You have fun at school?

I got Frankie off of the bus yesterday, he was so happy! He grabbed my face and said " you have fun at school?". Grrrr, now he is expecting what I say. Kim came yesterday for his first real ABA session at home. She had an idea to make pictures on the sheet that the teacher sends home so he can tell me what he did at school using visuals instead of words. Bus has been better, now he smiles when the bus comes!

The last two days of school he had some issues with aggression. Everyone keeps telling me it's normal but I am one of those crazy moms that thinks her kid is perfect. Even with Autism, he will have perfect Autism. Did I mention I was crazy?

Today I didn't get any violence notes home, I got "Frankie refused to eat lunch". In the communication notebook Andre (his teacher) said he was kicking to be funny. I was pretty sure this was what it was, he doesnt aggressively kick, he does it for attention. I find the more I feed into the kicking, the more he does it.....if I ignore him, he will find something else to push mommies buttons. He is in a HUGE testing phase right now. He is testing at school and at home. Not a fan, no no no.

On a positive note, Frankie made some pee pee on the potty today. His speech teacher also wrote how he used a sentence appropriatly. On Fridays Frankie has group speech, so today as he passed one of the classrooms he said " where is Jayden?". His speech teacher was thrilled, she id they have only picked up Jayden at that room twice so she was amazed he remembered. I wrote back about his memory, it's amazing. A year later he remembers things, he remembers he hates Super cuts, he remembers routes to people's houses and miles away he knows where we are going. He is a little ball of miracle frustration this week.

The Story of Diagnosis

On July 6th 2008 I was handed a beautiful 7lb 3oz baby boy. A boy, who I knew would have me wrapped around his finger for the rest of his life. My Little Professor (LP for Blog purposes) grew typically till around 9 months after he received a Flu shot (something I will go into another time). LP ended up in the ER a week after the vax with Bronchiolitis and low oxygen, a month after that he started vomiting on and off for 3 weeks with no explanation. At this point the chronic ear infection, which went on constantly for 10 months began, it was only till i stopped vaccinating him did the ear infections end.

It was at this point that LP's development rapidly slowed down. He never had the typical regression of skills like a lot of children with Autism do, instead its like time stood still. His body grew, but his speech did not. He learned to walk, but constantly fell or got hurt. He knew his name but never turned when called. He did risky things, without understanding the idea that things hurt. His behavior was beastly and regardless of the amount of time out, scolding or spanking he didn't improve.

The idea of Autism came into my mind when LP was 15 months old. I couldn't see how it could be true, he was cuddly and happy, he seemed so smart. I was told by doctors , friends, grandparents that boys develop speech slower, that it was normal, that the behavior was because of lack of discipline etc.

I believed it until LP was 2.5 and had him evaluated through Early Intervention. May I say, those who live in NY state are so blessed with the Early Intervention programs we have......if you are thinking of moving to get better services, NY is a good place to be. Only after 2 evaluations, one by a psychologist and a second by a Speech Therapist ,did reality really hit. LP was placed on the Autism Spectrum.......his Receptive Language was placed at about a 9-12 month level and his expressive at 15-18months......that was like a punch in the stomach. It was recommended he receive 10 x 90min session of ABA a week with 1 hour of parent training and 2 x 45 min speech sessions. This was another blow.....2x a day for 90min each session I would have strangers in my house, some days i would have 3 different therapist for a total of 4+ hours invading my personal space and bonding with my new baby( I had just had my daughter 3 months prior ).

So It began in February....and my son has progressed in Leaps and Bounds. Seems intelligence was never an issue, he is as a say a Little Professor. He has a knack for memorization and letters. He can read, and memorize about everything....today he told me to "taste the rainbow". ABA has been a blessing in terms of his behavior. Though his new found speech is a lot of memorized sentences and phrases and not as functional as it should be, I get to finally hear my sons voice. I always wondered what he sounded like.

Friday Is the day we meet about the transition from Early Intervention to our school district.....this will be my first fight of what I'm sure will be many. Wish me luck! New Chapters are always fun :/