Testing 1, 2, 3... Testing.

It's that time again for more testing.  It seems like it never ends.  Three hours of pavement to hotel destination so we can make our first appointment at 6 pm.  Just another intake.  To follow tomorrow morning for testing.  

Testing for IEP's, blood, psychological all for what?  To be able to ask for help for a child with needs but first your kid must pass or actually fail the testing just to prove they really need the help.  

Over the years, this has been very challenging for Seth and his teachers because he is very inconsistent with school work and any testing.  Being on the Spectrum along with his other mixes makes it was difficult to know what he really needs help with and what he can handle independently.  Along with the best ways and goals to help him strive.  

Seth has come a very long way from where he first started and I wholeheartedly believe this is due to realizing Seth's difficulties from 13 months onward and early intervention. It is beyond frustrating to hear some people question if a child is on the Spectrum.  This happened to me when Seth was four.  I signed him up for a sport and some of my friends children were on his team.  One of them only heard of the stories that we were going through with Seth and made a comment how he seems "so normal".  UNTIL she saw him have a HORRIBLE sensory meltdown that involed banging his head on the ground, yelling words that made no sense, pulling his hair, covering his ears and ultimately running. She then quickly apologized.  More on that topic another time. 

My mind is tired. I dislike reliving Seth's younger years because that was him back then... Let's focus on the Seth who he is now.  We are all a work in progress and all have issues some just are more intune and better equipped to handle most situations.  I am tired.


Let the testing begin.  

Da mix is back... slightly improved.

Wow. It has been quite some time since I have blogged on my page. Many reasons for this absence, but I will spare you all with the mundane daily excuses that we all live and have. Tired. Overwhelmed. Disorganized. Tired. There it is in a nutshell. Moving forward. 

Since the start of First grade Seth has come a long way. His school and I are still in the works for his 504 and IEP. Hoping to have the final details next week. With that said, the last two months have been a pretty smooth ride in our household for him (finding the closest piece of wood to knock). I can only guess that this is due to many factors. His medication and dosage are right on, he is in routine with school-class-teacher, Rescare, his doctor, football season, wrestling season, maturing, slowly learning to control his emotions/tantrums, finally allowing us to help him and he is slowly recognizing and understanding how to help himself or at least he is seeing the difference when he is "doing better". 

And BEST OF ALL.. He now LOVES and ACCEPTS when I hug and kiss him!!!!! Nothing beats that... NOTHING!

Along with his football and wrestling, skateboarding and surfing are still if not more then ever a huge "release" for him.  He is like a work horse or working dog.  I can not even begin to imagine what is happening in the "inside" of his brain when he is literally bouncing off the walls and speaking so fast with excess saliva.  Always on the go and needs to be in constant motion.  Though his body and muscles are quite rigid and not extremely flexible along with being semi clumsy and not always aware of his surroundings... he goes full force into whatever has his focus at that moment.  Still to this day trying to teach him the correct stance on a skateboard, he wont have it.  Will not listen.  He knows all.  Of coarse he does, he is 6 after all.  Ha!  His stubbornness and determination is a double edge sword.  One edge makes a lot of chaos for him, loved ones and his surroundings which have led to countless meltdowns and hurt.  On the other edge, he is not a quitter.  Does not give up. This can pertain to school work, sports, cleaning, ect.   He tends to give it his all until he gets it right or at least what he thinks is "right".  

Whatever is "right" in Seth's world at the moment, is well... right.  At least as he sees it.  No use arguing, convincing, debating, proving him otherwise... his brain will not accept it.  Period.  (If I have learned anything in my 6 years with my son, it is the above.)

Add a pinch of Autism to the mix.

I created this blog about one year ago.  As you can tell, a year later, this is my first blog entry.  Here is the story to my blog; Add a pinch of Autism to the mix.

Happy birthday to my sweet son Seth.  June 16, 2006 we welcomed our son with open arms and lots of love.   When he entered into our space we were overjoyed to hear his first cry.  If we had only known that there would be many, upon many cries, whining, tantrums and rages that would come along with God's precious gift perhaps a pair of ear plugs would have been a practical "welcome to the world" gift. : )  All kidding aside, I was overjoyed with happiness holding my son for the first time and scared to death about motherhood.

Somewhere between 6 and 13 months old I "just knew" that something was "off" or "different" about Seth.  I made my concerns known to his pediatrician who at the time just dismissed each and every one of them.  Hey, what did I know? I was a newbie mom at the ripe age of 30.  

After several attempts of being ignored by the ped, I took matters into my own hands. For reasons unbeknownst to me,  I did not understand why the pediatrician thought that it was normal for a 12 - 16 month old to not to take notice to a baby/kid friendly television show, hardly babbling,  scratching himself, hitting himself, banging his head into the wall, throwing/kicking objects when he would get frustrated.   By the age of 2 not interested in block play, coloring, toys, books and other kids.  Come to find out, it wasn't the norm.  

Here we go.  Please buckle your seat belt, keep all extremities inside the compartment and don't forget your ear plugs!

First stop, pediatric psychiatrist.  Came home with a bag of alphabet soup.  PDD-NOS, ADHD, ODD and mood disorder.  Second stop, pediatric psychiatrist, second opinion. Departed with the same bag of alphabet soup.  There it was, all these letters that was suppose to mean something to me and I must admit, I had not a clue of what Autism and Autism Spectrum was all about.  Honestly, I wasn't really on a search to find out "what was wrong with him" but rather, I wanted to learn how to help him and learn how to help him help himself.  All these diagnoses at the tender age of 3.  My heart sunk but mentally I was alive and hopeful because now we had the "what was wrong" with him figured out.  Or so I thought.  This was just the beginning of the journey. 

Since then our bag of alphabet soup has gotten bigger with speech therapy, occupational therapy, counseling and behavioral therapy.  Seth has come a long way with his understanding of other peoples emotions and empathy, humor, verbalizing his wants and needs, ok with being touched and held at times, finding his imagination and fine tuning motor skills.  We are still working on his LOUDNESS.  Still not sure he understands the term whisper and when he tries, well, it is LOUD.  Everyday brings on new challenges and many frustrations but in all our fog, there is always a glimpse of the rainbow.  Sometimes I need to look really hard and even when I cant see it, I must believe it is there.       

Here we are today, 3 years later.  Happily remarried I am to a wonderful Godly man, husband, father and step father.  Shane treats Seth as his own.  We have an amazing daughter, Keana who is two and she is Seth's half sister and I have a wonderful stepson, Kai who is almost 8 years of age, he is Seth's stepbrother.  Fabulous family of five we are with a pinch of Autism in the mix.  

Seth almost 2 years of age

Seth 3 years of age

Our "Rocky" Seth.  5 years old

Keana 2 (Seth's half sister) and Seth 6

My tripod. Kai, Keana and Seth

Amazing hubby, father and step dad; Shane with Seth who was 3 at the time.

Me and my children. Keana, 2 and Seth, 6