Good Job, Mama!

Farewell Mary Poppins

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:22:00 +0000

Miss Laura & Nick, "water day" on the play deck, July 2009

Today Nick is saying goodbye to Miss Laura, his very fabulous preschool teacher of two years.

Apparently, working with Nick over the last few years has had a profound effect. Miss Laura is leaving to further her elementary/special education degree and pursue an autism endorsement. I couldn’t be happier for her.

Miss Laura came into our lives as an answer to prayer during a time when we were lost and confused about which path to take for Nick. Things clicked between us instantly. Most importantly she got Nick and Nick was taken with her.

Nick began preschool withdrawn with no real student-teacher or peer bonds, parallel played exclusively with the trains, couldn’t cope with transitions, and couldn’t sit through circle time. Then there were the sensory issues: he avoided the climber like the plague, couldn’t tolerate the noise in the gym or getting his hands messy during art. He melted down daily in the hall as he approached the door to his class every morning – his anxiety heightening with every step until it finally bubbled over.

Over time we witnessed a transformation. One by one he shed these challenges like layers of an onion. I still remember the first time he came home and was able to tell us about his day. Or the first time he read a story aloud to his class during circle time.

Most of the time now, Nick is just one of the other kids. He has a favorite teacher (Miss Laura, of course!) and lots of friends. The climber is a favorite during recess and Nick is quite the budding artist. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not without any challenges – they’re just more subtle these days and not so much at the forefront all day, every day.

I don’t think Nick’s outcome would have been the same had he not had a teacher so willing and so invested in seeing him succeed. It’s because of these last two years that I’m able to look forward to Nick beginning Kindergarten in just a few weeks with confidence.

Hubs sent Miss Laura a thoughtful, heartfelt thank you letter for us. So touching it was, it even made me cry. Nick left for school this morning proudly clutching a little gift bag for his favorite teacher with a gift he helped pick out… a silver necklace and pendant, a circle with a shooting star in the center and inscribed around the circle the phrase, “one person can make a difference, and that person is you.” So true.

She entered our lives like Mary Poppins and now, her work done, she takes flight with a fond farewell.

What Lies Just Below the Surface

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:10:00 +0000

Last week I tackled the mound of insurance paperwork and receipts that have been piling up, filling boxes. I submitted enough receipts to my FSA for reimbursement to pay our summer property taxes. Our kids are damn expensive.

I logged on tonight to check the progress of the reimbursement process; our first time since Hubs' employment transfer and on the new insurance plans.

I scanned the lines of expenses flagged by the usual reimbursement categories: Medical, Rx, OTC, etc. followed by the approved reimbursement amount. I was just about to click the little X at the top of the page to log off when the last one caught my eye: Learning Disability. The other insurance company had never flagged Nick's speech therapy as such. It was considered medical.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel a familiar stab and veil of tears form when those words leapt out at me.

No matter how well our kids are doing, there's always a layer of grief that lies just below the surface, isn't there?

Just A Barrel of Laughs

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:43:00 +0000

Life's been a barrel of laughs here this week.

Monday morning. Hubs sends Miss Meg to school clad in princess nightgown and flip flops for Pajama Day. Except pajama day isn't today. It's tomorrow. Hubs blames his Blackberry for giving him the reminder too early. Uh huh.

Tuesday late afternoon. Sitting at the kitchen table, IM'ing an old friend from laptop. Meg saunters into kitchen and announces, "Look Mom! It'll grow back!" Let me tell you that's never a good thing to hear from your 3 year old.

I found this in the bathroom:

There's no before pic because time was of the essence. Daddy was on his way home from work. I grabbed the kids' shoes and we dashed out the door to the local salon. Meg had taken a chunk out of either side and a gaping hole in the middle of her bangs right up to the hairline (!!!) a mere eleven days before my brother's wedding. At the salon, TWO hairdressers combed and parted her hair this way and that while they discussed different ways to remedy our little hair emergency.

Here's the after:

For my brother's wedding we'll part her bangs on the side, comb them over and put in a teeny-tiny (in Meg's words) barrett to hide the missing bangs in the center. It's not so bad. I kind of like it. Now if someone could just convince Daddy.

