Taking the Scenic Route

I didn’t post much this weekend because we were really busy.  We got a good chunk of unpacking done.  Finally.  Now we don’t have boxes on the main floor (except individual ones we are currently working on), just the garage.  We even got some of the photos up on the walls, our bulletin boards and calendars up, and the dry erase boards up.  There is still a lot to do, but at least we now have use of all the rooms on the main floor.  (and downstairs too, but it is a bit of a free-for-all with toys everywhere right now, so we still have organizing to do downstairs to corral the clutter).  We finally uncovered the box containing the coffee we couldn’t find the day we moved in.  We still haven’t found the can opener, although it might be in the box I just pulled in from the garage (another kitchen box).  I am really glad my mom lent us hers because this is just crazy.  I am also realizing I am missing some clothes, but we seem to have uncovered at least most of the kids clothes at this point.  I haven’t moved in a while and forgot that you need to write what is in the box on the SIDE of the box, not just the top.  lol

She isn’t asleep here.  That is the door to the garage and Zach told her not to come in the garage, so she laid down and her right foot is slowly creeping towards the door in an attempt to sneak in the garage.  As soon as Zach tells her ‘no’, she complains and pulls her leg back inside, only to have it slowly creep back towards the garage step.  It is so hard to behave sometimes.

Zane participating in an activity with his literacy group at the college.  After they complete something they get a key to put on their keyring as a reward.  Zane kept picking pink keys.  We finally had him choose another color because one of the little girls in the group following us is really into pink and she would have thrown a fit if there were no pink keys left.  He then picked orange or red.  hee hee…I guess he was really into that part of the color spectrum that day.

I’m am more in love with him 12 years later than I was the first minute after I was his wife. 

Happy Anniversary my dear Zach.

(And mom, thank you for coming up and spending time with the kids so we could have a fun evening out.)

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/a-fundamental-wrong-in-letting-some-marry/2007/03/30/1174761750887.html?page=fullpage

IEP News

Much to my surprise and delight, the school they will probably want to send Zane to (assuming he qualifies…lol…shouldn’t be a problem, but they can’t guarantee it over the phone) is the one that I was recommended to fight for.  Yeah!   It has a good quality, well-developed program for kids with autism…one of the few bright spots in our school district.  It also isn’t all the way across town either, so that is great.  The school used to send the kids to a rather dismal autism classroom (had a less-than-stellar reputation), but this year is the last year that will be in existence.  (had we pushed to have him in school this year, that is where he would have gone).   So, good timing on our part. 

When the person said we might not have the IEP in place before the school year started, I asked when it would be in place because I was not sending him to school until all of that is nailed down.  She then said that they would see what they could do about expediating it then.  lol.  I think they don’t get funding for kids who aren’t in school the first 20 days, but by law, they would have to educate him according to the IEP, and that has a time limit for them to comply, and they saw themselves not having funding for a kid who was going to require more funds and decided that it was a good idea to get stuff in place.  At any rate, it looks like I might still have to push a bit, but it might not be the full blown battle I was anticipating.

After talking to the school district I called one of my major contacts (the SLP clinical educator at the university) and talked to her about what had been said in the conversation and got some advice on how to handle some of the things they were suggesting (like, what to ask about if they want Rainbows to do the eval instead of them in an effort to hurry things along).  She is such a great resource for me because she has been around the block enough to know how to get what we need.  She also said that she is trying to get together a social skills group together for the summer, retaining some of what he is doing in preschool.  I think it would be spectacular for him on two levels…one, that the program in and of itself will be good, but also that he will have some continuity in the school environment so it is easier for him to adjust in the fall.  I am likely going to request the extended school year once he is in the schools, but I doubt I can get that in place for this summer.  I am really glad we are in a private preschool right now because they can talk much more openly about what would be the best for him without having to censor themselves like a public school employee would. 

