In July 2011 we went on vacation and we visited my niece Yansy, she has a dog named Santi. At that time her son Niko was babysitting a lizard. We stayed at Yansy's for two night. Then in October 2011, we went back to visit Yansy. Immediately when the door open melanie went upstairs and looked around and said "wheres the doggy" and she saw the dog. Then she said "wheres the lizard" but it was no longer there. I was shocked that she remember that after 4 months had gone by.
Also in July we went to IN-N-Out burger. After we were done ordering our food, the cashier gave melanie some stickers. We ate then left. A week later we went to a different IN-N-Out and as I was ordering the food Melanie said "stickers please." again what great memory.
Recently we were driving home from school and Melanie fell asleep. I deceided to take a different route home. Shortly after exiting the freeway, she woke up and looked around and said "where we going." That too amazed me.
2 years old
Thursday, April 5, 2012
horse therapy (hippotherapy)
On 3/27/12, Melanie and I went to visit Newey Ranch to inquire about horse therapy. There we meet Rachel and she showed us the horses and the cows. Rachel put a chair next to a saddle to see if Melanie would climb on it. When we tried to put her on it she said no. Then Rachel and I started talking about the program before we knew it, Melanie had climbed on the saddle by herself. I've noticed that she likes to do things when she wants to do them :) We then went to pet a horse and melanie loved it she actually touched the horse. As we were leaving there was a calf and she was not interested in it, instead she looked around and said "wheres the roosters" Rachel said we have no roosters. Then melanie said "wheres the butterflies", Rachel said said we have no butterflies. We laughed and then went on our way.
On 3/31/12, Melanie received her first session. One of the therapist Lori came up to us and introduce herself, then she asked Melanie, Whats your name? and Melanie said "I'm Melanie then she looked at Adam and said "this is my daddy" and then turned to me and said "this is my mommy." We were shocked, that was the first time that Melanie had introduced us. Lori was also surprised and said that Melanie was the first child to do that. At first she wore her helmet and was anxious to get on the horse. The Therapist said the horses name is Spider and Melanie said Spider Man. We all laughed. When she got on the horse she did great. Then it was time for her to hold on to the rope and melanie let go and wanted to get down. So they took her down and let her walk on the dirt. As she walked the horse followed behing her. Then they asked if she wanted to walk the horse and she said yes. Finally after a few laps. The therapist put melanie on the horse. Ofcourse she took her helment off and crib but once the horse started walking she relaxed. Before we left we asked her what the horses name was and she said Itsy Bitsy Spider, we laughed some more. I was worried that she was not going to like it but those therapist know what they are doing. Now Melanie cant stop talking about the horse and she can't wait to go see him.
On 3/31/12, Melanie received her first session. One of the therapist Lori came up to us and introduce herself, then she asked Melanie, Whats your name? and Melanie said "I'm Melanie then she looked at Adam and said "this is my daddy" and then turned to me and said "this is my mommy." We were shocked, that was the first time that Melanie had introduced us. Lori was also surprised and said that Melanie was the first child to do that. At first she wore her helmet and was anxious to get on the horse. The Therapist said the horses name is Spider and Melanie said Spider Man. We all laughed. When she got on the horse she did great. Then it was time for her to hold on to the rope and melanie let go and wanted to get down. So they took her down and let her walk on the dirt. As she walked the horse followed behing her. Then they asked if she wanted to walk the horse and she said yes. Finally after a few laps. The therapist put melanie on the horse. Ofcourse she took her helment off and crib but once the horse started walking she relaxed. Before we left we asked her what the horses name was and she said Itsy Bitsy Spider, we laughed some more. I was worried that she was not going to like it but those therapist know what they are doing. Now Melanie cant stop talking about the horse and she can't wait to go see him.
new things.
A few weeks ago i was cleaning out the truck and i found one of her toys. When i gave it to her she said "mom you're the best". Aww that melted my heart. So i wondered where she heard that. Well yesturday we saw Curtis and he has a big stuffed tigger. Curtis squeezed tigger and he said you're the best, so now i know where she got it. Now everytime i pick her up from school she tells me "mom you're the best."
On monday 3/5/12 i took her to the childrens place and ofcourse she wanted everything. We saw a cute denim skirt and i said do you want this one and she said no thats Annies (a girl in her class.) if melanie sees something that someone else is wearing she wont wear it or if someone is wearing something she has she will throw a fit because she thinks its hers and wants it back. Then she saw two baggies filled with clippies and lip gloss, she grabbed two different ones and out loud she told herself, PICK and she used her finger to point to the one she wanted.
On monday 3/5/12 i took her to the childrens place and ofcourse she wanted everything. We saw a cute denim skirt and i said do you want this one and she said no thats Annies (a girl in her class.) if melanie sees something that someone else is wearing she wont wear it or if someone is wearing something she has she will throw a fit because she thinks its hers and wants it back. Then she saw two baggies filled with clippies and lip gloss, she grabbed two different ones and out loud she told herself, PICK and she used her finger to point to the one she wanted.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Updated
Melanie has made huge progress. Her vocabulary has exploded. She can now make 5 word sentences. My favorite one was said when Adam was putting the outdoor xmas decorations away. She looked out the window and said "what the f..k happened to my xmas trees." I was shocked that she used that word but was excited that she said a complete sentence. Later I found out that Adam had said that word. Melanies speech difficulties are in pronounciation and articulation. She will drop the last letter or omit a letter. For example IPAD. She will say IPA. She cant say sponge instead she will say onge. The therapist are working on that. In january we deceided to stop seeing JoEllen one of her speech therapist because Melanie was seeing 3 Speech therapist thats too much for a little kid. Now we are down to two. Curtis and Amanda (shes from the public school.) its working out better for us.
