Back from the lake...

Long time, no post. This summer has been pretty busy. However, our daily schedule doesn't change much during the summer months. Lowell's St. David's treatment stays the same and Chloe's not in pre-school yet. We did take our annual summer family trip "up north". My sister and her kids were in town from San Diego for over 2 weeks and for one week of that we went up to Thunder Lake Lodge. We never quite know how the week is going to go, but we're willing to give it a try to have some nice family time together. I just read through last years post after we returned from the same place. Very similar experiences we had a year later. Lowell surprised us with his enjoyment of shuffleboard (above) and his love of taking boat rides out on the lake. He also really enjoyed the beach and the playground. A couple of days we took him on a boat ride and he fell asleep he was so relaxed. There were also some very trying times. His obsessions were in full swing in our cabin, since there were 6 fans for him to plug and unplug endlessly. He definitely was outside his comfort zone and tried to soothe his anxiety through obsessive means. That got old real quick.
He's definitely still making progress this summer. After we came back and he was back in treatment, the teachers were amazed at how much his language has taken off. We've noticed a lot more spontaneously requesting things. The flip side of this has been some very intense tantrums. There's always the ups and the downs. We just need to remember to celebrate getting through a week away from home and can be thankful that we're able to do those types of things as a family. As difficult as it was at times and we just wanted to throw in the towel and go home, we try to remember that these experiences help us all. This is our life.

Back down to earth...

Yes, I know....with every surge in development, there's going to be a falling back. This spring has been wonderful for Lowell. The last 5 days have not. Lowell seems to be out-of-sorts and is not using words to tell us what he wants. That is the most frustrating. This is something we have worked on for years, then he finally started to use them and now has stopped again. Ugh! He is also in a stage of extreme obsession. It's so tough to see the little guy having to battle his "inner demons" as we call them. Those obsession monsters that seem to come to the surface, that he has such a hard time working through, but with patience, he does. As you see here, he's as sweet as ever, just sometimes drives us crazy!

Almost there...

A couple of new things about Autism to share. This article in our local paper is about a 7 year old Autistic boy who uses a therapy dog to help him out. Pretty amazing stuff!

Also, be sure and check out this report. It's by the Interactive Autism Network. It was just launched in April of this year. The project, which aims to collect information from families with a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It was designed to accelerate autism research. To gain a better understanding of autism and how to treat it, scientists need what families have: detailed information on children's diagnosis, treatments, environment, and services received. IAN is gathering this information directly from families, giving them an opportunity to "be part of the solution" and to make their voices heard. So cool. What a facinating report!

I leave you with a sweet picture of our little guy. We've had 10 days with my husband gone (1 more to go!) and Lowell has done fantastic! We even had a big storm pass through and lost power. Granted he had some major issues with not understanding that we cannot turn on the ceiling fan or the tv or the lights and he would not accept that. So we had to sleep at my parents. But overall he's been extremely good and I am so pleased.

Poster child?

Lowell has quite unexpectedly become somewhat of a poster child for the Autism Day Treatment program he is in. Kinda funny! I was talking to a friend the other day and she said, "Isn't that Lowell on the St. David's home page?" I don't go there often, so I had no idea. I looked at their web site here and there he was, with an adorable smile going through this tunnel of light, as my mom likes to call it. Then the other day we got the most recent St. David's newsletter in the mail and this same picture was on the back cover page. Pretty neat!

So then I was poking around the web site since I knew that they were going to feature the Austism Day Treatment program in their annual report. I found the online version and there was our little guy again with the following article.

I know this is very hard to read. You can see it online here. Scroll down to page 5. Lowell has been doing fantastic. He has had some nice "explosions" in many key areas of development. He is now using the individual words that he knows for actual requests. He is so much more aware these days, follows directions very nicely and is using his words to help understand and interact with the world around him!!! We are beyond thrilled:)

Continuing to amaze....

Lowell continues to amaze us. He has been in such a good "phase" over the past few months. Really expanding his vocabulary and really "with it". Joe bought a violin because he thought Lowell would enjoy it. He took it out and Lowell immediately put it under his chin and starting trying to work the bow. I asked him what he was playing and he answered "violin" right away. Not only did he listen and understand my question, but answered it. Now that's progress. Awesome! Lowell continues to make great progress at St. David's. Listen to this report from his music therapist. So cool!

"Lowell continues to use a wealth of language; greetings with adults and peers (the spontaneous "Hi Kathy" continues and is so socially apprpriate!) Requesting in choices, commenting about equipment and consistent joint singing. Music groups have been awesome this week- so much fun for all of us!"

