Merry Christmas!!!

Somedays you just need to play a little 'hookie'! The boys have been out of school since last Friday, but Nick has had therapy for the last few days. It is a juggle that I still find myself torn between. He can always use therapy, and he has made a lot of progess with it being 5 days a week now. So, during breaks such as this from school, I am always eager to sign him up for more hours to fill in the void. It helps control his anxiety during the break because we still have a schedule. But, somedays he just needs to be a kid. Today was one of those days. He had been going through 'zamboni withdrawals' for the last few weeks.With his busy therapy schedule, he is not able to come to hockey practice during the week to see the zamboni clean the ice. Today I called his afternoon therapist and told her we would like to take a day off. Nick needed a day just to be a kid. And it was hard to turn him down since our 'conversation' this morning revolved around the zamboni...
We went skating today around 2pm and both kiddos now fly across the ice. We all had a great time. Nick had a huge smile on his face. It was so worth the funk he is in right now for that hour! Yes, we are dealing with the fallout from all the upheaval today. Anytime we change his schedule, no matter how small, he gets a little funky. He is in his room now hanging out and calming himself down. It will be a low key night. We are getting ready to eat dinner, then it is bath time, and then bed time for Nick. After he is in bed, I am going to bake some holiday cookies with Michael. Nick does not get much out of baking yet, so it will be just me and Michael. Gives us something to do together. Tomorrow our big plans are to go see the holiday lights at the park and wait for Santa. Maybe watch some more holiday movies, and of course wait for the fire engines to come through the neighborhood and pass out candy. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

The Great Flood.....

And no, I am not talking about the current weather situation here in the NW. Let me explain what happened on Saturday.

*I get up at 7am. See Michael on the computer. I ask Michael if Nick is up yet. He says no.

* Nick gets up as soon as he hears my voice and wanders into the dining room. I change him, give him milk, and make his regular breakfast of two waffles. He eats.

* Hubby gets up and tells me I can go back to sleep if I want...cause he's got this. I lie in the living room and fall asleep. Big mistake. Through my slumber I vaguely remember Nick coming to me for various things. I tell him "go ask Daddy". I fall back asleep. Mike is on the computer. It has been a quiet morning.

* I wake up. It is too quiet. I go on a search for Nicholas and find him in his room. He tells me "goodnight". I leave. Mike goes in a few minutes later. Nick is somewhere else now. We look for him in our room. No Nick...but Mike yells for me to come there immediately. I am fearing the worst at this point.

* Nick had been in our bathroom. Obviously this happened some time ago--judging from the amount of water that was pouring out of the sink and on to the floor. Everything was soaked! Including the carpet in our hallway! We used every single towel we had available, mopped up the water, and soaked up the water in the hallway.....soak, wring, dry towels. Lather, rinse, repeat. All weekend long. No wonder Nick was hiding out in his brother's room!!

-It's OFFICIAL: BOTH of our kids have completely flooded the bathroom now. Whew! That monkey is now off my back.LOL!

A Look into Nick's World...and Ours...

There is really no other way to describe exactly how Nick's autism is. You just have to see it for yourself. This is what happens daily in our house. Thanks to Risperidone, you won't see the OTHER side of Nick that was known to happen a few months ago. This is the more 'controllable' Nick...although I can use that term a little LOOSELY, because his behaviors are not really screaming 'controllable'. We have therapists at our house five-six days a week working with him. For three hours after school. Bascially, he goes to six hours of school-gets home at 3pm. At 3:30 he starts working with either Tracy, Scott, or Stephanie...depending on the day. He also gets Hippotherapy, Speech therapy, and Occupational therapy. This is the reality of his disability. People think he is a normal six year old because of his outward appearance. Then he starts to do some of his vocal stims in public. Or he runs away to slam doors, opens gas tanks on cars, hits things..etc. Then they assume it is just a "discipline problem" and that they know how to "fix" it. They stare. This is autism. Please, if you see a kid like this in a store or another place, be nice. Be understanding. Do NOT presume that the kid you see is "normal". This is a side of autism that is not shown on any talk show, and does not come with those success stories about 'recovery'.

Thanksgiving......