A little crush

At night, among Zane’s “God blesses”, he almost always includes one particular name, a little girl in his class.  When Zach asked if she was his best friend, he said “no”.  He then asked who his best friend was, and Zane said it was “G—”, a little boy in his class (a bit of a wild child according to one of the teachers.  lol).  Then he asked if she was his ‘girlfriend’ and Zane, with a big grin, responded “YES!”.  It was beyond adorable.  The teacher said that this girl was a bit behind Zane in skills and they have noticed that he often goes and helps her with her PECs cards and will get her ‘woken up’ when she is starting to phase out.  It is so charming to see him starting to have peer relationships.  My little guy has a crush.  ahhhh.

And, finally, the weather.  blah

Well, I am not sure we are going to do the MCC Sale this year.  It has been rainy and cold all day, and it looks like it is trying to turn to snow.  Our backyard has water setting in it and it just keeps coming.  I remember an MCC sale where I broke my sandal and burned the bottom of my feet on the pavement trying to get back to the car because it was so hot.  This is just flat out weird to be this cold.  If we had a better car, we would consider going just for a bit to eat, but I am not sure I want to be out on the road for that long of a trip in that car.  Ticks me off.  I already missed the Vernike and sausage and Zweibach (and poppyseed rolls, and cherry moos, and russian pancakes….oh gosh, now I am hungry and I just ate) last year, and now it looks like I am going to miss it again.  Drat!

 eta:  As I see large flakes of snow falling down, I am so glad this wasn’t the weather 12 years ago or I would have been Fuhhh-REEEK-ing out in a major way.  Our friends have a birthday party for their son tomorrow…I bet it is the first time they have ever had to consider cancelling because of SNOW.  weirdness indeed.

Easter portraits are here!

About the only biomedical treatment we have done is introducing Omega fatty acids to his already existing mulit-vitamin.  It has seemed to help.  I was talking to another mom in the waiting room and she said that a particular omega blend has seen more dramatic success than a lot of others and I got the name and looked it up.  As it turns out, it is the same brand as he already takes, just a slightly different combination, so I ran to the HFS and picked them up.  It is still a chewable, but instead of strawberry, it is lemon.  Zach said he took it willingly this morning, so that is a relief.  We will have to see if this helps him a little more.

The kind we used to get: 

The new kind:

The biggest change we noticed is that his enunciation became much better within a few weeks of taking it, but the thing that made me realize it is probably doing more than that is that we didn’t really have many problems with him during the move, but within a week or two afterwards, which coincides with about the same amount of time I was not as vigilant about giving him the vitamins.  (there is a week or two lag from when he takes them and when we see an effect).  So, I figured it was worth a try.  We are wary of superloading on vitamins, but fish oil is one of the oldest and most used suppliments for a long, long time.  Zach took it as a kid and a lot of people in older generations used to take cod liver oil on a regular basis.  Plus, living in the middle of Kansas, you don’t get a great supply of good quality fresh fish, so eating fish 3 times a week (unless you really like canned tuna…blah) is really pricy and not easy.  It is unlikly to hurt anything at any rate.

I feel like I just battled a lion.  Wow, for such a little package, that girl is as tenacious as a child can be.  She did NOT want to go to sleep tonight.  Not at all.  It was one of those nights you force yourself to rise above what you want to do (close the door, lock it, and walk away) and make yourself stay calm and loving, but firm.  It sucked.  I was proud of myself (and so thankful for Zach’s calm support) when she was finally asleep and we crept out of the room, but it took everything I had to get there.

We did have a neat moment today that we wouldn’t have if we were a two car family.  I was waiting with the kids at the therapy place for Zach to return from school to pick us up, and out of the window we saw one of the most vibrant rainbows I have seen in many, many years.  A huge, full spectrum, bright rainbow, with the rainbow ending (from our perspective) at the other wing of the campus.  (we are in the outpatient wing, which is set away from the main campus area).  Everybody who walked by stopped to look, and one of the desk staff went running for the camera.  I was dissapointed I didn’t have my camera (I *almost* brought it with me today…kicking myself) because it was so perfect it looked photoshopped…like when artists paint pictures and you can’t believe it is real because it is too perfect.  Spectacular!

