First Big Rides

I am in shock.  Dane went on the rides at the fair and loved them.  Allyson really wanted to go on the ferris wheel.  She is 3.  I rode with her and my wife rode with Dane.  My sister was in the area and we met with her.

On one of the inflated jumping kids areas, Allyson got her skin on her heel peeled back.  My sister took Dane and went on some rides with him while we took Ally back to the car.  We needed to get her some socks or a band aid.  Something to protect that raw mark on her foot.

What are the odds of finding only 1 sock in the car?  It was black and wearing it with sandles it looked like a small cast.  Needless to say now she could walk because it wasn't rubbing against her shoe anymore.

Dane with cousin and aunt

We needed to catch up with my sister and find Dane.  We walked around the fair looking for her and decided we'd catch up with her when the entertainment started.  Ally wanted to go on the ferris wheel again.  We stood in line and there was Dane and my sister and her daughter waving at us.

Dane went on the ferris wheel, scrambler, spinning strawberry ride, hang glider and tilt a whirl while we were catering to Ally.  Those I thought would be intense for him but he had fun.  Later, my mother wanted to go on the tilt a whirl.  We took Dane and his cousin, Mia on the ride.  It was a fast ride and a car that spun a lot!  Dane was shaking and I told him to "Hold On."  He looked at me and said, "Daddy, this is cool!"  I laughed.  I did not expect him to go on these rides.

It is hard to believe he will be in kindergarten this year.  Tonight we met with his teacher.  She seemed nice.  Looking at his class mate list he only has 2 kids he knows from last year.  I wish they could have had him in a class with more kids he knew.  I told him that he will make lots of new friends.  He is happy to be going back to school.  The school system has a good routine and I think that helps Dane adapt better off in the long run.

Instead of Dane having therapy in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays he will have it after school.  That will be easier on my wife who works all night in the factory and takes him.  Now, I will have to take him after work and after I pick him up from school.  I just worry how wore out he will be after going to school all day and then having a few hours therapy afterwords.  I am guessing he will sleep for the 40 minute drive there.  By that time he probably won't want to do anything because he will be too tired.  I hope it all goes well.  He has been through a lot the past few years since birth to 3 and intensive therapy.

Road Safety - Boundaries

I am really trying to stress roadside safety to my son. He needs to stay off the road and watch for cars. I don't think he fully understands the dangers of oncoming traffic. I live in town where traffic should drive slow but some people drive by faster than they should.

He has training wheels on a 20" bike now and he wants to go on the road. I have a small driveway and it's not exciting enough for him to stay in it anymore. I tell him in short sentences like when he was little, "No Road!" That's the way Birth to 3 taught us to speak to him so he learned to talk. Sometimes he listens and sometimes not. He will go on the edge and creep out into the road. I really have to keep a close eye on him. I turned around for a split second and he ran out with his dump truck through the curb and gutter running through the dirty water and leaves.  I have set up orange cones at the end of the driveway to give him a visual of where he needs to stop. 

He wants to go for bike rides ever since the other weekend my nephews rode off without him. They are twice his age and he wants to be like the big boys. He gets very heartbroken and trying to tell him he's too little makes him angry. This is when I first took him on the road. I have his little sister in a bike trailer and pull her while I make him stay on the side of the road.

Tonight we rode up to the elementary school playground. I have to warn him several times about the intersection with Yield and Stop signs. I tell him to "Stop and Look both ways. Stay on the side." He's doing good at staying at the side as long as I'm with him.

We got to the playground and there were 3 other kids there with their father. Dane played around with the wood chips and threw them down the slide and played by the water puddles mostly. The other kids left and he tried to follow them on his bike. I had to scurry and get his sister in the trailer and catch up to him. I yelled at him to "Stop!" but it's like he just spaces me out.

When we got to the end of the street those kids were saying "Hi, Dane!" One of the girls was in his class. Dane waved hi back. The girl went on to say how he was invited to a birthday party. I didn't know what to do so we kept on riding. It's nice to know that other children want to include him.

We got home and he took a bubble bath. He jumped out before I got to wash his hair. He hates his hair being touched. I can wash it but it takes patience. He screams the whole time. I try and show him a picture of hair washing to let him know he needs his hair washed. Sometimes it works better then others. Hair cuts are no better.

Dane has therapy from 9-12 tomorrow. I have to take a day off work soon under Family Medical Leave (FML) because the therapists want me there also. I wonder if his weighted vest came in yet? The therapists ordered one a few weeks ago. A women in the area makes them. I hope that helps.  I am having a hard time understanding when to use it on him.  Is it all the time? During sensory breaks?  When?

"EARLY INTERVENTION"

A parent knows when something is wrong with their child. You see things that the child should be doing but their not. Or, they were doing it but now it stopped. Whats going on here?

We took our son in to see his family doctor for a well-being check up. We told her about the weird things he was doing and that he stopped talking. She referred us to the Birth to Three program through our county. This was the start of my sons early intervention.

If we had not taken my son to the doctor, or, if the doctor didn't refer us to the early intervention, Birth to Three program, my family would be lost today. 2 days a week for 45 minutes a speech therapist and occupational therapist came to our house to study our son and give us advice.