This kind of drama I can handle. These are the kind of stories we're going to tell when the kids are older. I can hardly wait to see what fun the rest of the week brings ;)

Autism Insurance Legislation in Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Despite the eat and humidity, it was a good day in Michigan today!

Autism insurance legislation passed in the House today by a huge margin of 84 to 25!! Now on to the Senate!!

Change

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:34:00 +0000

I am, admittedly, a Type A personality. I like my house neat and organized to a fault. I am a perfectionist. And I don't cope well with change. Gee, I wonder why my son gets his quirks from. So, you can imagine the bundle of nerves I became when coping with all of this at once....and you now know why I became kinda quiet on here over the last month:

Hubs division of "Megaware" was sold to "Megafocus" effective June 1st.
Hubs new office relocation (and time frame) remains undetermined
Aforementioned move will impact children's preschool situation at "Megaware" child development center.
How does one begin searching for new preschool when one does not know when/where one might need it?
New employer = new benefits
New benefits + child on spectrum receiving speech therapy = ??? coverage
New benefits + $15,000 out of network deductible = is Nick's developmental ped IN network???
Add one human resource representative who refused to speak to me, the employee's wife, or answer my email questions regarding said benefits because I "may not understand health insurance information." I only work in hospital administration. I'm just sayin'.
Oh, and throw in an IEP with a principal who didn't exactly want to schedule and IEP, or consider a para until I gave things a little bit of a push. ahem.

With a whole lotta prayer and a whole lotta Mocha Java Chip ice cream, we are making headway.

New office location is still in the Metro Detroit area. We won't have to relocate. It is considerably farther north, but hey, he's still employed, right?
We still don't know exactly when the office relocation will take place.
We still don't know what we will do for Meg's preschool after the move. Am considering a Montessori school near home but still need to go check it out. Am sad to leave the old school behind, but if the Montessori school turns out to be a good thing, I think it will be a good move.
New health insurance denied Nick's speech therapy. Yeah, I know this sucks. We were 12 weeks away from discharge.
Worked out arrangement with Outpatient Rehab Department: Nick will get to complete his speech therapy treatment plan in a condensed 7 weeks at a reduced rate with the same therapist we've been with for 3 years. We were awarded a scholarship. Out pocket cost: $215. Can you say amen?!
Yes, Nick's developmental ped is IN network. Phew. His labs, which are done quarterly, however, are not. Oh well. More money will go into the HFSA account next year.
And the IEP is done. We got the teacher we wanted and the parapro application is in to the county.

Still a few loose ends, but I'm not feeling like a peice of taffy being pulled in all directions anymore. One foot in front of the other, my friends.

Tooth Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Hubs picked Nick up from school today. At first the 5 o'clock pickup went as per usual. Hubs began gathering Nick's belongings from his cubby and asking Nick about his day, except today Nick wasn't talking.

Hubs: "How was your day, Nick?"

Nick: looks away, ignoring Hubs (in his less verbal days, this was the norm)

H: "Did you have a good day?"

N: nods yes, looks away

H: "Nick, are you all right?" (growing concerned)

N: lips clamped shut

H: "Nick, have you got something in your mouth?" (now certain something is up)

N: shakes head for no and covers his mouth

H: "Open your mouth"

N: shakes head for no

H: "We are not leaving until you open your mouth. Now. Open. Your. Mouth."

N: opens mouth for Dad to see

H: "Nick. What happened to your tooth?"

N: "It came out in my hand."

H: "And what did you do with it?"

N: "I throwed it away in the garbage."

Hubs and 2 teachers then proceeded to pick through the trash until one tiny baby tooth was recovered for the tooth fairy.

A childhood milestone... and one (or two) parenting mistake(s).

1. We never realized he had a loose tooth, or two!

2. We never talked about the whole losing-baby-teeth-and-big-teeth-growing-in thing.

I sorta thought we had another 6 months or so before this would happen (*sniff* my baby is growing up!). Apparently I was wrong and fell asleep at the parenting wheel.

I can only imagine how confused and perhaps a little afraid Nick must have been all day. He probably thought he did something wrong, was going to get into trouble for coming home missing a tooth, or whatever wild imaginative things a 5 year old can dream up. So he told no one and tried to hide it.

