Improvements

We had another great day of therapy today. Max is becoming more comfortable with his therapists and even gets excited when he sees them come to the door. Mrs. Musser was again so pleased with Max and his progress. I am really trying to work with him as much as I can and he is learning a little everyday. At one point she said that she could cry because of how excited she was with his progress. How wonderful is that. That makes you feel so good as a parent to know that your child is making strides in the right direction. I do really believe that the therapy is working. I think to myself at how well he is responding to things and he only has 3 hours of therapy a week. Just think what he could do with more. Max said "Car" today and now is mocking you when you shake your head. I am beyond words for how excited I am.

His occupational therapy went well also. We are still working at getting different textures in and around his mouth. Mrs. Fogle came with a blue spongebob electric toothbrush...How fun is that! She brings Max all sorts of neat things. This is for him to hold and feel the vibration and to put in his mouth. He tried it for a few seconds and then wasn't to sure about it so we are going to work on that till our next meeting.

A week from today is our appt. in Hershey. I have a bunch of different emotions running through my mind but anxious and scared are the two biggest. Please say a little prayer for us on that day.

Tomorrow is our first meeting with Ms. Leeper. We had to reschedule from earlier in the week. I will be sure to post about our session tomorrow.

Busy...but Good.

We had a busy but good day today. Both of the therapists were very pleased with Max today. I love it when my boy has good days because if he has a good day then I have a good day!

We first had Speech therapy this morning. Max was for the most part very cooperative and Mrs. Musser was very excited how Max is doing with his sign language. We are for the most part really working on a couple at a time and he has the "EAT" symbol pretty much down pat. Watching him make progress is so exciting. He is also learning how to use picture symbols(they are called PEC symbols) to tell us what he wants. Today he brought me the juice picture so I immediately went for his juice and he instantly took a drink of it. We are hoping that this lowers his frustration a bit and the tantrums start to decrease a little. I know I have said it before but, I am so so grateful for these ladies who are willing to help us along this journey. A neat thing too is that Halle is learning to sign as well and she can help her brother also.

Max also did well with his OT therapy. He is learning to chew more on different textures. Though it isn't food yet that hopefully will come. He drank out of a straw the other day which was pretty exciting. We are trying to get him to touch and feel different textures and hopefully as he feels more comfortable with things then he will be more comfortable with textures in the mouth. Day by day a little at a time he is making progress.

Our next session is on Monday with Ms. Leeper. We are anxious to meet her and to start Special Instruction therapy.

Amazing...

UPDATED...
I wanted to tell anyone that wants to watch about Carly to click on a certain news clip. There are little video clips but there is one that is 10 minutes long that is much more informative. When you click on the link you will see in the right hand corner where it says "Watch Video" there are little arrow buttons click on the one pointing to the right. You will then see a video that says "Autistic Teen finds inner voice" click on that. This is the one that you need to watch.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/MindMoodNews/story?id=8258204&page=1

My Mom called me this evening to tell me that she watched an episode of 20/20 last evening. This link will put you right through to the actual story. I sat, cried and watched in amazement. These type of children do have a purpose and this little girl is going to help many people understand what autistic children go through. Please read and watch this...it truly is amazing!

Hope

I have a couple pictures to share with you all. They are of Mr. Max and one of his tools! We are so so excited that he is using them as he should be. When we first introduced these to him he didn't want anything to do with them. Which is pretty much normal for him but after a couple days he started to show interest and play with them. He is also sitting in their bean bag while he is using his tool which is even more so exciting. His Therapist explained to me that the feel of the bean bag is soothing to a child with sensory problems. Hearing what the Occupational Therapist has to say is very interesting. We are learning so much about children with sensory issues and what their likes and dislikes are.

You may have read on the family blog that Max says "GO". We are so excited about this. His very first word that he says and knows what it means. This is a huge thing for him!

Prayers are being answered...we are hanging on to hope for our precious boy!

A Great Help...

We finally had our OT therapy today. After some switching and re-scheduling we got to meet Mrs. Fogle. She is such a sweet person and Max loved her. We are so pleased with his therapists. They want to help Max as much as possible and that makes me feel good.

Today was more less a talking and getting to know Max kind of day. She taught me some things to do throughout the week until we meet next time. She really thinks that Max has some sensory issues. She also mentioned about ordering some tools(that is what she called them) for Max's mouth. Believe it or not these things should help him with different textures in the mouth which will help him want to eat different foods. She has lots of ideas that could really help Max and we are very hopeful that this will work. I have heard great things about OT therapy. We are praying...

