Long Day

Thursday Eric went to school as normal. After that he had 3 hours of therapy at home. Honestly, he seemed to do better with all of this than I ever would have. That afternoon one of the therapists called and asked if she could come from 3:30 to 5:30, and talk about scheduling a Saturday session. I told her it would be OK by me but that 2 of her collegues were coming from 4:30 to 6:30. She told me it should be OK with the provider and state so I said let's give it a go as long as it's not way too hard on Eric. We all have to get used to the longer times for sessions so now is the time to do it. They are still in the assessment phase and playing with him a lot so that will make that time go easier. Once we are down to the nitty gritty it will be harder. Eric was none too happy to come home from school to find the therapist here. Nothing a little bit of playing and tickling couldn't take care of lol! He is still very heavy into the tickle thing. He says it so clear you just want to keep rewarding him for it. Too bad he don't know that he can't be tickeled all the time. Learning that even good things have to end is one of the goals with the therapy. They were able to get him to use the word "squeeze" with a new game that she came up with. Basically he said it and she ran over there and hugged him hard. He was loving it. It's amazing how quickly he is picking up on these words. She tried to play ball with him by asking him to say it before she threw it. He usually only says it when the ball is in his hands and before he throws it. He has to be able to do it when he is asked, not when he wants to. That did not last long. Then he was asked to say car so she would give him a car. This eventually was successful after numerous trys and him walking away, ect. We are still trying to find a way to get the message across that he can't stand on and jump off the furniture. Any physical contact is motivating to Eric. If we physically guide him to a sitting position or off the couch/chair he thinks it's a game and keeps doing it for the touch. Verbal commands alone do nothing for him. This is a challenge to say the least, but we have to find some solution to keep him safe. The first hour and a half went really quickly. The other therapists were running late so they got here at 5 pm. It turned out to be a good thing we had that earlier session or we would have lost that half hour. This is where the time started dragging for all of us. Most of the second session was used for paperwork, ect. I also discussed the feeding clinic papers and whether they could come to his next appointment. The case worker and the partners of the provider agency have be contacted to get those answers. I had to sign another release form and it took forever for the one therapist to get that ready. While this was happening Eric just wanted to play with his toys. He couldn't of cared less about the therapists or anyone else at this point. Jon started wanting every toy his brothers had. Eric got a little too physical with one of these incidents and we had to let him know that was not allowed. He got it pretty quick. Eventually the ball caught his interest and he became more talkative. Then we started a ready set go game with the ball. I would start saying it before I threw it and he would say "set go". I would say the same thing before he threw it. He did great with this. Finally all paperwork was done and his binder updated. The session ended and the house was ours for the night finally. I know we all have to get used to this, and it is going to get even harder. For some reason I was just tired after all of this. Today is a new day...

This afternoon Eric is going to have a two hour session. This is his first on a weekend. We shall see how he handles this.

Andy's Haircut

Andy got his hair buzzed this afternoon. Clippers were used and it went quite quickly and pain free for both of us. While there was plenty of crying, he did much better than I anticipated. He did not move too much and there was no kicking, punching, scratching, pinching like I experience with his older brother...
I am so proud of you Andy. You look like such a handsome little man.