This evening we made a big deal about becoming a big boy, growing new teeth and, of course, the tooth fairy. Suffice it to say, we've now had our tooth-talk, albeit a little late.

Lawn Bowling

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:52:00 +0000

We spent a super beautiful day together with my sister and her family and a fabulous time was had by all. They flew in from sunny AZ for the weekend so the family could all be together for our little brother's wedding shower (well, the bridal shower actually). So we had a little pre-shower BBQ and swim at our house the kick off the weekend....

Uncle Brian got into the action with a little lawn bowling of sorts:

Weeeeeeee!

Not pictured: my little sister wrapped up in a blanket sitting in the sun for warmth because the mid-70's is "winter weather" for Arizonians. We all had a good time ribbing her about it.

Little Boy Logic

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:44:00 +0000

The kids and I planted a few veggie starters for the garden a while back and they sun themselves in the window sills throughout the house. I know, it's nearly past time to transfer them out to the garden. I need to get movin!

Anyway, Nick was relaxing in bed earlier this week, watching a movie and munching on popcorn before lights out.

Today as I moved from room to room, vacuuming, dusting and watering the plants I saw some odd yellow lumps poking out of the soil in the squash plant on Nick's window sill....

Nick had "planted" his unpopped popcorn kernels.

This made me smile. At least he's learning where food comes from :oD

Dinner Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:00:00 +0000

I came home from work this afternoon to find Hubs grilling up some hamburgers. The kids were hungry, so we ate an early dinner and, for once, we all sat together as a family at the dinner table.

We chatted about our plans for the upcoming week and a lull fell in the conversation. Nick chimed in, "So, tell me about your day, Mom." And, "Wow, that's really neat" after I told him a bit about work.

Plain old dinner conversation. This child never ceases to amaze me. *happy sigh*

Not All Video Games Rot Your Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Last weekend I broke down and purchased a Sony PS2 system for Nick. The young children's games (Disney princess, Nemo, Sponge Bob, etc) are plentiful and C-H-E-A-P. Yes, I am cheap - therefore, no Wii for us just yet.

I've been a little apprehensive about making this purchase for a while, but I think in moderation some of these games can be good for problem solving, fine motor dexterity, etc. (notice I said moderation and some, just to clarify) I just never imagined they would help Nick make a leap in language skills.

We've been working on a Sponge Bob adventure game for several days, nearing the end, and it was becoming more challenging. Let me confess: I stink at video games. Pac-man at the low (slow) levels are more my speed. Nick's character was jumping and twirling and punching while mine kept somehow leaping off cliffs to it's demise. After several failed attempts, my son was growing frustrated with my ineptness.

So, he started giving me directions. Multi-step, descriptive how-to directions. "No, mom. You've to go wait until ___ and then run and press the ___ button and then jump with the ___ button to catch the___." All those X, circle, square and triagle buttons that do different functions and the joystick? It's complicated! I can hardly keep it straight let alone give a running stream of verbal instructions simultaneously.

Sony PS2 console..............$99.00
Spong Bob video game ....$14.99
Your formerly language impaired son talking you through said Sponge Bob game? Priceless.

Free Workout with Speech Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Guess what I got to do while Nick had speech therapy this week?!
.
.
.
I played free handball!
.
.
Handball you ask? Allow me to explain. There's been a pesky bird mating with it's reflection on the very narrow ledge just outside the 2nd story plate glass window of Nick's SLP's office. Every. Single. Day. All. Spring.

Add one very easily distracted five year old with a tendency to perseverate to that bird and you've got a completely non-productive hour of therapy at $350/hr.

So this week, Nick's therapist handed me a handball with a wink as I passed her in the hall on my way to the observation room.

Whenever I heard the bird start pecking and flapping at the window I dashed down the stairs and out the side door to play a quick game of handball then back up the stairs to my observation room. By the end of the session I had myself a nice little workout and a really good laugh.

**Never fear, no birds were harmed. I merely bounced the ball off the brick just below the 2nd story window to scare the bird away. **

Autism, Success & Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Last night we had two guest speakers at the autism parent support group that I lead. We were having such a delightful time it was hard to wrap things up and get out of there!

