we start the diet slowly. It was good that we did it this way because the diet is very expensive. A half loaf of bread is almost $6 and a package of animal crackers (small size) is $4. In the beginning you waste a lot of food because some things really don’t taste good, even to a 2 year old. I did not make anything from scratch because my life was filled to the max mentally, so I am sure we spent more on the diet then was needed, but knew my sanity was worth it! Monte was very good at making Josiah his own things like pancakes, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. He is a very good cook and enjoyed doing this.
We noticed a difference in Josiah in two weeks. He started talking more and showing more expression. It was pretty subtle at first, but each week that went by he gained a bigger vocabulary. The therapists were now able to get him to accomplish more during sessions. It was amazing to see the change in him in such a short time. I was so encouraged by this and so thankful to God for putting these women in our lives. In September I felt like therapy was not going anywhere and by November Josiah was talking. I heard my little boy’s voice. It brought me to tears so many times. I felt like I was starting to get my little boy back.
Our Autism Story Part I
Our Autism Story Part II
The therapists are not doctors and First Steps does not want them giving a “ diagnosis”, but they were kind and knew I needed some answers. They told me that they thought Josiah had PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder). I had no clue what that was, so as soon as they left I started searching the web. It wasn’t long before I figured out that PDD was a nice word for AUTISM. My first thought was that couldn’t be right, my child cannot have autism, but I knew deep in my heart that is maybe true. Josiah just wasn’t like other kids and still was not talking. Of course, this was very hard, but I did know that if in fact it was autism, he was mild. I clung to that and asked for prayer. I also went to the library and got out many books about autism and started reading and researching about it.
The next time that the therapists were here they spent the whole hour just talking to me and answering all my questions. There were a lot of them! Monte and I both knew we didn't want Josiah on drugs and would do anything to avoid it. We also knew that we couldn’t afford for him to have intense therapy 40 hours a week. They recommended a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) Dr. in Indianapolis. Dan Dr.'s treats autism with diet and supplements. I knew immediately that this is what I wanted for Josiah. If you wanted to become Dr. Hulseman’s patient (the DAN Dr.) you had to go to one of her seminars (about the diet) and start the diet before your first office visit. I was pumped and we got on the waiting list for the seminar. On October 26, 2006 Monte and I went to the meeting and our lives were forever changed. Her information was so in depth and I walked away very overwhelmed, but knew this was worth a shot. DAN believes that a lot of times children with autism can be helped with a gluten and casein free diet (no wheat or dairy). They are not allergic to these products, but their digestive and immune systems can’t handle the breakdown process of them and their bodies react in unpleasant ways.
Dr. Hulseman recommended we start the diet slowly. It was good that we did it this way because the diet is very expensive. A half loaf of bread is almost $6 and a package of animal crackers (small size) is $4. In the beginning you waste a lot of food because some things really don’t taste good, even to a 2 year old. I did not make anything from scratch because my life was filled to the max mentally, so I am sure we spent more on the diet then was needed, but knew my sanity was worth it! Monte was very good at making Josiah his own things like pancakes, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. He is a very good cook and enjoyed doing this.
We noticed a difference in Josiah in two weeks. He started talking more and showing more expression. It was pretty subtle at first, but each week that went by he gained a bigger vocabulary. The therapists were now able to get him to accomplish more during sessions. It was amazing to see the change in him in such a short time. I was so encouraged by this and so thankful to God for putting these women in our lives. In September I felt like therapy was not going anywhere and by November Josiah was talking. I heard my little boy’s voice. It brought me to tears so many times. I felt like I was starting to get my little boy back.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Our Autism Story Part II
Part I of Our Autism Story
Josiah started developmental and speech therapy the first week of June 2006. First Steps is wonderful because they come to the home and step into the child’s environment and work with them that way. I just love First Steps and had such a positive experience with the program.
Josiah was 6 weeks away from turning 2 at the start of therapy, but speech wise he was on the save level as a 12 month old. So the speech therapist, Cindy Addie, had her work cut out for her. She started doing sign language with Josiah and using simple “contagious” words. He really caught on to the sign language. It was amazing to see him signing all different things. A few weeks into speech therapy, he was still not talking but he was signing like crazy! At this time Cindy told me that Josiah probably would need an occupational evaluation. Children who have sensory issues usually end up needing occupational therapy, so this was the next step!
On his 2nd birthday, July 19, he was evaluated for occupational therapy and he started with a therapist, Babbie Easter, the first week of August. The neat thing that happened with therapy was that speech and occupational came together for one hour a week to work with him. These women simply amazed me with everything they do.
