Monday, December 19, 2011

Children Learn From Homelife

If a child lives with Criticism, they learn to Condemn

If a child lives with Hostility, they learn to Fight

If a child lives with Fear, they learn to be Apprehensive

If a child lives with Pity, they learn to feel sorry for themself

If a child lives with Ridicule, they learn to be Shy

If a child lives with Jealousy, they learn to feel Guilty

If a child lives with Tolerance, they learn to be Patient

If a child lives with Encouragement, they learn to be Confident

If a child lives with Praise, they learn to be Appreciative

If a child lives with Acceptance, they learn to Love

If a child lives with Approval, they learn to Like Themself

If a child lives with Recognition, they learn it's good to Have a Goal

If a child lives with Honesty, they learn what Truth is

If a child lives with Fairness, they learn Justice

If a child lives with Security, they learn to have Faith in themself and those about them

If a child lives with Friendliness, they learn that the world is a nice place to which they live

What's your child living with?

by Dorthy Low Nolte

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

School Based Services (SBS)

I received a consent form in the mail listing the services Dane receives from the school district.  It said that the school district has been accessing Medicaid reimbursement for medically related services provided for Dane.  The WI Medicaid School Bases Services Benefit offers a way for my local school district to receive federal funds to help pay for IEP special education programs and related services in the IEP.  SBS allows the school district to bill Medicaid with no cost to families.

This program has been available to school districts in WI since 1995 and changes have occurred over that time.  The most recent is that the WI Dept. of Public Instruction notified WI schools of a change in federal law obligating school districts to obtain parent consent prior to accessing Medicaid SBS benefits.  Prior to the change, parents gave consent to the school district to bill Medicaid when parents signed up for the WI Medicaid Assistance Program.  The school system now needs to ask parents directly for written consent.  In this process the school needs to ask for my consent directly but will not result in denial or limitation of community based services provided outside the school district.

I had to cancel the case worker observation for Dane because he had his therapy.  The observation will also be his annual ISP were we tell her how he is acting or if anything new is going on.  Tuesdays are such a rush getting home from work and getting Dane out of school 20 minutes early to make it to his therapy appointments 40 minutes from home.  I have been making it a routine to get McDonalds drive through because he is hungry after school.  I usually waited until after his therapy to get him something to eat but it's fast and its food.  I try not to buy the Happy Meals but when I do get the kids one it really makes them happy.  For Halloween they got a happy meal bucket they can use for trick or treating.  That would have been nice to know they can get something they will actually use.  Allyson calls it her Easter basket.  I keep correcting her but it's funny to hear her call it that.

Friday, December 9, 2011

upper respiratory infection (URI)

For the past couple days Dane has had low grade fever and a cough.  We did not let him go to school if he was showing symptoms of becoming sick.  I guess that is one advantage of my wife and I working opposite shifts so she can stay home with him during the day and pamper him.  The way things are people go to work sick and send their kids to school sick.  Why are things the way they are?  If your sick, stay home!  Stay away from others to prevent the spread of illness.  At my work place, I have to have a doctor excuse for having time off.  Okay, so now I loose a days pay and now have to pay for a doctor visit which will take me two working days to pay off.  What a crock.

My wife called in to work last night and took Dane to the emergency room.  He was lying down getting ready for bed and was gasping for breath.  My wife asked if he had troubles breathing.  He said "Yes."  I wish he would tell us these things but we have to get it out of him by asking.  He doesn't let us know anything is wrong.  If you suspect something is wrong you have to ask and hopefully get an honest answer.

I stayed home with my daughter, Allyson.  During that time I called the hospital and had Dane checked in before they got to the hospital.  Allyson spiked a 101 degree fever and threw up all over her bed.

I didn't really suspect anything wrong with Dane.  I don't go to the doctor unless I am really sick.  Why?  Because the cost of doctor visits are way overpriced.  You know your sick and what you have and you need to have a doctor tell you what you already know.  All because you need a prescription.

It's a good thing Dane went in to the E.R.  This could have turned into pnemonia.  The doctor recommended a warm must humidifier.  Money well spent.  It works a lot better than that vaporizer we have.  I think I got more steam off a hot cup of coffee than over that pile of junk.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Lip Biting

This is something new.  Either Dane is licking his lips and chewing on his bottom lip or he may be biting his bottom lip very hard when he gets mad.  He has a sore mark under his bottom lip from his top teeth chomping down.  I have seen him suck in his bottom lip and give a little bite.  He is doing it more lately.  When he's frustrated he growls and bites down hard.  I tell him about the sore mark he's leaving and wants to look in the mirror.  Now, when I tell him "No" he bites down on purpose. 

We needed to get some supplys from Wal-Mart and we were'nt ready to go.  He jumped over the seat, started biting down on his lip and hitting the window.  After he settled down and got into his seat he buckeled his seat belt by himself.  I tell him what a big boy he's getting to be and that he did very good buckling his seat belt all by himself.  Praise the good things he does and try to blow off the naughtyness.  Negative behavior and negative attitude at him makes things worse.  Redirection is the key.  It's hard but bad behavior needs to be reinforced with a positive attitude. 

Explanation in slow, short phrases help when he wonders about something.  I do not want him to go on the road by himself.  He will try to run out with his dump truck and stay to the side of the road.  He has plenty of driveway and yard to play in.  I think he's pushing his boundaries with me.  He knows it is wrong and yet he does it.  I tell him, "Danger, no road!"  He looks at me confused and says, "Cars go on road?  Cars can hit me?"  I say, "Yeah.  And that's bad."  "Oh."  Dane says.  Does he understand?  I think so but he's pushing the limit or its in one ear and out the other.

Dane has been asking about a watch with hands on it.  One of his friends at school must have one.  We let him pick one out at the store and that made him happy.  I bought him a cheap set of legos with Lightning McQueen from Disneys "Cars."  I helped him put it together by showing him where the pieces went and him pushing them into place.

At grandpas Dane is always scooping up caterpillars, worms and toads.  Tonight, as I am writing this, he brought in a dead baby grass snake.  Yuck.  I thought it was a worm and he knew it was a snake.  I had to double glance and look for myself.  I have never seen a grass snake ever around here.  I told him to wash his hands and he flushed it down the toilet.  For some reason he is getting his obsession flushing the toilet again.  Same with him lining up toys and pinwheels.  I need to redirect these stims or they will take control over him again.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Different

My wife was dropping Dane off at his Kindergarten class today.  She usually stands by his hook to hang his coat and change into his gym shoes.  We need to stand back and let him do it himself.  Other kids his age dress and undress themselves.  Dane needs to learn this and be more independent.  He needs help buttoning and zipping up his coat and pants.  If he can't do it after a few tries then we help him. He has problems with his fine motor skills.

Dawn led Dane into his class and was listening in on a conversation he was having with the other children.  Dane said that when he gets big that he will ride bike to school.  One of the boys at the table looked at my wife and told her, "I don't know why he talks like that.  He always does."  My wife responded, "Because he's awesome!"  The other kids seem to really like Dane.

I talk to my wife on the phone on break at work to see how things are going.  When she told me about the boy's comment he made about my son it made me think.  I thought that other kids are starting to notice that he's different from the others.  It also scared me a bit to think that the other kids might gang up on him and pick on him.  Dawn assured me that the other kids really like Dane.  I hope that these kids back him up also if there is trouble down the road.