We've had some improvement with Ryan's eating due to the massage. He will now eat applesauce without any bananas. He did really well after the previous blog; I just had to hide the applesauce so he thought he was getting bananas. As it was Spring Break for the older kids, they were all home with me last week. On Saturday I was a little more distracted and didn't see his gag until all of the food came back up. We did do a little backtracking because of that but we are almost back to all applesauce again.
The trick with Ryan is to hide the stuff he doesn't like and distract him somehow while feeding him. Last week I was able to get the other kids to help me distract him and we had a good week (until Saturday's mishap) but this week it's a little harder with no extra distractions. At one point last night, I had him in front of the televison and I was singing songs with him so we were able to get quite a lot in him. He has gotten better with letting me massage his palate and teeth. He doesn't bite down as hard so my finger isn't nearly as sore as it was.
I'm having issues with the brushing. It's not that I don't feel comfortable doing it; it's I can't seem to get it on a set schedule with him and I'm getting very upset with myself. He seems to like it and I'm getting used to the pressure needed to give now if I could just remember to give it to him as needed. Tuesdays we have to get up and get Logan to therapy then take him and Marie to school. By the time we get home we've been away for almost 2 hours if not more. Wednesday we went to meet Daddy for lunch and of course that threw off the schedule. I really need to figure out the Tuesday schedule and not go anywhere until I'm totally used to getting this done for him. Once that happens I think I can go do whatever and still be aware of the brushing schedule enough to give it while we are out. I feel like I'm making this harder than it should be and I'm getting very upset. Okay, I'm going to go take a deep breath and try this again. Wish me luck on getting this schedule added in to our already fun filled days!!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
New twist to therapy
Okay, last week I told you about (or it may have been the week before) the new thing we are adding to Ryan's occupational therapy. Well, we started it on Monday and he did pretty well. She showed me how to massage his palate then put a little pressure on his bottom teeth. I don't remember her doing the upper front teeth just the bottom front. I will have to make sure when she comes back next week. I fed him his bananas with a dip into his applesauce. He gagged once or twice but if she distracted him while I spooned it into his mouth he was fine. I did try to use the nubby/textured utensil but that didn't get very far so I just used the spoon. The main goal is to get him to eat so I thought it best to go with the spoon until he can relax a little better.
Yesterday I did this on my own so it was kind of hard to figure out how to distract him. He fought me a little on the massage but then he totally surprised me. I was able to dip the bananas into the applesauce with NO GAGGING after that very first bite! The boy ate two "tubs" (plastic rectangle shaped jars of food) of bananas and one complete tub of applesauce. WOW! Today it's time to see if I can get him to take a whole spoonfull of applesauce or pears with no banana chaser. Even if he takes a bite or two and I have to go back to dipping it will have been a major breakthrough for him.
Yeah Ryan!!!
Yesterday I did this on my own so it was kind of hard to figure out how to distract him. He fought me a little on the massage but then he totally surprised me. I was able to dip the bananas into the applesauce with NO GAGGING after that very first bite! The boy ate two "tubs" (plastic rectangle shaped jars of food) of bananas and one complete tub of applesauce. WOW! Today it's time to see if I can get him to take a whole spoonfull of applesauce or pears with no banana chaser. Even if he takes a bite or two and I have to go back to dipping it will have been a major breakthrough for him.
Yeah Ryan!!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ryan - Update
Ryan was supposed to have his Occupational Therapy today but he napped through it instead. If he does decide to take a nap before she gets here, I can normally get him awake enough when she walks in the door to be able to start therapy with minimal fuss. He had a strange weekend where he refused to nap at all on Friday and Saturday and last night's nap lasted about 45 minutes but then he was up until after midnight. To top that off I got him up early this morning so I could go help out a friend. By the time we got back home he was ready for more to eat and wanted to go go go!
It was a good therapy session in that we were able to sit and discuss what she had learned at a workshop last week. It's going to be hard work but we are going to start the brush therapy with him and I will have to do it every 1 1/2 to 2 hours during the day until he shows signs that he is wanting to try new things. I'm all for it; brushing helps Logan stop grinding his teeth and they do the brushing at school with him. She also learned a new technique or therapy where you massage the inside of the mouth before a meal, 1/2 way through the meal and after the meal. It helped her child this weekend so she's going to bring me up to date on how he did this week and show me how to perform it as well. I'm so excited about both of these new things for Ryan. I'm hoping that one if not both will help him break through the eating issues he has been having. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed and say an extra prayer for us that these work. Every little bit helps!
