Well another Christmas has come to pass. The kids seemed to like all of their presents. Most everything went well except for the fact that my husband is sick and wants to do nothing but be in bed which never happens during holidays. A present we bought for our daughter also did not seem to work out so far. I may take it to a pro and see of they can handle it. Adrian did pretty well over the holiday. We went to my In-laws house and Adrian expected everyone to rush through dinner to open presents. He waited about 45 minutes for everyone to completely eat while telling everybody to hurry. I was honestly surprised that he did not rip open presents. Jade lost a tooth over the weekend. She was so excited. We do not do the tooth Fairy anymore though. Adrian is almost Seven and has not lost a tooth yet, I am not sure if that is normal for a child with his condition or not. Something to discuss with the dentist I guess. Jade has been having a lot more ear sensitivity lately. I thought we were going to hear back from Generation Care about therapy for her. I will have to contact them after I finish solving our health insurance problem. I am waiting on paperwork because the company my husbands employer provides health insurance through is refusing to pay for a list of visits to various providers because our coverage lapsed for six months while my husband was laid off and the company thinks they have a right to deny coverage because of some preexisting condition in the medical contract. Except for the fact that these medical conditions are new to this year and we have had complete coverage all year. They said they sent us an entire packet to fill out and I have know idea what they are talking about because we never received it. In fact I just spoke to someone from the insurance company on Monday the 20th and they said they were sending paperwork  out that day. Even with the holiday they are only in Grand Rapids so we should have received it. The claim is for a couple thousand dollars. We have already paid a $5,000 co-pay for the year on top of $160 a month for premiums so they should cover the $2,000 Hopefully they will. Sorry to talk about that but that's what happens when you have children with health problems, you rack up large medical bills!!!!! It's scary to think they may not cover every trip our son has to make to his Neurologist twice ever six months because they think it's a preexisting condition. Jade also sees the same neurologist once every six months, but her condition occurred before the lapse so they have to pay for hers. That is what's going on in our world right now. Bye!!!

Monday Adrian had a full blown meltdown at Walmart. We went to cash a check because it was closer than the bank and Adrian wanted C batteries for his Rocky the Robot Truck. We had to leave the store  without them because the check could not be cashed there. Try explaining that one to a six year old with PDD-NOS. To complicate matters further I had complete strangers look at me as my son was in full meltdown mode and start laughing when he bit my face. He has never bit me before. He has attempted when highly stressed, but he has never bit me. This caught me completely off guard. My husband has few moments where he is absolutely patient and thank god this was one of them!!! I had to carry Adrian who had kicked off his boots at that point to our vehicle about 7 to 10 feet away while he was thrashing and screaming. Not a pleasant moment for Adrian or me. The rage takes over his small little body and nothing will calm him until he is ready. He completely disappears and it's as if an alternate personality steps forward to deal with the frustration he can not handle.  Steven and Jade are lost on me. They may be saying things or doing things to try to help and I am not hearing it. Usually for some reason when Jade speaks he freaks out even more so I am constantly trying to remind her not to say anything to him when he has these episodes so he does not lash out at her. Steven has the ability to help calm him almost every time. Even if he has to yell to Adrian over his screaming to get him to listen it usually works. I just want to rock him like I did when he was a baby. The rocking helps too and calms me down as well. Lately we have been deep breathing like crazy!!!! On a positive note Adrian did get those batteries after we went back to Walmart and I have heard Rocky the Robot truck moving around his room and our kitchen ever since. Mostly he moves it back and forth so he can watch the wheels, but he also likes to play with it and listen to it talk. We got him a Stinky the Garbage truck for Christmas so I will hear them both in a couple of days. He has had this strange obsession with play houses over the last couple of years so we bought him one this year.  His Neurologist has a play house in the waiting area and his obsession with them has grown since he started seeing his Neurologist in October. He wants his own space to play in and for his sister too. I also ordered The Transporters Series his Special Ed teacher was  telling me about. Maybe it will be here by next week so we can start using it.