To give you a little background….back in February, I represented our group at a gluten free food fair at a local market. There I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow autism mom (I’ll call her S.) who owns a GFCF hamburger bun bakery. We got to chatting and I learned that her son (whom I’ll call D.), diagnosed with autism at age 9 and now 20 years old, was a freshman at Michigan State University and living independently on campus. I’ve never had the opportunity to speak with the parent of a young adult on the spectrum, so I was really fascinated listening to her speak about her son. By the end of the afternoon, she volunteered to come with her son and speak at one of our meetings.

S. shared about her son’s early childhood (very little speech, very withdrawn into his own world) which was starkly contrasted by the handsome and articulate 20 year old young man sitting next to his mom as he lovingly teased her and shared stories of his past.

They spent very little time talking about therapy and treatments – though S. did start D. on the GFCF diet at age 11 and a few supplements (no chelation) and D. continues the GFCF diet still by choice. D. said GFCF has become the norm for him and he doesn’t really miss the “other” stuff. I was a bit surprised that he continues the GFCF lifestyle living independently on a college campus. I would have thought it difficult, but he jokingly assured me that Burger King Whoppers (on one of his Mom’s soon-to-be patented GFCF buns of course) and fries are pretty easy to come by! ;)

On an interesting note, D. commented that he really has no childhood memories up until age 11, when he made a breakthrough and became more engaged and interactive with the family and his surroundings.

S. also made a few points that really resonated long past the end of our meeting.

Happiness means different things to different people. Are we keeping our child’s happiness in mind, or our own? As S. mentioned, it once saddened her to know that her son has only 1 or 2 friends. D. said he’s quite happy with his very small circle of friends and it suits him just fine. He’s happy with the life he has.

Set your child up for success. Don’t set the bar too high or use the same ruler to compare your child to the next. In fact, throw the ruler away! Instead, build your child’s confidence by creating a safe, happy environment for learning and let them savor the victory of success. Often.

Advocate. It's our job to advocate for our children to build that environment for success. Don't stop until you find that environment that best suits your child, because not every teacher, classroom, or campus is a good fit for every student that passes through the door.

And by the way, D. found his perfect fit. He was recently accepted to the MSU Eli Broad College of Business and plans to pursue a career in Marketing. He’s already hard at work helping his mom with the patent process and has secured a national distributor for their GFCF product.

Success and happiness. I think D. has it all. It doesn’t get more inspiring than that.

More Snippets from Nick

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Nick has suddenly reached new levels of awareness and presence. He's starting to develop some independence, share his opinion and question everything, soaking it all up like a sponge. To say he is truly coming into his own sounds cliche, but never more true. A few recent examples...

He's no longer just a willing participant with his supplement regimen - he's reminding us and asking to help with it.

*****

Oh the questions and curiosity, from "What does that sign say?" to "Who are you talking to?" (on the phone)

******

Today he announced he wants to paint his bike black. Where in the world did this come from? I thought only 12 year olds spray painted their dirt bikes?!

*****

More curiosity...

Nick had trouble getting to sleep last night. Since it was nearly 11pm and I had to get up at the cruel hour of oh-five-thirty, I let him climb into my bed. As we lay there, Nick began chatting...

N: "What's in popsicles, Mom?"

Me: "Oh, water, sugar, and probably a little juice."

N: "Oh."

Me: "Why'd you ask?" (curious as to why he's thinking of popsicle ingredients at 11pm)

N: "I'm just thinkin', Mom"

********

Since I went to bed late with the boy, I never did get a chance to clean up the kitchen of the dinner mess.

This morning, Nick observed, "Gee. This place is a mess. I think you'd better clean it up, Dad"

(I was at work. And no, Hubs was not very amused, although I was!)

*********

Mother's Day Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:43:00 +0000

I'm sitting inside sipping a cup of coffee and checking up on Facebook and Twitter. The house is quiet, except for the click-clack of Hubs across the room on his computer. The sounds of giggling and screeching children drift from across the street.

I checked in on everyone a few minutes ago. I called out to ask if the kids wanted to come home to eat lunch. My calls went largely ignored. Nick was there, in the throng of kids - all 7 of them, age 3 to 6 - bouncing on the trampoline and climbing the treehouse, doing things Nick would have had far too much anxiety to attempt a year or two ago. This not-having-to-moderate-every-social-interaction thing is kind of nice. :D

These friends across the street are new. They don't know about his diagnosis, nor do I feel the need to tell them.