The first week of August there is an Autism Conference at the Penn Stater. I believe that I am going to try to get there. I really want to listen to the Dr. that we are going to see in Hershey. She speaks at this conference and I would love to hear what she has to say and get a little information from her before we see her.

Anyway...Max is doing well. We are still dealing with out of this world tantrums but we get through them one at a time.
Since starting the gluten free diet I have noticed a huge difference in Max's eye contact and alertness. Mrs. Fogle was extremely pleased with his eye contact and I had told her about starting this diet. She said that she hears a lot of this...that this diet really works. That was great to hear that.

I feel relieved and a little at ease now that I know therapy is in full gear. Max is getting help and I am learning what I can do for him on a daily basis. We are learning with some help of great people!

We' re Busy...

We have a busy day with Max tomorrow! At 9:30 he has his speech therapy with Mrs.Musser and then at 12:30 he has occupational therapy with Mrs. Fogle. Normally we wouldn't schedule two appointments in one day because I don't want his little brain to get to overwhelmed. We had to reschedule the occupational appointment because an emergency came up with our therapist. So Friday is the only day this week we could squeeze it in and he has to have it every week.

His temper tantrums are in overload and some days I don't know how I do it. Every morning I wake up and say a little prayer that we make it through the day. With Brandon being home from work these couple weeks have been a blessing because it takes some of the weight off my shoulders. God doesn't give you more than you can handle...so we will get through this.

To elaborate a little more on the last post. It was a hard day, a very hard day! I am really getting tired of people saying(and some of them are family members) that there is nothing wrong with Max. That he is a boy, he is just slow and he will talk and do things when he wants. No this isn't the case. I want to say so badly to people that spout off to come live with me for a day and you will see. Yes for the longest time I was saying this myself but things are not improving. As kids get older they learn new things...this isn't the case. When you see kids that are 10 to 15 months younger than your child doing more than your child...you ache all over because you wish so bad that he could do the same and way more. It isn't fair but this is what the Lord dealt us and we will do as best as we know how. I am finding it hard to go out anymore because people have no idea and I don't expect them to. This is hard. All the emotions that you feel. I just want to say to people if you don't know what to say don't say anything! I don't want to distance myself from anyone but for awhile it may seem that way. Max is who he is. The Lord made him how he was intended to be and that is hard to accept at times because you wish so bad that he was a typical child...but I love him the same.

Our next step in this journey is to go see a specialist in Hershey. We are in the process of filling out paperwork for that and we should have an appointment within a month. One good thing is that we are keeping busy and we don't have much down time to sit and worry.
I will post again soon...

Our week

This journey has brought me to so many people that have been willing to help and do everything that they can for Max and our family. I don't know why God has choose this path for Max but hopefully one day we can realize why. The very first person I spoke to about my concerns had asked me if she could give my name and number to another family that is going through a very similar situation. I was very open to that because at this point anyone that has any knowledge that they can offer me would be great. A day last week I got a call and it was from a girl that I had graduated with and we were on the same cheerleading squad. I was very shocked that she had called me but then she said that her Son has autism and that Nancy gave her my number. We spent a couple hours talking and me trying to learn all I could from someone who had already been there. What are the odds? We hadn't talked since we graduated and now almost 10 years later or paths are crossing. She was very helpful.

We have a busy week ahead of us. Last week the Speech therapist called to set up our times and to get a little background on Max and what he likes. I am very anxious for this meeting on Friday. Not only will she be helping Max but also helping me to learn about things that I can do for Max. Tomorrow I need to get in touch with the occupational therapist to see when she can come in to our home.

Thursday is our big day with the pediatric Neurologist. I am nervous and anxious about this appointment all at the same time. I want answers, I want to learn and know everything that I can to help my little boy. I don't know what this appointment will hold but hopefully the Doctor will give us a lot of information.

In my free time I do a lot of research and reading to try to educate myself as much as possible. Almost everything that I have read mentions trying a diary and wheat free diet with your child. This was also in Jenny McCarthy's book. I have heard nothing but good things about it. So this past Friday I decided to take Max off of all diary products. Max loves his milk so I was a little nervous about the switch. Much to my surprise he drank the rice milk without a blink. He didn't seem to notice a difference. I was so excited about this. The big thing right now is learning what I can give Max and what I can't. Almost everything has gluten in it which isn't good. Even play-dough, baby wash and shampoo have gluten. I need to really start reading labels and being very cautious of what goes in his mouth and even what he is touching. I'm nervous about this!

Overall Max is doing well, he is still the same sweet little boy that I love!
Please keep us in your thoughts this week...