I have to take a time out and give God praise. Keep in mind we just moved one hour away to the west side of Indianapolis. We really didn’t know why God lead us here, but we knew without a doubt this is where he wanted us. I believe that God went before us and paved a way for our family. We learned early on that therapists, especially speech and occupational were very hard to come by in central Indiana. If we still lived where we were Josiah wouldn’t have been able to have speech or occupational therapy. Not only did we get the therapist, but they are the best in the business and we had many people tell us just that. I am so thankful that God takes care of us even when we don’t realize it at the time.
There were many exercises that we did with Josiah on a daily basis. There was a lot of massaging, brush therapy (using a therapy brush to stimulate nerves) and many other occupational exercises. It was very time consuming, but we noticed a difference in him if we didn’t do them.
The one thing I did do was include the oldest two during these times. This is something that I didn't have to think to hard about. A special needs child is very time consuming, but I think it is very important to not make other children in the family feel left out. I didn't want Isaac and John in any way to resent Josiah because of something I could of advoided early on. They were still go young and didn't fully understand why Josiah was needing so much attention. It was during this time that I had to completely put any needs and wants that I had to the side. I used absolutely all of my energy to focus on my boys and getting Josiah the help that he needed. I researched Sensory Integration Disorder nonstop. Everything we did was based around Josiah’s sensory needs and we still were not leaving the house a lot. I tried to not do anything that could cause any of us a lot of stress. It was something that I avoided at all cost during this time.
Even though Josiah was getting 2 hours of therapy a week with 3 different therapists, his speech was still not increasing at the speed we thought it should. At the end of September I asked Babbie and Cindy what else I could be doing. As a mother I wanted to be doing everything that I was humanly capable of. I knew the window of opportunity would be fading the older he got, so I wanted to do as much as possible right then and there.
Josiah started developmental and speech therapy the first week of June 2006. First Steps is wonderful because they come to the home and step into the child’s environment and work with them that way. I just love First Steps and had such a positive experience with the program.
Josiah was 6 weeks away from turning 2 at the start of therapy, but speech wise he was on the save level as a 12 month old. So the speech therapist, Cindy Addie, had her work cut out for her. She started doing sign language with Josiah and using simple “contagious” words. He really caught on to the sign language. It was amazing to see him signing all different things. A few weeks into speech therapy, he was still not talking but he was signing like crazy! At this time Cindy told me that Josiah probably would need an occupational evaluation. Children who have sensory issues usually end up needing occupational therapy, so this was the next step!
On his 2nd birthday, July 19, he was evaluated for occupational therapy and he started with a therapist, Babbie Easter, the first week of August. The neat thing that happened with therapy was that speech and occupational came together for one hour a week to work with him. These women simply amazed me with everything they do.
I have to take a time out and give God praise. Keep in mind we just moved one hour away to the west side of Indianapolis. We really didn’t know why God lead us here, but we knew without a doubt this is where he wanted us. I believe that God went before us and paved a way for our family. We learned early on that therapists, especially speech and occupational were very hard to come by in central Indiana. If we still lived where we were Josiah wouldn’t have been able to have speech or occupational therapy. Not only did we get the therapist, but they are the best in the business and we had many people tell us just that. I am so thankful that God takes care of us even when we don’t realize it at the time.
There were many exercises that we did with Josiah on a daily basis. There was a lot of massaging, brush therapy (using a therapy brush to stimulate nerves) and many other occupational exercises. It was very time consuming, but we noticed a difference in him if we didn’t do them.
The one thing I did do was include the oldest two during these times. This is something that I didn't have to think to hard about. A special needs child is very time consuming, but I think it is very important to not make other children in the family feel left out. I didn't want Isaac and John in any way to resent Josiah because of something I could of advoided early on. They were still go young and didn't fully understand why Josiah was needing so much attention. It was during this time that I had to completely put any needs and wants that I had to the side. I used absolutely all of my energy to focus on my boys and getting Josiah the help that he needed. I researched Sensory Integration Disorder nonstop. Everything we did was based around Josiah’s sensory needs and we still were not leaving the house a lot. I tried to not do anything that could cause any of us a lot of stress. It was something that I avoided at all cost during this time.
Even though Josiah was getting 2 hours of therapy a week with 3 different therapists, his speech was still not increasing at the speed we thought it should. At the end of September I asked Babbie and Cindy what else I could be doing. As a mother I wanted to be doing everything that I was humanly capable of. I knew the window of opportunity would be fading the older he got, so I wanted to do as much as possible right then and there.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Our Autism Story Part I
April is Autism Awareness month so I wanted to take this time to tell Josiah’s story and our battle with getting our precious little boy back from the brinks of Autism. I am sure it'll take at least a few posts so check back often.