A boy, a sister, his friends, and a perfect spring day. Quite possibly the best Mother's Day gift.

Bargaining Our Way to an IEP

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Back in February, I contacted Nick's elementary school. Since we've been in private therapy and private preschool, I was unclear as to how to go about re-entering the district's special ed program when Nick begins Kindergarten in the fall.

So the principal, who gushed how happy he was to meet a proactive parent, told me to gather all of Nick's recent assessments, progress notes and samples of his school work, bring it in for his staff to review and we'd meet this spring after kindergarten round-up. Apparently, I was misled.

I dropped everything off two weeks ago and waited. And waited some more. Growing impatient, I called the principal who gruffly told me that his staff is too busy right now with current students' IEPs that any new students would be evaluated after the start of the new year.

Now, I'm sympathetic to the fact that there are more and more students with IEPs these days and social work staff is underbudgeted and overloaded. But as a teacher? I wouldn't want to start off my school year with a student who has already been identified by the district as needing special assistance, and quite possibly an aide, with no aide and no plan of action.

Why start out falling behind? Why set him up for failure and put his self esteem at risk?

With Hubs' employer change-over looming ahead in the near future, we will also likely be looking for a new preschool for the interim.

I'd really rather spare Nick unnecessary transitions: one transition to new preschool, second transition to new elementary school, and possibly a third transition if the multidisciplinary team determines he needs a different type of classroom?! Potentially THREE transitions in three month's time? I THINK NOT. That's a recipe for certain disaster if you ask me, spectrum or not.

We spoke again today and cleared the air...a bit. He is willing to sit down and have a meeting with us, the speech pathologist and district special ed director to formulate an interim plan for the start of the year - which may include a transitional aide for 30 days (we have to make our case with the director) - while we complete the evaluation and IEP process.

Not perfect, but as long as he holds up his end of the bargain on this deal, I'll take it.

Keep your fingers crossed and send up a few prayers if you think of it.

Chalkmanship

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Nick is a leftie. No one else in our immediate family is a leftie, so this has made teaching handwriting a bit more challenging.

Our new pediatrician (not the dev ped) recommended at our last visit that we "force" Nick to become a rightie. I imagine lefties do have it hard living in a mostly right-handed world, but is it right to force my son to change what comes naturally? That just doesn't feel right to me. Society already expects him to conform to a different standard than what comes naturally for him. Who cares about which hand he writes with?!

So we've been practicing letters here and there, left-handed. I keep a letter strip tacked up in the living room near the kids' craft table and I catch Nick tracing letters with his fingertip periodically. The tough part is teaching proper pencil grip - I have a hard time reversing it to show him proper technique before I lose his attention and he moves on.

At pre-school they use the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and they use a lot of sensory-motor activities (drawing in sand, tracing tactile surfaces with fingers, etc). One of his 4 teachers is a leftie, so she's been working with him 1:1 as time permits.

Clearly it's working. Nick drew this with sidewalk chalk today....

Okay, so he forgot the C. But look at that penman-, er, chalkmanship!

AND? He said, "I like drawing my name, Mom. It's fun."

Learning = Fun. Rock on, buddy. I hope you always have fun with it.

Shaking Things Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:31:00 +0000

It was announced yesterday that Megaware has sold it's software product line and staff of about 350 software engineers to Microware (fictionalized names), which is headquartered in the UK outside of London. The new company is currently looking for a location in which to set up operations in the US.

Hubs said the general atmosphere around the office is a mixture of excitement and worry. The new company seems confident they will have a prosperous future. Their work philosophies are much the same and they provide lots of small perks to maintain morale.

While I'm thankful that Hubs still has a job, there are many unanswered questions remaining.

Probably the most distressing part of the change, is how this will affect the kids. For the past 2-1/2 years, the kids have attended full-day Preschool at Megaware 3 days a week. We've developed a close working relationship with Nick's teacher - who has been SO incredibly wonderful for Nick's progress. It will be hard to leave them all behind and we'll miss them terribly. I'm hoping that the transition to the new company/location does not take place until later this summer or just prior to the start of Kindergarten in order to minimize the number of transitions he has to make. Of course, I always underestimate my son's resilience and he never ceases to amaze me.

