When considering having children, sensory issues were never something that had entered my thoughts. Even now – with the Monster being how he is – I rarely consider the matter. After all, the Monster’s really not sensory adverse. (He’s sensory seeking at times, but usually in ways that aren’t horrifyingly ‘awful’ – he has a fascination with hair and occasionally with crumbling paper or the like.)
However… the cicadas are coming this spring. Continue reading
The Monster’s favorite toy around the house is his iPad.
Granted, the iPad is a snazzy thing – I’m still shocked at the sheer number that I see of any tablets at all around in public, much less the sheer number of the sticker-price-shocker that the iPad is. ON the other hand, I sometimes question the effectiveness of the device alone in his hands. Continue reading
This morning, we had our check-up with the Monster’s developmental pediatrician.
We have this meeting roughly every six to nine months – it’s a good spot for us to talk about what therapies he ought to be getting and to go over our concerns. As you can imagine, this meant the creation of a laundry list last night, and then trying desperately to remember what everything meant while at the doctor’s office today. Continue reading
Two words that I really thought that either a) I’d hear only for a little while, or b) wouldn’t fill me with half the dread that they do.
Shockingly, I think it’s been a while since I’ve written about the progress being made in the Monster’s toileting, perhaps because it’s not been the foremost issue on our minds of late. We’ve been concentrating on so many things while summer’s drawing closer, like homework and his IEP, that it’s perhaps just because we have our semi-annual visit to the developmental pediatrician tomorrow that brings it into focus. Continue reading
All thirty teams in Major League Baseball are doing Autism Awareness Days. The Orioles had theirs yesterday (which is why there wasn’t a post) and we got out to the game for a change.
We were there with the Baltimore-Chesapeake Chapter of the Autism Society of America, though there was also a large contingent from Autism Speaks and a school that had raised money for research as well. Continue reading
Obviously, we’re already on top of everything having to do with the Monster and how his Autism affects him. We’re keeping on top of his therapy and trying to get him still more (thanks to my insurance), and he’s being tested on a regular basis as part of the various studies he and the baby are in.
But then there’s the times where results from the baby’s tests start making us nervous. Continue reading
As we’ve gone through the IEP process again recently to get the Monster his ESY services, we’ve been left with the feeling that we’re just not getting all of the services that we would really care to get.
A lot of this comes in the area of speech therapy – he does get three sessions a week. None of these sessions are individual – they’re all small group or a push-in to his class (which, itself, is not very large) – and while both of us would like to see him get at least one individual session a week, I’m very quickly coming to the realization that a) we’re not going to get it and b) it’s not going to happen even if they wanted to, as they’re already short on resources. Continue reading
Today is Autism Awareness Day.
Since I obviously turn my twitter stream on first thing in the morning (<shamelessplug>@dadenoughblog if you’re not already following</shamelessplug>, I’ve seen quite a few posts about the day, reminding folks to “light it up blue” and foster further awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder. Continue reading
The Monster plays with a lot of toys. His favorites, though, are the electronic ones – be they his iPad, my Nook, or the computer.
My biggest problem is, despite the huge number of applications out there to encourage children to model social behavior, there’s yet to be invented one that really encourages and rewards proper social behavior. Continue reading
The wife had originally thought of taking the kids to the Zoo today – it seemed to make perfect sense, since (in theory) folks would be in church and we could squeeze in a few hours before it started to rain. Of course, it was cold all day and started to drizzle, and the baby decided he needed a morning nap, so that went right out the window. Instead, I took it on myself to try to get at least some of the Monster’s homework done before the wife’s left with it. Continue reading