I haven't posted a personal post in a while about the family and what we've been up to. Sadly, this post will not update anyone on what's been going on. This is simply to let everyone know we're still alive out here; life has just been very busy and eventful. Right now, I'm getting ready to go out of town to NY for a funeral. My aunt, the one who got sick earlier last month, passed away in the evening on the 21st of this month. I've been kind of numb and depressed since learning the news, so hopefully going to the funeral will help me feel better and allow me to say my good-byes. The good thing is I'll be able to see my cousins and their cute kids, whom I haven't seen in ages. I guess the one good thing about funerals is it brings the family back together.
Anyway, I'll try to make a new post about what's been going on here sometime soon. In the meantime, I'd better fnish getting my things together and preparing to head to the airport tonight. I'm on a red-eye flight, leaving SLC at midnight and arriving in NYC at 6 am. Hopefully I don't look completely horrible when I arrive! Take care everyone.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
What's Wrong With My Son?
Many of you know I've been having some issues with Macho. He's 2 1/2 years old now and he doesn't seem to be progressing the way he should. Back in mid-July, I brought him in to see our pediatrician and he believed Macho had ADHD, OCD, and social anxiety disorder. While I still agree with the OCD and social anxiety aspects, I'm unsure now whether or not the ADHD is accurate. With all the "quirks" I've been seeing in my son, I'm now contemplating taking him to see a behavioral pediatric specialist to evaluate him for mild autism. No, I'm not being paranoid! There is something truly wrong with my son, and unless I figure out what it is and how to properly help him, I'm afraid he'll stay "stuck" where he is. Here's a brief list of some of the odd behaviors Macho has been exhibiting:
1- Severe Echolalia: He repeats back everything he hears and mimicks everything he sees. Mild echolalia is normal in young toddlers, as repeating words and sounds they hear is how they learn how to speak. In my son's case, he should be passed that and beginning to form his own thoughts and responses to questions. He's not doing this. If you ask him, "How are you?" he'll simply repeat the question. It doesn't occur to him to process the words being spoken.
2- He has an obsessive need to play with doors. He has to open and close doors repeatedly, and if he accidentally locks himself in a room, he'll immediately start screaming. Macho knows how to turn doorknobs, but I also believe he has a mild form of claustrophobia. He cannot be in any room by himself, let alone with a closed door. The only exception to this rule is when he's sleeping.
3- After drinking his milk in the morning, he has to put the cap back on the bottle or else he has a huge meltdown. (yes, he still drinks from a bottle; his sister still drinks from a bottle, therefore, he HAS to have a bottle as well.)
4- Macho's bed routine MUST be exact or he gets "stuck." For example, if you close the door without saying, "night night," he'll repeat the words over and over again until you finally come back into the room and say them. If you don't do this fast enough, he'll begin to meltdown and cry.
5- His social anxiety is still extremely high. He cannot be left alone in a room with someone other than a parent or he gets extremely nervous and starts panicking. Hmm....no wonder I can never have someone babysit for me!
6- If I leave him in a room, whether alone or with other people (like nursery class), he'll begin to force himself to throw up. We were hoping this would be a short-lived phase, but that's not the case. Till this day, I haven't been able to leave him with anyone because he just immediately vomits everywhere.
7- I enrolled Macho in an early intervention class at DDI Vantage, hoping this would help him overcome his anxiety and become more amicable towards other kids. However, I wasn't even able to leave the room without him being able to focus on toys and activities. He immediately screamed bloody murder not more than 2 seconds after I left the room, and he began his vomitting cough. I had to run back in and soothe him and I had no choice but to stay for the whole class.
8- Macho still can't sit still for more than 5 seconds without fussing or twitching. Meal times are always a struggle and it's amazing how much he moves around in his sleep! He also can't stay focused on an activity for more than a few seconds at a time, which makes it very difficult for me to teach him things, such as his ABC's, shapes and colors. He gets distracted very easily; the sound of a truck passing by the house is enough to make him jump out of his seat and run to the window.