Feeding Clinic

Wednesday Eric had an appointment at the feeding clinc. This was his annual appointment where his whole team seen him, including the GI doctor. I knew going into this it was not going to be fun for either of us. The appointment was set for 8:00 in the morning. We were off at 6 am which is way to early for both Eric and I. He loves the ride. Good thing, we made it there with maybe 10 min to spare. We were called and it was time for weight and hight. You would think this would be the easy part of the appointment (for a kid anyway lol), but this is Eric. He has to take off his shoes before he steps on the scale. I can understand the reasoning behind it. This is heavily used and expensive equipment and they need the most accuaray possible. He would have no issue stepping on the scale if I didn't have to take his shoes off. Of course I have to go through that extra step and he gets it in his head that he is stuck there for a while since his shoes are off and he starts getting upset and fighting. He has to stand still on the scale too which he don't want to do. Once we finally finished that it's time for the dreaded height measurement. The clinic does this by putting them against the wall and this thing comes down on his head and the height measurement shows up on the machine. Eric HATES the mere thought of that thing coming down on his head. It is virtually impossible to get him to stand there so they can accurately measure him. He just sits down, kicks, screams, grabs at me, scratches me. It is not fun. Since it's been 12 months getting his height somehow was a must. We gave up on that machine and we were going to get him to stand against the wall, mark it and use a tame measure. We finally got what we needed but it was a fight to say the least. Next we go to the feeding room. The nurse comes in soon after and asks her questions. Since he is not on any meds, not having any real physical problems her visit was quick and easy. Next we talked to the nutritionist about what he has been eating/drinking. She wants to increase the amount and variety of baby food we are mixing in his milk so he can get more nutrients and exposerure to different flavors. This time we had a speech language pathologist speak with us. This was a first. I am glad to see this because his feeding adversions are as much sensory as they are behavioral issues. We were talking about trying to change his cup and increase the textures he will accept. That will take a while and a lot of work. The psychologist then came in. She wanted to do a behavioral eating session with him but I forgot his cup. She got out cheerios and she wanted me to get him to eat them. That was met with another Eric tantrum. He wanted nothing to do with them. He was still trying to calm himself down from the height measuring machine. After this was attempt 2 at his height. They were able to get a good enough estimate after calling in 2 other people to help with him. After this was done we went into the exam room and waited for the MD. Eric was anxious about this. Luckily it was a quick exam and a talk with me. The doctor was satisfied with his growth and nutrition. Since he has not had any major GI issues besides a tummy bug a few weeks ago there was not much to do. Not that Eric would allow much examination anyway. This was another display of his tantruming skills. I honestly wish we could skip this tourture for both him and me but it is policy. There are concerns about his teeth because of his liquid diet and my lack of ability to clean his teeth thouroghly because of his oral sensory issues. They told me to call the dental clinic at the hospital. I call later in the day to find out they have no new patient appointments available right now and their wait list is full. I have to get a referral from the feeding clinic folks to get a chance at getting in there. I got a recommendation from a friend of another practice that offers sedation dentistry and is good with her kids. I will be making a call there. At least I finally got an appointment with the genetics clinic for mid March. For that we are going to start with Andy and proceed from there with me, their dad and the other kids if necessary. I'm just glad I finally got to the right person to get this going. The next feeding clinic appointment is set for Feb. 19th with the behavior psychologist for a feeding session. We are also hoping that someone from the in home provider's organization will be allowed to attend so the feeding part of the plan can be discussed and laid out so it is realistic and works for everyone.

All Bundled Up

At least as bundled up as Andy gets! He is wearing his winter jacket with the hood UP and his snow boots with no fuss. I can even get all of this on him easily now. No luck with the mittens or hat, but we are getting there. For now I put a pair of my socks on his hands and those seem to stay better than the mittens. Whatever works. I know this is not a big deal for some. For Andy this is major! Eric still has issues with tolorating winter clothing on. In WI it is a must but if I can't keep it on them it is hard to protect them from this weather. Like everything else we hope it comes in time.

Is This Round #3?

The IFSP meeting for Jon's early intervention services was this afteroon. I will start with the good news. From the testing they were able to do with him, he did not show delays as extensive as Eric or Andy have. The occupational therapist was very pleased with the use of his fingers and his grasp. The teacher complimented his socialable nature. He still tries any food offered to him and eats most everything. He will touch utensils and a sippy, straw or open cup although he still has to learn how to use them independantly. These are the most possitive things I have ever heard at any of these meetings. That encourages me.

Unfortunately, he still has delays and qualifies for therapy. Basically, the reports from both the OT and the EC teacher are saying that he tested in the 11-14 month age range across the board. That is about a half of a year delay.After dealing with these evaluations and reports for the last 5 plus years I know not to freak out about the numbers. They appear so much worse on paper than they really are many times. There were some tests that they could not finsish with him because he had absolutely NO interest in the toys they brought. Not that I blame him, it was pretty boring stuff. Jon is a very active baby. He does not like to sit for long. This was a problem during the OT eval. We had to strap him into his booster seat with his tray on (without food) and he was not happy about that! He will be recieving educational and occupational therapy services twice a month in home starting next month. We will be working on improving his use of cups and utensils, strengthening (mostly his trunk and upper body muscles), getting him to sit to attend to activities for a little longer, using a crayon to scribble, shape sorters and puzzles, stacking and turn taking games and respone. He may also have a speech eval because of concerns about him having less than 10 words and him pocketing food in his mouth. We shall see what comes of that.

