Ed goes Tuesday – Thursday, and has a blast! Not only do they do the regular day camp stuff, but they also see their psychiatrist once per week, and attend OT, PT, and speech (if needed) classes, socialization groups, and much more. He is doing fantastic, for the mostpart, although with any child with these disorders, there are going to be a few bumps. My boy is no exception.

He is learning a very important lesson at Belmont Pines. He does not have a disability. He has a very unique ability to see the world in a different way than other people see it. He has grabbed on to that lesson and so have I. I am so proud of him (us)!

Having fun with his DSi and computer.

10 – She takes good care of me.
9 – She helps me do things.
8 – She is a great cook.
7 – She looks out for me.
6 – She is really funny.
5 – She spends alot of time with me.
4 – She’s nice to me, even when I’m bad.
3 – She understands how I feel.
2 – She is AWESOME!

and # 1 – She loves me very much!

I couldn’t ask for a nicer Mothers’ Day gift than this.

A few facts:

• Autism is not a disease. It is a neurobiological (brain) disorder.
• Autism now affects 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys.
• Autism prevalence figures are growing.
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined.
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs the nation over $35 billion per year, a figure expected to significantly increase in the next decade.
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood disorders!
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism.
• There is no medical detection, or cure, for autism.

April is Autism Awareness Month. Join us in this campaign to bring awareness to the near-epidemic that is autism.

There were literally THOUSANDS of blue lights! The Home Savings tower, City Hall, churches, porch lights on homes, etc etc.

I said, “that’s for you, son. All for you, and millions of others with Autism, Aspergers, etc.”

We were both awestruck. It was a beautiful sight!

The new psychiatrist, Dr. Farris, is fantastic with him. The meds combo that he’s on seems to be the right combo, for the time being.
He still has his moods, but they’re not nearly as extreme as they used to be.

He still doesn’t have much of an appetite, but he does eat breakfast – begrudgingly – and I get him to eat dinner by telling him that he has to eat so he can take his pills. Hey I’m happy if he’ll just eat half of a sandwich, or a few bites of a chicken breast and some veggies. It’s not much but it’s something.

Many mornings he wakes up humming (something I’ve missed hearing for almost 2 years). It may be offkey, but it’s music to this mama’s ears!

More updates later.

And just when we are making headway with my boy – we have to MOVE! ugh

My lease is up where I live, and I found another place for us which is both less expensive, and larger. So packing is well underway as of this writing, which poses other issues for my sweet boy. He HATES change. While most kids take change in stride, for asperger kids, heh, not so much. These kids (and especially my son) covet sameness, routine, structure, boundaries. Any kind of change sends my son’s anxiety level through the roof.

I’ve tried to prepare him as much as possible. Things like telling him the night before what I’m planning to pack the next day so that he’s not surprised when he comes home from school and sees more boxes stacked, have helped alot. The new landlords have been great! They have met us at the new place several times, so that JJ can spend time in it in advance and kind of get used to the layout. We’ve already planned out his bedroom, where he wants his bed, dresser, etc.

Just the little things like this have helped tremendously and I’m really excited about this move. I’m just hoping that we like living in the new place and can make it into a long-term thing.

Time will tell

His behavior became very antagonistic, and volatile, somewhere around mid-September, and we dealt with that as best we could until mid-November, at which time he started to become physically threatening not only to himself, but to other people. He had started slapping, hitting and punching himself, then there were a couple of incidents with his teacher, and with me.

One afternoon when he came home from school after such an incident, I was beside myself. I called Belmont Pines, which is a local pediatric psychiatric hospital that I had been referred to by Ed’s case worker. I told them what was happening, we set up an assessment appointment, and he was admitted to the hospital but on what they call “partial hospitalization”, which simply means that he would be there only during the day, and coming home every night. (WHEW!).

He was there for 10 days, and did wonderfully! That’s when he was diagnosed with Anxiety disorder, and placed on Topamax.
At the end of the 10 days, he was discharged, and went back to school, where everything went downhill very very quickly.

To make a very long story short, he has 2 more days to go in a second stint at Belmont Pines, and then it’s back to school on Wednesday. However, I’m truly hoping that this return to school will be different.

You see, mom has been undergoing a little bit of re-training SO, we shall see what happens now.

I am absolutely determined that 2010 will be a better year for me and my boy than 2009 was. It has to be – couldn’t be much worse.

I’m glad he’s going back, to get him back into a routine if nothing else. It’s hard to keep a kid, any kid, on a routine during the summer.

He’ll be returning to Summit Academy for alternative learners. They have a new director, and he has a new teacher, this year.
Ought to be fun, since he hates change so bad. Keeping my fingers crossed and saying some prayers!

I liked it fine, but you know when you just know that something is not right for you, or in this case, for your child. Well, that’s how I feel about this. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this school, but I don’t feel like it’s the right “fit” for us.

So we talked to JJ’s case manager, and she’s going to see if she can round up all of the services that are provided at the Rich Center. He’ll have to get them after school most of the time, but that’s ok because he’ll be able to stay at his current school, Summit Academy, which he really likes. He gets OT there, as well as Therapautic Martial Arts which he also really likes.

Whew, I’m glad that’s settled. 

The caseworker feels that JJ would greatly benefit by attending school there, and also taking part in their therapeutic services, counseling, etc.  They also have support groups for parents, and many other family services.

I looked up the Rich Center on the internet last night, and I have to admit, I am impressed. More than impressed, actually.  I didn’t know that it is connected to Youngstown State University (YSU), nor did I know that it provides classes/services/degrees for educators to learn about the autism spectrum, and learn how to teach children on the spectrum.  Further, I guess I had assumned that once you send your child to an autism center, that they would be labeled and have to attend a school “like that” for the rest of their lives. That’ll teach me to ‘assume’.  The Rich Center actually teaches children to reach their full potential so that they can be ‘mainstreamed’ into public school – hopefully by high school age.

Additionally, the children go to school year ’round.  They do this because these kids do tend to regress during long summer vacations. I know my son seems to be regressing already. 

If you’re so inclined, check it out. You may know someone with a child on the spectrum who could use this kind of help.  The Rich Center for Autism.  There are many other centers like this, possibly one in your area.

I’m truly looking forward to taking a tour through this center.  God seems to be opening the doors for us.