Sam came through with flying colors, which was a huge relief. The laser techinique is a huge improvement over the old-version. He's had almost no pain and we've used no meds since Saturday morning.
He does have elf voice, much to our amusement. It's even more funny when he uses his Texas voice on top of the elf voice. Never a dull moment, that's for sure.
He's dying to eat "real" food--that's the hardest part. On Friday afternoon he cried because he couldn't have bologna of all things. He's just about tired of yogurt and popsicles, so we added mac and cheese today. I have a feeling that **I** going to be tired of that one in a few days, but if it makes him happy, we'll deal with it.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Ready for Surgery...
Sam's having his tonsils out tomorrow and he's quite excited. He's talked about it for days and any bad behavior, strange comment, errant action, etc. has been blamed on "the tonsils acting weird". At random, we discuss the tonsils. He also likes to have people look at them, and I do have to admit, they are quite impressive to see--gigantic doesn't even come close to describing.
When oldest brother had his out lo, those many years ago (nine, at least, wow), he had this odd little elf voice, so as we've been preparing Sam for the post-operative "issues" (pain, thirst, grogginess, etc), I also mentioned that his voice might be a little strange. I told him that Five sounded like an elf. He pondered this for a moment and thend asked:
"I wonder if I'll sound different. Do you think I'll sound British?"
And so, he's been practicing the accent--just in case. Then, out of the blue, today, he told MIL that he may also end up sounding like he's from Texas.
Either way, I have a feeling that tomorrow and the weekend that follows shall be quite interesting.
When oldest brother had his out lo, those many years ago (nine, at least, wow), he had this odd little elf voice, so as we've been preparing Sam for the post-operative "issues" (pain, thirst, grogginess, etc), I also mentioned that his voice might be a little strange. I told him that Five sounded like an elf. He pondered this for a moment and thend asked:
"I wonder if I'll sound different. Do you think I'll sound British?"
And so, he's been practicing the accent--just in case. Then, out of the blue, today, he told MIL that he may also end up sounding like he's from Texas.
Either way, I have a feeling that tomorrow and the weekend that follows shall be quite interesting.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Sam Does Love To Dine Out
And as one might imagine, we never know what to expect. He is not much of an eater, so he ends up with too much time on his hands and gets into various "situations". He also has volume-control issues, so we're forever having to shush him. Then, there's the probability that he will talk to a complete stranger before we can stop him or anticipate what he's going to say.
Sunday night, we took Sam and Jay to eat Chinese--Sam's favorite type of restaurant. I think that is in large part due to the fact that he can make a meal off of chicken and ice cream, but he eats himself silly, so we go. It's one of the few places we probably get our money's worth for his meal. And, just like most trips, he didn't disappoint--he had done so well with not blurting out random comments to people, but, finally, he couldn't control himself:
"Pardon me, are you an employee here?"
This was Sam's question to a server at the Chinese buffet restaurant last night. I wasn't sure where to find a bowl for ice cream, so he immediately took it upon himself to solve the problem--after all, a boy needs his ice cream, right? I was most proud of his manners and his sentence and even complimented him on his nice questions. It's a fine line, of course, since the next time he might just as easily ask someone why they are so old, or why that man's teeth look rotten. But this time, he did well. and the look on the lady's face was priceless as she told him that she was and then directed us to the bowls.
Sam was soon enjoying a bowl of rainbow sherbert which he has named, "Wild and Reckless"...the perfect dessert for the kid who for no apparent reason decided to use his body to form a human letter E on the floor by the buffet earlier, if you ask me (he was most pissed that I didn't applaud his efforts and instead chastized him for being on the floor. I did give him mad props for his interpretation of F a few moment later since he did that one vertically, albeit while blocking the lo mein, but it was definitely an improvement).
Oh, and somehow he managed to eat a piece of black olive that was on his pizza (obviously not a totally traditional Chinese buffet, eh, but quite good), so he was traumatized. Convinced that the olive was burning his tonsils and stomach due to some weird acid found only in olives, he was hesitant to consider that maybe, just maybe it was the spicey pizza sauce. Various olive comments came up from time to time throughout the meal (he was most proud of himself for "eating a vegetable), but I thought the topic was pretty much closed...which of course, it wasn't. The first thing he said to me this morning? "I guess I survived from eating that olive since I'm alive today."