Hope you all had a nice turkey day! We had a very relaxing one. My dad came up to visit for a few days and the boys loved it. Sunday it started snowing and that continued through Monday night. Monday I left to pick up my dad around noon and it was not that bad out. By the time we got back to the house around 2pm, it was snowing again and the wind had started blowing. I went back to work only to discover that everyone had been let go early-due to weather. That evening we had the earliest snow storm that I remember since moving here. The winds were blowing like crazy and the snow was coming down pretty fast. Of course I decided to take Dad and Michael out to get pizza right in the thick of things. Nick was still working with his tutors at that time, so Mike opted to stay home. On the way to pizza hut we saw numerous cars spin out, and were kind of laughing at their expense. One of them was trying to pull an empty trailer up the overpass....not a good idea. Anyway, we made it safely and ate our pizza in the comfort of our dining room. School was closed the rest of the week, so grandpa got to spend ample time hanging out with his little men.
Which also means that he got to experience life with Nick.

On Tuesday we were all set to go to hockey practice with Michael, but it turned out the rink was closed. We did not find out until we had driven to the rink-and Nick was not happy that we had to turn around. He cried because we did not go skating-then he cried as we pulled away from the house to go eat. We instead went to IHOP where we were pretty much the only customers there. Nothing like a plate full of pancakes to win over this brood..LOL!

Wednesday all the boys went shopping for some clothes for grandpa. He had only come with shorts and short sleeved shirts-and it was 32f outside. They also picked up a ham to cook for the big day.

Thursday we lounged around most of the day and watched movies. Holiday movies like Planes,Trains, and Automobiles, and Christmas Vacation. Nothing like a good comedy enjoyed by the entire family. Thursday afternoon we started the ham and three hours later we were enjoying some good food as well as good company.

Friday morning I got up to take Dad to the airport. The snow was all gone by this point and it was raining. It was back to normal. Nick had his chiropractor appt, but other than that, we had nothing planned. It was a pretty laid back week. Tomorrow starts the daily grind again.

School Closed!

I was so looking forward to a day off with no children! Hubby and I were making plans to go and see a movie...ANY movie. Just one without kids. Well, that plan was shot to hell at 5am this morning when the school called and said "Due to numerous power outages around the area, there will be NO SCHOOL TODAY." Ok, Ok, so it was a little windy out last night and our power did go out for a bit. But seriously?? I find it humorous that *I* am expected to make it to work after last night, but teachers can't?? I have not seen anywhere any reports on my two lovely boys' schools being damaged, and our power was back on before 5am. I am willing to bet their schools fared just fine and they could have gone. Instead, I got to deal with two boys getting on each others' nerves ALL DAY LONG, and taking Little Mister to the grocery store with me...which was jam packed I might add. Ugh! That was another thing I had not planned on doing...see where this day went?? Is this a sign of the next three months to come?? I am going to need a bigger tub of ice cream.

Days are Short, and Nights are Long....

Well, after my last post things got pretty hectic and busy at work. We were basically putting in 18-19 hour days-with little rest in between. We also worked 10 days straight. I missed so much during those 10 days...hockey practices, skating practices, chiropractor visits, and tutor sessions. I also missed a hockey game and just the general goings on around here. Let me see if I can catch you all up. Thursday everyone was off school and work for Veterans Day. It was soooo nice not to have to get up and rush everywhere. We all just kind of lounged around the house until it was time for Nick's therapist to come by. Mike took Michael to hockey practice at 6pm while I stayed home to cook dinner, and wait for Nick to be done with therapy.

Friday morning it was back to school for Michael and we had to be at hippotherapy at 10 am...which meant I had to leave at nine.

I still think this is one of the best therapies we have done. It is so cool to just watch him ride the horse. He does not stim the entire time, and absolutely loves it! That afternoon we also had his chiropractor visit, and I noticed that Nick sat completely still the entire adjustment. That is something he has never done...even the Dr was wowed. Friday night we did much of the same-relaxed around the house. Saturday we had another visit from Nick's therapist. She stayed for three hours and worked with Nick. I admit, it is sometimes nice to have them here. They can keep him entertained and engaged which gives me time to clean the house a bit. After that, it was time to head out to Michael's hockey game. The Spitfires WON! 3-1. It would have been 4-1 if they had counted the goal Michael made in the first three minutes!! Grrrr! Today we were all completely lazy all day...and it was grand! With that, I leave you all (esp. family back east) with a photo timeline of just how soon the sun sets here now. This is not even what it will be come late December. Then it will be even earlier.


3:15pm

4:30pm

4:45pm

5pm

The view by 5:15pm.

And on the flip side we have summers...where the sun does not set until after 9pm and greets us around 4am!

Dr. Appointment...

