Well, I started the day with nothing on our agenda except operation disinfect the house and rest. I have been sick the last couple days and the kids had runny noses. I canceled therapy for the day because honestly I was tired and I knew Brandon was going to be gone all day. I just didn't have it in me to be a team leader, chief, Mom, housewife, and doctor, for the day.
I must say it was super strange for me to have nothing to do but disinfect the house, prepare meals for the kids, care for the kids, give Hayden his supplements, and just chill. STRANGE FEELING!!! I was not feeling up to parr form my illness but decided to take advantage of the day.
The kids played well with each other for about 2 hours and I really got a lot done. I was shocked!! Did you read that.......my kids played TOGETHER for 2 hours straight. Holy Crap!!! I still can't believe how much I got accomplished. I started thinking hmmm........it sure looks nice outside I think it would be a perfect day for a trip to the zoo.
So after lunch we packed up the car and away the kids and I went for our first zoo trip of the season. Hayden told me he wanted to see the sharks, jelly fish, fish, and lions. He also told me he wanted to ride the boats and carousel. Hayden walked the entire zoo, followed directions, talked about what he was seeing, and played with other children. He was very focused on seeing what he wanted to see which was fine. Hayden was totally open to seeing everything else once his to do list was done.
I must say it was a magical trip to the zoo. The real magic happened after the zoo when we went to Red Robin for dinner. When the waitress asked Hayden what he wanted for dinner he looked her in the eyes and said, "chicken on a stick and lorax trees (broccoli)." Hell YES Hayden!!! He patiently waited for his food and played with Ruby and I at the table. When we left Hayden waved at people and said, "bye" as we walked by them. We went to get balloons as we left. The hostess asked Hayden what color of balloon he wanted and he looked right at here and said, "blue please." He even gave her this flirty grin he has. She got the balloon and went to tie it on Hayden's wrist. I thought.......oh, this is not going to be good but wanted to see what Hayden did. Hayden stuck out his arm for her to tie it on to him. He than said, "thanks." I seriously started to sob. I couldn't believe my kid that was completely non-verbal, severe sensory issues, no eye contact, tantrumed 90% of the day and night just stuck out his arm and said thanks like he had been doing it all his life.
Yep, I think we are closing the door on autism soon :)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
I'm coming Mom...............ahhhh our journey to joyous teeth brushing :)
This morning was one of those moments that took my breath away as I reflected on our journey with teeth brushing. From the age of 18 months until about 6 months ago Hayden did not handle getting his teeth brushed at all. He would scream, kick, bite, throw his tooth brush away to avoid teeth brushing. Some might say that he was just being defiant. The truth is teeth brushing was a painful experience for Hayden. A child with sensory issues can not cope with "tickling / poking" the tooth brush give input with. The way Hayden acted you would think we were brushing his teeth with razor blades and a chisel.
In the early days (prior to Son-Rise) we would just hold Hayden down and brush his teeth. I would sing the alphabet song while brushing his teeth so he would know when I was finishing the horrific process for him. We tried different toothbrushes and tooth paste. Nothing seemed to help. That is until I attended the Son-Rise Start Up.
I realized that if I was going to help Hayden gain a love for tooth brushing I was going to have to let go of my need to brush his teeth and stop forcing him. Honestly, this was hard for me to let go of!!! Hayden takes an inhaled steroid for his asthma that if you don't brush or rinse your teeth afterwards it can promote yeast growth. Yeast is / was one thing that Hayden does not need anymore of. The second fear that I examined was that he would have horrific nasty teeth which would cause even more illness. BLAH!!!
Slowly but surely I came to peace with those beliefs and came up with a plan on how to teach Hayden how much fun and important oral health it. I let go of NEEDING him to brushing his to WANTING him to brush his teeth.
I started the process by giving Hayden control of his tooth brush. If he said, "NO" when I presented his tooth brush I happily put it on the counter. I would then get my tooth brush and have the most amazing time brushing my teeth. I modeled for him what a joy tooth brushing was. I also explained afterwards how wonderful it felt to get the bugs off my teeth and that brushing helped keep me healthy. I even got Ruby involved with the process. She also enjoys teeth brushing :)
I made activities in the playroom about teeth brushing. Hayden's favorite was brushing his cars teeth. I also gave Hayden opportunities to help brush my own teeth. Last summer Hayden went to the bathroom and came out with his tooth brush and joyfully brushed Grammie's teeth. Grammie was a good sport and cheered Hayden on.
Something else I did was celebrate Hayden every time he touched, looked, or talked about his tooth brush. Once he got comfortable with the tooth brush I would put the tooth paste on it, hand it to him, and walk away. Usually Hayden would come to where I was and I would cheer him on. I started offering to brush his teeth after him to make sure all the yucky bugs were off. Slowly but surely he has been okay with me increasing the time that I brush. I honestly feel that most days Hayden gets a good teeth brushing.