I was looking over Microware's benefit package online yesterday. On the surface, the healthcare benefits look great....if you stay in-network. If you go out of network - as we usually are for Nick's care - there's a $5,000/person deductible. Ouch.

Type A personality that I am, I can't help but be a little resentful of changing the status quo, especially when it was already so good. But I keep reminding myself - sometimes it does some good to shake things up a bit. Perhaps Hubs commute will be shorter. Maybe we'll find the perfect school for Meg closer to home. God has a plan; I just need to be patient.

Help a Friend...Go Vote!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Hey y'all, I need a favor.

A good friend of mine designed a very chic reusable grocery bag for Kroger's design-a-bag contest. The winner gets $1000. Her family is one of the many that has been affected by this rotten economy. Help me help her by going here to vote!

You can vote once a day through May 15th!

And if you post a linky on your blog to help spread the word I'd really love you!

A Perfect Ending to A Perfect Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:55:00 +0000

...watching the two little neighbor girls fight over who gets to hold Nick's hand as they walk him home for the evening after hours of fun in the sun. And Nick? Eating up every minute of it.

I don't think it gets any better than that.

Pearls of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:53:00 +0000

It's no secret on my blog how much I love Nick's developmental pediatrician, Dr. Susan.

Every quarter she mails out a newsletter to her patients' families which usually includes Center news, upcoming events and an essay or pearl of wisdom from Dr. Susan. With each one I read, i usually find myself nodding in agreement or occasionally reduced to tears. This month's was one of those. I wanted to share an excerpt of this month's essay from Dr. Susan's corner:

"...When the task of parenting takes a turn that is unexpected and we are given a child who requires more of us and we feel suddenly lost, unskilled, and unprepared, sometimes we can fall prey to measuring parental success by the successes of our child. But what if the child we are raising will have few true great moments when compared to the world's standards? Are we less of a parent? More importantly, is he/she less to this world?"....

...."For many of the children we serve at the Center, their life path will never be "typical" and they will spend most of their lives "behind." While it is wonderful and natural for parents to focus their efforts on helping their child in every way possible to be successful, I believe that the more worthy efforts are in establishing a bond with our children that is unbreakable. We have the power with our words, our actions, and our disappointments to deliver "blows" that can wound hearts and kill spirits. Or we have the power, instead, to be vessels of refuge, encouragement, safety and light. Our journey as parents is a marathon, not a sprint. We don't have to have it all figured out today. We just need enough love, patience, encouragement and good will to love our children one day at a time..."

When we're caught up in that "two steps back" cycle our kids do I microanalyze everything, fixated on finding the solution. I become impatient; I want it figured out now. My feelings of failure move in like dark clouds and I tend to overlook the bright spots in our day when in fact that's exactly what I should be on the lookout for - looking for the bright spots, even the tiniest ones, and celebrating them, building up that bond. Because it's not about fixing a problem, it's about loving him through it - for a lifetime.

More About Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Last night at work I witnessed an interaction that reeked of a lack of autism awareness and compassion for individuals with a developmental disability. Worse, it was my own staff of medical professionals.

After intervening, I retreated to my office to hide my tears while my secretary kept offering to fetch me more tissues or tea.

*sigh*

When will people learn to treat others different from themselves with dignity and compassion instead of something less than human or as a problem that needs to be managed.

Autism awareness…Disability awareness….HUMAN awareness. It needs to begin with those right around you.

April isn't The Only Month for Autism Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Nicholas is blessed to be in a classroom with a teacher that not only "gets" Nick, but focuses on his strengths instead of his weaknesses. You see, Nick is not just the one in the class with autism, he is simply one of the class. She sees the potential for greatness in every child and nurtures that.

This fall, we'll be leaving Miss L. behind as Nick goes off to kindergarten. I can only hope that other educators we encounter in the future will be equally as compassionate toward others who are differently abled, as well as passionate about what they do and the kids they teach.

April is autism awareness month. Go here and read Kristen's post on what autism awareness means to her - and should mean to all of us - every month of the year.

