Princess Alexa Closets

Yesterday was a really special day. The closets at Children's Medical opened and the kids there were so excited. Cry's foundation is an amazing gift to seriously ill children. Yesterday was her angel day. I can't believe that a year has gone by since she passed, the opening of the closets was the most fitting tribute. Dawson lost a favorite friend and cousin but he still remembers her.

ARD update: River had his ARD yesterday morning to officially be entered in to the PPCD program. I am hopeful and there are some good plans in place.

My job update: I am going to be the academic coordinator at my school next year and I will officially be a part of the administrative team. One more step closer to where I want to be and great on the job training. I will be responsible for the 504/at-risk kids and so I won't be teaching.

Things I am worried about and things I am not...

Things I am not worried about...

The psychologist said that it will be really easy to tell once school starts what problems River actually has and he could be dismissed really quickly if they don't have any major concerns after observing him through several classroom visits. River is very smart and they said that sometimes really smart can sometimes look autistic. He knows all of his letters and what sounds they make, he knows all his numbers up to 20. He knows a lot of stuff! He does love to play with people and interact with others, but so did Dawson.

Things I am worried about...

The evaluator couldn't say without a doubt that River didn't need some kind of services. She did notice several things throughout the observation that were off. I have noticed, and his ECI speech therapist noticed that in the last month River's speech has become a little more garbled where it used to be really clear. His has started babbling again sometimes and he hasn't done that since he was a baby. His eye contact has gotten worse and he wouldn't look people in the eye during the observation. He has a hard time answering questions about what happened in the past and doesn't initiate conversation. Right now 3 (River's 3rd b-day is August 10th), is when all of the behaviors start to really come out if a child is autistic. I used to have in my mind what autism meant, a child flapping their arms in the corner not communicating with others. That is why for so long I thought that couldn't be what was wrong with Dawson, he was so loving, he played with others. What I have learned from dealing with for the past few years is that there is a large spectrum over which children can be. I am very worried just because of how old he is and some recent behavior. With the genetics of it all, I can't help but be worried.

I do know that I am doing everything I can to get him the help he needs, should there be any major problems. I hate the wait and see game but that is where I am right now.

River Update

I wanted to give everyone an update on River. He has been seen by ECI for speech for about a year now and because he turns three soon we have to look at transitioning him into a new program. The preschool assessment team consisted of a Speech-Language Pathologist, an Educational Diagnostician, and a School Psychologist (to look for autism). The determination was that River should be admitted into the PPCD program (preschool program for children with disabilities) starting this August. His speech is great and the speech pathologist didn't really want to admit him. The psychologist however wanted to be cautious because River's eye contact is not really great and some of his social communication is lacking. I am upset about it because I know this age is so critical, and I just don't want him to have anything wrong with him. I have been fearful from the time he was born. I heard all the same jargon, early intervention...I just wish I didn't have to hear it. His official eligibility is "Non-Categorical Early Childhood (suspicion of Autism Spectrum Disorder) and Speech Impairment."

Running...

This is where we spent our afternoon yesterday. Dawson barely made the cut-off to go down the big slide at the rec center. He loved it! I will spare you all the details but I feel like I have been running a million miles a minute. Grad school is keeping me VERY busy! I do really enjoy my classes but they all have a lot of assignments and it is all going at an accelerated rate. Dawson loves summer school, he is doing the PAL program through PISD for three more weeks, then I'll have him in something else. He is also still doing speech therapy. In just a few minutes I am heading out to take him to his soccer class. I signed him up for non-competitive soccer this summer, they just teach the kids the basics. He'll think he is on a team, I hope he likes it. River is doing half-days at his normal day care. He had been complaining about ear owies and so I took him to the doctor yesterday and she pulled this huge dried chunk of ear wax and I don't know what else out of his ear, no infection though so that is good!