Hooray For Swings...

Well, after writing my last blog I was encouraged to quit talking and get doing. I ordered a hammock chair for Ryan and I am happy to say that my wonderful man already mounted it up and we've used it a million times since! Ryan loves it! So does Dylan (who keeps saying he needs therapy too when we tell him the stuff we buy isn't just for fun but it's to help Ryan with therapy. I guess we could have just left it as "yeah, it's for fun" and not have a kid that claims he needs therapy... oh well, lesson learned).

This is the "in a trance" face Ryan gets after swinging for a  few  minutes. He stays in this zone for 15 minutes easily, sometimes 20 to 30 minutes. 

He was holding on to and playing with the smallest puzzle piece ever. He was pretending it was a rocket ship. 

We were blessed by my awesome grandparents who gave us some cash to use to buy some of Ryan's therapy goodies too!!! (Thank you so much grandma, you are awesome and we love you)!! We went out right away and got the boy a trampoline! We intended to have it put away when he's not using to prevent injuries and we have yet to do so because he has used it nonstop! I tried to get pictures of it... harder to do than I originally thought so I will save that for the next blog. The money also was used to pay for the swing and hardware used to mount it!

Next on the list is a possible homemade tunnel. I'm just trying to determine the best way to configure the opening so it stays open... (Any ideas Amber??) I was going to get some ugly, hilariously bright, fabric and just have fun with it! SO,Joann's sale section, here I come... but it was an epic fail! Even the fabric in the sale section was too pricey to get enough to make a decent tunnel. I checked out some dog agility ones online too but they're not cheap and I'm milking this cash! Finally, last night, I was remaking Ryan's bed after doing laundry and I had a thought...why not use an old sheet that isn't used! So I grabbed two sheets that we have lying around and now it's in the "to sew" in-box I have to be completed... (hopefully sooner than later).

I'm still working on the weighted items. I still want to get him the yuk-e ball. I am also considering a balance beam that Amber told me she made. Sounds awesome and Ryan has a blast balancing on stuff. Maybe I can get him a bosu ball...


On another note, we completed the testing for Autism with Kaiser. Great news, Ryan is not autistic. His final diagnosis is learning delay with speech delay and sensory processing disorder. Now the school district says Ryan displays autistic like behaviors and that's true. But the testing is done and the labels mean nothing. It is fine with me because they will continue to offer us the services Ryan needs to be prepared for general education. He also is too young to be diagnosed with Asperger's or ADD. So with the testing done, we just have to follow up with a behavior specialist every 6 months to a year, continue with occupational therapy, and see a speech therapist for however long they see fit.

The main objective in the testing was to rule out Autism to better diagnose the sensory issues. Most Autistic kids have some sort of sensory issues (or so I've been told by everyone from the school district and Kaiser). It's, of course, not always the case, but this is why we pushed for the testing despite everyone insisting that Ryan wasn't autistic. (And I use the term everyone but some thought it was possible). So now with clarification we can hone in to the sensory needs. The psychologist ruled out autism and says Ryan is a case where he only has SPD and speech delays.  

I guess that's all for now. I will post again soon. Hopefully I will have the tube and the weights. I shall keep you all posted.

With Love,
Audrey (and Ryan)

It's been awhile... but there's much to say!

There is so much to write and I don't even remember where I left off. SO let's just get right down to business.. We've completed the RSEED testing for the school district. The last appointment left me in tears and is the real reason I haven't blogged. I didn't know what to think or how to approach the matter. I'm better now and am ready to share. So the school district classified Ryan with high performing autism... it's not a diagnosis but they say he falls within the "range". Our meting is set for the 13th to see what the school district is prepared to offer. When I left the last testing appointment there was talk of him not qualifying for the free school district preschool and that I would need to find (aka pay for) his preschool. This kinda sucked since the original reason for going through the testing was in hopes that he qualified for the preschool. It doesn't suck in the fact that he's not severe enough that he needs assistance. He will, regardless of what they offer, still get an IEP and will have options.What those are I don't know. I'm hoping they will go over that in the IEP meeting later this month. So that was that so far with the testing. I was crying in the last appointment because I wasn't really emotionally ready for the "autism" word. I'm not worried about loving him or treating him differently. It was more a matter of "I love him no matter what" but let's be honest, no mom wants a "broken" kid. In the big picture it's not a big deal, but I guess I just had a harder time with it than I let others to believe. Moving on...  