While this was far from the worst news I have heard, I am still a little sad and worried. Obviously I would have rather that none of this was necessary. Andy really started slipping at about 16 months. Jon is now 19 months. I can't let go of the thought of this happening again. If it does at least I know the ropes and what to do. It's not like it is new. Sometimes I wish that at least one of my kids would pick up these things without so much difficulty. While it stinks sometimes I have learned not to take much of anything for granted. It is in God's hands. He will watch over us.

Keeping Busy

Yesterday afternoon Eric's therapists came when he was home from school. No tantrums when he was asked to leave his movie and I turned off the TV! That was a shock. A new therapist came today. She hit it off well with Eric from the start. Eric was asking for tickles right away. He can say it so clear now. It is amazing he picked that up within a week! The down side is that he keeps going with it, constantly asking to be tickled. I think it is time Eric learned a new word. He finally decided to play ball. He can also say ball very clearly. He would say it before he would throw it. The therapist started bouncing Eric on the ball and trying to get him to say bounce. We got an approximation that sounded like ball but they accepted it. He liked it, but he would not do it unless the ball was on the therapist's lap. I tried with the ball on the floor he wiggled away. When he was a baby he would want me to bounce him on my lap all the time or he would cry and not sleep. Everything was going great for an hour. Then the therapist mentioned Eric tolorated the light being on. A few seconds later Eric ran to turn off the light. He was told he had to turn the light back on to continue playing and tickle games. He turned it back on with my help. He was OK with it at first but then the tantrums started. I could tell he had enough at this point. He asked to eat in hopes of them leaving him alone. No such luck kiddo. We are working on having him put his cup down on a coaster on a portalbe cabinet instead of having me stand there and wait for him to get done and take the cup. He did not like the therapist in there with him while he was eating pushing this. That was not a quiet meal. We gave him is squishy frog, let him play on the computer and ended the session.

Eric bouncing on his ball. It is bedtime soon after nap, which results in crazy hair he will not let mom fix!

Eric during his feeding. He is not happy about the counter and the coaster there. He wants mommy to take his cup.

Eric's next session is Thursday. Tomorrow morning he has his appointment at the CHW feeding clinic. Eric has severe feeding adversions stemmed from his autism. The provider is waiting from the notes and results of this appointment so we can modify the plans for food tolorance. The hope is that the feeding clinic and the therapist can work together on this. This is his big appointment with the psychologist, nutritionist, nurse and GI doctor. This always makes me nervous and he can be quite combative since he hates being messed with and it is so long. At least with the in home therapy we should not have to worry about having to stay there on 8 West for 10 days or having to go to Baltimore. While these are not bad things, they are just not feesible for our family right now. I will update on that tomorrow after it is over. Monday is the team meeting with the psychologist in charge of his therapy (aka the lead therapist). Plans for moving forward should be made then. This afternoon is the IFSP meeting for Jon and early intervention. This has me a little concerned. I know there are minor delays, but I am hoping I am not told more. I will update on that later today.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The good
Eric has been great with saying his greetings. He will come up to me cuddle and say "hi" to me numerous times. He will take turns with me which is great. He is saying "bye" to his friends as they leave too. Within the last few days Eric has come up to me and makes a smaking noise with his lips and puts his face by mine. He is asking for and accepting kisses from me. He won't actually kiss me yet, just by me. I never thought I would ever see this. This is the ultimate of motherhood to me. Since this is so hard for Eric I definately do not take this for granted. Wow is all I have to say. Maybe him saying "I love you mommy" is a realistic dream. One thing at a time, I know. I will take this :-()!
The bad
These little guys have been through a lot of changes the last couple of months. There is going to be plenty going on for the next few weeks with appointments, ect. The weather is so cold, snowy and yucky that going anywhere or playing outside just isn't possible. School was closed for the last 2 days of the week because of extreame cold temperatures. Today was a half day for Eric. They love going to school and were missing it I am sure. The tantrums have increased big time. All of these boys are getting upset about the littlest things, or for no apparent reason. They haven't been sleeping well either so I am sure they are very tired. They have such a hard time settling down at night. If anything wakes them up it is very difficult for them to go back to sleep. There is more being asked of Eric at home whether the therapists are here or not. We have to follow through with what they do for the therapy to be effective. He is not happy about the changes so he melts down. Andy has gotten into the habit of turning on and off the lights, the television, the computer, and the dvd player. It is almost like Andy is doing this on purpose to upset Eric. I do not blame Eric for being angry in the least bit. But Eric really does not have to bang his head, kick, hit and push his brother, stomp and scream loud enough to wake the dead when this happens. Yesterday this was all happening while I was really tired and had a bad headache. The constant blinking and noise pushed me to the edge, it was a rough night for all of us. I know this is typical behavior for children and between siblings, especially boys. The problem is that my 2 boys don't know how to express their feelings and frustrations in a productive way and these things happen. This is why routines and physical activity are so important for my sons.
The ugly
Eric's bedroom is a disaster area right now. He has unplugged the cable box and it is laying God only knows where in there. His bed is in pieces all over the room. He rips off the sheets,matteress pad, pillows and pushes the matteress off the box spring. I will put it back together to find a few minutes later it is apart again. Now to the real big problem. Eric has been taking all of his clothing off when he is in there, underwear or diaper included. He then eliminates all over the carpet. Lets just say that carpet is very stained and smelly from urine and feces. This ends up on his clothing too so I have to get him in the bath and new clothing. My clothes dryer is broken so laundry is an issue here right now. Not to mention that everytime one of them needs to go in the bath the other 2 insist on joining too. So I then have a very wet bathroom to clean too. I got the carpet cleaned the best I can, then Eric goes back in and does it AGAIN! I know he don't understand why he can't do this but this is making want to scream! He was doing so well with potty training, now we have this issue and I have to go back to diapers and get creative to boot. There is plenty here to keep me out of trouble to say the least.