We Have A Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Sorry to post the winner's name a day late. Got caught up in doing taxes yesterday, and ...well...if you saw the number on line 75, you know the one that says AMOUNT YOU OWE, you would have turned the computer off without thinking twice as well. But, I've recovered from my sticker shock and am ready to have some fun!

Our Family is His is the winner of the EcoStore USA giveaway!

Please give me a shout at JennRN (at) wowway (dot) com with your contact info and I will have EcoStore ship out your item!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to enter. Please visit often! I love comments!

Letter A's and Bug-Capades

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Today was a positively bee-yoo-tee-full day in Michigan. 60's, sunny, and a gentle breeze. We spent the entire afternoon outside. The kids played with their neighbor friends, rode bikes, and pretended to drive mom's Jeep while she cleaned out and vacuumed the interior.

I took a break from cleaning the winter's worth of muck from the floorboards of my car and walked next door to check up on the kids. Miss Meg was happily drawing on the neighbor's driveway with some sidewalk chalk chatting away to Mrs. D. standing beside her. I overheard Miss Meg say, "Watch this! I'm drawing a letter A" and proceeded to draw a perfect capital A. No kidding. She's 3. I had no idea she could do this. Smart little cookie.

Later Nick came running inside breathlessly, arm extended and hands cupped in front of him - as if holding something delicate. "Hurry, Mom! I need a jar! I caught a baby worm!" as he shoves the squiggling night crawler into my face. "He needs a house to stay warm." Aw, such a compassionate little fella for all critters large and small - but ewwwww - I am sooo not ready for the boys-n-bugs stage! So, I hastily dumped the remainder of the jam into a bowl and rinsed out a clean "worm house." Tonight his new pet worm sleeps in his worm house on the nightstand beside Nick's bed on the condition that Wormie goes back into the garden this weekend to live with his mom, dad, brothers and sisters.

Hopefully the next bug-capade is something cute, like fireflies or lady bugs.

Cross Roads and Choices

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:49:00 +0000

Hey y'all. I've been here. Just buried to my eyeballs in life. Laundry backed up to the heights of Mt. Everest and a checkbook that hasn't been balance since February (have zero clue as to how much $$ we have at the moment - darn the debit card!).

Let me get you caught up...

In early March, Nick's amazing speech therapist, Miss Kathy, volunteered to go observe Nick in his private preschool classroom to give us her recommendations for kindergarten placement and IEP.

Two years ago when we pulled Nick out of our district's special ed ECD program and placed him at Megaware's child development center Miss Kathy voiced her reluctance. After spending the day in the classroom, she admits we couldn't have chosen better. *grin*

Her recommendations: private kindergarten at Megaware with no services or mainstream kindergarten with an aide in our district. She was so impressed after her visit that Megaware is her 1st recommendation.

Let me paint the picture:

Megaware's K classroom has 1 teacher, 1 assistant and 7-8 children. The curriculum is more child interest guided and hands-on ... somewhat like Montessori philosophy. Nick's teacher sent home the information packet: a professionally bound and tabbed binder with the teacher's resume, instruction philosophy and academic curriculum by subject. Dreamy, eh? Nick also knows the teacher and classroom, as they partner with his preschool class for projects and games often. So the transition would be practically seamless. Drawback? We'd be delaying the inevitable. He would have to make the transition for 1st grade regardless.

Our district's Kindergarten round-up was yesterday and it went well, I admit. We liked the principal and the teachers seem nice. The class sizes are no more than 25 by contract, but presently at about 20-22 with 1 teacher (hence our wish for an aide to keep Nick on task). They even use some of the same instructional curriculum (Everyday Math). Nick would be starting K with one of his little girl friends on our street and two of his other friends currently in 1st grade. So, he'd be with his neighborhood friends, which I think is important for his social development and feeling connected with his community. Another upside to this? No more tuition. We could really use the financial break.

We were at a crossroads. What to do? We saw the benefits and drawbacks to both.

The answer came this morning when Nick bounded into our bed asking if he could go to his new school with his friends. After all, who is this really about? Our own insecurities about change or what's best for Nick and what makes him happy?

Soon, my boy. Soon. August is a little ways off yet.