Everyday she impresses me more and more. This summer we took her to Disneyland and she did amazing. She was able to leave the Disney stores without difficulty. She participated in two shows. Thanks to her imitation skills she was able to imitate the other children and blend right in. We also took her to the beach which she loved. We took her to a restaurant in El Centro, where we had lunch with some of my high school friends. Melanie did so good. She was able to entertain herself with the iPad. My friends were so impressed on how well behaved she was. Yeah!!!
In August all of her friends graduated from Early Foundations. That was very difficult for her because she did not understand why they were not coming back in August. She misses her friends so much especially Emma and Cherish. The first couple of months back to school was hard for her. Every time she would go to class she would ask for her friends. Melanie began to say that they were sick and that's why they weren't there. She's now adjusted and has made new friends but she still mentions her other friends and always wants to go see them.
Going to the stores has gotten easier. Of course she wants everything but she doesn't throw tantrums like before. If she wants something we say that we will get it for her bday or Xmas and she's perfectly fine with it. There are times where she doesn't fall for that so at the check out we have her choose between a toy or chocolate. She always goes for the chocolate which is marvelous since its way cheaper.
In September she celebrated her 4th birthday. She did not want to be 4. Every time you would mention that's she's going to be 4, she would get so mad. She had a princess party. We had Ariel as a special guest. Melanie was excited to see her but she did not want to participate in the funny hat song. She would run to her room and cry. The other little girl who is typical did not understand but she did not say a thing and continued to play. Eventually when the song was over Melanie joined in and the party was a success.
We had no problems during thanksgiving and xmas. Melanie enjoys spending time with family. The bad part is that she hates taking picture. We did manage to get a few good ones. When she's in the mood for pictures she loves to make silly faces. She gets that from papa and her dad.
2 years old
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, April 5, 2012
good memory
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.
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.
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.
Friday, April 22, 2011
new updates
Sorry it's taken me a long time to post updates. I came to a point where I needed a break from Autism. It was consuming my life (it still does but in a mommy role now.) Now after a few months, I'm feeling more like myself again and ready to share our life experiences about the wonderful world of Autism.
I did get to visit with Curtis from Specialized Autism Tutoring on Dec 17, 2010. We visited his location and we loved it. There is one huge room filled with lots of toys, that Melanie really loved. He also has different setups; for instance a dentist area and a grocery store. Those setups are there to prepare kids/adults for the real world. He also has a smaller room for days when the huge room can be overwhelming. To my surprise he did have an opening available for Mondays, which I immediately took (first appointment was on my birthday Dec 20th.) Curtis's style is unique because he adjusts his personality to fit that of the child. He's pretty much a "big kid" with a college degree. The method he uses is through play and while he is playing, he gets Melanie to talk. At first I thought that he was just a playmate for Melanie because thats what it looks like but somehow Melanie is repeating what he says. It's been about 4 months now that Melanie has been receiving speech from Curtis and she has made major improvements.
To my other surprise I applied for a grant to help pay for Melanie's therapy and we got it. I was so happy, I couldn't believe it. We are using that money to pay for more Speech Therapy. The person we deceided to see her name is JoEllen. Now she's alot different than Curtis. JoEllen is more serious and structured. It's kind of like going to the doctors office. At first I had mix feelings about her because I kept comparing her to Curtis. Everyone kept telling me to give her a chance and now I'm glad I did. She is great in her own way. I did have to give her a few pointers about Melanie and luckly she has taken my suggestions. That therapy started on March 9, 2011. Melanie see's her once a week.
I'm so happy to say that with the therapy she is receiving from Early Foundations, Curtis and JoEllen, Melanie now says about 130 words or more. That's a huge accomplishment from when she started in September. She still has a long way to go but we are happy with where she is at now. There are many more words that she knows but she doesn't know how to peronounce them so we haven't counted them. At the same time that she is learning to say words, they are teaching her to combine words. For example when she wants milk she needs to start saying more milk instead of just the word milk. Eventually the goal will be for her to say I want more milk. She does know how to say some multi words for instance; READY SET GO, ALL DONE, GO AWAY, BYE BYE DADDY and that's all I can think of.
You maybe wondering why we are counting but when you have a child that started with hardly no words at age 2 and can now say 130+ in 7 months, thats exciting news for us all. With a typical kid it's expected that they will talk, make friends, go to a regular school, grow up to be independent adults but with an Autistic child, you don't know what to expect. You take it day by day and you praise every new thing that they accomplish.
