June Accomplishments!

WOW - here we are, already finished with the month of June! I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by! Well it's been a GREAT month, probably one of the best of my life. JD is doing wonderful and has been really progressing in therapy. This is his 4th week in his new preschool, PowerMeKids, and his 5th week in speech and OT. It's almost like having a new child. OT has really made a huge difference in his life. He seems happier, less frustrated, more social, and more talkative. It's not like sentences are just flowing out yet or anything, but he's learning new words everyday.

The best part of the entire month is that for the first time JD kissed me! I've always kissed him, usually it lands on his forehead. But one night right before bed, I said "JD can I have a kiss?" and he came up and kissed me right on my lips! I was so happy my eyes teared up. It was one of the best experiences in my life. There's nothing better :)

He also went to see his first movie this month - Toy Story 3. Thanks to AMC movies, they do a "sensory friendly" showing of kids movies where they are aimed towards kids with autism. The lights aren't turned off and the noise is turned down and they can run around and make noise. It was actually nice to be in a group setting with people who totally don't care if my child is loud! Everyone was in the same boat!

All in all this month was wonderful. I'm hoping each one gets better and better. I'm really thankful because I've met two new friends - Margo and Andrea - their boys go to JD's school and we've all become friends. I'll be sad this August because their boys are off to pre-K, they're 2 years older than JD. But it's been so nice to have some friends who understand our everyday struggles!

Lovin' It!

Last week was a big one... it was JD's first week at his new preschool that focuses on sensory integration. So far I love it! He seems to be doing really well, much better than I thought he would! He's also doing great in OT and Speech, which are through the same therapy center. I think the schedule and the routine have made things easier. This week he's done great - he's not crying or having a meltdown when we walk in and he's waiting to go into the classroom instead of trying to break down the door. Today was great because he really enjoyed his OT session. One thing I'm really interested in is called Therapeutic Listening. Right now JD has to listen to a therapeutic CD for 15 minutes on headphones. Eventually (once he's got the hang of it) he'll listen to 30 minutes, twice a day. It's really interesting! I read more about it online and I think it's a great way to help him organize his world. I can't explain just how happy I am that we're on the right track now! :)

Let the Race Begin!!!

One word to describe my feelings?.... excitement!

I've been waiting for this weeek for a while now. JD officially started his therapy program on Monday and so far it's been going as good as expected, but we're all worn out! I feel like I have a full time job again and it's only the second day!

Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings he'll be in his preschool program called PowerMeKids. It's a school based in sensory integration therapy. Yesterday was his first day and I think it went pretty well. They said he enjoyed the "Giggle Yogalates" and the obstacle course, but had a hard time with the more structured tasks. He's two - so it's hard to determine if that's more just part of his age or part of the autism. I think it's partially both.

Tuesday/Thurs mornings he's in speech and occupational therapy. And then every afternoon after his nap he's in therapy. Monday he has another speech session, Tuesday and Thursday is behavior and Wednesday is Music Therapy.

I'm just so happy it's finally here and I feel like we're making progress to getting him help! Thanks to everyone who is supporting our family through this big change in our lives!

May Accomplishments

May was a LONG month, but we got A LOT accomplished. Maybe not a lot therapy-wise, but a lot in planning for therapy to start. Starting on June 7th (next Monday) JD will begin his therapy program. He'll be getting 20 hours a week of various therapies: sensory integration therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, behavior therapy and music therapy. It's going to change our world completely! It feels like every minute of every day is scheduled, but for a Virgo like me I guess that's not all that bad!

JD also had some great accomplishments this month... he started saying a few more words: beep, beep! ash-ee (for ashley), nih-nih (for night-night), here you go, sip-ee (for sippy cup), biscuit, and probably a few more that I can't remember right now. Of course the funny thing is that he never says these words around his speech therapist so I'm sure she thinks I'm crazy when I tell her that he's saying all these words!

I'm REALLY excited for therapy to start next week! I feel like it's like a race to start and I'm sitting at the start line just fidgeting waiting to run!