Birth to Three early intervention ended when Dane turned 3 years old. After that, we had our son involved in school 1 day a week for 3 hours. This was to help get him into the routine of going to school and being around other children. Early intervention was the key to help with my sons social skills. This was before he was diagnosed with autism.

The school gave my wife an I a quiz to narrow down why my son is not meeting his peers activities. The school psychologist would narrow it down to where it was a possibility of autism. Eventually, we took him in to be screened for autism and he was diagnosed.

Without a diagnosis, our son would probably be not getting the treatment he needs. This gave us the opportunity to have him involved with specialists who are trained to help children with disabilities.

Currently my son sees an Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Musical Therapist, Behavioral Therapist and a school Psychologist. All these people play a very important role in helping my son develop his social skills, behavioral issues and how to do things more independently.

Without early intervention I would be lost with my son. Recognize there is a problem and do something about it before it is too late. The sooner the intervention, the better.

EARLY SIGNS OF AUTISM AND MY DENIAL

We were involved in a program called Birth To Three when Dane was 2 and a half.  The county got us on this program because we let our family doctor know we were having troubles getting Dane to talk.  The most he could do to communicate at the time was whine and cry while pointing.  The trouble was: What is he pointing at?  What does he want?  The doctor made the call and referred us.  If she had not I don't know where we would have started.

Christmas 2007 Dane received a toy dump truck for a present.  The first and only thing he did was flip it over and spin the wheels.  The same went for a toy wagon we had.  You could put blocks in this wheel in the center and music would play.  He would spin that wheel so fast sometimes he would get his fingers pinched.  Anything that could spin, Dane would spin it.  He would sit and examine what kinds of spins were resulting in.  This came to saucers and spoons as well.  Nothing else mattered.

I taught him how the light switch worked when he was little.  It wasn't long until he had to always flip switches.  Cries of anger and tantrums broke out unless he could turn the light on and off before leaving the room.  We would visit friends and family and he would search the house for switches and flip every one.  That was his main concern.  Everyone in the room did not exist to him.

Many of these routines were going on.  He started lining up blocks and matchbox cars.  If you moved one out of line, you broke his routine.  He threw a fit.  Still, I did not know what was going on.  "This is all part of being a kid.  He will outgrow these weird routines."  So I thought.

My denial seeing certain signs of autism and still not wanting to think anything was wrong.  Birth to Three would use the term; (Red Flags).  The doctor said it's a possibility of autism.

I was seeing billboards that had a young girl on it that said. "Autism Speaks.  1 out of 100 children are diagnosed with autism every day!"  I would look at that billboard everyday for a year before turning on the road to go to my house.  Still, I would shake my head and say, "No, that's not my son.  He's fine."  Funny how life was telling me but I just looked away.  After he was tested, that sign turned into an Army sign.  Just that fast.  Strange?

If I could turn back the clock 1 year sooner to have him tested I would.  It is a very long wait and have your child in line for testing.  We had it set up the first time.  They said it was a long wait.  Over a year. One week later they called and said they had an opening.  I couldn't believe this.  "Yeah, long wait.  We can get him in next week?  This is some ploy to scare us into getting him tested.  The hospital just wants our money!"  We let it go.  We were seeing improvements with Dane.

Time went by and he regressed.  This is after my daughter Allyson was born.  "He wants to be the baby."  I thought.  Still denying anything wrong.

When Dane started school, the teachers recommend we have him tested.  That was the final moment for me to make my mind known that there are symptoms of autism.  "We have to get him tested."  We made the call.

Again the hospital said.  "It's a long list."  History repeated itself and we were luckily able to get him tested.  This still boggles my mind.  If there is such a long list of those to be tested, how were we lucky enough to get in within a couple weeks!  Is that the scare tactic to get your child tested?  Or, was it fate that helped us?

I just hope that if you have concerns over your child to not wait and see.  This took a year off of early intervention and therapy that could have helped my son.  Do not make the same mistake I did.  Get your child tested ASAP!

"AUTISM AND SPEECH DELAY"

Our child didn't start speaking till he was about 4.  From what I can remember he liked the word, "Fan."  It is easy to see why.  He is emotionally attached to fans.  I don't know why and I may never understand his attachment to fans.  He will turn on the ceiling fan and bring out every other fan we have available in the house and turn them on.

The Birth to 3 program would stop by my house 2 days a week for 45 minutes.  One was a occupational therapist and the other a speech therapist.  I had to deal most with the speech therapist.  The main goal of this session was to speak slow to commands and use 2-4 word sentences.  You cannot tell an autistic child; "Hey, go to your closet, get your pants and shirt on, it's time to go."  You have to cut it short and speak slow.  Tell them "Pants on, shirt on."   You may have to even cut it shorter than that and do one step commands.  Autistic people, especially children, have trouble multi-tasking.

Our son is doing especially well right now.  I think his little sister is doing much to help him.  She is 3 and he is 5.  I also think that having him in preschool and having daycare 2 days a week around children his own age helps.

For the most part, speak slow, short sentences across to your child to help them comprehend.  Getting him or her especially involved with children their own age I would recommend to help them learn how to do things more independently.