It was a good therapy session in that we were able to sit and discuss what she had learned at a workshop last week. It's going to be hard work but we are going to start the brush therapy with him and I will have to do it every 1 1/2 to 2 hours during the day until he shows signs that he is wanting to try new things. I'm all for it; brushing helps Logan stop grinding his teeth and they do the brushing at school with him. She also learned a new technique or therapy where you massage the inside of the mouth before a meal, 1/2 way through the meal and after the meal. It helped her child this weekend so she's going to bring me up to date on how he did this week and show me how to perform it as well. I'm so excited about both of these new things for Ryan. I'm hoping that one if not both will help him break through the eating issues he has been having. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed and say an extra prayer for us that these work. Every little bit helps!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Marie - ADHD
I have heard that ADHD is on the Autism spectrum which explains why Marie is ADHD. We realized there was a problem with her when I was pregnant with Logan. On Valentines Day she and a friend at daycare had gotten into a bag (big bag!) of candy and ate their way through half the bag. That night she was mindless, kicking and screaming and just uncontrollable. Now I know that much sugar would tend to make most kids hyper but this was way beyond hyper. That very night Curtis and I agreed to pull her off the candy and other sweet foods. He did some research on the internet and found an article about the food dye Red40. Once we read that and looked through our pantry we were shocked! Most of what we had for her to eat had that dye in it. We had to get rid of the Fruit Loops as they had just added the red back in which of course was the Red40. No more of the yogurt we had purchased for her and that she loved. Heck, even some potato chips have that dye in them and they have no red color. Tell me why it would need to be an additive if the food isn't colored red???
We have been watching her diet since that time. She will get stuff at school by trading with other kids. We've talked to her about that and what happens when she gets the dyes. (We have added Yellow #5 to the list as well) At nine years old, she is old enough to know not to get into things she isn't supposed to have. Each day I ask her to not take anything from anyone because you never know what is in it. She would say but it's not red why can't I have it so I'd show her stuff that wasn't red that clearly had these dyes in it. Thankfully, this year her teacher really knows about the dyes and can relate to her issues with them. She has the same issues herself so it's a nice change and a relief to have some backup at school.
The other day she ate something that she described like a cinnamon roll. Obviously it had some dye in it that she has issues with because she had a really bad time on the bus ride home. She wouldn't listen or do anything the aide asked her to do. She was so nasty that she had to sit next to the aide for the entire ride home. When she got off the bus she was in tears and when I talked to her about her behavior she screamed and stomped her feet just like a two year old. After much screaming and temper tantrum throwing, she was able to calm down enough for me to discuss the problem with her. I find the best way to handle it after the initial meltdown is to calm her down and tell her why she can't have foods I don't send to school for her. She will insist that she didn't get into anything and I have to go through the reasons that I know she did:
1. Not listening
2. Not doing what she is told
3. Screaming at the top of her lungs
4. Throwing things and stomping her feet
5. Telling me she hates me
6. Crying uncontrollably
I know that's not the Marie I know and love because she is the most lovable child. She wants twenty hugs when she gets home and kisses too. She wants to tell me all about her day at school at least fifteen times and will then add things that she forgot to tell me the first time. She always tells me she loves me at least five to six times in an hour. So for her to tell me she hates me that's a sure sign that she got into something. Once she calms down and sees that she can't lie about it she will finally tell me what she ate. I have to go through it again with her about how things don't always have to be red in order for her not to be able to tolerate it. It will take hours for the effects of these dyes to go away.
Case in point; I let her play and snack on some crackers for about an hour and then we sat down to write a letter of apology to the bus aide. I had to spell words that she learned in first grade and constantly repeat myself. She would lose track of where she was in the writing and then have to ask me the third or fourth time what I said. It was very frustrating for both of us but we both held our cool and got through it. She then proceeded to drink a ton of water to try to flush out the nasty dyes out of her system. That night was a wasted homework night so it's a good thing it was FCAT testing! They are being nice enough not to give the kids homework during the testing so that was her saving grace that night.
It has taken a long time for us to get to this point where I know how to react to her getting into things. For some reason it took me a long time to recognize the signs but thankfully I have finally "seen the light" and can react the right way. I feel so much better when things calm down and we can talk rationally without any yelling. It's a good feeling to finally have some control of something when it comes to her ADHD. We choose to not get medication and handle her ADHD naturally. It's definitely a much harder way to deal with it but it's the right way for our family.