The Transporters - How it Works: www.thetransporters.com

Today was a good day for Adrian. We had a little upset with showering, but other than that and two potty accidents he did quite well. Tomorrow is his first Kindergarten field trip and I will be going with him. I am hoping things go well and he does not have a meltdown. We got some more difficult news... Jade has auditory processing issues and ADHD due to her epilepsy. Makes me think Adrian's maybe not due to Autism, but instead due to his epilepsy. Yes we know have one child who is on the spectrum, has Epilepsy and is ADHD and one who has Epilepsy, ADHD and an auditory processing issue. Life could be more difficult however. I am glad the kids still enjoy living and try not to let their issues bother them too much. I am in processing information mode and finding the best help possible so they can learn effective ways to manage and cope and hopefully learn at school also. I do not want them falling behind. Adrian is still not wanting to move into the next phase of toilet training and I don't want to push him there. I want him to be able to understand what is being done and why. We threw a getting rid of Diapers party last summer and moved into night time pull-ups and daytime underwear. He has shown a lot of progress with the potty portion, but not #2. I am not sure if the toilet scares him or what it is.

http://www.amazon.com/Udis-Original-Cranberry-Hawaiian-BanaBerry/dp/B000PW05MQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

This is a new food product I am going to try for Adrian. He is starting the GFCF diet as of last month so Hopefully once he is fully free of these products his rage episodes will decrease. I will let you know how things turn out.

Since no one reads this it is basically a chronicle of our lives through navigating Autism and any unexpected occurrences. Adrian has seemingly began to revert to his self stimulating behaviors. Hand-flapping, jumping all the time, ear covering, tantrums and more... I have to assume this is because of his move to kindergarten. He says he is angry a lot during the day and kids are too loud. There is not much I can do to solve this that I am aware of. Therapy over the summer seemed to be a great tool that got him out of his comfort zone and helped him to not need self stimulating as much. He is still in therapy outside of school, but only once a week now instead of twice and it does not seem to have the same affect on him since he began school. He has gone from a classroom with maybe six or seven children to one that has twenty children. That is a big leap for a child with ASD or any child at all for that matter. The self stimulating bothers me because I know he needs something else and even with therapy techniques he does not seem to be getting what he needs. I am currently debating on purchasing a large board that he can spin on. The cost is what has me debating it. We just found out that Adrian will receive SSI based on my husband Steve's income so I should just buy it right? Problem is we are still trying to pay off what seems like an enormous never ending debt to the place that diagnosed Adrian and then therapy bills. I am also concerned that he may never use this board for it's intended purpose. We have hundreds of Thomas the Train items that have been purchased over the last four and a half years now that never get used. He used to line them up and talk about the characters non stop now he hardly mentions Thomas at all unless a new movie or book comes out. It is about Cars now. and Dora and any number of shows that provide long strands of information he can use as conversation or in repetition. He has always been that way though so that is not new. Just thought I would vent to myself a little.

I Plan to buy Adrian the Train Sound Puzzle This week. His therapist recommends puzzles to help sharpen his motor skills

 

http://www.melissaanddoug.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=adwords&os=adwords&gclid=CI7T_LSuzqMCFSVL5wodZUTevg 

 

My Page - Autism Speaks Social Network

My Page - Autism Speaks Social Network

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Adrian is a handful. He is amazingly bright, but throws a temper tantrum like no child I have ever seen before. Lately he throws or knocks over things when frustrated. Today he threw a bunch of items because his computer game did not do what he wanted it to. Then when it was time for bed and to turn off the computer game he threw more items. He is physically abusive at times and there is not a lot I can do to keep him from pinching, slapping, kicking and even biting when he does not get his way. When school is out he becomes an entirely different child. He loses focus and is generally unhappy unless watching cartoons or playing computer games. Sounds odd for a six year old child not to enjoy going outside, but given the choice he usually chooses to stay in. I can't hardly blame him because when he goes outside he has sensory overload and wanders off. He calls it exploring, I call it the worst kind of safety hazard. He could be half way down the block in a matter of minutes and I can't yell out to him because he does not respond. This makes parenting an extremely difficult task while outside. I expect that any parent who has a child on the Autism Spectrum has felt the same exact way. What I am hoping is to find other parents who deal with issues like this and figure out how they have handled them. Any strategy would be good. Thanks!!!

Today Adrian had a horrible melt down. Adrian is my husband and my second child, our baby, who has recently been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Melt downs should not surprise me, He has at least one everyday, today however was different. He threw and spit out food all over our floor and then proceed to spit on me and assault me. He is only six, but a very strong six year old. It is exhausting to deal with on an every day basis. I figured maybe writing would help. We were supposed to do our first Autism function tonight, but due to lack of funds were unable to. I am not sure how Adrian would have handled it anyways. Tomorrow he is supposed to spend a night with his sister at his Papa and Grandma's house not sure how he will deal with that either. He is a stubborn little boy!!! I am hoping the next session with his therapist is scheduled soon because it seemed to help. and he will not let up about the three fancy girls he met at his cousin Lisa's birthday party. He named them coffee, water, and sprite. I am not sure what their actual names are we were too busy chasing Adrian to even ask. there is a lot of chasing involved when you have a child like Adrian. I think I am through for now. Good Bye :)