Olive trauma. I'm sure somewhere later in life, there will be therapy for this.
Sunday night, we took Sam and Jay to eat Chinese--Sam's favorite type of restaurant. I think that is in large part due to the fact that he can make a meal off of chicken and ice cream, but he eats himself silly, so we go. It's one of the few places we probably get our money's worth for his meal. And, just like most trips, he didn't disappoint--he had done so well with not blurting out random comments to people, but, finally, he couldn't control himself:
"Pardon me, are you an employee here?"
This was Sam's question to a server at the Chinese buffet restaurant last night. I wasn't sure where to find a bowl for ice cream, so he immediately took it upon himself to solve the problem--after all, a boy needs his ice cream, right? I was most proud of his manners and his sentence and even complimented him on his nice questions. It's a fine line, of course, since the next time he might just as easily ask someone why they are so old, or why that man's teeth look rotten. But this time, he did well. and the look on the lady's face was priceless as she told him that she was and then directed us to the bowls.
Sam was soon enjoying a bowl of rainbow sherbert which he has named, "Wild and Reckless"...the perfect dessert for the kid who for no apparent reason decided to use his body to form a human letter E on the floor by the buffet earlier, if you ask me (he was most pissed that I didn't applaud his efforts and instead chastized him for being on the floor. I did give him mad props for his interpretation of F a few moment later since he did that one vertically, albeit while blocking the lo mein, but it was definitely an improvement).
Oh, and somehow he managed to eat a piece of black olive that was on his pizza (obviously not a totally traditional Chinese buffet, eh, but quite good), so he was traumatized. Convinced that the olive was burning his tonsils and stomach due to some weird acid found only in olives, he was hesitant to consider that maybe, just maybe it was the spicey pizza sauce. Various olive comments came up from time to time throughout the meal (he was most proud of himself for "eating a vegetable), but I thought the topic was pretty much closed...which of course, it wasn't. The first thing he said to me this morning? "I guess I survived from eating that olive since I'm alive today."
Olive trauma. I'm sure somewhere later in life, there will be therapy for this.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Just a Word of Caution
I'm going to be working on web stuff this weekend--updating ugly things, moving files and hopefully getting everything that is supposed to be active, active. This will, of course, cause things to go boom at some point. But I'll be back, of course. You shan't get rid of me that easily.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
The Patriot
Sam was most impressed with the Fourth of July. It was, I think, a highlight of the summer for him. We didn't do anything particularly spectacular--a swim party, a cookout, and watching fireworks at the house with sparklers at the end with the usual suspects...a group that ends up totaling 12 or 13 kids, a few dogs, a grandmother and various parents.
All day, Sam would ask randomly, "Is it Fourth of July?" The concept of time is still a bit vague...don't even ask him what day it is and time of day? He refers to his invisible watch and choses alternately between 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock at any time that he needs to know a time... but anyway. When it was affirmed that it was still the Fourth of July, he would gleefully clap or give a cheer and then go on about his business--which, I am happy to say included jumping into the pool on his own and going under over and over while wearing his vest. Huge step for Mr. I Hate to Get My Face Wet.
Turns out, he really didn't care diddly about any one aspect of the Fourth--he certainly wasn't overcome with patriotic fervor. He was rather partial to the unfettered access to marshmallows and the finale of birthday cake and the fact that he was able to also snag to minicupcakes...he ended up managing to miss the actual "meal" part of the day and only ate some macaroni and cheese for dinner as an afterthought. I thought maybe the fireworks were what he was excited about, but when it came time to watch, he was totally bored and saw about one explosion and was done with that. He did enjoy the sparklers and the snap-pops, and that was definitely a "biggie" for him, but I think that he was just excited about the idea that it was an important day and he knew that it was an important day and a cause for excitement and he was excited to be a part of that somehow.
Today he asked me what "today is". I told him July 5th. He was visibly excited--"that means that there's fireworks and a party again tonight, right?" When I told him no, it meant that we're cleaning the house and going to the dump, he frowned and said, "I thnk I like holidays better. When is it the Fourth of July again?"
