The mountain

I read this excerpt in a book Ive been reading on Autism. It really hit home with me and I thought Id share.

There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains.

The lowlanders didn't know how to climb the mountain. They didn't know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn't know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain.

Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home.

The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet.

Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below.

As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby's mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn't figured out how to climb.

And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be?

One man greeted her and said, "We couldn't climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn't do it?"

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It wasn't your baby."

iPad Blessings

About a week after Trevor got his official Autism diagnosis I opened the door to go get the mail, and there was a giftbag on the porch. The tag read "Someone in the church said this will bless your son". Surprised and slightly confused, I opened the bag up and inside was a new iPad and case!!! I had read about the great autism and learning apps for the iPad and it was on our list of things to get/ do for him when we had the funds. I silll cant believe that someone was so generous to bless him with one!!! Since than we have gotten some apps for specific areas that he is struggling with. He loves it, and has done so well with it-he is so gentle and careful. Right now we only have learning apps on it and we sit together every day and have work on them. I like being able to watch and see how well he does and explain to him when he doesn't understand or might miss a question. I think most of the apps we have been using would be great reinforcement for any kid but esspecially for one that might be struggling with language skills.

Our fav apps at the moment:

1. Buddy Bear-  Basic questions, Yes/ No questions, Associations, Comparitives, Opposites and Grammar. Its a super cute teddy bear in different situations where Trevor has to chose the right answer, or move buddy bear to a certain place. When he gets the answer right, the voice restates the question and answer and than says" good job!" The voice is super cute and its really simple but I can already tell that its helped with his receptive language skills.

2.iTouch, iLearn apps- We have "words" right now but I think they have other apps as well. It has different activities and games and songs. He really likes to watch the little animations of the different words.

3. Different Roads to Learning Apps- There are several of these that we currently have: What goes together, What's that sound, Clean Up: category sorting, and Lets build a Bedroom.  I love how each of these cheers for him when he gets the answer right! He loves positive reinforcement!

I hope one day we can bless someone like we have been blessed :)

Cousins Are The Best!

Growing up I had 4 sisters and 2 brothers, so I always had someone to play with. Since Trevor is an only child right now, I'm so thankful for all of his cousins. He currently has 11 of them, and he usually gets to play with all of them during the week. (not pictured are the 4 youngest and one in utero but he loves them too! I wish I had an even number of pictures of each cousin, guess this mama needs to take more pictures!). Since social skills might/probably will continue to be a struggle for Trevor- I am SO glad that he has such a sweet group of friends that are so accepting.I hope that as they grow up they will stay close and make tons of crazy amazing memories!

Sweet Dreams Dear Trevor

Sleep is something that has always been hard for Trevor. Ever since he was a baby he has tossed and turned, wimpered in his sleep, and itched and woke up most nights. Sleep is so important for development and it made such a difference for how he was able to cope with daily life. Since he never napped I tried as hard as I could to make sure he got at least 12 hrs of sleep and I often made some pretty crazy accomadations to make sure that he got sleep. He was never one to cry or fuss about having to go to bed, when he moved from his crib to a toddler bed, he didnt try and get out of bed. It was always him just not being able to sleep, or restless sleep. Some nights it would take forever for him to fall asleep, he was just laying there in the dark waiting for his body to shut down. As someone that has battled insomnia quite a bit, it just broke my heart. I know how rough it is to be tired and not be able to sleep.

Over time changes have helped him some. I cut out all milk from his diet and he started sleeping through the night, special lotion helped with the itching, his room is now as dark as possible at night because of his sensitivity to light, and he has a strict bedtime and routine. His sleep was still restless and it took him a long time to relax and go to sleep. While doing some research on different therapies I came across the a website talking about the merits of weighted blankets for autistic childrens sleep. The weight of the blanket was supposed to help calm them and help them sleep.