In Dec 2010 I applied fot TEFRA. I was told that it was a long process and difficult to get but I applied anyways. In Jan 2011 i had my appointment with them. By April i was told that she was confirmed to have a disability but that they are waiting for the level of care. Every month I would call my caseworker and no answers. Months went by and i could not get someone to tell me what the delay was. Finally in November I was able to speek to Debbie from TEFRA. She said that Melanie did not qualify because her IQ was too high. Mental retardation is of an IQ of 75 and below, Melanies was 79. So because she was over she did not qualify. I stayed on the phone for over hour advocating for my child. Debbie felt she needed more evidence so she requested that the therapist write a letter, which they did. After receiving the letters she said that a nurse will visit my home and if we pass inspection then we were approved. We had the visit at the end of November and by December we were approved. I cant believe that i had to fight hard for my child. It aggravates me how a child with a disability cant get help but a child of a mom who refuses to work gets everything. Thanks to TEFRA we no longer have to pay for speech therapy.
In Aug Melanie had her first dental appt. Liz one of her therapist came with us to the appt. Liz was great she had toys and an Ipad, she was prepared. Liz practiced with Melanie before it was her turn and she did great. I was amazed Melanie did so good with the help of Liz. She got her teeth polished and brushed. It was a huge accomplishment bc teeth polishing is difficult for children. Everything was going great until she received floride. Immediately she threw up all over the ipad, herself, my hands and the floor. Thank goodness for the ipad cover it lived up to its expectations and for me being a nurse. She will have another appt on 2/29 this time Adam will be going lets hope for the best.
My poor baby got her first ear infection and i felt so bad for missing the one sign that she gave. Most children with Autism dont sence pain or can't understand if they are in pain and if they do have something wrong they dont know how to say it. The sign was that she wanted a q-tip to put in her ear. (she never wants one)On 2/15 at 2330 she woke up screaming. I did not know what was wrong. After several attempts to get her back to sleep she finally screamed and cried like never before. I then asked whats wrong, what hurts? She cried my ear hurts take me to the doctor. I gave her tylenol and after a few hours she fell asleep. That morning i took her to the doctor. She had a really bad ear infection caused by the cold shes had for a week. Now shes on ear numbing drops and abx. She is doing so much better and no longer complaining of
pain.
In Dec 2010 I applied fot TEFRA. I was told that it was a long process and difficult to get but I applied anyways. In Jan 2011 i had my appointment with them. By April i was told that she was confirmed to have a disability but that they are waiting for the level of care. Every month I would call my caseworker and no answers. Months went by and i could not get someone to tell me what the delay was. Finally in November I was able to speek to Debbie from TEFRA. She said that Melanie did not qualify because her IQ was too high. Mental retardation is of an IQ of 75 and below, Melanies was 79. So because she was over she did not qualify. I stayed on the phone for over hour advocating for my child. Debbie felt she needed more evidence so she requested that the therapist write a letter, which they did. After receiving the letters she said that a nurse will visit my home and if we pass inspection then we were approved. We had the visit at the end of November and by December we were approved. I cant believe that i had to fight hard for my child. It aggravates me how a child with a disability cant get help but a child of a mom who refuses to work gets everything. Thanks to TEFRA we no longer have to pay for speech therapy.
In Aug Melanie had her first dental appt. Liz one of her therapist came with us to the appt. Liz was great she had toys and an Ipad, she was prepared. Liz practiced with Melanie before it was her turn and she did great. I was amazed Melanie did so good with the help of Liz. She got her teeth polished and brushed. It was a huge accomplishment bc teeth polishing is difficult for children. Everything was going great until she received floride. Immediately she threw up all over the ipad, herself, my hands and the floor. Thank goodness for the ipad cover it lived up to its expectations and for me being a nurse. She will have another appt on 2/29 this time Adam will be going lets hope for the best.
My poor baby got her first ear infection and i felt so bad for missing the one sign that she gave. Most children with Autism dont sence pain or can't understand if they are in pain and if they do have something wrong they dont know how to say it. The sign was that she wanted a q-tip to put in her ear. (she never wants one)On 2/15 at 2330 she woke up screaming. I did not know what was wrong. After several attempts to get her back to sleep she finally screamed and cried like never before. I then asked whats wrong, what hurts? She cried my ear hurts take me to the doctor. I gave her tylenol and after a few hours she fell asleep. That morning i took her to the doctor. She had a really bad ear infection caused by the cold shes had for a week. Now shes on ear numbing drops and abx. She is doing so much better and no longer complaining of
pain.
IEP Meeting
On June 13, 2011 we had our first IEP Meeting. We meet with the superintendent of special education. Everything went well. They asked us basic questions to get the process started. The official IEP meeting will be in Sept.
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