We celebrated my daughters second birthday last weekend and I just love this shot I got of Lowell. He had such a good day. He was into her opening gifts and was interested in playing with the presents after they were opened. In the past he was quite unaware of gifts and wasn't into playing with them. Really fun to see! He also loved patting the balloons and got quite a kick out of it.

Watch this..

The organization "Autism Speaks" created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families.

See it HERE.

The band is generously donating $0.49 to "Autism Speaks" for each time thevideo is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find acure. When you have a moment, please visit the link above to watch the video and pass it along. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.

Lowell's world...

The last few weeks have been busy in our household, as I'm sure they have been for everyone. Mommy (that would be me!) went away for 6 days without daddy or the kids!!! My parents were a huge help and all went well for everyone:) Then Lowell had a week off of his Autism Day Treatment program for Spring Break. We had a nice week together. I jumped right back into "mommy duty" here and the kids were great. We saw a lot of nana and bobo (my parents) and got outside as much as we could. The weather has been so darn cold, though!!
Lowell continues to use more words and ask for things. He was pretty even tempered this week. He's very facinated by my camera lately, so here's a couple goofy pictures that he took of himself:) Did anyone catch the episdoe that Oprah did on Autism last week on Living with Autism? Seems like a lot of the same stuff cycling through these shows lately. It's wonderful to bring awareness to the situation, but I would love to hear more about research and the search for a cause and cure!! Speaking of which, there is a new site called Interactive Autism Network that you can register and it will link parents of kids with Autism to researchers to learn more about the possible causes, treatments and cures for Autism. Now that's headed in the right direction!!!

This kid rocks!!!!

Lowell has been doing so well lately. He has been much more verbal, even putting a couple of words together. His speech has been much more functional. He is requesting and formulating what he wants. He asks for help. He is naming things right and left. He is using language spontaneously. Of course he's not doing these things every time, but still...this is HUGE!!!

So tonight we were going up to the bathroom to have bath and he ran ahead of me. When I got into the bathroom he had his toothbrush in one hand, the tube of toothpaste in the other. He squirted the toothpaste onto the brush and began to brush his teeth....all on his own!!!!!! We're so proud of our little guy. He is really making some big steps lately. We are thrilled:)

More busy work...

Lately Lowell has also been amazing us with his writing and drawing. Here he's working on his alphabet...and of course did each of them in order.

This is a clown he made on his Doodle Pro. See the hat, body, arms, *buttons* and shoes?

Music man

I'm always amazed at how well Lowell responds to music. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Joe's family is very musical. Lowell just really seems to "get it" in a way that I never have. Above he's playing his toy saxophone and is actually playing it...blowing into it (hard) and pressing the buttons to make noise. He's also very, very into his keyboard. It was actually a gift to me from my father-in-law and Lowell has already figured out the program modes and plays like a true piano man! So much fun to see:)
I'm also always amazed at the notes that his music therapist sends home. He has music therapy three times a week. It brings out the best in him. Here's what she said this week,

" The last several sessions Lowell has had more consistent on task behavior. We know he's on task when he gives sustained eye contact, follows directions, sings jointly and independently joins with gestures to action songs. He continues to be the star as he passes equipment to an identified peer. Nice listening and then interating with peer. Good health makes us all do our best!" He's definitely had a very positive surge of development (and lots more words!) after getting over his cold. Very exciting!!!

What a weekend!

Lowell had an awesome weekend! He definitely seems over the hump with the cold he's had. He tends to really rally after being sick and makes some great progress:) Saturday morning Bobo (grandpa) came over and had a "boys morning" with Lowell. He took him to get his hair cut and he was amazing...so I heard!!! Then the did some errands and Lowell (and Bobo) came home just giddy. What a wonderful morning. Lowell remained in a good mood for the most part and seemed to really have a lot of words this weekend. At one point we were sitting at the table together having snack and he just looked over at me, looked me right in the eyes and said, "juice". Awesome!!
Be sure and check out the 60 Minutes web site for info. on the program they had tonight on Autism. You can watch a 13 min. video that talks about the importance of early intervention. Good stuff!

Also, here's a link to a new study that came out on Genetics and Autism. Very interesting!

We're really excited to see what this week brings for Lowell. He seems to be "primed and ready" for some good advances:)

What are the chances??

Read this now..............very powerful!

Also listen to Roy Richard Grinker, author, “Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism.” Scroll down to Feb. 8th 10 pm here.

He says the rise in diagnosed cases of autism is not epidemic, but is the result of the scientific community’s ability now to correctly count those with it.