9- Something new he's started: daydreaming. In Beauty's case, when she starts staring out into space, we've already determined she's having mild seizures. Macho has now started this behavior. The other day, my BFF walked into the kitchen and found my son standing perfectly still, holding a broom - just standing there and staring. She had to walk right up to him and snap her fingers for him to finally "wake up."
10- Macho has a compulsive need to clean and throw garbage away. If he sees me throwing something away, he starts screaming until I give him something to throw away. He also can't go to sleep or drink his milk unless all the toys are put away in their proper place.
11- He's developed a new tick: biting his fingernails and fingers! I can't stand it; I'm always asking him to take his fingers out of his mouth. Instead of listening to me, all he does is repeat my words back to me, "Fingers out of mouth."
12- My son has sensory issues. He does not like gushy foods: potatoes, puddings, apple sauce, etc. He also has a coordination problem. He tends to bump into things and he trips over his own feet (very typical for autistic kids). If he hears a loud noise, he looks at me very worried and says, "it's ok?" I then need to reassure him that all is well and he's safe.
Two GOOD things I can state at the moment:
1- Macho will be a very good linebacker one day! He's very dense, built like a tank and eats constantly! He's not fat either, he just has a lot of muscle. He's only 2 1/2 yrs old, but he's already 32 lbs and beginning to fit size 4T clothes!
2- He made me very happy a couple of days ago. I was eating an apple and Macho came into the kitchen. He looked and pointed at my apple. I asked him, "Do you want an apple?" He said, "Apple." I looked at him and said, "What do you say?" The intention was to get him to say please. He looked back at me and said, "What do you say?" I was disappointed, but his answer was predictable. Then, out of NOWHERE, a few seconds later he said, "Apple please." I said, "YES! You said apple please! Here, here's your apple!" Can you tell I was happy?!
Then tonight, as I was changing him, he pointed up at his moon lamp and said, "Moon." I said, "Do you want the moon on?" He said, "moon on," and I said, "What do you say?" Without repeating anything I'd just said, he replied, "Moon on please." I think we're on to something here =)
1- Severe Echolalia: He repeats back everything he hears and mimicks everything he sees. Mild echolalia is normal in young toddlers, as repeating words and sounds they hear is how they learn how to speak. In my son's case, he should be passed that and beginning to form his own thoughts and responses to questions. He's not doing this. If you ask him, "How are you?" he'll simply repeat the question. It doesn't occur to him to process the words being spoken.
2- He has an obsessive need to play with doors. He has to open and close doors repeatedly, and if he accidentally locks himself in a room, he'll immediately start screaming. Macho knows how to turn doorknobs, but I also believe he has a mild form of claustrophobia. He cannot be in any room by himself, let alone with a closed door. The only exception to this rule is when he's sleeping.
3- After drinking his milk in the morning, he has to put the cap back on the bottle or else he has a huge meltdown. (yes, he still drinks from a bottle; his sister still drinks from a bottle, therefore, he HAS to have a bottle as well.)
4- Macho's bed routine MUST be exact or he gets "stuck." For example, if you close the door without saying, "night night," he'll repeat the words over and over again until you finally come back into the room and say them. If you don't do this fast enough, he'll begin to meltdown and cry.
5- His social anxiety is still extremely high. He cannot be left alone in a room with someone other than a parent or he gets extremely nervous and starts panicking. Hmm....no wonder I can never have someone babysit for me!
6- If I leave him in a room, whether alone or with other people (like nursery class), he'll begin to force himself to throw up. We were hoping this would be a short-lived phase, but that's not the case. Till this day, I haven't been able to leave him with anyone because he just immediately vomits everywhere.
7- I enrolled Macho in an early intervention class at DDI Vantage, hoping this would help him overcome his anxiety and become more amicable towards other kids. However, I wasn't even able to leave the room without him being able to focus on toys and activities. He immediately screamed bloody murder not more than 2 seconds after I left the room, and he began his vomitting cough. I had to run back in and soothe him and I had no choice but to stay for the whole class.
