Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I have put our tree out of its misery for this year. It was constantly and consistently disturbed by a certain 2 year old. As soon as my attention was elsewhere, he was pulling off ornaments, beads, etc. He even thought it was fun to throw his football into the branches! I didn't get a picture of that, because at the time, I did NOT think it was funny, or cute. But, below are a few of his attempts at decorating.

Puzzle pieces are great for Christmas decorating, didn't you know?

Also, sippy cups make delightful ornaments.

We'll try again next year, I suppose. It will be much easier when he's 3... Right?

Happy New Year Everyone!
Cindy

Great achievements!

Did you know, that when their children are diagnosed, many parents are told by Drs that they will not be able to expect meaning conversation with their child? Their children will probably not spontaneously say "I love you" or initiate a back and forth conversation with them. (We were NOT told this, by the way, but I read about it.)

Matthew did several great things this week and I want to document them while I can remember:

1. Today I was leaving for Mom's to help clean. I told him I was going bu-bye and he asked: "Where?"
2. While changing light bulbs in the computer room, he was watching intently and then came running to ask: "What you doing?"
3. He was trying to put a new puzzle together this week and was getting a little frustrated. When I walked into the room he looked up and said "I need help!"

I will continue to wait patiently for the day when he comes to tell me "I love you, Mommy!" I know without a shadow of a doubt, that he will do it.

I tried.

Really, I did! I had every intention of snapping a photo of Matthew and mailing out picture Christmas cards.

Our first attempt. Matthew was fairly cooperative, but they all turned out blurry.

There were many attempts in between, but this was my final attempt. I was GOING to get a picture, no matter what! Matthew was in a great mood and I was able to convince him (usually) to do what I wanted him to do.

Standing up clearly was not working, so I thought we'd try sitting.

I can be a little thick sometimes. FINALLY I wised up and turned the flash off completely.

Still blurry, but the best I could do. Sorry there are no cards this year, but Merry Christmas!!

Treatments & Interventions

We have busy weeks! Our typical schedule is this:

Monday - Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy

• Speech therapy - Sometimes I wonder if it is more for my benefit than Matthew's. I learn alot and ask many questions on how to coach Matthew at home. His articulation is typical and he is advanced for his age in what all he says and repeats. So, she doesn't coach him to say sounds or words, she coaches him on the social aspects of speech. For instance, he can look at a page with a picture of a teddy bear, a spoon, a pillow and a telephone and name each and every item perfectly. But when you ask him "What do you eat with?" He cannot answer. Also, we're working on him on how to interact with others. What it means when someone cries and how to play cars with other little children. Simple things that typical kiddos pick up naturally.



• Occupational therapy - Matthew's fine motor skills are fine. This therapy is for his sensory difficulties. In this therapy he colors, plays with play-do, plays in the ball pit, feels different textures, etc. Hopefully, we'll get him on a swing, slides, all the fun stuff that he should be enjoying immensely at this age.

Thursday - Together groups with Early Intervention. This is a play group for other children in the Early Intervention program. Its a chance for Matthew to interact with other kiddos his age.

Friday - Early Intervention visits. A EI Specialist comes to work with Matthew. I think she really comes to work with me and gives much advice on how to work with Matthew all throughout the day. From how to engage him while doing house-cleaning chores to bathtime and meal times. How to challenge him, keep him interested and engaged in a variety of toys, etc. She does much more than I can begin to list. Matthew likes these visits alot and has benefitted greatly. I attribute his great cooperation in toy clean up times to Robyn! Or, as Matthew says: "Rah-rah-bin".

When you throw in church small groups meetings on some Tuesdays and play dates on some Wednesdays, it makes for busy weeks! I don't mind though. I'll drive around the world if that's what Matthew needs!

Matthew is also involved in the P.L.A.Y. Project, this is something we just started. This is an intervention for children with Autism. It is a play-based intervention. We are each periodically video-taped playing with Matthew and then given suggestions and coaching by our EI Specialist and by Drs who will view the footage. The goal is to follow Matthew's lead in play, but to slowly guide him through different levels of play until he is playing as a "typical" child - using elaborate and highly imaginative play. Children with Autism get stuck in play and don't evolve through levels of play on their own, as typical kids do. There's alot more to it, but that's it in a nutshell.