We have been watching her diet since that time. She will get stuff at school by trading with other kids. We've talked to her about that and what happens when she gets the dyes. (We have added Yellow #5 to the list as well) At nine years old, she is old enough to know not to get into things she isn't supposed to have. Each day I ask her to not take anything from anyone because you never know what is in it. She would say but it's not red why can't I have it so I'd show her stuff that wasn't red that clearly had these dyes in it. Thankfully, this year her teacher really knows about the dyes and can relate to her issues with them. She has the same issues herself so it's a nice change and a relief to have some backup at school.
The other day she ate something that she described like a cinnamon roll. Obviously it had some dye in it that she has issues with because she had a really bad time on the bus ride home. She wouldn't listen or do anything the aide asked her to do. She was so nasty that she had to sit next to the aide for the entire ride home. When she got off the bus she was in tears and when I talked to her about her behavior she screamed and stomped her feet just like a two year old. After much screaming and temper tantrum throwing, she was able to calm down enough for me to discuss the problem with her. I find the best way to handle it after the initial meltdown is to calm her down and tell her why she can't have foods I don't send to school for her. She will insist that she didn't get into anything and I have to go through the reasons that I know she did:
1. Not listening
2. Not doing what she is told
3. Screaming at the top of her lungs
4. Throwing things and stomping her feet
5. Telling me she hates me
6. Crying uncontrollably
I know that's not the Marie I know and love because she is the most lovable child. She wants twenty hugs when she gets home and kisses too. She wants to tell me all about her day at school at least fifteen times and will then add things that she forgot to tell me the first time. She always tells me she loves me at least five to six times in an hour. So for her to tell me she hates me that's a sure sign that she got into something. Once she calms down and sees that she can't lie about it she will finally tell me what she ate. I have to go through it again with her about how things don't always have to be red in order for her not to be able to tolerate it. It will take hours for the effects of these dyes to go away.
Case in point; I let her play and snack on some crackers for about an hour and then we sat down to write a letter of apology to the bus aide. I had to spell words that she learned in first grade and constantly repeat myself. She would lose track of where she was in the writing and then have to ask me the third or fourth time what I said. It was very frustrating for both of us but we both held our cool and got through it. She then proceeded to drink a ton of water to try to flush out the nasty dyes out of her system. That night was a wasted homework night so it's a good thing it was FCAT testing! They are being nice enough not to give the kids homework during the testing so that was her saving grace that night.
It has taken a long time for us to get to this point where I know how to react to her getting into things. For some reason it took me a long time to recognize the signs but thankfully I have finally "seen the light" and can react the right way. I feel so much better when things calm down and we can talk rationally without any yelling. It's a good feeling to finally have some control of something when it comes to her ADHD. We choose to not get medication and handle her ADHD naturally. It's definitely a much harder way to deal with it but it's the right way for our family.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Ryan
Tuesdays are usually Logan's speech therapy days. After dropping Logan and Marie off at school we had to rush home to meet Ryan's physical therapist for his therapy. He didn't do to well today and I think I know the reason why. Today instead of letting them out to run and raise all kinds of heck, I took them for a stroll through and around the hospital trying to get my exercise. It was good exercise for Marie and me but not a good thing for Ryan or Katie. By the time we got home and it was therapy time for him, he was wanting to run run run! Katie was doing the same thing but in circles. Not a good therapy session for him today so next week, we will drop Logan at his speech therapy and we will head back to the waiting area and let them run wild! Not too sure that the other patients families appreciate it but the kids really love to run around and play with Marie so I'm going to ignore the nasty looks I get.
Ryan's OT gave us a 2 lb. weight that she made with rice or something like that to put in a fanny pack for him. This will work like the weighted vests that I see advertised but cost a good deal more. Now all I have to do is find the fanny pack that I know is in this house somewhere! He was very calm and sat for her last session so I know this will help with his physcial and speech therapies. My next project is to tear up my room/closet until I find the fanny pack. It's a little irritating because I know I had it for a Sea World visit sometime in November so it really couldn't have gotten shoved down in somewhere that far.... could it?!?!
The finger paints we bought last week were a huge success with Katie yesterday. She needed something fun to do and it worked out perfectly for her. I taped down a couple of card stock sheets for her and let her use both hands until she had created a masterpiece. I will be putting that one on the wall once I get a few more pieces of artwork from the others. Once I have them on the wall, I will take pictures to post on the blog. She had such a good time and didn't want to finish even though the paint I set out for her was completely gone. I figured the best way to deal with painting time is to set out a nice size blob of each paint and let them play in it until it's gone off the holder. Once that happens, it's time for cleanup and then drying of the artwork. (Marie was a little jealous that she couldn't do artwork last night but she had too much homework!)