On Dec 7, 2010 Melanie went to see a new Pediatrician, Dr. Kombs. I deceided to switch her doctors because I wanted one that was familiar with Autism. At first I had mix feelings about her, but I guess thats expected since I really liked her old Pediatrician and she had seen Melanie since she was born (the old doctor had no clue about Autism). So I deceided to apply for grants to help pay for the services that Melanie needs and part of the application process was a letter from the Dr. explaining about Melanies condition and what type of therapy she needs, well I just have to say that Dr. Kombs did an amazing job. I was so impressed with the letter that I received. Also on March 24, 2011 Melanie went for her 2 1/2 year check up and Dr. Kombs remembered everything that we talked about in Dec. without me having to remind her, now thats impressive. At that visit she also re-tested Melanie on her developement. Developementally she is a little bit below the average 2 year old, which is great (at age 2 she was about a one year old level). Also we did the MCHAT test again and Melanie only missed 2 (when we first took that test she missed 13). So exciting. Therapy works and Melanie is living proof.
Our new challenge now is teaching Melanie to sleep in her own bed. It's going to be a long process but we hope to accomplish is by Memorial Break. We have transitioned her to her own bed but she still needs us by herside to fall asleep and unfortunaltely she still wakes up in the middle of the night. Our goal is for her to go to bed by herself and stay asleep through the night. I am reading a really good book called "Sleep Better! A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs" by V. Mark Durand. This book can be used for typical children and adults.
I did get to visit with Curtis from Specialized Autism Tutoring on Dec 17, 2010. We visited his location and we loved it. There is one huge room filled with lots of toys, that Melanie really loved. He also has different setups; for instance a dentist area and a grocery store. Those setups are there to prepare kids/adults for the real world. He also has a smaller room for days when the huge room can be overwhelming. To my surprise he did have an opening available for Mondays, which I immediately took (first appointment was on my birthday Dec 20th.) Curtis's style is unique because he adjusts his personality to fit that of the child. He's pretty much a "big kid" with a college degree. The method he uses is through play and while he is playing, he gets Melanie to talk. At first I thought that he was just a playmate for Melanie because thats what it looks like but somehow Melanie is repeating what he says. It's been about 4 months now that Melanie has been receiving speech from Curtis and she has made major improvements.
To my other surprise I applied for a grant to help pay for Melanie's therapy and we got it. I was so happy, I couldn't believe it. We are using that money to pay for more Speech Therapy. The person we deceided to see her name is JoEllen. Now she's alot different than Curtis. JoEllen is more serious and structured. It's kind of like going to the doctors office. At first I had mix feelings about her because I kept comparing her to Curtis. Everyone kept telling me to give her a chance and now I'm glad I did. She is great in her own way. I did have to give her a few pointers about Melanie and luckly she has taken my suggestions. That therapy started on March 9, 2011. Melanie see's her once a week.
I'm so happy to say that with the therapy she is receiving from Early Foundations, Curtis and JoEllen, Melanie now says about 130 words or more. That's a huge accomplishment from when she started in September. She still has a long way to go but we are happy with where she is at now. There are many more words that she knows but she doesn't know how to peronounce them so we haven't counted them. At the same time that she is learning to say words, they are teaching her to combine words. For example when she wants milk she needs to start saying more milk instead of just the word milk. Eventually the goal will be for her to say I want more milk. She does know how to say some multi words for instance; READY SET GO, ALL DONE, GO AWAY, BYE BYE DADDY and that's all I can think of.
You maybe wondering why we are counting but when you have a child that started with hardly no words at age 2 and can now say 130+ in 7 months, thats exciting news for us all. With a typical kid it's expected that they will talk, make friends, go to a regular school, grow up to be independent adults but with an Autistic child, you don't know what to expect. You take it day by day and you praise every new thing that they accomplish.
On Dec 7, 2010 Melanie went to see a new Pediatrician, Dr. Kombs. I deceided to switch her doctors because I wanted one that was familiar with Autism. At first I had mix feelings about her, but I guess thats expected since I really liked her old Pediatrician and she had seen Melanie since she was born (the old doctor had no clue about Autism). So I deceided to apply for grants to help pay for the services that Melanie needs and part of the application process was a letter from the Dr. explaining about Melanies condition and what type of therapy she needs, well I just have to say that Dr. Kombs did an amazing job. I was so impressed with the letter that I received. Also on March 24, 2011 Melanie went for her 2 1/2 year check up and Dr. Kombs remembered everything that we talked about in Dec. without me having to remind her, now thats impressive. At that visit she also re-tested Melanie on her developement. Developementally she is a little bit below the average 2 year old, which is great (at age 2 she was about a one year old level). Also we did the MCHAT test again and Melanie only missed 2 (when we first took that test she missed 13). So exciting. Therapy works and Melanie is living proof.
Our new challenge now is teaching Melanie to sleep in her own bed. It's going to be a long process but we hope to accomplish is by Memorial Break. We have transitioned her to her own bed but she still needs us by herside to fall asleep and unfortunaltely she still wakes up in the middle of the night. Our goal is for her to go to bed by herself and stay asleep through the night. I am reading a really good book called "Sleep Better! A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs" by V. Mark Durand. This book can be used for typical children and adults.
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