All day, Sam would ask randomly, "Is it Fourth of July?" The concept of time is still a bit vague...don't even ask him what day it is and time of day? He refers to his invisible watch and choses alternately between 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock at any time that he needs to know a time... but anyway. When it was affirmed that it was still the Fourth of July, he would gleefully clap or give a cheer and then go on about his business--which, I am happy to say included jumping into the pool on his own and going under over and over while wearing his vest. Huge step for Mr. I Hate to Get My Face Wet.
Turns out, he really didn't care diddly about any one aspect of the Fourth--he certainly wasn't overcome with patriotic fervor. He was rather partial to the unfettered access to marshmallows and the finale of birthday cake and the fact that he was able to also snag to minicupcakes...he ended up managing to miss the actual "meal" part of the day and only ate some macaroni and cheese for dinner as an afterthought. I thought maybe the fireworks were what he was excited about, but when it came time to watch, he was totally bored and saw about one explosion and was done with that. He did enjoy the sparklers and the snap-pops, and that was definitely a "biggie" for him, but I think that he was just excited about the idea that it was an important day and he knew that it was an important day and a cause for excitement and he was excited to be a part of that somehow.
Today he asked me what "today is". I told him July 5th. He was visibly excited--"that means that there's fireworks and a party again tonight, right?" When I told him no, it meant that we're cleaning the house and going to the dump, he frowned and said, "I thnk I like holidays better. When is it the Fourth of July again?"
Monday, July 03, 2006
And Now a Few Words From Our Expert.....
Met with our new developmenta pediatrician at
Vanderbilt's Center for Child Development. We had a nice long meeting with Dr. Robert Couch who spent a couple of hours getting to know Sam and assessing his present situation. Lots of questions, drawing, a minor physical exam to check for balance, muscle tone, control, etc. Sam's sensory problems came out in full-swing as the doctor dared to try to lift him from the floor--you'd have thought that he was trying to skin him alive. It was panic-enducing. After about 15 minutes, at least, Sam was comfortable enough with him and the idea to let him pick him up (with arms straight at his side) about three inches from the floor and the "drop" him. He never would relax enough to lie in the doctor's lap on his stomach and "fly" across--we did see that he had the trunk strength to hold himself, but that was as far as we got. He was absolutely petrified to be suspended in that manner, which was actually new to me. I'll be looking at things we can do to work on that.
There was nothing earthshattering discovered at the appointment. He agreed with the dx and also agreed that Sam is very mild. So mild, in fact, that he might not even qualify for a couple of studies that are going on at Vanderbilt now (one is a sleep study and one is a gene study) or in the future, but he gave me information on both of them. He agreed with me that Sam's best bet for achievement in the classroom and beyond will be to give him a high-dose of interventions NOW while he is so malleable. He also pointed out that I should stress to the IEP team that an assistant in the classroom will be for the TEACHER to help teach Sam, NOT to do Sam's work for him. I've got to remember to make that disctinction.
He was impressed with Sam's vocabulary and imagination and discussions as most people are, but said at this point any further testing was needless since we have the dx and the services are being given. If, at some point, we are denied services that I think are needed due to his clearly flawed IQ score (since IQ isn't even valid at this age), then he said we might address it then. He also said that the only other reason to really delve into Sam's brain right now would be to try to look for causation, but in 90% or more of the kids with Autism Spectrum, there wasn't anything to single out, so that was generally a waste of time AND it wasn't as if things were going to be "healed" when we found them, so why go through it? We did agree that since my oldest son is very similar to Sam in a number of ways that this is probably a genetic thing (I'm seriously thinkning of having #1 tested on the Gilliam's scale).
As for any types of "treatments", he wrote scrips for Planguage therapy and OT in addition to whatever the school offers, warning me to keep in mind that they only have to offer what is "educationally necessary". He briefly mentioned that some children who are as, uh, "chatty" as Sam end up using some meds for ADHD, but he didn't think that it was appropriate to consider that yet since Sam was so young and we'd not had a chance to work on his classroom goals via behavioral methods yet. He also gave me the name of some resources at Vandy that I may need to use for the school and/or Sam's teacher--they offer training and even come to the schools for inservices or observations if our system is a client (I'm going to find out about that, too). He showed me some books that one of their educator uses that incorporate Visual Strategies in a number of ways. There are some great ideas for the classroom as well as at home. I'm going to purchase one of them for myself and then have a catalog with me for the teacher.
