Tag: SPD

Catching Up

Published by dee on August 30, 2011

Feeling a bit scatter-brained this week, but I’m trying to do better at updating things so here are a bunch of random updates to fill you in.

In pregnancy news, I’m now 14 weeks and into the second trimester. I’m feeling much, much better when it comes to the queasy, nauseated mess that I was a few weeks ago. However, I’m still ridiculously tired the majority of the time. I have managed to force myself out of my comfy chair and gotten a few things accomplished around the house. I would feel better about that if there weren’t so much more that needed to be done. I’m at least getting the laundry washed. It just may not be folded and put away.
Things seem to be going really well for Zach at school this year. There have been a couple of complaints, but they have been minimal. I mean, what kid wants to do homework? I think it has made a big difference this year that we were better prepared and had supports in place for his sensory issues from the beginning. We’re currently exploring what other services may be available for him during the school day, but there is a chance he won’t qualify for anything. Apparently in Missouri, SPD does not qualify him for services as a primary diagnosis.
Both Zach and Evie are signed up for Tumbling classes at the Y this year. I was really hoping to put them in dance, but we are really trying to watch costs right now and it was just a bit more than we wanted to spend. The tumbling classes go for two months at a time (and are much cheaper), so they can try it out and it isn’t a huge loss if they decide to drop it. The first session is Monday night and they are both really excited about it. The best part is that they are in the same class and they are excited about getting to do it together.
Zach also is wanting to join Boy Scouts (Tiger Cubs) this year. They are having a meeting about it tonight and he asked me if he could go so I guess we are going to. Honestly, I’m glad he is interested in it but I’m a little hesitant about the time commitment. Our evenings are so jam-packed already during the week, but I know it will be a good experience for him. I’m also hoping that maybe he will build some closer friendships with kids in his school.
I’m really getting excited for our annual Labor Day weekend trip to the lake, but praying my sister-in-law doesn’t go into labor while we’re gone. She’s about two weeks out from her scheduled c-section date, but could go into labor at any time. I would really like for her to hold off until I’m back in town to greet my new little nephew!
Exciting things are happening for our little church that we’ve been a part of the last couple years. As a new church start, we’ve been meeting in various locations but we have finally purchased and are moving into our own building this week. It will be a huge deal for us to have our own space in a permanent location. In preparation for our Grand Opening at the new building on September 25th, I’ve been working on overhauling our web site. Finding time to work on it has a been a challenge, but it is going to look great when it is finally done. The church’s band (which hubby plays Bass in) is also going to be playing a show at Zona Rosa on the 10th, which we’re hoping will pull in a few new people. It will be his first time playing in front of people (other than at church) and he’s really excited about it.
My calendar is starting to fill up with Fall photo sessions and I’m getting really excited to get out and shoot! Between early pregnancy sickness and the incredible heat we’ve been going through this summer, I haven’t felt like doing much of anything. Now that it is finally starting to cool down (at least a little bit) and I’m feeling better, I’m ready to get my finger clicking again!

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Zachary started First grade yesterday (and I can’t stop singing the song from that darn Veggietales movie every time I say “first day in the first grade”). I was a little nervous about him starting a new year, with a new teacher, and new kids because it seemed like it took most of the year last year to finally get him settled in.

As it turns out, I had no need to worry. The kid walked in like he ruled the school on the first day. He got up and got dressed on time, and didn’t even complain when I told him mommy had to take pictures before we could leave. He didn’t show the slightest bit of nervousness. I wish I could have had his confidence when I was six!

He was excited to get to his classroom and find out who was going to be in his class. It turns out that at least one of his good friends ended up in class with him and even sits right next to him. He was a little disappointed that his best boy friends weren’t in his class, but for some reason there are a lot of girls and very few boys in his grade so they have to split them up.

He came home happy, saying he had a great first day. This morning he was just as excited to go back. I dropped him off at the door this morning for the first time (last year he went to the before school program and had to be signed in each day) and he assured me he would make it to his classroom by himself. I don’t think he even looked back after he got out of the car. I can’t believe he is getting so big.

I also had a great conversation with his teacher regarding his sensory issues and she is very willing to accommodate him in the classroom. She’s very open to any suggestions I have that will help him throughout the day and just knowing that has put this momma’s heart and mind at ease.