Thrown Off

Schools were closed today because of the sub zero temperatures and wind chills. Usually the therapists come a little before Eric gets home from school and when he walks in they are ready to work with him. He seems to handle that OK. Today since he was at home he thought he could do his own thing all day. When she came he was playing a bowling game on the computer, and having a very good time doing it. The therapist came in and he did not give her the time of day. She kept trying to engage him and he kept ignoring and playing. I turned off the computer and he started crying, stomping, kicking, throwing stuff and banging his head against the wall right away. I moved him away from the wall and laid him on the floor, backed off and let him carry on. The therapist was with me and did not bat an eye. These therapists are trained with a capitol T and I was also trained on behaviors I may see and how to react to them. Basically it's move him away from anything that may hurt him and let him work it out. She told me she has seen much worse. That is comforting, I guess it can always be worse. But it don't make it any easier to watch my child act like that. Once he calmed down the therapist presented him with his James toy. That did not please him. Eric picked up a small squishy soccer ball and threw it at the wall. The therapist got the big ball and threw it to him. They continued to play ball as long as he stayed calm and said "ball" and "catch" before each throw. From there he grabbed a toy car and was saying "car" and "go". He was talkative today :-). He also has cuddled up to me and said "hi" numerous times. He still knows where to go for comfort, and I am allowed to do that within reason. He tolorated the light on today, but it is daylight and sunny out (despite the frigid temps) so that did not make enough of a difference for him to notice. That will be worked on during an after school session. We are trying to get him to put his cup down on his tray when he is done drinking it. There was a lot of rocking the chair and yelling. I would take the cup and keep putting it back on the tray. Eventually he tapped the tray telling me he was done, and put the cup on the tray as I was getting him out. He was praised for that little effort. Baby steps. Eric has a habit of standing on and jumping on and off of the couch. We are trying to get him to understand that a couch is to sit or lay on. Verbal prompts don't work, he just ignores. If you physically sit him down he likes the physical interatction and thinks it's a game. It is going to be a challenge on how to handle this one. All of this was done in 2 hours. I'm impressed. The therapist came early so she could get her day done due to the cold weather. It is nice having the rest of the day to ourselves. Eric is happily lining up his toy cars. He earned time to relax.