We go back in the spring. I want to check in with him and the educator to see where Sam is after half a year of kindergarten or so. I'll bring his IEP and ask them to look at it with me and see if they have any suggestions, additions, etc. I told Dr. Couch that my biggest fear was that I wasn't going to be able to get Sam the education that he needed and that he would miss out because we weren't dealing with him in the best way. I'm terrified that he'll just go to school and either flounder or roll along at his own pace, but in either situation, never realize his maximum potential. Of all my kids, he's the one whom I feel will be the most challenging to educate, not just because of the Aspergers, but also because of what I think is inside that head of his and I don't want a second rate education and lack of enrichment to be the difference between an adult who is able to realize a career with no limits and an adult who is miserable and can't hold a job or be happy doing anything.
Vanderbilt's Center for Child Development. We had a nice long meeting with Dr. Robert Couch who spent a couple of hours getting to know Sam and assessing his present situation. Lots of questions, drawing, a minor physical exam to check for balance, muscle tone, control, etc. Sam's sensory problems came out in full-swing as the doctor dared to try to lift him from the floor--you'd have thought that he was trying to skin him alive. It was panic-enducing. After about 15 minutes, at least, Sam was comfortable enough with him and the idea to let him pick him up (with arms straight at his side) about three inches from the floor and the "drop" him. He never would relax enough to lie in the doctor's lap on his stomach and "fly" across--we did see that he had the trunk strength to hold himself, but that was as far as we got. He was absolutely petrified to be suspended in that manner, which was actually new to me. I'll be looking at things we can do to work on that.
There was nothing earthshattering discovered at the appointment. He agreed with the dx and also agreed that Sam is very mild. So mild, in fact, that he might not even qualify for a couple of studies that are going on at Vanderbilt now (one is a sleep study and one is a gene study) or in the future, but he gave me information on both of them. He agreed with me that Sam's best bet for achievement in the classroom and beyond will be to give him a high-dose of interventions NOW while he is so malleable. He also pointed out that I should stress to the IEP team that an assistant in the classroom will be for the TEACHER to help teach Sam, NOT to do Sam's work for him. I've got to remember to make that disctinction.
He was impressed with Sam's vocabulary and imagination and discussions as most people are, but said at this point any further testing was needless since we have the dx and the services are being given. If, at some point, we are denied services that I think are needed due to his clearly flawed IQ score (since IQ isn't even valid at this age), then he said we might address it then. He also said that the only other reason to really delve into Sam's brain right now would be to try to look for causation, but in 90% or more of the kids with Autism Spectrum, there wasn't anything to single out, so that was generally a waste of time AND it wasn't as if things were going to be "healed" when we found them, so why go through it? We did agree that since my oldest son is very similar to Sam in a number of ways that this is probably a genetic thing (I'm seriously thinkning of having #1 tested on the Gilliam's scale).
As for any types of "treatments", he wrote scrips for Planguage therapy and OT in addition to whatever the school offers, warning me to keep in mind that they only have to offer what is "educationally necessary". He briefly mentioned that some children who are as, uh, "chatty" as Sam end up using some meds for ADHD, but he didn't think that it was appropriate to consider that yet since Sam was so young and we'd not had a chance to work on his classroom goals via behavioral methods yet. He also gave me the name of some resources at Vandy that I may need to use for the school and/or Sam's teacher--they offer training and even come to the schools for inservices or observations if our system is a client (I'm going to find out about that, too). He showed me some books that one of their educator uses that incorporate Visual Strategies in a number of ways. There are some great ideas for the classroom as well as at home. I'm going to purchase one of them for myself and then have a catalog with me for the teacher.
We go back in the spring. I want to check in with him and the educator to see where Sam is after half a year of kindergarten or so. I'll bring his IEP and ask them to look at it with me and see if they have any suggestions, additions, etc. I told Dr. Couch that my biggest fear was that I wasn't going to be able to get Sam the education that he needed and that he would miss out because we weren't dealing with him in the best way. I'm terrified that he'll just go to school and either flounder or roll along at his own pace, but in either situation, never realize his maximum potential. Of all my kids, he's the one whom I feel will be the most challenging to educate, not just because of the Aspergers, but also because of what I think is inside that head of his and I don't want a second rate education and lack of enrichment to be the difference between an adult who is able to realize a career with no limits and an adult who is miserable and can't hold a job or be happy doing anything.
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