8- Macho still can't sit still for more than 5 seconds without fussing or twitching. Meal times are always a struggle and it's amazing how much he moves around in his sleep! He also can't stay focused on an activity for more than a few seconds at a time, which makes it very difficult for me to teach him things, such as his ABC's, shapes and colors. He gets distracted very easily; the sound of a truck passing by the house is enough to make him jump out of his seat and run to the window.
9- Something new he's started: daydreaming. In Beauty's case, when she starts staring out into space, we've already determined she's having mild seizures. Macho has now started this behavior. The other day, my BFF walked into the kitchen and found my son standing perfectly still, holding a broom - just standing there and staring. She had to walk right up to him and snap her fingers for him to finally "wake up."
10- Macho has a compulsive need to clean and throw garbage away. If he sees me throwing something away, he starts screaming until I give him something to throw away. He also can't go to sleep or drink his milk unless all the toys are put away in their proper place.
11- He's developed a new tick: biting his fingernails and fingers! I can't stand it; I'm always asking him to take his fingers out of his mouth. Instead of listening to me, all he does is repeat my words back to me, "Fingers out of mouth."
12- My son has sensory issues. He does not like gushy foods: potatoes, puddings, apple sauce, etc. He also has a coordination problem. He tends to bump into things and he trips over his own feet (very typical for autistic kids). If he hears a loud noise, he looks at me very worried and says, "it's ok?" I then need to reassure him that all is well and he's safe.
Two GOOD things I can state at the moment:
1- Macho will be a very good linebacker one day! He's very dense, built like a tank and eats constantly! He's not fat either, he just has a lot of muscle. He's only 2 1/2 yrs old, but he's already 32 lbs and beginning to fit size 4T clothes!
2- He made me very happy a couple of days ago. I was eating an apple and Macho came into the kitchen. He looked and pointed at my apple. I asked him, "Do you want an apple?" He said, "Apple." I looked at him and said, "What do you say?" The intention was to get him to say please. He looked back at me and said, "What do you say?" I was disappointed, but his answer was predictable. Then, out of NOWHERE, a few seconds later he said, "Apple please." I said, "YES! You said apple please! Here, here's your apple!" Can you tell I was happy?!
Then tonight, as I was changing him, he pointed up at his moon lamp and said, "Moon." I said, "Do you want the moon on?" He said, "moon on," and I said, "What do you say?" Without repeating anything I'd just said, he replied, "Moon on please." I think we're on to something here =)
All About Beauty!
Wow! It's been forever since I've blogged about my daughter and the progress she's made. I've had an eventful last 6 weeks (but that'll be discussed in another post). There's a lot to review, so let the awesomeness begin!
1- My sister bought my kids the "So Your Baby Can Read" program and it's super great! My kids love it and to see whether or not it was working, we decided to test Beauty. We asked her to spell "hug," knowing it's a word we've never practiced with her before (nor is it reviewed in the program). It took her a minute to think about it, but she actually spelled hug with no help at all! Her spelling and reading is really coming along now!
2- Beauty has begun holding her brother's hand down the stairs. This may not seem like a big deal, but she's always had a very specific routine for going down the stairs. The fact that she's deviated from the routine AND willing to touch her brother is a huge milestone!
3- Beauty now enjoys sitting and cuddling with me; I love it! She'll just lay next to me and watch tv or she'll hug me and like to make lots of eye contact. It's amazing to think that two years ago, NONE of that would ever have happened!
4- Beauty is beginning to interact more. Instead of someone merely playing with her, she will now also play with them as well! For example, she likes to be tickled, so she askes to be tickled. She'll say, "tickle please." I'll tickle her, then she'll actually tickle me back - it's so cute and I LOVE the interaction she's incorporating!
5- My awesome daughter is doing so much pretend play, it's amazing! I've bought a lot of new toys for her; Little Pets, a doll house for her Little Pets, dinosaurs (from the PBS cartoon "Dinosaur Train"), and Hot Wheels cars. She likes placing the dinosaurs on the cars and having them ride around. She likes putting the cars on her brother's train set and push the cars around the track. She likes playing the "where'd it go" game, where she hides her Little Pets toys and then says, "Where'd it go?" I'll reply with, "I don't know, where'd it go?" Then she pulls out the pet from wherever she hid it and says, "There it is!" It's so cute!!!