Be Constructive ~ Be Creative ~ Be Positive ~ Be Productive

In Autism news...

Yesterday (Monday) the show The View dedicated the entire hour to Autism. Toni Braxton was guest co-host and apparently her son was recently given the diagnosis. I didn't see the entire show (hope to watch a tape soon) but you can see a listing of all the guests and information about them, some video clips from the show and also information on Autism organizations here. Check it out!

It's always emotional for me to watch people dealing with their child getting a diagnosis of Autism. It brings back so many memories. I also have a hard time watching older Autistic kids. I either look at them and think that I'm totally unprepared to deal with what life may bring my way, or I see that they seem "cured" and am extremely skeptical. I try not to analyze my feelings too much and just tell myself that every child is different and we'll just have to see how Lowell's life plays out.

Speaking of Mr. Lowell. After getting over a 10 day cold, he is feeling better and is certainly back in action. He is starting to request a lot and seems to get the gist that when he asks for something, he gets it!!! He is usuing more verbal requesting and just more words in general. He is beginning to understand the power of language. This is very exciting!!!

We have a conference with Lowell's teachers this afternoon for his Autism Day Treatment program. It will be fun to hear about the progress that they are seeing. More on that afterward...

Amazing!!

Multiple people have told me that they saw on Good Morning America this week, Diane Sawyers interview with a 27 year old British man by the name of Daniel Tammet. He is an autistic savant with Asperger's. He is extraordinarily unique because he also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as "shapes, colors, textures and motions." He is only one of only about 50 people living today with synesthesia and autism. Her interview with him is facinating. He discusses the disconnect with emotions that autistic people have. If he wanted to understand something, he would think of it as a number. He talks about autism as different, but an invisible disability and how that can make life very difficult. He has come to terms with it by not being afraid of being different. He now sees it as a gift. The challenge for everyone is to be yourself, he says.

Go here to listen and watch the interview. Look for Book Excerpts on the left column towards the middle.

He also wrote a book called Born on a Blue Day that was just published this week. I must check it out!!!

On the homefront, Lowell is making some good progress with his requesting. He is beginning to use words for things that he wants, with significant prompting. That is a nice success:)

Here are the kids chillin' on a cold winter evening. Cute.

Notes from Lowell's holiday vacation...

Lowell's back to his Autism Day Treatment program tomorrow after 10 days off for holiday vacation. Here are some snippets of his activities. Overall it went really well. He was sick on Christmas morning, which was unfortunate, but seemed to re-coup and enjoyed his break. Some things that made the break very enjoyable were the new toys (of course!), spending time with his cousins and playing a CD from his music therapist that has familiar songs from class. That really seemed to help sooth him. Thanks, Kathy! Now I think we're all ready to get back into the normal routine:)






Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holiday's! Wishing you peace and joy in the New Year:)

Gifts of Hope

Hello! I know, it's been a long time since I've updated. Now the holiday's are upon us and I wanted to share some thoughts. Lowell has continued to make steady progress. Although, in the last few weeks things have regressed a bit as he has had a bad cold. He has become *very* obsessive lately, it seems like as a self-soothing tactic. This has worn on our patience at home, especially as we have all been passing around a cold all month. We are hoping he will enjoy some of his Christmas gifts and play with those toys, rather than obsess on extension cords and karoke machines:)On a positive note, we got the most delightful gifts from Lowell's therapists at St. David's today. The music therapist made a "best of" cd made up of the music she uses while working with the kids, for us to play at home. One of the lead teachers gave us the book, "Changed by a Child" by Barbara Gill. The other lead teacher made an absolutely *wonderful* picture book filled with pictures of Lowell at the Autism Day Treatment program. It brought tears to my eyes as I paged through it, looking at our little guy and all the hard work they are all doing there. What amazing help he is receiving!! The snow ornament Lowell made himself:) The stuffed animal is from a child that receives services at St. David's that wanted to use his Bat Mitzvah money to buy toys for other kids. I was very moved by these gifts and my heart is full of appreciation and joy.
I was also able to spread a little joy myself to my "special mom" friends. It's a group of women that I hang out with that all have little boys the same age on the Autism spectrum. We get together once a month for a mom's night out and offer so much support and hope to one another. I feel so blessed to have them as friends. I made each woman a HOPE sign to hang in their home to remember that we have each other and we have hope. That says it all! Happy Holiday's to you and yours:)

December update

Lots to catch up on with Lowell. He has been making great progress recently in his Autism Day Treatment program at St. David's. He's become much more social and seems to be more in control of his body. We attribute some of this to him (finally) getting into a really good sleep pattern. He's consistently over the last 10 days or so slept until around 6:30 am. Yeeha!!! He has been less irritable and obsessive, probably from being well rested:)

As you can see here, he loves the new door mirror. He likes looking at himself counting on his fingers and he likes to put on his coat, shoes, and hat while looking at himself (above). He really wants to learn how to tie his own shoes. We'll see!