So fast forward to this morning. Hayden's first team member was here and he was in the kitchen talking with her. I was in the bathroom fixing Ruby's hair. I called out, "Hayden come do puffy fish (inhaler) and brush your teeth." I heard him head down the hall way and then he said................."I'M COMING MOM." FREAKING AMAZING!!!!! He then happily brushed his teeth :)
I am one proud Mom......still can't believe he said, "I'm coming Mom." WOW....WOW.....WOW There are so many amazing elements to that sentence and action. WAY TO GO HAYDEN..............YOU TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY ROCK :)
In the early days (prior to Son-Rise) we would just hold Hayden down and brush his teeth. I would sing the alphabet song while brushing his teeth so he would know when I was finishing the horrific process for him. We tried different toothbrushes and tooth paste. Nothing seemed to help. That is until I attended the Son-Rise Start Up.
I realized that if I was going to help Hayden gain a love for tooth brushing I was going to have to let go of my need to brush his teeth and stop forcing him. Honestly, this was hard for me to let go of!!! Hayden takes an inhaled steroid for his asthma that if you don't brush or rinse your teeth afterwards it can promote yeast growth. Yeast is / was one thing that Hayden does not need anymore of. The second fear that I examined was that he would have horrific nasty teeth which would cause even more illness. BLAH!!!
Slowly but surely I came to peace with those beliefs and came up with a plan on how to teach Hayden how much fun and important oral health it. I let go of NEEDING him to brushing his to WANTING him to brush his teeth.
I started the process by giving Hayden control of his tooth brush. If he said, "NO" when I presented his tooth brush I happily put it on the counter. I would then get my tooth brush and have the most amazing time brushing my teeth. I modeled for him what a joy tooth brushing was. I also explained afterwards how wonderful it felt to get the bugs off my teeth and that brushing helped keep me healthy. I even got Ruby involved with the process. She also enjoys teeth brushing :)
I made activities in the playroom about teeth brushing. Hayden's favorite was brushing his cars teeth. I also gave Hayden opportunities to help brush my own teeth. Last summer Hayden went to the bathroom and came out with his tooth brush and joyfully brushed Grammie's teeth. Grammie was a good sport and cheered Hayden on.
Something else I did was celebrate Hayden every time he touched, looked, or talked about his tooth brush. Once he got comfortable with the tooth brush I would put the tooth paste on it, hand it to him, and walk away. Usually Hayden would come to where I was and I would cheer him on. I started offering to brush his teeth after him to make sure all the yucky bugs were off. Slowly but surely he has been okay with me increasing the time that I brush. I honestly feel that most days Hayden gets a good teeth brushing.
So fast forward to this morning. Hayden's first team member was here and he was in the kitchen talking with her. I was in the bathroom fixing Ruby's hair. I called out, "Hayden come do puffy fish (inhaler) and brush your teeth." I heard him head down the hall way and then he said................."I'M COMING MOM." FREAKING AMAZING!!!!! He then happily brushed his teeth :)
I am one proud Mom......still can't believe he said, "I'm coming Mom." WOW....WOW.....WOW There are so many amazing elements to that sentence and action. WAY TO GO HAYDEN..............YOU TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY ROCK :)
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Screw Awareness and Lighting it Up Blue..........................
As I am sure you are all aware that April is Autism Awareness Month. I have been asked by several hundred thousand people (okay, maybe not that many) if I had anything special planned for autism awareness month. Well here is my answer..............................HELL to the freaking NO!!! I am aware of autism 24/7, 365 days a year. I don't want a month to celebrate or help others be aware of autism. What I want is AUTISM ACTION and what I really mean is that I want AUTISM PREVENTION. That's right I said it...........PREVENT AUTISM!!!
STOP trusting the government, STOP trusting pharmaceutical companies, stop trusting physicians, and start doing your own research.
Did you know that we are one of the very few countries that not only allows GMO foods but protects the main supplier of GMO foods from legal action?
Did you know that physicians learn minimal to nothing about vaccinations in medical school? Hmm......so who do they learn from you ask???? FREAKING pharmaceutical representatives that are taking them boxes of chocolates and lunches with their "in-service." Hmm.....I don't know about you but when I make a purchase I don't just go to the supplier for information. I do my own research.
I can not even wrap by head around the hepatitis b vaccination. I mean, seriously!!! How many babies do you know that are having sex and shooting up with needles??? That is how hepatitis b is transmitted....blood and intercourse. Why the hell does a newborn who has NO immune system yet need to be vaccinated with hepatitis b at a few hours old??? What risk are they at??? GRRRR!!!!