Andy's appointment with the neuropsychologist was rescheduled for Jan. 29th at 8:30 am. Luckily she was understanding about us not making it today. She told me that she was going to cancel all her appointments and go home herself. Smart move. The wait is not nearly as long as I expected. This will still all happen in good time. I'm praying for good weather.

Appointment a No Go

It is just too cold. Once the van did start (after a good half hour of trying) I spun out on one of the city's main roads. It's so cold that salt is ineffective! Andy was not happy about being out in this either, especially sitting in a cold car and not moving! All 3 of the boys had trouble sleeping last night. I was so anxious about that and this trip I got very little sleep. Schools are closed and for that to happen there has to be a darn good reason. I know we are going to have to wait, but I think it will be worth it.

Eric is scheduled for therapy today at 3:30. There is no school today so the transition may be tougher if they do come. This is going to be interesting. We shall see...

Andy Has His Appointment for His Eval

with the neuropsychologist TOMORROW MORNING. I was not expecting that quickly but thanks to a cancelation there was an appointment available. My hunch is that the cancelation is due to all the snow and the forcasated below zero high temperatures and 20-50 below zero wind chills! I'm not crazy about venturing out to Milwaukee in this weather, but it is either tomorrow or a couple of months before I can get an appointment. So the plan is to attempt the trip unless it is way too bad out or the van don't start. Yes, I am nuts. The appointment is at 8:30 and I was told that it was going to take all morning, maybe even part of the afternoon. This must be a very thourogh evaluation if it takes this long. This is what he needs to get on the waiting list. We may get lucky and be told he is not autistic, but I am not counting on it. If I am brave enough to go through with this trip and make it back in one piece I will update on here ASAP. In the mean time I am praying for decent weather.

Getting To Know You...

Eric started his therapy last week. Right he is having 2 sessions a week for 2 hours each session. He has had 3 sessions as of now. His next will be Thursday. We have 90 days to work to the state minimum hours so we are taking advantage of this time for all of us to get used to each other. Plans and goals are being established and written. Eric's routines and habits are observed, along with household rules and operation. Toys have been brought in and tested to see what will motivate him to participate. They also tickle him, lift him and give him time for physical play since he enjoys that so much. He also loves music and to be sang to (as long as it's not mommy doing the singing!).

This is the therapy bible with all the records, plans, notes, ect. This is a big binder because we know this is going to get thick quick!

This is the box of motivators which will be used as rewards. Like anyone else, kids like a little incentive for doing things that they otherwise would rather not do :) .

The ball won't fit in the box but the purpose is the same as the toys in the box.

During these first 3 sessions I have learned that we really have to start with the basics with Eric. The goals focus on social skills, communication, compliance, and tolerance. He keeps wanting to turn off the lights during therapy sessions. We are trying to get him to understand that the lights have to stay on and tolorate them being on when needed. We are also trying to think of a way to get him to put his cup down on his tray or something beside it so I don't have to stand there while he drinks to take the cup when he is done and give it back when he wants it again. He can recite the alphabet so they start out with a few letters and ask him to say the next one in sequence. This is not an academically based program. He gets that at school and the state wants as little overlap as possible. The goal here is to persist with him until he does what is asked aka complience. They keep repeating the letters and the requested response until he does it. It can take a while since he only does this when he wants to. We know he can do it, it is just getting him to do it on command. Pulling him away from enjoyable activities is a challenge. He had a fit when the computer was turned off before he was done. Transitioning will also be addressed. He surprised us by saying the word "tickle" when they were tickling him. So now he is asked to say the word and he will get the tickles as a reward. This is going well. They tend to say and ask for what they want the most:) .We are also working on greetings since he knows the words "hi" and "bye bye". It is a good thing we have 3 years. He is handling this better than I expected. There are some meltdowns and that is to be expected. But we all live. As time goes by he is going to be putting in more time and more is going to be asked of him. We shall see how it goes.

The Cast

We will start with the stars of the show

This is Eric with his squishy frog he got from the therapist yesterday. It was hard getting this away from him. Don't blame him, this thing is addicting. Stress relief, gotta love it. He is the man right now for this therapy. He's eating up all the attention. Six years old and all of these pretty ladies here to play with him, it's gotta be heaven. He chose the background of this blog. His love of fire engines played a part in his choice I am guessing :) .

