Hard times

Carson has been having a very difficult time the past month. He is so unhappy and cries almost all day at school and at home. Nothing in his routine has changed. We can't figure it out. We can't do anything to calm him down. His behavior scares his 3 year old sister. When he has a meltdown he cries, screams and throws things. Its very scary for us, much less a child who doesn't understand why her brother is so upset.  He has been very impulsive and starting to show aggressive behavior. He has been pushing other kids at school and his siblings. He throws things across the room. Big things like chairs. He is so frustrated and unhappy. We have had many discussions with his teachers, therapists and doctors and have decided its time to try another medication. We are starting him on the daytrona patch this weekend and hoping it will help him. Its so heartbreaking to see him so sad all the time. We are willing to try anything to see his smile again.

Summer's End

Well today ends our very long summer. Carson goes back to school tomorrow. He will most likely have a rough transition back but eventually he will get settled back into his routine and he will adjust fine. This summer has been very difficult for him. This is the first long stretch that he hasn't been in school since he was 3 years old.

 

He has regressed a lot these past few months and he has become aggressive, destructive and very frustrated. We have seen a lot of things from him that we have never seen before. I cant even begin to imagine what it must be like to be him and how frustrating it would be to not be able to communicate.

 

He is doing great in Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy and is progressing. We are very thankful he has continued those services over the summer. We have learned a lot about him over the past several months and one is that having a routine and a schedule is very important. He doesn't do well with a lot of down time. He gets bored and has meltdowns, becomes aggressive and extremely destructive.

 

Hopefully this all ends tomorrow when he goes back to school. Yes, it's been a long summer but we have had the opportunity to do a lot of fun summer activities that otherwise we wouldn't have been able to do if he attended school

 

Swim & Picnic lunch with his sister Maddy

 

Fun at Mimi & Papa's house

 

 

 

Zoombezi Bay

 

 

 

 

Lazelle Park

 

 

 

State Fair

 

 

Graeter's Ice Cream

 

 

 

 

Chuck E Cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2014

An update on Carson...

He is doing better than great!! We can't believe the progress he has made in just a year. He is much happier, he is sleeping better, eating better and just a happy little boy. He is communicating so well and even saying a few words!!!!! It's unbelievable! He is doing great in school and great in Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy.

He is working on identifying objects at school and in Speech. It's amazing because his receptive language has developed finally. We say to him "Carson show me a Cow" and he will point to a picture of a Cow. This is a big step because for so long he was not able to do this because he didn't comprehend what we were saying. It's so wonderful that he is now understanding what we say to him. For instance, he now understands and follows directions. We can tell him to go get his shoes and he will. We can tell him its time for a snack and he will go to the table. This is just a big step forward and so wonderful and I think this contributes to him being so much happier because now he understands us and we are starting to understand him!

He is working on a lot of fine motor skills in Occupational Therapy such as zipping his coat, buttoning his pants, picking objects up with tweezers. It's amazing that when he started he couldn't even jump with both feet off the ground and now he is not only jumping but bouncing on balls and learning to ride a bike!

He is currently going through re evaluation through our school district for kindergarten. However, he will still stay at the school he is at now. We aren't interested in mainstreaming him now or ever. We love his school and want him to stay there as long as he can. Although he is doing so well he would struggle horribly in a typical school. We are very happy with his placement at Step By Step.

The Summer program at his school has been cut so he will be home with us this summer. I have mixed feelings on this. It will be great to have him home but I'm very concerned about him regressing and the transition back to school in the Fall might be very difficult on him. He started Step By Step just a few days after he turned 3 and has gone every single day aside from holiday breaks so it will be a big change for him. He will still attend therapies twice a week and we will keep busy with our regular summer activities. He really enjoys going to the lake and spending time on his grandparents boat and in their camper so we will be doing that a lot. He loves the water so I'm sure we will be swimming a lot this summer! We also have a trip planned to King's Island, an amusement park, he will love that!

We are very happy with how far Carson has come. A year ago I would have never thought we would be where we are today. He has overcome so much and has become so much happier. There was a time when he was just miserable all of the time because he couldn't communicate. He amazes us so much.

With all of the great things he has accomplished there are also setbacks. 2 weeks ago we had to bring him to the ER because he ate glass!!! That was very scary but all turned out fine and xrays showed that he had very little pieces in his stomach so he was able to pass them naturally. He is always eating things he isn't supposed to eat so this is a constant battle. He likes to eat leaves, sand, rocks, and anything wood. We are hoping he will eventually grow out of this but its a big part of Autism so he may not. We just have to constantly watch him and make sure he isn't putting things in his mouth.

We are still trying to poop train him and that is still a struggle. He still will not poop on the potty. When he was in the ER and had xrays the doctor told us he is so backed up with weeks worth of poop. She told us this is a very common problem with children on the spectrum because they tend to hold it in and it can cause a lot of problems and could lead to surgery if he doesn't get all of that out. We have been giving him miralax and its been working but still no poop on the potty but as long as he is actually pooping we are happy.

We will always have setbacks and that doesn't discourage us. We just focus on all of the great things he has accomplished and instead of worrying about what he can't do we focus on what he can do and what he has overcome. We celebrate the little things because to us and to him they are very big things.

 

 

 

 

 

January 2014

I haven't updated in a few months. Carson is doing great!! School is going well and therapies are going very well. He is waving, pointing and blowing kisses. He is signing "more", "all done", "eat", and "thank you". He is starting to identify his facial features. We have been working on this since he was 2!! He is also saying a few words and repeating sounds and an occasional word. He says mama, dada, no, go, yeah, night night. He doesn't say anything consistently but he is using words finally!! We have stopped the GFCF diet and giving him whatever he wants. I haven't noticed any differences yet. We only have him taking a sleep aid every night and nothing else. His focus seems great and his teachers say he is doing great and his hyperactivity has slowed way down. We took him to disney World earlier this month and he loved it. We have never seen him so happy and have never seen him smile so much. It was amazing and almost like he was a typical child without autism. He loved the rides and smiled from ear to ear the entire time. Disney is very accommodating to children with special needs. We were issued a disability pass and a sticker on his stroller. We didn't have to wait in a single line. We were able to get right on and we were able to keep him in his stroller until he got on the ride. We were allowed to bring his stroller into restraunts and other indoor attractions that strollers aren't allowed. He feels secure in his stroller and it keeps him calm. When he is out of it and walking he gets overwhelmed and will not walk. The stroller was a must and we couldn't have had a better experience. Seeing the excitement and happiness on his face was so wonderful especially coming from a child who rarely shows any emotion. We felt so connected to him at Disney. During the rides he would hold our hands, make eye contact, grab our faces and kiss us!! It was just amazing and we can't wait to bring him back!!