We'll start at the beginning. As an infant it took a lot to get Josiah to smile, but he was such a good baby. I never had any complaints and didn’t think much about his lack of emotion until much later. I figured he was so good because I was so busy being the mom of three young boys that he had to be more compliant. I remember telling his pediatrician when he was about seven months old that I was concerned because he rocked a lot when he was in the sitting position. She told me not to worry; a lot of babies do this.
When Josiah was 8 months old he got tubes put in his ears, we were hoping that this would help him start talking/babbling more since he had some hearing loss. This operation didn’t change anything with our little boy’s vocabulary, but he did start hearing a lot better.
When he turned a year old, he stopped saying the few words he knew. He became a very difficult child. He would scream about everything. It was very stressful taking him anywhere because he would scream when I got him in the cart (or at least tried to get him in), but he would also scream when I would hold him. Nothing worked. We resorted to staying at home and if I needed to do anything I did it when Monte got home from work. I figured we had a strong willed child in the works.
This went on until he was 18 months old and had another baby well check up. I expressed that my concern now was that he is not talking. She again didn’t seem very concerned, but I was adamant that I thought something was wrong. She told me that she would schedule an evaluation with First Steps. First Steps is a program in Indiana which provides early intervention services to children birth to three years of age, who have developmental delays or are developmentally at risk.
We moved to the west side of Indianapolis April 15 of 2006 and Josiah had his evaluation on May 17, he was 2 days shy of being 22 months. A speech therapist and developmental therapist took an hour to evaluate him in many different areas. I knew without a doubt that he was behind in speech, but honestly I didn’t feel he was delayed in any other area. I am the type of person who likes information. I don’t like things to be hidden from me so I was asking lots of questions. They were very good and answered my questions. They told me that Josiah was behind in many different areas developmentally and they gave me a suggestion of a book to read. Needless to say I was in shock. I had so many more things I wanted to ask them, but at that moment I was just surviving and no longer functioning. I don’t remember how long I cried, but I do remember it was a while. This was a very sad day in my life.
Soon there after I went to the bookstore and got the book that they suggested “The Out of Sync Child.” This was a book about Sensory Integration Disorder. I had never heard of anything like this, so I had a lot to learn. The book fascinated me because it was like they came into our house and wrote a book about Josiah. I shed many tears over this book as I slowly realized I had a child with special needs.
We'll start at the beginning. As an infant it took a lot to get Josiah to smile, but he was such a good baby. I never had any complaints and didn’t think much about his lack of emotion until much later. I figured he was so good because I was so busy being the mom of three young boys that he had to be more compliant. I remember telling his pediatrician when he was about seven months old that I was concerned because he rocked a lot when he was in the sitting position. She told me not to worry; a lot of babies do this.
When Josiah was 8 months old he got tubes put in his ears, we were hoping that this would help him start talking/babbling more since he had some hearing loss. This operation didn’t change anything with our little boy’s vocabulary, but he did start hearing a lot better.
When he turned a year old, he stopped saying the few words he knew. He became a very difficult child. He would scream about everything. It was very stressful taking him anywhere because he would scream when I got him in the cart (or at least tried to get him in), but he would also scream when I would hold him. Nothing worked. We resorted to staying at home and if I needed to do anything I did it when Monte got home from work. I figured we had a strong willed child in the works.
This went on until he was 18 months old and had another baby well check up. I expressed that my concern now was that he is not talking. She again didn’t seem very concerned, but I was adamant that I thought something was wrong. She told me that she would schedule an evaluation with First Steps. First Steps is a program in Indiana which provides early intervention services to children birth to three years of age, who have developmental delays or are developmentally at risk.
We moved to the west side of Indianapolis April 15 of 2006 and Josiah had his evaluation on May 17, he was 2 days shy of being 22 months. A speech therapist and developmental therapist took an hour to evaluate him in many different areas. I knew without a doubt that he was behind in speech, but honestly I didn’t feel he was delayed in any other area. I am the type of person who likes information. I don’t like things to be hidden from me so I was asking lots of questions. They were very good and answered my questions. They told me that Josiah was behind in many different areas developmentally and they gave me a suggestion of a book to read. Needless to say I was in shock. I had so many more things I wanted to ask them, but at that moment I was just surviving and no longer functioning. I don’t remember how long I cried, but I do remember it was a while. This was a very sad day in my life.
Soon there after I went to the bookstore and got the book that they suggested “The Out of Sync Child.” This was a book about Sensory Integration Disorder. I had never heard of anything like this, so I had a lot to learn. The book fascinated me because it was like they came into our house and wrote a book about Josiah. I shed many tears over this book as I slowly realized I had a child with special needs.
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