Fabulous update from his music therapist today said:

Lowell really shined with turn taking skills this week. He imitates turn taking language and spontaneously requested turn. He passes instruments to peers with cues and occassionally independently. He is also more interested in watching peers have turns:)

His occupational therapist gave us a list of good gift ideas. For those of you that read this that have Autistic kids, I thought it may be helpful. Anyone else have good gift ideas? I'd love to hear them.

*pillows- the soft, silky pillows that are filled with tiny pellets. They work great for catching and tossing. *bucket or children's basketball hoop *bath toys- squirters, cups for pouring, strainers, etc. (works on hand development and strengthening) *scissors *crayons- better than markers for hand development *whistles, blowers, etc.- good for oral development and calming *squishballs, Kooshballs * bean bags * playdoh, cookie cutters, rolling pin *interlocking, connecting building sets- promote coordination of both hands *Cool Bananas- CD by Genevieve Jereb. Children's songs played slightly slower pace. Can be found at sensoryresources.com *dolls with clothes- work on dressing doll, putting on shoes, feeding, etc. *exercise/therapy ball


Also, the cover of Newsweek magazine, Nov. 27th issue is What happens when they grow up? Click on the underlined words and you'll get the link to the full text article. Pretty interesting stuff!

Here's lookin' at you:)

Lowell was off today, so we hung out at home. The kids were very mellow and played nicely. I found Lowell with his hat on and these wonderful glasses and had to snap a pic. Too funny!

Lowell's been sleeping a bit later (until 5:30 a.m.) and I really think that's helping his energy level at St. David's ADT. I guess the other day during their hello group he became the "featured soloist" as he broke out into song all on his own. I guess he's really coming out of his shell. It's always so bizarre (and frustrating) that he can sing a song all the way through, but has never used words to ask for a glass of juice, or tell us he wants music or video, etc. Go figure!

Catching up...

I know, Halloween came and went, now it's November and almost Thanksgiving (yikes!) and where have I been?!! Let me tell you all about it....

The Halloween party was a lot of fun. Lowell was a bit overwhelmed with so many people coming into our home and lots (and lots) of activity. Luckily the weather was decent and we were able to go outside and play in the yard, which he really enjoyed. We also resorted to showing some Elmo vidoes to keep him soothed. Overall I think people had a really nice time.

The very next weekend, I went to Omaha for an art workshop weekend. See my other blog. I had a *fabulous* time and it sounded like everything went well here. Wewh!

Lowell has been doing really well at his Autism Day Treatment program. They all seem to really be on a roll and he is progressing nicely. I was floored by this note from his music therapist from this week...WOW!!!..

"I stretched the kids need to watch and attend this week- Lowell did a great job! On Tuesday we did a worksheet activity, listening to recorded animal sounds and indentifying by coloring the correct animal on the worksheet. Lowell attended so well and needed only minimal cues to stay on task to completion. We also listened while I told a story with a picture book. Relaxing music encouraged our bodies to slow down and attend to the story. Again, Lowell was very successful. Today we did a join puzzle activity taking turns putting pieces in puzzle (instrument shapes that played a tune when placed in puzzle). Lowell love the activity and with only minimal cues shared turns with 2 peers in our small group. Lowell continues to verbalize spontaneously, he requests turn, identifies peers having a turn and makes song choices given picture selections. Nice week!"

We had a "parent night" at St. David's last night with a potty training theme. It was helpful and informative. It was also really nice to connect with Lowell's occupational therapist. We asked her about what he is seeing Lowell doing. She is very impressed with showing more joy in new and novel things. She said he is fixating a lot less and really enjoying playing!

I have also tried to organize and change around some of the toys at home. We brought the kiddie pool inside and have it full of balls to roll around in. We also recently bought a trampoline. We now have a play kitchen set up and I've been having so much fun buying fake food and a toaster and other items to play with. My latest purchase is the Doug and Mellissa cutting food. I love how it's wooden food and has velcro in between the pieces for them to practice cutting. They love that!


Finally, Lowell had his "school picture" taken at St. David's. This is before his hair cut, when he still had his shaggy trendy do goin' on. Hehe! Doesn't he look older? We got such a kick out of this picture, we think he looks 3 going on 13! Too cute:)