6- Beauty's beginning to like some cartoons. One cartoon she's beginning to like a lot are the Charlie Brown cartoons. She loves watching Snoopy do his magic tricks. She laughs, claps, and even makes her stuffed dogs clap while she's laughing, which is just adorable to watch.
7- She's learned to say, "Cheese!" when I want to take her picture! Getting her to smile for photos is so much easier now!
8- She's learning to make conversation! I really love this. I can ask her a question, she'll give me a response, I'll acknowledge her response by saying something like, "Ok" or "Are you sure?" Then she responds to me by saying, "Yes" or "Thank you." I love that she's really paying attention to what's being said and is verbalizing her opinions!
9- Beauty's tone of voice is starting to drop to a lower, more normal range. Babies and small toddlers tend to speak in high pitches and she's maintained that most of her life. Now that she's learning to speak more clearly and learning inflections, she's beginning to speak in a more normal tone.
10- My daughter is such a flirt! LOL! The other day, my BFF's husband was heading downstairs and Beauty walked over to him. She started saying, "Bye Wil," and he responded to her. Then she started giggling and smiling and tilting her head, like she was flirting! He then grabbed her hand (to give her a little hand-shake) and she started laughing again. He then decided to give her a little kiss on her hand and Beauty covered her mouth with her other hand, turned her head and started giggling again. It was so cute! I only wish I had a camera 'cause it was so adorable to watch her flirting, not to mention hilarious! (just for my fyi, this happened 8-24)
11- Beauty LOVES the DIR/Floortime Therapy she's receiving from the PLAY Project program I enrolled her in. I've been doing my best to incorporate the techniques I've learned so far into our every day routine and it's been working out really well. Beauty's become much more responsive to me by learning how to read my body language rather than me dictating everything to her. I can already see a change in her demeanor and I can tell she's going to change so much more as the months pass by.
Now for the not-so-fun things, but there's only 2:
1- Beauty got sick a couple of weeks ago and ended up getting a virus in her throat called tracheal bronchitis. After trying to fight that off for two weeks, she ended up with a sinus infection. She's been on antibiotics for a few days now and she's getting better. The worst part (before she was given the meds) was hearing her trying to talk. She was so raspy that she nearly lost her voice completely.
2- Beauty starts school again this Wednesday. I'd normally be really excited, except that her classroom has been changed AND she has new teachers! All her normal teachers have been moved to other classes, which means not only is she going to have to deal with a new classroom and things being changed around, but she's also gonna need to get used to new teachers and their way of doing things. I'm sure she'll be ok and the transition won't be very bad, but I'm worried and nervous all the same. I just want her to be comfortable and not feel out of place. We'll see how it goes!
Whew! There's the "quick" run-down. I can't believe all that's happened in the last 2 years. It was only 2 years ago that Beauty was officially diagnosed with autism. She was completely non-verbal, didn't smile, didn't laugh, didn't look anyone in the eyes, didn't hug, and she didn't like playing with toys (let alone other kids). Now she's a completely different person: I can see her personality shining through and she truly is beautiful. I love my Beauty!
(BTW, check out my autism blog: http://speakingonthespectrum.blogspot.com/ )
1- My sister bought my kids the "So Your Baby Can Read" program and it's super great! My kids love it and to see whether or not it was working, we decided to test Beauty. We asked her to spell "hug," knowing it's a word we've never practiced with her before (nor is it reviewed in the program). It took her a minute to think about it, but she actually spelled hug with no help at all! Her spelling and reading is really coming along now!
2- Beauty has begun holding her brother's hand down the stairs. This may not seem like a big deal, but she's always had a very specific routine for going down the stairs. The fact that she's deviated from the routine AND willing to touch her brother is a huge milestone!
3- Beauty now enjoys sitting and cuddling with me; I love it! She'll just lay next to me and watch tv or she'll hug me and like to make lots of eye contact. It's amazing to think that two years ago, NONE of that would ever have happened!
