Solivagant At Heart

 "Mental Health is not a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going." -Noam Shpancer, PHD A friend shared an  article  titled " Traumatic Stress and Moms Of Children With Autism" and it really got me thinking about how important mental health is. I think mental health is more that just a vacation once a year, or having a stress ball on your desk. It is like  "the exhaustion is so real, you feel like you are trying to get over a flu that you never had, but never seems to quite go away." (Article 1).    I have been struggling with my mental health for a few years now and wanted to share my  journey .  My abridged mental health story starts with the birth of my son. I had postpartum depression that I hid very well for awhile. I decided I needed help and reached out to my PCP. We decided that taking medication would be a good place to start. I did very well until a year later my father passed away. I reached...

"Nonverbal doesn't mean I have nothing to say. It simply means you will have to 'listen' to me with more than just your ears"  "Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) includes all forms of communication (other than oral speech) that are used to express thoughts, needs, wants, and ideas." (www.kennedykrieger.org) Using gestures, pointing to picture cards, writing a note, or using a app/device that speaks are all forms of AAC. You may not realize how much nonverbal communication you use, for example, pointing when giving directions, writing a note, or nodding your head. In this post, I want to talk about speech-generating devices. I downloaded the a program called Snap + Core First on 10/10/18. It is available on a Tobii Dynavox or as an APP on iPad. I personally prefer the app on iPad because I am more familiar with iPad vs Windows on the Dynavox. This is the only program we have tried, so my experience is limited. Drew hasn't ever really sp...

"If it matters, it produces controversy" - Jay Green      From what I have read, there are 3 modes of thinking about Autism. Two are from the medical standpoint that 1. it is  caused by a genetic defect or 2. it is  caused by environmental factors. The third is that Autism is  just  part of a larger spectrum and is a part of a person (like being left-handed). I feel that like with a lot of things, people take these opinions to the extreme. The medical standpoints looks at Autism as something to be cured and the other side equates it like left-handedness, something you can’t cure, not like you would cure cancer so they advocate acceptance and accommodation.       I think these different view points of Autism is where the debate about using the puzzle piece begins. Organizations that look at Autism from the medical standpoint were the first to use the puzzle piece. " The   puzzle   pattern ...

Behind every young child who believes in himself, is a parent who believed first. - Mathew Jacobson In the first blog post I touched on some of the services Drew recieved. I wanted to dive into that a bit more. January 2018 we had our early intervention consult and we started speech services. By April we had a physical therapy (PT) consult and later that month an occupational therapy (OT) consult. We started speech out weekly, OT bi-weekly, and PT monthly. Eventually we added special instruction and increased speech to twice a week for a hour and a half. We also fit in horse riding therapy, swim lessons (I would  recommend  private lessons, because  sitting on the side of the pool while each kid takes their turn with the instructor is NOT fun) , and dance lessons. At the age of 3, Drew aged out of Early Intervention and transitioned to the IU preschool program. We had an IEP meeting and goals were set based off his assessments. Since he turned 3 in June, he started...

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit" - Aristotle A stereotypical trait seen in autism is obsession like interest in things. According to autism.org.uk, "The interest can: provide structure, order and predictability, and help people cope with the uncertainties of daily life; give someone a way to start conversations and feel more self-assured in social situations; help someone to relax and feel happy." What makes it an obsession and not a hobby is the intensity of interest.  Drew's first obsession was with the Netflix show Word Party. It was all he would watch when he was allowed to watch TV. If anything else was turned on he would have a meltdown/tantrum. Word Party lasted about a year and then it became Tayo The Little Bus.  Another almost obsession is with soccer balls. His favorite one comes in a pack of 3;  a football, a soccer ball, and a basketball. He has NO interest in the football or basketball. He spots soccer bal...

A child's laughter could simply be one of the most beautiful sounds in the world"  -unknown I thought I would write about playgrounds today since we have had a couple of good experiences this week. This week, we visited the play area at Burger King and at a mall and Drew actually made a new friend at each place. But first let me give you a run down of how things normally go at a playground so you know why I was so happy.  Whenever Drew and I go to a playground, I usually have to convince him to use the playground equipment. Sometimes he likes the slide, but almost always he will do everything once and then it is off to wander around the outskirts as far as I will let him. I can't even count the numorous photos I have of him wandering away from the playground. When there are another kids there, I always encourage him to wave Hi and I tell the other kiddos his name. Things usually start out ok, but when other kids start talking too much at Drew, asking him questions ...

A diagnosis is burden enough without being burdened by secrecy and shame. -Jane Pauley  Sometimes it’s hard to know what is typical of a 2 or 3 year old when it comes to behaviors. You always hear that you shouldn’t compare your child to any others, but then how do you know when there’s a problem? With this post I want to write about our day to day struggles. Are some of them going to be typical 3 year old behaviors, without a doubt, but just consider them on top of other behaviors and you can see why this mama is so tired sometimes.  Since we brought Drew home as a newborn, getting him to sleep has been horrendous! Once asleep, thankfully, he’d sleep all night and still does. It took many, many conversations with an OT and Special Instruction therapist and weeks and weeks of keeping a log of bed time routines to figure out the perfect combo. Before the therapists helped, it could take up to 3 hours to get Drew to sleep. And most of that 3 hours included crying and scr...