This is Andy doing one of his favoirte things, standing by the open refrigerator looking, dancing around and straightening things up. He will be joining the action with his own therapists sometime within the next 2-3 years once he gets his diagnosis and through the waiting list. He can't miss a party and is great when it comes time for social skills training.
Others worth mentioning but not pictured
Mom-that's me.
Provider-the organization that provides the therapy
Line therapists-the wonderful folks that work directly with the boys to help them meet their goals.
Senior therapists-write the plans and goals and guide the line therapists in the treatment of the client
Lead therapist-the psychologist in charge of their care.
We are all going to have a meeting in a couple of weeks. This will be a crowd, and Eric is going to love all the attention :) .

What We Did To Get Here

The Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)therapy that Eric will be recieving in home is funded by a medicaid waiver in the state of Wisconsin that is available for this type of service. About 2 years ago Eric went to an appointment with a psychologist that does the state approved testing for autism to get the qualifying diagnosis. We have to work with a case worker from the county who helps us through the application process. We had to prove at least 6 months residency in the state of WI and provide records of household income. In some cases the parents have a copay for the therapy. Since Eric is on SSI, that does not apply to us. After all of this is together Eric's name was put on the wait list. He was on the list for about 18 months before his funding came through. There have been times that the wait list was up to 3 years, so we were fortunate to get in less than 2 years. Once we got the call that Eric's funding came in we called the therapy provider and got everything going with them. We had a 4 hour workshop at home with the provider about 2 weeks before therapy started. This is where we learned how the program works and all the rules, ect. Eric is starting off with therapy 2 days a week for 2 hours and will slowly move up. The state minimum is 20 hours, but they will provide up to the ideal 35 hours a week. Eric has 3 months to meet the state minimum hours. He is slowly being eased in. This is a big adjustment for these kids. The time commitment is huge. Eric does not do well when his routine is disrupted so they have to establish this routine and get him to trust the therapist so he is more likely to comply when the work comes in.

We are working on getting Andy on the wait list so he can recieve therapy also. Right now we are trying to get him to a doctor that will do the state accepted testing so he can get his diagnosis. That has proven to be a challenge because of the evaluations that he had at Children's Hospital of WI child development clinic. The testing they do there does not meet the state regulations for a valid autism diagnosis. We have to take him elsewhere to have the proper testing done. Problem is this testing is billed the same as the CHW visits so most likely insurance will not pay for it. We don't have a lot of money to shell out for this but we may not have a choice.

The process looks pretty simple. For some it may be. Eric should have started his therapy at least a year before. Getting medical records from the hospital proved to be harder than I thought. There was a lot of miscommunication. My disorganiation, life in general and as much as I hate to admit it, denial also delayed things. Once we got everything together it was waiting for his name to come up on the list. If there is any advantage to having to go through this again at least we know what to do and expect this time. Eric's application process was a learning experience.

1. Ask the case worker for recommendations for health care providers that do the state approved testing .
2. Hold on to any paperwork and reports that you get.
3. Keep an open line of communication with the case worker so you know what is going on with your child's status on the application or waiting list.
4. Don't delay with anything. It can take months to get the necessary appointments ect and time can run away faster than you think when life takes over.
5. Interview as many providers as you can so you can pick the one that is most appropriate for your child.
6. Be patient. The wait is worth it.