Another neat thing…when we came home Zane requested pizza.  Since making it was more than I could handle right now, we ordered it.  We got a really happy surprise when one of our old friends delivered it.  When we lived on campus, there was a guy we would spend hours in conversation with.  His English was so horrible at the time it would take a good 5-10 minutes to get a single thought across, and consequently, most people didn’t stop to talk to him even though he was hungry for friendship.  It is their loss though.  Over many conversations we found out that he was put in prison because he wouldn’t join Sadam’s army, was tortured horribly, escaped prison to run across the desert barefoot and without food, and barely survived to surrender to the news cameras back in the first Gulf war.  When we knew him he was studying to become a Mechanical Engineer, a degree he already had but was unable to prove because the government was not allowing any records of his to be released.  He was also studying to become a US Citizen.  He taught me how much I took for granted about being a citizen of this country.  He also had so many stories, if you took the time to listen.  One of his parents is Christian, the other Muslim…and you can just imagine how complicated that gets when you are from Iraq.  We met up with him again shortly after him finally getting his citizenship (and he was almost teary about it he was so happy) and our troops were back in Iraq.  He was finally able to contact his family, who had been told he was dead years before.  He was looking forward to visiting his family and moving back to his home.  I didn’t expect to see him again.  This time we learned that he was able to see his family and they live in a fairly peaceful area.  He finished his degree, but is in a fight with housing over a debt, so his transcripts won’t be released for a bit until it is resolved.  (sounds like the same fight I will have actually).  I think the delivery job is a second job, not his primary income.  He seemed pretty excited to see us again too.  The funny thing is that we aren’t sure of his name.  When we first met, we couldn’t understand him well enough, and now we have known him long enough, and talked so much that it is beyond embarrasing to ask, so I guess his name will always be “that neat guy from Iraq”.  lol.  (we think we know his ‘American’ name, but we aren’t 100% sure).  It was so good to see him again and catch up.  He is probably one of the more interesting people I think I have ever met.

First, a picture from late Easter evening.  Zora trying very hard to put the Easter grass between her toes.  Kids are weird.

Today, it was shifting between soft rain and a drizzle, mostly just a drizzle.  Zane asked to go outside, so I opened up the door, grabbed a few snapshots, and sat back down. 

I thought I just left the door open enough to hear him, but not let Zora out.

I was only partially correct.  I left it open enough for her to get stuck trying.

I opened it up, and she ran after her big brother, enjoying the strange outside.

She came in a short time later for a warm snuggle, but Zane enjoyed himself out there for a good half hour before making muddy footprints across my carpet. 

from around the blogsphere, Oprah show posts:

my favorite, written by an author I really like —>  Susan’s Blog: Oprah Speaks

What Really Happened When Katie Mentioned Vaccines On Oprah

Oprah Winfreys Autism Show April 5th, 2007 – Vaccines MENTIONED!!!

Oprah, the Media and Celebrities on Autism

This is something that has been annoying me.  Why is it when a person with an autism spectrum diagnosis is skilled in some area, is it called a ’splinter skill’.  Why can’t it just be a skill.  It seems like referring to it that way minimizes it as something less worthy of recognition and praise than if an NT person had the same, exact skill.  For example, if a kid learns to read really young and they are NT, they are praised for being really smart, and the parents for obviously exposing them to literacy.  If a kid learns to read really young and has an ASD diagnosis, it is a splinter skill, and/or hyperlexic, but is rarely acknowledged to be an accomplishment from hard work or parents who value literacy.  It is somehow ‘less’, when, in reality, I think it should be ‘more’.  When you struggle to say a sentence, I think it is pretty neat that you can read one.

It is irritating enough when people have no problem pointing out weaknesses, but when they also denigrate the strengths, I find it totally disrespectful and irritating.  It is something I am used to hearing and don’t particularly take offense when I hear it IRL, because I hear it all the time and, it is usually not said with any sort of ill intent because it is a common technical term in the ASD world.  I just think that it is one of the lexicons that really needs to be shifted or eliminated to reflect a more affirming motive when describing a skill.