Well they say it is either a hernia or hydrocele. More likely a hernia. We have an ultrasound scheduled for the 15th, then a surgery consultation after that. Poor kiddo. He was most excellent today for the doc too!!

Weekend Wrap up...

What a fun weekend we had!! Saturday evening we got the boys dressed up in their costumes and went to the Halloween festivities at the ice rink. Nick was a clown and Michael was like an evil Jester. I had bought some makeup because Nick will not wear a mask, but was kind of nervous of how it would all go down. I imagined something out of the Exorcist. Turned out Nick only moderately detested the makeup-but instead of a clown, he ended up more or less looking like the smeared face of The Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight". Oh. Well. With Nick you just gotta pick your meltdowns. I mean the kid touches his face every minute of the day WITHOUT makeup-with the stuff is even worse.

Put skates on both of them and we got in a few laps before we heard the announcement'Will everyone who is entering the costume contest please come to the center of the rink'. Michael was a given-of course he will enter the contest. With Nick I debated with myself. I don't know why I still do this. He is a KID afterall! You might be thinking why would I even debate such a thing. Well Nick's autism prevents him from eating most of the candy, he gets very antsy around crowds, does not like to wait, and he cannot communicate a whole lot. My mind gets to thinking things like "Will he even enjoy this? Will he realize what is going on? Will he scream because it is taking too long?" Thank goodness I don't always think so 'logically' and end up throwing caution to the wind and saying 'Why Not?' This time I did just that. So, Nick and I stood in center ice with all of the other hopeful contestants. There was Michael the Jester, Iron Man, Spiderman, Dracula, 50's girl, cheerleader, a zombie, a rapper, and Nick the clown. Michael won the first award: "Scariest kid costume". A few other awards were given out "Most Original", "Best Adult Costume", etc. Then came "The award for Best Overall Costume goes to....The Clown"! I was shocked! I kept telling Nick "You WON Nick!" "You WON!" as we skated to pick up his prize. Mike informed me that as soon as the staff saw Nick they wanted to make sure he got something. That is what we love about the rink. They accept Nick completely. All his figure skaters congratulated him and told him how cute he was. They simply accept him. I don't know how much of all this gets in his head, but I hope some makes it in. So I give up on all the "What If's" and now say "Why Not??". Just go for it.

Last night was Halloween, and once again we were proven wrong by Nick. Michael had plans to go out with one of his friends-so it was just Nick, Mike, and Me. Going by previous years Nick would maybe make it down the block and back. Not this year! We dressed him up, gave him his treat bag (which he held the ENTIRE time on his own!) and headed out. Nick was into this. Although he needed some prompting to say "Trick or Treat" and held back from going INTO the houses, he did great! By the end of the night, he would run up to any house with the lights on and an open door...LOL!

In other news, I had to make an appointment for Nick today to get his testicles looked at. They had noticed years ago when he was dx'ed with autism that one of his testicles was larger than the other. This weekend however, it seemed very large. I know it may be nothing and it just might be an anomaly he was born with, but I know I will feel better getting it checked out. Michael had a hernia when he was little that presented itself in the same fashion. It was a simple repair, but still. I have a feeling it is a hernia though. I hope to be proven wrong on Wednesday.

Pictures from Hippotherapy

The Season of Change....

It has been a busy month in our neck of the woods. Hockey has started in full swing...so we are at the rink Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat, and Sunday! We have also found Nick a new tutor who will be coming on Monday evenings, and Nick has hippotherapy and his chiropractor visits on Fridays. One of Nick's other tutors is also back to help us out and that schedule varies. Last weekend she came for about three hours each day, and she has come three days this week. It is nice to have the extra help..not going to lie. While Nick is being worked with I can actually get some stuff done around the house.

Last Friday was a big break through-Nick suddenly started hopping on one foot; albeit he was holding on to the gate, but he was still hopping! And he was even changing feet! I can't help but think that the sessions with the horse have helped in that area; along with possibly all the skating.

Nick's new tutor is a perfect match for him. We were interviewing him on Monday night with his BCBA and he was just so excited to hear what all Nick was doing! Big plus for ME is that he looks like Jake Gylenhaal...oh yes he does. I can handle that coming to my house every Monday for like three hours working with one of the coolest boys on the planet :) Just sayin'...