Here are a few pictures from playing outside this fall. The second picture is blurry, but I think he looks so much like my nephews, John and Caleb did at his age in that pic.

Autism and its symptoms

Matthew was diagnosed with Autism this past June. A few times before this, his behavior would make that word pop up in my mind which I would quickly stuff down and rationalize. Our family Dr had a few concerns and suggested that I get him screened to rule out Autism. Well, I cried for about a week or so, and then made THE phone call. More than 1 person who work with Matthew have asked me "How in the world did he get diagnosed so young, because his symptoms are so mild." One of Matthew's specialists also to me that when they get a referral for a child as young as Matthew, they get top priority because there is so much more time to work with them - and to be honest, there brains are more "moldable" at this young age. WOW! I credit our good 'ole small town family physician with the insight to recognize symptoms as Matthew's young age. Thanks Dr V!






The word Autism is so broad and to be honest, vague. No 2 children/people with Autism are alike so intervention/treatment must be tailored to each individuals needs. There are 3 basic components to Autism and Matthew has a little bit of all 3.






The components are (as I understand them):



1. Repetitive Play/Behavior - Matthew does have repetitive play, and it is more pronounced when we are out and about. So at church, at other's homes, the Drs office, anywhere he hasn't been before, he tends to want his "comfort" toys (letters and puzzles) until he is at ease. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes, sometimes several visits - it all depends. Matthew also has repetitive behavior. One example is "stimming". Stimming is self stimulatory behavior which many, if not all of us have to some degree. Some examples are biting fingernails, drumming fingers, bouncing a leg, etc. In Matthew's case, his most prominent stim is stiffening his posture. We're working on that - interrupting it when we can by scooping him up for hugs or something else that interrupts it.





2. Language Delay - Matthew has made HUGE progress in this expressive language. He talks constantly and communicates his wants and needs very well. He repeats alot of what we say back to us. While we are thrilled with his talking so much, we want him to have more useful speech. So, we're trying to help him by coaching him what to say in response to us. For instance when someone asks: "How are you?" he often repeats the phrase back to them and we coach him to say "I'm great!". His receptive language (understanding what is said TO him) is good. He is tested as slightly behind most kids his age, but he is constantly improving.





3. Social/Emotional Delay - This is a hard one to explain and I feel like I'm typing too much already! This includes things like imitation, imaginative play, eye contact, pointing and showing things of interest to others and affection. Matthew is slow to imitate motions/movements, but does do it. His imaginative play is just beginning to emerge, with lots of modeling from us. He makes good eye contact, which he sometimes makes us work a bit to get :) and has always been very affectionate. As far as showing things of interest to us, he has always done that. I hear the words "Look Mommy!" alot these days!





So, those are the components that Drs look for when screening children for Autism. As part of his Autism, Matthew has a number of sensory issues. He can have some strong reactions to noises, he hates to ride on elevators and is afraid to get on playground equipment, just to name a few. His Occupational Therapist is working with him to address these sensory issues.





If you are still reading this, I'm impressed! There's a lot of rambling in this post. :) And, I could go on and on when it comes to talking about my little boy!





I've leave you with a few pics from out trip to the zoo last month.

Feeding the ducks with Mommy.

Ring, stim, repeat...

Currently, my very favorite picture of him.

Hope this works - I'm not very good with pictures!

Love to all,
Cindy

Welcome!

We're glad to have you! I'm starting this blog to help us keep track Matthew's progress - which we hope to see lots and lots of.



If you don't know Matthew, allow me to introduce you. He is an energetic 2 year old who jabbers constantly and at the moment, can't leave our Christmas tree alone. I realize he looks so innocent here, but those shiny silver balls are oh, so tempting!

Currently, his favorite things are:

• Playing with balls on the basement steps. This NEVER gets old for him - trust me it does for mommy and daddy though! :)
• Puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles
• Letters and numbers. He knows all his letters, upper and lower cases and he can count to 20. This is not something we intentionally cultivated - we just followed his lead and interest. He specifically likes the letter "M". ??? I don't get it either - he liked it even before learning "M for Matthew".
• Books. He likes them more and more and will now sit and listen (more often standing and jumping and listening) to a story being read. His current favorite books are "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", "The Three Trees" and "What Baby Wants". We have to read all 4 of these books before nap and bed.

He's got some challenges and stuck in a few areas, which I will cover in a future post.

Thats all for now!

Cindy