Ryan's OT gave us a 2 lb. weight that she made with rice or something like that to put in a fanny pack for him. This will work like the weighted vests that I see advertised but cost a good deal more. Now all I have to do is find the fanny pack that I know is in this house somewhere! He was very calm and sat for her last session so I know this will help with his physcial and speech therapies. My next project is to tear up my room/closet until I find the fanny pack. It's a little irritating because I know I had it for a Sea World visit sometime in November so it really couldn't have gotten shoved down in somewhere that far.... could it?!?!
The finger paints we bought last week were a huge success with Katie yesterday. She needed something fun to do and it worked out perfectly for her. I taped down a couple of card stock sheets for her and let her use both hands until she had created a masterpiece. I will be putting that one on the wall once I get a few more pieces of artwork from the others. Once I have them on the wall, I will take pictures to post on the blog. She had such a good time and didn't want to finish even though the paint I set out for her was completely gone. I figured the best way to deal with painting time is to set out a nice size blob of each paint and let them play in it until it's gone off the holder. Once that happens, it's time for cleanup and then drying of the artwork. (Marie was a little jealous that she couldn't do artwork last night but she had too much homework!)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Logan
Logan has been progressing some lately. When he gets really upset, I lightly brush my hand down his cheek and say, "What baby, what is it?" The other day he said, "What baby?" while he took his own and and brushed it down his cheek. He laughed up a storm when I smiled at him and said it after he did. A little later he was upset because he was in time out for smacking his baby brother and as he cried he was doing the hand brush and saying the "What baby?" It almost broke my heart to see it but I stood firm and made him sit in the corner until he said "sorry!" and came to his brother and said it while signing it too. He then proceeded to give Ryan a big kiss. Ryan stopped crying and smiled as soon as he got the kiss from his big brother. (Love to see stuff like this between them!)
On the way into Speech this morning, as the automatic doors opened, Logan said "open!" We have to go through two sets of doors to get into the hospital and he said it both times while helping me push the double stroller with his brother and sister in it. I get him to help me push the stroller or he wants to be carried and that he's getting to big to do anymore. Ms. Cheryl has been working with him for a while now as she normally meets us at the van and will take him inside. Each time they walk up to the doors she says "Open!" and tries to get him to but this is the first time I could make out what he was saying. Repetition or "practice makes perfect" really does work!!!
Update on the Flex Spending; they will not be able to help us with Ryan's formula at all. The only thing the would do is pay the difference between the normal formula and a special formula. Since he isn't on a special formula just the Toddler Next Step then we won't be getting help with that. It does look like they will be paying for their diapers though which is a big help. Better some than nothing at all so I'm happy with the outcome!
On the way into Speech this morning, as the automatic doors opened, Logan said "open!" We have to go through two sets of doors to get into the hospital and he said it both times while helping me push the double stroller with his brother and sister in it. I get him to help me push the stroller or he wants to be carried and that he's getting to big to do anymore. Ms. Cheryl has been working with him for a while now as she normally meets us at the van and will take him inside. Each time they walk up to the doors she says "Open!" and tries to get him to but this is the first time I could make out what he was saying. Repetition or "practice makes perfect" really does work!!!
Update on the Flex Spending; they will not be able to help us with Ryan's formula at all. The only thing the would do is pay the difference between the normal formula and a special formula. Since he isn't on a special formula just the Toddler Next Step then we won't be getting help with that. It does look like they will be paying for their diapers though which is a big help. Better some than nothing at all so I'm happy with the outcome!
Friday, February 15, 2008
New Link
I just added a new link to Natural Laws. They have a very interesting article regarding Autism and heavy metals that every parent should read. Please take a few minutes and read this article just so you have some very useful information.
We didn't know about the vaccinations before Logan; after he was diagnosed with Autism we didn't allow him or any of our other children to have them. It is a choice we made that wasn't hard for us but for those parents that haven't dealt with the Autism Spectrum, it's information that you probably wouldn't get. I'm not telling you to not get your child vaccinated, I'm just saying be totally informed before you make that decision.
As always, thanks for stopping by to read, have a great day.
We didn't know about the vaccinations before Logan; after he was diagnosed with Autism we didn't allow him or any of our other children to have them. It is a choice we made that wasn't hard for us but for those parents that haven't dealt with the Autism Spectrum, it's information that you probably wouldn't get. I'm not telling you to not get your child vaccinated, I'm just saying be totally informed before you make that decision.
As always, thanks for stopping by to read, have a great day.
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