Michael brought home all A's and B's on his report card!! Love love love that boy of mine!! I also believe we have switched gears as far as girls are concerned. Ugh. Did not take them long to notice Michael. He came to us a few days ago asking how to tell if someone likes you. This has been heresay for a couple weeks now. Michael found out through the grapevine that this little girl likes him. And I think he also kinda likes her. We have just entered the whole next phase of this journey called Parenthood. How did this happen so fast?? I remember bringing that little 8 pound bundle home from the hospital like it was yesterday. Through years when he was not growing, not eating, and hearing for the first time he had GHD. We are six years out from hearing the final diagnosis, and we could not be prouder of him!

My NICK is BAAACK!!!

Yes Nick, you were still here; but you had a cold and you always seem to regress a little bit during your illnesses, so your mommy and daddy missed your little quips about the zamboni and the microwave.Simply because they were not there. Speech is much more limited when you are sick. I sure was glad when you started them up again today in full force. Mommy promises to take you to see the zamboni tomorrow-I felt bad today because you only asked for it about 100 times in the hour I was home. Sorry baby boy, we had to go to the chiropractor. I am glad you're back Nick-we sure did miss you :)

The Sweetest Thing.....

This amazing thing took place on Friday morning. Nick stayed home from school that day due to really because we did not know how he would take to this. It has made some kids dizzy, nauseous, etc. Plus, we were not sure how long it would take to get through everything such as paperwork, evals, etc. But, it was the most amazing therapy we have thought to try. And we saw results immediately. Even though this was a new experience for Nick, he was completely calm while riding. No stimming. At All. He was looking at people as they talked to him and doing what they asked. While riding the horse. It was beautiful to witness. He did it so naturally...not robotic. He was petting the horse, brushing him, telling him to go and stop, and before we left, he gave Yukon two big hugs and said Goodbye. The entire ride home he was calm and did not stim either. We are currently working with our insurance company and will provide them with progress reports to see if we can start getting this type of therapy covered. It was amazing. Enjoy the video. This type of therapy is called Hippotherapy. "Hippo" is the greek word for Horse. I will go more in depth later about its' uses for special needs kids and how it helps the vestibular system; but until then, just enjoy the video.

Nick...showing us all what we DON'T know about autism...

Never. Give. Up. Nothing is 'impossible'. Nicks' doctors and therapists never thought he would even like this, much less get out there and DO IT. You have to remember that this is a kid who does not even like the microwave being turned on..to think he would remotely tolerate a noisy ice rink, with lots of giggly teenagers, and the loud music...let's just say the odds were not in his favor. But, in true Nick fashion, he is proving us all wrong.

What do you all think??

The Ice Rink

The ice skating rink is perhaps one of the last places you would expect to see a disabled child. But if you look closely, you will see him. He is the little boy standing just outside the rink with his two parents. You might notice that one of the parents always has a hold of this little boy, never letting him go. You notice he does not talk much, and does some strange things with his hands. They have been coming here for a couple of months now. Their oldest son is learning to play ice hockey, and coming to the rink has become a family affair for them. They all show their support; even the little guy. The little one has been watching all the kids skating at the rink-joyfully jumping up and down each time one of the figure skaters would spin in front of him. He loves watching them. His two parents smile at each other and then at him-for them, this is enough for now. You find yourself staring at this family, not out of happiness, but rather out of dismay. I have noticed your stares. That little boy you are staring at is mine.

On this day however, I am not going to let that bother me. We have decided to put ice skates on that little disabled boy. We have decided to let him be a part of the action. We get to the rink and get skates on. Although my little man seems to want to skate, this mom admits to being just slightly nervous about how it could all go down. We head out to the ice and carefully step on. I grab on to my sons’ hand and begin to lead him around the rink. We are met with his figure skater friends who have been twirling in front of him for weeks now. They both tell him how good he is doing, and even though he does not look at them, I can tell he is beyond happy. Nobody knows it, but this mom has a tear in her eye at this moment. You see, this is nothing short of a miracle. That little boy who is now ice skating with his mom is autistic.

This is the article I am thinking of submitting to Autism Today. I would like to hear your thoughts!

Last weekend of summer....

So, yesterday I had the day off from work and I thought I would run a few errands to prepare for school. The day was going just peachy until our 16yr old dog decided to leave a puddle as big as the Mississippi River in our hallway. I do believe some (ok, A LOT) of expletetives were used in the clean up process. Naturally these happened to be used in front of my now highly echolalic 6yr old...in which he promptly repeated to himself in his room. Shit! Now I have to deal with that too. Anyway, I get the boys dressed and ready to go. Mike is staying home to do the yard...as it resembles a jungle by now. I give Nick a brief run down of the day's events. First we will go to Michael's school, then we go to Nick's school, then we go to the store. Nick is fine with this, and things are going beautifully. Until...