The Reason For This Journey

My oldest son Eric was born July 26, 2002. He was one of a kind at birth. He had to come out to the world facing up which made mommy work very hard to get him here. After 4 hours of mom pushing and assistance from a vacuum extracter he came into this world. Sleep was definately not his thing. When he would sleep it would only be for about an hour. He never completed his newborn hearing screening because he would not sleep. Eating was not his thing either. It took him a while to get used to the bottle thing. Eric always loved looking at moving objects such as fans, and lights and color like on the TV. He spent much time laying on the floor kicking his little legs. He couldn't care less about looking at people. He had severe reflux so he was not the happiest little guy at times. He had these spells that the doctor told us was from the reflux. It looked like he was having a seizure when this happened. There is no way of knowing now. During Eric's first year we were taking care of his elderly grandmother in her home. I also suffering from postpartum depression, but did not realize what it was until I had my 3rd son 5 years later. His birth also puts some questions in my mind, but there is no way of knowing for certain or proving anything. It does not matter now. I already wasted more than enough times on dwelling on the "what ifs". Beating myself up over what should have been just got in the way of finding and getting the help Eric needed. God put him on earth for a reason. When he was 6 months old the pediatrician started talking about developmental delays. His dad and I were in denial. I honestly thought that many of the behaviors he was exhibiting were normal for babies, so I didn't think much of it. As time went on he was still unable to sit up or crawl when many children his age were walking. He made no attempts at verbal communication, not even babbling until well after his 1st birthday. He would concentrate intently on toys and objects, particularly moving objects. People he had no interest in whatsoever. Eye contact was non exsistant. He started getting very picky about the food he would eat. This is typical for babies and toddlers so I thought no big deal. Relatives started noticing and remarking that this was not normal. When he was 14 months old Early intervention came in and evaluated him and he began physical therapy shortly after. He never progressed with that, and occupational therapy, early childhood instruction and speech therapy were eventually added. He learned to walk at 17 months. He never learned to speak. He still has many sensory integration issues. There were many meltdowns. We could not take him out in public because he could not tolorate noise and crowds and screamed. He was not flexible with his routine at all. His way of playing was spinning car wheels and lining up toy cars, mouthing objects and kicking and flapping his arms to show he was happy. The list of foods he would accept became smaller and smaller. In time he would only accept cheerios to eat and fruit juice to drink. We had to work with a feeding clinic to get him to a point where he would tolorate oil in the juice, eventually milk, then pediasure and now Carnation instant breakfast and yougert and baby cereal mixed with milk and strawberry syrup and a cracker in his mouth. When he turned 3 he started attending the early childhood program with the school district. He went there for 2 years until he started kindergarten. He is now in 1st grade going to school full time and loving it. We have a few words he uses consistantly now. His behaviors have calmed down considerably in the last 2 years. He is more social now. At age 3 he got a diagnosis of global developmental delays, possible mental retardation and possible PDD-NOS or autism. At 2 months shy of his 5th birthday he got the official autism diagnosis that qualified him for the state medicaid waiver for in home autism services.

Andrew was born September 27, 2005. For a short while he did not want to come down after mom was fully dialated and a cesarian was considered when there were heart decels. Stubborn Andy finally decided to come down on his own and was born after about an hour and a half of pushing. Andy was a better sleeper from the get go. He actually finished and passed his newborn hearing screening. He was a better eater too. Andy and I bonded very quickly. He was so responsive. Finally I was seeing how a baby was supposed to act. He seemed to play with toys more appropriately and loved the company of people, especially cuddling. He was never big on baby food but was eating table food that mom and dad ate by his 1st birthday. Everything was looking great until the Early Head Start worker suggested an early intervention eval for Andy at about 14 months. After the first evaluation he did not qualify for services but was going to be watched by EHS and the EI service coordinator. Andy had a few words at this time and did not seem to resist much. At 16 months Andy started refusing many foods he previously ate. He started refusing a spoon and sippy spout cups. He lost the words he had. He started stimming, toy walking and becoming less socialable like Eric. He started walking around aimlessly most of the time and showing many repetative behaviors. He was not adaptable to different situations anymore. Two months later he started with early childhood instruction and occupational therapy. Speech was added a couple months later. While all of this was unfolding I learned of my very unexpected pregnancy with my 3rd son, and his birth June 6th, 2007. After this birth I went through another bout with postpartum depression. This time I was properly diagnosed and treated. I also had a round after I lost a pregnancy in September 2008. I am still on medication and in counselling for this and to help me through this journey with my sons. Andy made minimal progress in the birth to 3 program and is now attending early childhood special ed preschool and is loving it. We took him to the CHW developmental clinic for an evaluation and got the same generic diagnosis as Eric did. The only reason we went this route is that we wanted to rule out any medical reasons for this. We are still going to have a genetics workup on all 3 boys to see if there is any reasons there for this happening. We are in the process of trying to get the state approved diagnosis for Andy but are having problems getting doctors to see him because of the CHW eval and the possiblility of insurance not paying because of this. Hopefully we can get this going soon so we can get the ball rolling for Andy too.

This has not been an easy ride. Seeing the progress that Eric has made already gives me hope. These are special boys and I was entrusted by God to care for them. I would not trade it for anything in the world.