Interestingly Logan might qualify for the PPCD school (special preschool/preK program offered in the school district). My neighbor currently teaches there and I went over and talked to her for a long time last week. She gave me the number to call and who to talk to. Logan's current preschool teacher will be moving there next year. Both of these ladies are great and obviously have a special interest in Logan and helping him succeed and get ready for kinder. The PPCD program is an inclusion program and it a partnership with Isabel and Logan's preschool and the school district. Isabel would be eligible to attend preK there next year but it is very competitive to get in and is almost $900/month. So, if Logan could get in it would be fantastic.
My birthday was Tuesday and Brian attempted to make a really nice from scratch cake. As he was getting the oil down from the cabinet the glass olive oil bottle fell and shattered on the kitchen floor. He was cleaning that up and the very slippery broken bottle fell from his hand and landed on his foot. Lots of blood and clean up with that one. I really thought he needed stitches (and probably should have gotten them), but he had an important meeting the following day and didn't want to bother with urgent care. So he's been using steri strips and a bandage to keep it closed.
Brian decided to make the cake a couple of nights ago. It took hours and when it was finally done he tasted it and this is what happened.
Brian: Hmm, I'm not sure why the coffee didn't blend in with the cake. You can really taste it.
Me: Uh, you did brew the coffee first, right? I mean, you didn't put an entire cup of coffee grinds in the cake, right?
Brian: Damnit
It was actually 2 1/2 cups of coffee!!!!
So he made it again today and it turned out great. Third time was a charm.
On my birthday my friend took the day off of work and we went to the mall! We looked around a bit and then had a nice lunch. She came over afterwards and we ordered pizza and hung out after the kids came home from preschool. So nice and thoughtful, especially since Brian was scheduled to get home late.
Last night we were up late with Isabel. She was coughing and we were worried. We kept her on xopenex throughout the night and turned the monitor up to hear her breathing. She wasn't wheezing, but just continuous coughing. That was how her 3 day stint in the ICU started, so we were very worried. She finally stopped coughing around 1am (after we doubled her xopenex as per her action plan) and slept soundly until 5am when she needed more xopenex. That shit is amazing. I love it and now use that as my rescue inhaler too instead of albuterol. She seems pretty good today. Very minimal coughing, but we kept her inside and had a very low key day.
I am still in my PJ's at 5:55pm. I cleaned the ENTIRE day. I just finished about an hour ago. It feels so so so good to have a completely clean house, even if it did take almost 8 hours. Brian helped out after he finished the cake and washed what seemed like every dish we own.
Other than that we've been spending a lot of time at the pool.
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| Slide! |
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| Happy boy! |
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| Taking a break. |
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| New outfit from Grandma. |
Liam has done ABA for almost 4 years and I would not describe it as just training and repetition. It seems that people either love ABA or distrust it. I will say that you need to pick your therapist carefully and what skills are worked on depends on the functioning of the child. I much prefer in-home ABA rather than clinic based. Liam started ABA at age 2 and was non-communicative. At that time, ABA focused on language and following directions and engaging with his therapist.
ReplyDeleteWe moved to Alaska when he just turned 3 and was finally speaking. His new BCBA was a military spouse who had just moved to the area and was building her practice so she worked with exclusively until she hired tutors. She realized his memorized cards after 1 repetition so she stopped working on any language. She had him work exclusively on social skills--turn taking, playing games, how to handle it when the rules of a game changed and fine motor skills.
We moved back to Alabama as he turned 5 and his last tutor worked on articulation and social skills--she saw him at kindergarten and worked on losing games gracefully. He still has not learned this yet.
However, after 4 years, I am thinking that we have reached the limits of what ABA can provide and I am unsure if it is worth pursuing here, especially since he is now in school full time.
I would like to get Ben started on ABA. Like Logan, I feel like he is on the cusp of autism rather than just quirkiness. I think he could benefit greatly from a bit of ABA.
I have a friend in Plano who used to live in Alabama and her son and Liam were diagnosed a few months apart. She was a huge IRL support and those early days and we do occasional phone calls to keep our sanity. I don't know how far Plano is from you but she has some information about ABA places close to her.
Preschool.....Liam attended a developmental preschool in Alaska and it was fantastic. At 3, he just attended that preschool, but at age 4, I sent him to a church preschool in the morning and the developmental preschool in the afternoon. I had Ben evaluated here as I hoped he would qualify as the developmental preschool is all day so he would be at the public school with Liam and the same hours.
Ben did not qualify but I am aggravated as they seemed to use his high intelligence to disqualify him. He uses language equal to that of a 6 year old (keep in mind his playmate is Liam who is highly gifted) so even though he does not answer questions or sustain conversation, he does not qualify. He has known his letters and can read words, but cannot write letters, but knowing his letters and reading disqualified him. He is lives entirely in a world of Star Wars and they called it him being highly creative. They guessed that he is just so smart he has no interest in other 4 year olds and is likely shy and his social skills have suffered by moving so often and having a father who is frequently gone. SIGH..... I am still upset about it.