We get to Michael's school. It is crowded with parents doing last minute things (like us) in a rush before the year starts. At his Open House last week we were told that he needed a Tdap shot before he could start school. No problem. I made the appointment, we went, and it turns out he didn't need it at all-so we got the paperwork from the nurse and I thought I would bring it to his school for his records. I am standing at the counter, restraining Nick with both hands to keep him from running away, and listening to the secretary tell me that Michael needed the Varicella vax and NOT the Tdap! WHAT??!! This would have been good to know like LAST WEEK! I mention something about good luck trying to get an appt. before school starts..and held my tongue. In my mind I am cursing up a storm, but outwardly I manage to be civil and even smile. Walk the boys back to the car, and head to Nick's school to get the list of school supplies. In the parking lot of the elementary school I call the appointment line on my cell phone and manage to get Michael one for the 13th of Sept. Oh well. That is the best I can do. Mike also calls me. He calls to tell me the weed eater blew up and that he would not be able to finish the yard. Ummm, I could care less about the yard right now sweety-my day has been de-railed, but I am guessing you are okay since you are calling me? By the way, Nick had decided to poop once we got in the car...so the backseat area was rather smelly, and I had to take smelly boy to the schools like that. I am pretty sure that by this point, I had that "Don't Fuck with Me" look on my face.

We get home to change smelly boy, eat a bit of lunch, and prepare for the major outing of our day. SCHOOL SHOPPING. I can honestly say that it was at risk for spiraling out of control. Michael did not like Nick even touching anything of his-so it was becoming quite the scream fest. I had enough. It is no use scolding Nick for screaming, so I grabbed a couple of notebooks with the 3D pictures on the front, and a happy child we had. We also had to buy new winter jackets, some more long sleeved shirts, and new shoes for both. During this time Nick managed to escape and was all the way at the front of the store before I could catch him. I noticed the stares as I was escorting him back to the family. I could care less. Let them fucking stare. My kid is smarter than yours...school supplies be damned!

Got home and divided up the supplies. They are all set, and we were worn out. Today was much better! We had our YMCA playgroup this afternoon, and got to talk with other special needs parents. What a joy! They held it in the gymnastics room and all the kids had a blast! Got some cool motion pictures of Nick and Michael. Enjoy!

Fixed it!!

I finally fixed the blog! Now it is more appealing to look at...LOL!

A Meltdown vs. A Tantrum

For anyone who has seen an autistic child have a meltdown, then you are aware of the drastic difference. For those that have not, I will do my best to describe what a meltdown can entail. Today, Nick had a meltdown of the likes we have not seen since starting him on Risperdal in April. One minute he was fine, the next minute he is screaming uncontrollably, laying on his bed, covering his face up with his blanket, shaking his head back and forth, biting his lips until they bleed, and his whole body seems to be so enraged that he shakes. At that point, my child is no longer 'there'. It is during these rages that he will bang his head or hit himself in the face. Before starting medication, these would happen almost daily. They would render Nick unable to function, and our whole focus at that time would be damage control. A toddler having a tantrum is normally due to them not getting what they want. A meltdown can occur from something as simple as lights being too bright, the microwave being turned on, or even the wind as it blows past his ears. Any of these situations can send Nick into a cataclismic state. It can also be caused by anxiety. Anxiety over a simple schedule change, if he has to wait a few minutes at the table for dinner, if he sees an oscillating fan, etc. Yes, these have happened in public. I can't reason with him and tell him to 'stop it, or else.' These are things that literally HURT him. You cannot begin to imagine how it is to watch your child endure something like this and feel so helpless.

What a weekend.......

Yes, I know I am late for the weekend wrap up; but when you hear about our busy weekend-you'll understand why!

