Tears of Joy :)

We had pictures taken this week of Brandon and myself working with Hayden in his Son-Rise Therapy  Program.  I want to document this moment in our lives for many reasons.  I want to be able to show Hayden one day how amazing his recovery from autism was and is.  I want him to see how much we lived in the moment and celebrated every day.  I want him to see how cherished and loved he was just the way he is.  I want to look back at these pictures and celebrate the true miracle that has taken place.

I must say that I already cherish this pictures.  I can not stop looking at them.  Every time I look at the pictures I cry tears of joy.  I am so overwhelmed with happiness and joy that it is bursting out of me.  I live and celebrate every moment with Hayden.  Looking at the pictures is just different.  It is still shot that I get to really look at and study.

When I look at the pictures I see PURE Happiness on Hayden's face.  I would say 95% of the day Hayden has a smile on his face.  This is such a huge change from a year ago.  Hayden rarely smiled.  Three years ago Hayden never smiled.  In fact he had a very "blank" look on his face.  It was a look of lifeless ness.  WoW!!!  Amazed, grateful, and blessed for this amazing journey that we are all on as a family.  I feel that Brandon and I have changed more than Hayden has.  That is the beauty of The Son-Rise Program.

The Son-Rise Program starts with the parents attitude and view points on life.  I have learned to LOVE and I mean dig down deep and LOVE people, I have learned how to ask for what I WANT, I have learned to be happy in ever situation possible, I have learned to be non-judemental, and I have learned that I am doing my absolute best and that is all the matters.  I am still a work in progress but I sure feel great about where I am.

We are living in the present and celebrating every day :)

Hayden can actually stand on the top blue rung with out holding onto anything

Hello, Mr. Hippo....try not to eat Mr. Dragon today

Making an octopus out to he ceiling fan that traps puppets

Which puppet do you want Hayden?

Ready to free the puppets

Looking at me right in the eye

Hayden can also manage a 3rd puppet on his leg ;)

My Daddy is SOOOOO much fun!!!

Smiles all around

"Reading" Three Little Kittens

Yep, I can totally ROCK a book :)

Celebrating Hayden's awesome eye contact

Licking Hayden...he LOVES it!

Joining Hayden in window climbing

Yep, I LOVE to climb too!

You told me to get the gears box down Hayden.  You didn't tell me where you wanted me to put the box!

Truly amazing how easily Hayden can get the gears all set up and working in a matter of minutes.  Yep....takes me a few hours longer ;)

Looking healthy with full cheeks and cute dimples!  He may have my eyes, but he sure looks like Daddy!

Oh, how I love when you share your food with me.  Even when you drop it on the floor and step on it first!

How big did you want me to draw that green frog??

Hayden drawing Snow White!

Gotta love scootering around with Hayden

Yes, I will push you forwards and backwards and celebrate all the way!

How fast did you want your car to go Hayden?

Oh, that fast...buckle up baby here we GO!

I could seriously kiss this kid all day long!!!  Hope he likes it when I drop him off at school :)

Yep, Mom I am going to look at you while I talk

and totally be into what we are talking about

Yes, Hayden I will celebrate, celebrate, celebrate every amazing eye contact, interaction, and use of language that you give!!

How big did you want that piece of tape?

Great Job Buddy.....you choose just the right size!

Proud of his creation!

I can be a firewoman

and a silly person with large glasses

Whatever it takes to make myself more exciting than your autism

Dream BIG Hayden.....Dream BIG......YOU can do whatever you want in life!!!!


Thank You Terry for coming into our world and capturing such an amazing time in our life!!!!

Oh, The Places Hayden is Going

I am owning the fact that I am three weeks late completing Hayden's monthly evaluation.  I complete the evaluation monthly.  From the evaluation I write program goals.  I was late completing the monthly evaluation because I was afraid.  I was not afraid of the evaluation showing that Hayden is not making progress.  I was fearful that the evaluation would should that Hayden is ready to go back to school.  Which is great, amazing, what we have been working towards getting Hayden ready for.  Honestly, though Hayden going to school again is scary for me.

What am I afraid of???  I am fearful that going back to school will be too much for Hayden and he will regress.  In all honesty if Hayden regresses, he regresses.  I will look at the situation and make adjustments as needed.  I can still choose to be happy and accept that there will be bumps in the road.

I am afraid of leaving Hayden with complete strangers that don't know his life story.  Really.....why be afraid of this??  I know that I will do my absolute best to prepare the school for Hayden.  I will educate them on how I want discipline handled with Hayden, his diet, and how I want him treated in general.  I will meet with his teachers and the school prior to Hayden ever stepping foot in the school.  If I really think about this Hayden will be going to one of the Montessori schools he has attended in the past.  So I won't be leaving him with complete strangers.

I am afraid that Hayden will be nit picked at.  Hayden will have some challenges to overcome when he transitions back into school.  I want to continue celebrating all of the amazing, super, wonderful things he is doing.  I don't want the focus to be put on what he is not doing.  I will be upfront about nit picking.  I will communicate with the school that this is not how we roll :)

So really there is no reason to be afraid of Hayden going back to school.  I will do my best to prepare everyone involved and celebrate like a mad women that we have reached this milestone.