4- Beauty is beginning to interact more. Instead of someone merely playing with her, she will now also play with them as well! For example, she likes to be tickled, so she askes to be tickled. She'll say, "tickle please." I'll tickle her, then she'll actually tickle me back - it's so cute and I LOVE the interaction she's incorporating!
5- My awesome daughter is doing so much pretend play, it's amazing! I've bought a lot of new toys for her; Little Pets, a doll house for her Little Pets, dinosaurs (from the PBS cartoon "Dinosaur Train"), and Hot Wheels cars. She likes placing the dinosaurs on the cars and having them ride around. She likes putting the cars on her brother's train set and push the cars around the track. She likes playing the "where'd it go" game, where she hides her Little Pets toys and then says, "Where'd it go?" I'll reply with, "I don't know, where'd it go?" Then she pulls out the pet from wherever she hid it and says, "There it is!" It's so cute!!!
6- Beauty's beginning to like some cartoons. One cartoon she's beginning to like a lot are the Charlie Brown cartoons. She loves watching Snoopy do his magic tricks. She laughs, claps, and even makes her stuffed dogs clap while she's laughing, which is just adorable to watch.
7- She's learned to say, "Cheese!" when I want to take her picture! Getting her to smile for photos is so much easier now!
8- She's learning to make conversation! I really love this. I can ask her a question, she'll give me a response, I'll acknowledge her response by saying something like, "Ok" or "Are you sure?" Then she responds to me by saying, "Yes" or "Thank you." I love that she's really paying attention to what's being said and is verbalizing her opinions!
9- Beauty's tone of voice is starting to drop to a lower, more normal range. Babies and small toddlers tend to speak in high pitches and she's maintained that most of her life. Now that she's learning to speak more clearly and learning inflections, she's beginning to speak in a more normal tone.
10- My daughter is such a flirt! LOL! The other day, my BFF's husband was heading downstairs and Beauty walked over to him. She started saying, "Bye Wil," and he responded to her. Then she started giggling and smiling and tilting her head, like she was flirting! He then grabbed her hand (to give her a little hand-shake) and she started laughing again. He then decided to give her a little kiss on her hand and Beauty covered her mouth with her other hand, turned her head and started giggling again. It was so cute! I only wish I had a camera 'cause it was so adorable to watch her flirting, not to mention hilarious! (just for my fyi, this happened 8-24)
11- Beauty LOVES the DIR/Floortime Therapy she's receiving from the PLAY Project program I enrolled her in. I've been doing my best to incorporate the techniques I've learned so far into our every day routine and it's been working out really well. Beauty's become much more responsive to me by learning how to read my body language rather than me dictating everything to her. I can already see a change in her demeanor and I can tell she's going to change so much more as the months pass by.
Now for the not-so-fun things, but there's only 2:
1- Beauty got sick a couple of weeks ago and ended up getting a virus in her throat called tracheal bronchitis. After trying to fight that off for two weeks, she ended up with a sinus infection. She's been on antibiotics for a few days now and she's getting better. The worst part (before she was given the meds) was hearing her trying to talk. She was so raspy that she nearly lost her voice completely.
2- Beauty starts school again this Wednesday. I'd normally be really excited, except that her classroom has been changed AND she has new teachers! All her normal teachers have been moved to other classes, which means not only is she going to have to deal with a new classroom and things being changed around, but she's also gonna need to get used to new teachers and their way of doing things. I'm sure she'll be ok and the transition won't be very bad, but I'm worried and nervous all the same. I just want her to be comfortable and not feel out of place. We'll see how it goes!
Whew! There's the "quick" run-down. I can't believe all that's happened in the last 2 years. It was only 2 years ago that Beauty was officially diagnosed with autism. She was completely non-verbal, didn't smile, didn't laugh, didn't look anyone in the eyes, didn't hug, and she didn't like playing with toys (let alone other kids). Now she's a completely different person: I can see her personality shining through and she truly is beautiful. I love my Beauty!
(BTW, check out my autism blog: http://speakingonthespectrum.blogspot.com/ )
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