Skip the antibiotics is another great prevention to autism. You don't need an antibiotic for every freaking sniffle, ear infection, or bacterial infection. So why the hell do doctors pass antibiotics out like candy??? 1) to shut you up and get you out of the office 2) $$$$$$$$$ Did you know that not only does the antibiotic kill the bad bacteria (if there was even bad bacteria in the first place) but it also kills your good bacteria too????? This actually weakens your immune system. Your body is designed to fight off infections, let it do it's job!!!
Have you looked at food labels lately???? It blows my mind all the food that has FREAKING sugar or high fructose corn syrup in it. Why the hell did the government just pass a law that allows aspartame to be added to milk with out labeling it???? I mean seriously........WHAT THE FUCK???? Yes, please add a shot of cancer causing shit to my milk said NO ONE EVER.
While I *celebrate* Autism Awareness every day of my current life I will NOT be lighting anything up blue. Autism Speaks in my opinion is worthless. Autism Speaks targets a lot of their funding to genetic research. Um, HELLO if autism was genetic related wouldn't he have a shit ton more autistic adults??? Autism Speaks also has huge salaries for their management team.
Here is some of Autism Speaks Statistics from 2010:
Geraldine Dawson, Chief Science Officer - Salary: $669,751
Mark Roithmayer, President - Salary: $400,413
Peter Bell, Executive Vice President - Salary: $265,981
Glenn Tringali, Executive Vice President - Salary: $255,256
Alison Tepper Singer, Executive Vice President - Salary: $201,942
Amount Spent on Travel: $2,873,667
Credit Card and Banking Fees: $989,344
Premiums: $1,452,807
Management Fees: $2,038,024
Advertising and Promotion: $2,108,778
Temporary Help: $718,686
Income: $65,826,829
GRANTS PAID OUT: $27,593,390
So don't buy Autism Speaks mercury filled blue light bulbs!!!!!!
I am walking, talking breathing Autism Action and will continue to for the rest of my life. My little guy is getting closer and closer to a full recovery from autism.
STOP trusting the government, STOP trusting pharmaceutical companies, stop trusting physicians, and start doing your own research.
Did you know that we are one of the very few countries that not only allows GMO foods but protects the main supplier of GMO foods from legal action?
Did you know that physicians learn minimal to nothing about vaccinations in medical school? Hmm......so who do they learn from you ask???? FREAKING pharmaceutical representatives that are taking them boxes of chocolates and lunches with their "in-service." Hmm.....I don't know about you but when I make a purchase I don't just go to the supplier for information. I do my own research.
I can not even wrap by head around the hepatitis b vaccination. I mean, seriously!!! How many babies do you know that are having sex and shooting up with needles??? That is how hepatitis b is transmitted....blood and intercourse. Why the hell does a newborn who has NO immune system yet need to be vaccinated with hepatitis b at a few hours old??? What risk are they at??? GRRRR!!!!
Skip the antibiotics is another great prevention to autism. You don't need an antibiotic for every freaking sniffle, ear infection, or bacterial infection. So why the hell do doctors pass antibiotics out like candy??? 1) to shut you up and get you out of the office 2) $$$$$$$$$ Did you know that not only does the antibiotic kill the bad bacteria (if there was even bad bacteria in the first place) but it also kills your good bacteria too????? This actually weakens your immune system. Your body is designed to fight off infections, let it do it's job!!!
Have you looked at food labels lately???? It blows my mind all the food that has FREAKING sugar or high fructose corn syrup in it. Why the hell did the government just pass a law that allows aspartame to be added to milk with out labeling it???? I mean seriously........WHAT THE FUCK???? Yes, please add a shot of cancer causing shit to my milk said NO ONE EVER.
While I *celebrate* Autism Awareness every day of my current life I will NOT be lighting anything up blue. Autism Speaks in my opinion is worthless. Autism Speaks targets a lot of their funding to genetic research. Um, HELLO if autism was genetic related wouldn't he have a shit ton more autistic adults??? Autism Speaks also has huge salaries for their management team.
Here is some of Autism Speaks Statistics from 2010:
Geraldine Dawson, Chief Science Officer - Salary: $669,751
Mark Roithmayer, President - Salary: $400,413
Peter Bell, Executive Vice President - Salary: $265,981
Glenn Tringali, Executive Vice President - Salary: $255,256
Alison Tepper Singer, Executive Vice President - Salary: $201,942
Amount Spent on Travel: $2,873,667
Credit Card and Banking Fees: $989,344
Premiums: $1,452,807
Management Fees: $2,038,024
Advertising and Promotion: $2,108,778
Temporary Help: $718,686
Income: $65,826,829
GRANTS PAID OUT: $27,593,390
So don't buy Autism Speaks mercury filled blue light bulbs!!!!!!
I am walking, talking breathing Autism Action and will continue to for the rest of my life. My little guy is getting closer and closer to a full recovery from autism.
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