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The Boy

Published by dee on April 27, 2011

He won’t let me take a decent photo of him anymore. I get silly faces or poses every time.

He knows more than mom and dad all of a sudden and is very unhappy when we tell him otherwise.

He doesn’t like loud noises unless he is the one making them.

He would eat nothing but bologna and cheese sandwiches if we let him get away with it.

He would wear only sweatpants and t-shirts if it weren’t for the required school uniform.

He loves his family immensely, including his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

He is incredibly smart, and is now reading and writing words and sentences.

He is better at video games than I am.

He is obsessed with all things Mario and Luigi.

He adores his little sister, even though when asked he’ll tell you he doesn’t like her.

He is still so little and vulnerable, even though he tries to act tough.

He is learning to deal with his anger in more appropriate ways.

He has almost made it through a full year of kindergarten, even though it has been scary and difficult.

He has started trying new foods again, even though 9 times out of 10 he’ll spit them right back out.

He wore blue jeans for the first time in over a year yesterday, because I asked him to for his school pictures. He didn’t complain and decided they weren’t so bad.

He held his little sister’s hand this morning when she was scared to go down the stairs by herself, and then opened the car door for her. This was after he corrected her for not saying please when she asked me for her cereal.

He is growing up, whether I like it or not.

He makes my heart swell with pride.

The last year has been a difficult one, but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know if it is the OT sessions, the adaptations we’ve made both at home and at school, or just simply maturity on his part, but I’ve gone from feeling helpless to hopeful and that’s enough to get me through.

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I’m Not The Best at Making Decisions

Published by dee on March 10, 2011

Never in my 33 years of life have I dreaded summer. I have always looked forward to it. I love the sunshine. I love the heat (as long as I have air conditioning available when I want it). I love splashing in the water with my kids, taking trips to the lake, BBQ’s, and all of the other fun stuff that comes with summer.

This summer, however, there’s a new component – trying to figure out what to do with Zach while school’s out. This is filling me with so much anxiety right now that I can’t even think about the joys of summer yet. It’s complicated this year. If Evie was on school break too, I would hire a sitter to come to our house and call it good. I seriously doubt I could find a sitter to come to the house for what I can pay for only one child. If both kids were home it would be much more feasible, but I’m not ready to take her out of the day care that we love (it already makes me sad to think about putting her in preschool).

I’m not really sure where else to look at this point. I’ve checked with the YMCA day camps and they are a bit more pricey than what I can pay. His old preschool has a school-age program in the summer, but he wasn’t very happy there towards the end and says he doesn’t want to go back there. I’m sure there have to be more day camp programs around, but I haven’t found them yet, at least not ones that we can afford.

It seems odd that we can’t afford day camp costs, considering that we paid for full-time day care for the first five years of his life. Those years were a big struggle financially, especially after his sister came along. Now that we finally have a little bit of breathing room (thank you public school system!), adding on another $140-160 a week seems like a lot of money.

Then there’s the other issue that’s staring me in the face. Now that we know he has some definite sensory issues, I worry about introducing him to a new situation. What if we put him in a summer camp and he just can’t handle it? It took us several months of school before I felt like things were under control and I feel like we’ll be starting all over again. I don’t want the poor kid to be miserable all summer because he’s put in a situation that makes him uncomfortable. For my own comfort, I need to know that he’s somewhere that can handle his quirks and can manage a meltdown if/when it happens. I would hate to think that all the work we’ve done with him over the last few months would be blown because he isn’t in a place where he can get the support he needs.

So I’m stuck. I know I still have two and a half months or so to figure it all out, but I’m a little stressed out about it right now. Parenting brings so many challenges, but deciding who is going to care for my child when I can’t is the most challenging thing I’ve ever had to do. I never feel like I’m making the right decision, although I have been super lucky a couple of times. I guess I just have to keep looking until I find something that feels right.

In the meantime, I’m sending him back to Evie’s day care for spring break next week (even though he thinks he’s too old for it). He’s not at all happy about it, but I tried to buffer the disappointment a little by signing him up for another session of swimming lessons. I can’t wait to see him in the water again. Not only does he love swimming, but he’s getting pretty darn good at it too!