Did the evaluation say Hayden is ready to go back to school........................NO!  I am completely, 100% okay with that.  Hayden made MIND BLOWING progress and is doing super awesome.  The evaluation process is based on 5 stages in areas of eye contact, language, interactive attention span, and flexibility.  Stage one is lower functioning and stage five is high functioning.  Once you complete stage four in all areas it is recommended that your child is ready to go to school.  When we started Hayden's Son-Rise Program 11 months ago.  Hayden was at a low stage 1 for all areas.  Drum Roll Please!!!!!

Hayden's Eye Contact is at Stage 4.....WOOT....WOOT!!!  What does this mean?

-Hayden looks to maintain other's attention span 60% of the time
-Hayden looks while talking 60% of the time
-Hayden has acquired the ability to demonstrate a range of facial expressions
-Hayden uses spontaneous gestures to enhance verbal communication 80% of the time

Hayden's language is at a stage 3.......YAHOO!!!!

Hayden is right on the edge of acquiring stage 3 for language.  We are working hard on asking what, who, where questions. He does ask them 60% of the time.
-Hayden speaks using simple sentences
-Hayden has conversations that consist of 2 or more loops (he is consistently meeting 4+ loops)

Hayden's Interactive Attention Span is at a stage 4........Yep, that is my son!!!  WTG Hayden!!

Hayden is super close to meeting the all of the requirements of stage 4 interactive attention span.  Here is what we are working on still:

-Duration of interactive attention span 15-25 minutes (based on age) Hayden is achieving this 80% of the time
-Generally polite and respectful.  Hayden is achieving this 80% of the time.  He still wants to be naked from time to time :-)
-Interacts appropriately with a peer.  Hayden is achieving this 60% of the time

There are 5 other areas in stage 4 interactive attention span that Hayden has acquired!!!

Hayden's Flexibility is at a stage 5.................That's right STAGE 5!!!!!!  Hayden Rocks!!

He has actually acquired one of stage 5 goals.  Hayden calmly and easily manages most transitions and unstructured situations.

-Hayden's big work in this stage is to be flexible within another's activity

I completed Hayden's evaluation with the students and looking back at session evaluation forms from all of Hayden's team.  I have always done Hayden's evaluations by myself and questioned if I was properly documenting the level he was at.

The reason I questioned myself is because I want Hayden to recover and am I wanting it so bad that I am making it happen faster in my mind than it really is??  Well I now know my answer.......NO!!  The students actually wanted to rate Hayden higher in a few areas than I did.

What does all this really mean?  Well Hayden is making great progress.  Do I know when he will recover from autism.......no.  Do I know when he will go back to school..........no.  Does it mater that I don't know when these things will take place........no!!  Why Not?

I know deep inside my body in my heart and soul that Hayden will recover from autism.  I don't need him to recover from autism.  I want Hayden to recover from autism.  I love and accept Hayden just the super amazing way he is and I don't want to change who he is for anything.

Thank you for all of your amazing expressions of support!!!

Hayden's Son-Rise Externship

WoW....what a whirl wind of excitement we have had the past two weeks.  We had our occupational therapy assisting students start almost two weeks ago.  We have two students that are working in Hayden's Son-Rise for 37.5 hours each a week!!!  Absolutely Freaking Amazing!!!  The students teacher is also coming 8 hours a week to assist with the students.

I must say I am still in shock that I pulled this type of externship off.  I get to interview and select the students I want to work with Hayden, I teach them and train them the way I want, and continue managing Hayden's Son-Rise the way I want.

I also feel fabulous about the experience the students are getting.  I am teaching them about the Son-Rise program, autism, nutrition, communication skills, adopting a "happiness is a choice" attitude, learning how to truly love and accept people, and being non-judemental.  I look at the students and I am super excited about teaching them all of these fabulous life changing skills.  I also think about all the people that they are going to work with over the years and the impact they will have on them.  It seriously gives me the chills in an amazing, exciting kind of way.

Hayden has adapted well to being in the playroom 11 hours a day.  Tonight after being out of the playroom for about 30 minutes he asked me to play with him in the playroom.  I LOVE how much he loves being in the playroom.

Hayden is changing a lot right now.  He is speaking in complete sentences not only to get wants meet but to communicate and have fun in a totally typical way.  Hayden has a twinkle in his eyes, dimples in is cheeks, and a smile on his face that melts anyone that sees him.  He is such a happy boy!!  His average interactive attention span is at 20+ minutes now.  Hayden is playing consistently with Ruby and rarely is off in another room playing by himself.  He now prefers to be where we are and doing what we are doing.  Drum Roll please..............when Hayden is out of the playroom for meals he SITS at the table and eats with us........YAHOOO Hayden.........we LOVE eating meals with you and you LOVE eating meals with us :-)  Hayden has become one of the most creative people that I have ever met.  He comes up with the best story lines for puppet play and is super passionate about them.

All of Hayden's progress has been made on his own free will.  We use Hayden's motivations to teach, model, and encourage him to communicate on all levels.  It is absolutely 100% Hayden's decision to be present in our world and boy is he choosing to be present.