Saturday: Started off ok. Got up around 7am in order to get the kids ready for their swimming classes. We had our usual of waffles and cereal. The only hiccup in this process was that Mike did not go because he was not feeling up to it. Ok. I schlep the kids to the YMCA and we all stand in the hallway waiting for one of the three family dressing rooms to open up. In all actuality, there is only two that we can use-unless we want to endure torturous screaming. The third room is the bathroom-and we all know PUBLIC RESTROOM=TOTAL MELTDOWN. We finally get changed into swimsuits and make our way to the pools. I get Nick all situated with a life jacket, and we get into the little pool where Nick has his lessons. I don't see his regular swim teacher. Uh-oh. There was a sub on this day. Uh-oh. Nick wanted nothing to do with her. Everytime she came near us, he cried and looked the other way. After a couple of times of this, M, the older girl in his class(she has epilepsy) said matter-of-factly to the teacher: "You're making him cry! You need to stop doing that to him!" We all got a chuckle out of that. Fortunately, the teacher has an autie of her own, so she took no offense to him utterly ignoring her! After that it was time for Michael's swim lesson. Michael's are in the big lap pool. Me and Nick got changed back into our dry clothes and sat on the bench watching Michael. Nick was at this point, getting a little out of sorts, but nothing extreme...yet.
By the time we got home, Nick ran straight to his room to lay down. He was screaming and shaking his head; his behaviors were reminiscent of the months before we started Risperdal. Oh G*d, not this again!
Mike went into his room to see if there was anything he could do to soothe him. He came out and said "I think his tummy is hurting...he keeps putting his hands down there and holding it. I think you should go in and be with him." I went in, kneeled by his bed and asked "What do you want Nick?" He sat up and replied "I want squeezes". At this point, I am thinking he is still upset about the sub teacher. After a squeeze, he laid down again and was still upset. I asked him if he wanted more squeezes-and he sat up and said "More squeeze". I squeezed him again; he laid down and said "goodnight". A few minutes pass, and he then comes out and lays on the floor. Still trying to figure out what is going on with him when we notice the wretched smell coming from his diaper. Nick had the mother of all BM's and this was smelly even by his standards! It was a ripe and heavy load. We got him cleaned up and were on our way to playgroup. He was feeling much better, and back to his normal self. WHew! Playgroup today took place in the gymnastics room. Safe to say that both Nick AND Michael enjoyed this!! They were jumping on the trampoline(which happened to be part of the floor...very neat!), Michael was swinging into the foam pit, Nick was swinging on the bars, and they both just had a grand ole time! Afterwards Nick had another ripe BM, but this one not as bad as the first. We went to skate, and that was pretty much it for Saturday. Saturday night Mike found Michael sitting in his room watching "Temple Grandin" on HBO! HUH??

Sunday: I am getting a shower when Michael asks through the door, "Mom? When did Nick start talking?" "Ummm, around four I guess." "Hmmmm, just like Temple Grandin!" he answered back. He still uses quite a bit of his own jargon, but little conversations are emerging. On this night, he told his brother "Goodnight, I love you." I know this because I suddenly heard Michael say "I love you too Nick!" Michael has been waiting for nearly 6yrs to hear his brother say "I love you". It was enough to make you cry tears of joy. I decide to try and take Nick off of his melatonin. The PC3X has a calming effect(YAY), and the Risperdal also makes him a little drowsy. I figured it would be worth a shot to try and decrease what we could. So, for the past two nights, we have been free of melatonin. Cross your fingers that we can continue!

Yesterday we had his chiropractor visit. Before the doctor came in Nick was jumping up and down saying "want doctor, want doctor" WHAT??!! I explained that we would have to wait and that the doctor is not ready yet. When Dr A. came in, Nick was giddy with laughter and played peek-a-boo with him! I told him of his rather smelly BM on Saturday, and he just said "GOOD! That means it is working! It is cleaning him out, just what we want it to do." Even the small things are being noticed...for example, Mike now says that he can now tell when Nick is doing a BM-he gets that 'look'...which leads us to think HE might now realize when he has to go as well. One day at a time.

Community.....

It has been another busy week here in our house. The summer activities are in full swing, and we are doing something at least 6 days a week. There is so much going on really that I do not know where to start. I guess we will start with some medical stuff. Nick's chiropractor has ordered one of the biomedical treatments that has been beneficial to kids with autism; that should be in on Tuesday. It will cost us $110 for a three month supply, but if it helps him then it will be well worth it. If it doesn't, then we can at least say we tried. It was brought up by one of the other chiropractors in his office one time when Mike took him in, so we wanted to ask Dr. A (his chiro.) about it. He said no problem and that he would go ahead and order it.

We are also in the process of finding a new tutor for Nick. Tracy still comes twice a week, and we are trying to find someone to pick up another two days.