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Answers Only Lead To More Questions

Published by dee on January 28, 2011

Tuesday morning was our first meeting with Zach’s Occupational Therapist. I don’t know why I felt so nervous about this appointment, but I was. I was so anxious that even with a stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, we ended up being there 30 minutes early. I should note that I’m rarely ever early for anything, especially on a weekday morning.

Thankfully, Zach brought his DSi to keep him busy while we waited. The waiting room was very nice, decorated to entertain the kids. We didn’t end up waiting very long before they called us back. The OT had Zach start on an activity where he searched for small items stuck in a blob of putty. While he worked on that, she asked me questions. We went through all the basic questions, with her stopping for more details when necessary. As we talked, she went through some more activities with Zach. He got a little antsy at a couple of points, though he didn’t get too out of hand.

When she finished her questions, we finally got to the part I wanted to hear. Everything that I have been stressing about over the last several months was confirmed. Zachary definitely has some sensory integration/sensory processing problems. Most of his issues stem from the auditory and proprioceptive areas. She explained what this all means. Some of it I understand, some I don’t. I suppose that will come with time.

We left with a bunch of handouts to read, including some more book suggestions, activities to try at home and at school, and information specifically on proprioception. We have an appointment to go back on the 15th of February, where she will do some more specific activities (heavy work, etc.) with Zach to see what works the best for him. She said that the benefits of certain activities can last up to 8 hours after the activity. Again, I’m anxious to go back and see how this all works.

I still have mixed feelings about all of this. In a way, it feels good to be validated, to know that I’m on the right track and that we’re finally getting somewhere. Yet, I also feel very overwhelmed. There is so much to learn still. We’ll need to make changes to our routine. We’ll need to incorporate more activities and breaks for Zach into our already busy schedule. There will be a lot of trying and failing before we figure out what really works for him and what doesn’t.

We’ll get there, this I’m sure of. There is just a long winding road to make our way through first.

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Tomorrow

Published by dee on January 24, 2011

This morning was a hard morning. This will hopefully be our first full week back to school and back to our routine since Zach got out for Winter Break on Dec. 20th. Between snow days, holidays, sick days, and a couple of doctor’s appointments, our schedule has been all out of whack. Both kids had a hard time getting up and around this morning, as I suspected they would. What I did not expect was for Zach to cling to me when I dropped him off at school. He’s been doing really well with drop-off time since we made arrangements for him to go to the quiet room instead of the noisy gym for his before/after school program. Today, however, his regular staff person was with another group and he wouldn’t even go in the room.

I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me though. The last two days at home have been difficult as well, with several meltdowns of varying degree. Part of that I blame on myself as I was too busy working on my own things to spend the time I should have with him. When he is so good at entertaining himself, I sometimes forget that he needs a little extra attention. Too much down time, not enough physical activity.

Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. we finally meet with an Occupational Therapist to go through a full sensory evaluation with Zachary. I’m feeling very anxious. I’ve read through all the paperwork and yet I still don’t know exactly what to expect. I am ready (and hoping) to get some answers. The answers are only the beginning of a long road we have ahead of us.

On the forms I had to fill out, one of the questions asked what three things I wanted to get from this evaluation. I can’t even remember what I wrote down. What I really want is for someone to say, “This is what’s wrong with your son. This is how you fix it.” I know better than to expect that, but it is truly what I want. I’m tired of trying to figure it out on my own. I want fast, concrete answers. And more than anything, I want someone to just tell me what to do.

I’m still reading through The Out-of-Sync Child, and trying to make sense of it all. I can’t keep all of the terms straight in my head, but I have had many, many, “a-ha” moments. I wish I could read it faster, but I’ve never been one to read non-fiction of any sort in a timely manner. I wish there was an easier way to get the information to sink into my head. In over two months, I don’t think I’ve made it even halfway through the book.

Answers. I want answers. I may have a little too high of expectations for tomorrow. I’m afraid that, once again, I’ll leave feeling defeated and not knowing any more than I do today. I want someone to tell me that I’m not crazy, that there is something to all of this sensory stuff, that there is a way to help my son not feel so out-of-sorts all the time, and mostly, that I am not a bad parent for not being able to deal with it.

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Tag: SPD

Catching Up

First Day in the First Grade

The Boy

I’m Not The Best at Making Decisions

Answers Only Lead To More Questions

Tomorrow