 I asked My wonderful sister Carey to make one for Trevor. She is the most amazing quilter and she selflessly made it for him while pregnant/with a new baby. She is such a blessing.Trevor picked out the fabric with 3 of his favorite things, sports balls, blue and cars. The blanket weighs a little over 4 lbs and is so cute and cozy. The past two nights since he has slept under his weighted blanket trevor has fallen asleep in about 5 mins with no tossing or turning. AMAZING! Tonight he asked me for it as he climbed in bed so I think he knows its helping him sleep. I am so excited for him that he has finally gotten some rest, and from what I can tell, its been peaceful rest. Doesn't he look cozy? :)

Trevor-what a difference you've made in my life

Growing up I always knew one day I wanted to be a mom, but it wasn't until I had Trevor I realized how much. As cliche as it sounds, I really 100%  could not imagine my life without this guy.Thank you Trevor for the love and joy you bring to my life. I am such a better person because of you! I can honestly say that I have changed so much since you came into my life. Something about your little smile and the way that you embrace life inspires me. The responsibility of being your mom makes me want to be a more Godly woman. I hope you know that I will always love you, fight for you and be your biggest fan. You are my sunshine, my heart, and being your mom is my favorite!

 

Best is Not Always Easiest

I taught Trevor how to have a water fight today. He was playing with his water table in silence lining little plastic cups up and watching the water stream over the side of the table making a pile of frothy bubbles on the grass. (He told me it was "snow bubbles" andasked to "make snowman" so im pretty sure when he asked me for soap and the hose he was trying to create snow to make his own snowman. Funny kid.) I could have let him play by himself happily and he wouldn't have complained. It's usually me that is pestering him to play with me, to let me in his little world. I convinced him to fill up his plastic cup with water from the water table and then I asked him to throw the water in his cup on me. He looked at me like I was crazy, and so I filled my cup up and splashed the water on his feet. His face went from suprise, to glee and to then to mischeivious. He thought it was super hilarious that I was encouraging him to throw water on me. We got soaked and laughed so hard that we couldn't catch our breath.

I thought, as I was playing, that the word "fight" in water fight was very appropriate. It's been a fight to get to this place that he would be so excited to play with me, that he would easily move from his little world to one that included me..There were so many days that he would cry if I even came in the room when he wanted to be alone. I used to mistakenly think that it was best and made him happiest if I just went along with what he seemed to want. But now that I have gotten better at figuring out how to convince him to interact, I'm realizing he never wanted to be alone. He wasn't retreating because he didn't want to play, but because he didnt know what else to do. His little world is comfortable, he knows how it works, and it's easier for him, but its not best for him to be there alone.

Every parent knows/learns that what is BEST for your child is not always the easiest. It's easy to give them what they want instead of what they need or what is in their best interest. Normally, this concept was something I thought of in terms of discipline, rules, but it's something Im still learning,to apply to most of Trevor's daily life. His autism is something we hope to one day overcome and part of that is pulling him out of his comfort zone and try and get him to interact, though sometimes it makes him sad, frustrated, and a little uncomfortable. Sometimes it takes awhile, sometimes it's easy, and sometimes he just really has to have his space and I just have to try again in bit. But its BEST.

Playing to Learn

I love to play with Trevor, and while lots of times we are just having fun, I try and use it to teach as well.

Meet his new robot friends. Red Robot and Black Robot as he named them. He LOVES them. I picked them up at a consignment sale here in town and though they were would be perfect for practicing conversation.I get to be the red robot and his favorite is the black one. As much as possible when we are playing cars, or dinosaurs or here lately, robots i've been trying to use that time to practice conversation. At first it was just me making the two toys talk to each other but here lately he is responding to my toy and sometimes even making them talk to each other on his own *happy squeal* He even changes voices when he is switching from one toy to the other. So cute!

Usually our conversations involve things like introducing ourselves, asking to play, sharing, voicing needs or wants, ect. Everything is SUPER nice and polite and very gentle. Needless to say trevor's dinosaurs and robots share, take naps and give each other hugs ;)

He is mostly parroting things I have said and I havent heard much creative conversation but I am excited that he is able to apply this to conversation with me as well! This morning he came up to me and said " what's name" and I told him my name was mommy, and I asked him what his name was, and he pointed to himself and said " name Trevor". Happy dance! This was on the list of things that his first speech therapist had given me to work on. Ive noticed too that sometimes times he will make his toys say things that he is feeling, like when he is hungry or tired, helps a mommy out :)

So here's to robots!