Today Nick thought it would be fun to wake up around 6am. Not only was he awake at 6am, but he was roaring to go. Much to my dismay, and to Mikes'. I managed to get him to wait in his room for another hour or so. But after that it was futile. I kept hearing this little voice beside my head going "I want meeeeeelk. I want meeeelk."
One thing about Nick is that he knows what he wants and he won't let up until he gets it. He is also becoming more and more verbal. Which is a double edged sword. It seems that while his word usage is going up, his loud; unintelligible vocal stims increase at fever pitch. Although, I do notice this more when we are out and about rather than at home. I guess I will take what I can get.

So, I must say, that although we are busy beyond belief with all the activities going on; very positive things have happened. Nick is getting out in the community-and the community is getting to know Nick. The staff at the YMCA have fallen in love with him. They always say Hi to him and ask how he is doing today. He smiles big when he is in the pool and he sees his swim teacher. He knows he is about to have some fun and loves the water. There are other special needs kids in that class, and it is wonderful. Both of the boys have benefited from our YMCA membership, and we are there two-three times a week. He also has a playgroup every Saturday afternoon, which from the above picture, gives everyone a workout. He runs for every door he can get to, often followed by one or two staff members or us. It is quite comical.
Since we have been going to the skating rink, people have started to talk TO Nick as well. It is also nice to have people walk by and say "He having a good day today? He is doing so much better now!" We have met Eddie-the zamboni driver, and the figure skaters who spin in front of Nick when they see him, the hockey coaches who have offered to take Nick out on the ice and the other wonderful people. I love the fact that they treat him like other 6yr olds and talk to him. I like to think that even though he may be jumping and flapping, he understands what they are saying to him. I also like to think that one day, he will start talking back to them.

Weekend Wrap up...

I know, I know, it is a little early for a weekend wrap up, but figured since I had some down time I might as well. Friday started off rather slow. I thought it would be an easy day, with no appointments until 4:30pm. Apparently I was wrong. We got a call around 3pm from another tutor. She had scheduled a meeting/interview with Mike while I was gone, and today was the day. It was scheduled for 3:30pm, and we had to leave for Nick's chiropractor around 4pm. Ok. Not.So.Bad. She did not make it here until nearly 4pm. I met her in the driveway on the way to the chiro. Nick was not happy about this derailment of plans, and cried and covered his face to show his displeasure. We talked to her for a little bit, and she gave us a resume to look at. I then jetted off to the chiropractor, missing our 4:30 time by about 10 minutes. I hate being late. We were still allowed to see the chiro. and Nick got some adjustments. When we got home, Mike and I held a "family meeting" on the back porch to discuss the tutor situation. Mike thought she might be over qualified and more set in her ways since she is a little older and more educated than his others. If there is one thing we have learned, it is that with Nick it is better to be more flexible in ones' thinking. His current tutors have generally followed our lead with what works for Nick-and he was concerned that an older, more educated(not saying that education is wrong) adult might be a little more 'set' than the younger types. We came to the decision to try it out, and see how she works with Nick. It took him about a month to come around to the other tutors, and I did not want to base an assumption on a simple 5-10 minute meeting. We really had no time to actually talk to her in depth about Nick. Now the problem was trying to schedule everything.

Saturday started off at 9am with swimming lessons for both kiddos. Actually, Nicks' was more or less just playing in the water with other special needs kiddos-but I do think there might be some actual learning going on. If not, who the hell cares, it gives us a chance to be social and not have anyone judge or laugh at my little man. All the kids in that class are just adorable anyway. Then, at 10am it was time for Michael's swim lesson. That went on until 11am-at which point we came back home, ate some lunch and then it was time to head to playgroup. This was comedy hour. Two YMCA staff members not well versed in autism in a big gym with two autistic kids. Sit back and marvel at the mayhem. Nick alone gives in-experienced adults a run for their money...imagine times two! There are also 4 sets of doors in said gymnasium-and for those that know Nick; that is enough said. The whole hour was spent with Nick flying by us laughing, and an exhausted staff member chasing behind him. By the time 6 weeks is up, they should be Olympic class sprinters. It is very entertaining to think people in their 20's are having a very hard time catching a six year old. People tell us "don't worry, we can catch him" and to them we say "Okay, GO!" Then is when they say "Man he is FAST!" Yup. We know.

Saturday and Sunday evenings are hockey practice. Not much went on then other than hockey. Which, we have to start getting ready for now, so I have to cut this short. More pictures to follow later.