I look at Hayden and simply think what an amazing person he is.  He has taught several people how to be present, loving, and nonjudgmental in life at the tender age of 5 years old.  I am truly blessed to be such an amazing persons Mom.  I have learned so much from Hayden.  Simply Incredible!!!

Pieces of Us: Oh, The Dentist and the journey we had :)

Pieces of Us: Oh, The Dentist and the journey we had :): Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks we have had in the Hicks residence.  I am happy to report that Hayden made it through his oral surgery wit...

Oh, The Dentist and the journey we had :)

Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks we have had in the Hicks residence.  I am happy to report that Hayden made it through his oral surgery with flying colors.

We have been to 3 different dentists to find one that I trusted to work on Hayden.  The pediatric dentist that we choose is in Indianapolis and consulted with a biological dentist to order the proper labs, and materials for Hayden's fillings.  We had Hayden's blood drawn about 10 weeks ago to test and see what material is most compatible with his body to use for fillings.  Typical composite fillings contain BPA and agleam fillings are 50% mercury.  Those are both materials that I would give my last breath to keep out of Hayden's body.

The day of the surgery had come and we traveled 2.5 hours to get to the children's hospital that the procedure would take place at.  I had been preparing Hayden by talking about getting his teeth fixed and meeting new friends at the hospital.  When we got to the hospital Hayden was a little un-easy.  He remained calm, walked in the hospital and sat with Daddy as I got our registration papers processed.

It was time for us to go back to pre-op and Hayden walked right back with the slightest wimpier.  I think he feared having his blood drawn and I reassured him that there were no needles this time.  During Hayden's pre-op work up Hayden let the nurse check all of his vital signs, weigh him, measure him, and talk to him.  Hayden even gave her great eye contact and answered questions she had for him.

The dentist came in and talked with us for a good 40 minutes prior to the surgery.  Hayden commented on the surgical hat the dentist was wearing.  The dentist then offered to take Hayden to get a hat for him.  Hayden actually walked right out of the room with him to get a hat. I was SHOCKED!!

The time had come and I got to walk Hayden back to the operating room.  He got a little upset when we got into the operating room and super upset when I laid him on the operating table.  The anesthesiologist applied the anesthesia mask and Hayden was out in 30 seconds.  I then left the operating room and began our 4 hour wait.

Hayden had 2 teeth extracted (one was abscessed) and 15 surface fillings.  We have to go back in 2 weeks and have spacers put in where the teeth were extracted.  Hayden came from the recovery room and woke up pretty quickly from the anesthesia.  He quickly asked for a drink.

We were only there about 30 minutes after he came out of the recovery room and we were on our way home.  It was strange seeing Hayden un-coordinated and needing to be carried.  If you don't already know Hayden has freak of nature gross motor skills.  The child seriously has better gross motor skills than I do.

On the way home Hayden quickly remember that I had told him we could go shopping for a new toy when he woke up for surgery.  I was surprised that he wanted to still go shopping.  We stopped at Walgreens and Hayden picked out a new toy.

For the most part Hayden was fully recovered from the oral surgery in 48 hours.  He is back to his happy self and doesn't seem to have any effects from the medications and materials they used.

If you would like to find a biological dentist near you follow this link:
http://www.iaomt.org/patients/search/index.php

When I signed the consent forms I also had a form of things I do not consent to that I signed and made it very clear with the dentist and anesthesiologist prior to the procedure.  I had a phone consultation with the anesthesiologist prior to the day of the procedure as well.  This made me feel so much more at easy because anesthesia made me super nervous.  I have heard and read about so many stories of regression following general anesthesia.

If your child has MTHFR or SOD2 here are some anesthesia guidelines that you should think about and research.

I have spent a great deal of time researching and talking with anesthesiologist about what types of anesthesia is safest for our children.

If your child has MTHFR or has not been tested for MTHFR NEVER, I mean NEVER, EVER, EVER let them use nitirous oxide on your child. Not even a small amount....don't allow it!!!! Nitrous Oxide depletes the B12/folate system. It deactivates methionine synthase, which is an enzyme that catalyzes teh conversion fo homocystine and methyletrahydrofolate. Such a deactiviation in a patient with a defect in the MTHFR gene, which is associated with diminished enzyme activity, could result in increased homocysteine levels, increased oxidative stress, and activated NMDA glutamate receptors.

Diprivan is another medication that should NOT be used. Diprivan contains soy and egg. Diprivan can exacerbate mitochondrial disease.

It is super important that our kids are well hydrated with normal saline.

Sevoflurane (inhalation induction) is safe to use. Only 2-5% is metabolized in the body.

Versed is safe to use for sedation, amnesia, and anxiety. Versed is short acting and is not heavily metabolized.

I highly recommend setting up an appointment with the anesthesiologist prior to the procedure. I also requested that NO students or first year residents work on my child.

Along with the consent forms that I signed I typed and signed a form of medications and procedures that I do NOT consent to. I made it very clear and to the point.

I also made it clear that I do not want pain medication given to my child propholatically.