On the other hand, having said all that, the doctors on his case at Kaiser think the school district is mistaken and everyone I've talked to thinks the idea of Ryan having autism of any form is ridiculous. The nurses I've spoken to say that the school district mislabel stuff all the time and that Ryan doesn't indicate specific signs of autism that Kaiser looks for... though this made me happy it also confused the heck out of me! I asked the OT (who firmly disagrees with the school district and blames the signs they pointed out on the SPD) for the referral to the Kaiser autism clinic anyway for the sake of peace of mine. She agreed and put the order in. The nurse from the behavioral department called on behalf of the specialist (who we met with originally, who had little to no contact with Ryan, and who was the one who had to put the original referral in to the OT and speech therapist) said that Ryan has technically gone thru 3 of the 4 steps of the clinic already. Seeing the behavioral specialist was the first step, meeting with the OT was the second and meeting with the speech therapist was the third. Apparently the last step is a final evaluation done by the same specialist. And that thereafter you meet with all of them and they give you the run down. Something that would have been nice to know YESTERDAY! (Sarcasm of course.. just annoyed that I was in the dark.. but still comforting still knowing that they're not worried he has autism). 

So we're still meeting with the OT, and the speech therapist. We have our retake schedule set for the age appropriate hearing test. And we have our meeting set with the school district. Thereafter I have a meeting set with the behavior specialist to go over the documents from the school district. Did I mention these appointments are ALL THIS MONTH! Sheesh! Well, it's all to his benefit so no big deal. I hope I'm prepared for whatever comes our way. I just want what is best for him (aside from quickly medicating him). I hate to prove the school district ladies wrong because they really were wonderful. 

As far as his sensory diet goes, I got him a jumpolene, which he popped in a matter of days. I'm considering a real trampoline now. Since watching and catering to his ques new developments have transpired in his behavior. He used to be a good sleeper (which is uncommon for SPD kids). The OT attributed this to his mental struggle to avoid light touch. Well now that he gets a fair amount of sensory input he has had trouble sleeping. He fights me tongue and cheek and incredibly attached to Dylan. Wants to sleep with him and play with him. When he isn't here he naps in Dylan's bed and  specifically asks for Dylan's bed too. It's cute but it's clear that Dylan is the new "comfort blanket". I also originally thought Ryan to be more hyposensitive (under-responsive to sensory experiences) but lately he has shown signs of hypersensitivity (over-responsive to sensory stimulation): like sound bothering him, and though he is talking A LOT more, he whispers a lot. He also has been putting things in his mouth. I'm going to ask the OT her take on this. I'm sure he's just getting more comfortable with life and people since he is given a chance to release his energy. I see the OT on Friday... Hopefully I remember to bring it up. 

As for what Ryan has begun to show a real liking too... the tire swing. Down the street at Dylan's school they have a tire swing and he loves to spin and rock in it. Just non stop! Until he sees Dylan doing something and then he is quick to follow. He also can really ride his bike now! He loves it!! 

Well that's all for now. I'm sure I left you with an earful (or an eyeful... since you're reading). I hope to blog again sooner than later. We meet with the speech therapist tomorrow so I will try to blog an update on that before I'm bombarded with other appointments and then forget to update you on all the fun details of this journey. 

For those of you interested in reading a little about what SPD is, check out this article my friend Crystal sent me. Feel free to email me anything you see or think of! I can use all eyes looking for good play ideas and tools! 

Thanks for listening and praying for me. I know having a good support system is important! Love you all!