Ear plugs please

Ear drums are a very special tool that we all take for granted most of the time.

Every so often, one is reminded of the ear drum.  Perhaps when one is flying, took a dive in the pool or even went too far with the softness of a Q-Tip.  There are remedies for all the activities above.  Such as gum chewing, ear drops and the rapid removal of the cotton swab.

Now lets talk Autistic eardrums and family members too.

Some Autistic children, from what I have read, are very LOUD. Seth would fall in this category head first. He is loud, heavy footed with ungraceful movements and overall noisy.  I can handle all of this BUT the loudness!  It is extremely hard on the ears.  And all the while, he has taught his sister Keana, a high pitched shrill voice. So besides Seth and his bag of alphabet soup of loudness we have 2 year old Keana running around the house belting out her best Daryl Hannah imitation from the movie Splash.  You know, where DH plays a mermaid then at one point in the movie she "trys" to talk and all she makes is a very loud shrilling/shrieking noise. Yup, thats what we have in our mix.  My bag contains ear plugs.


On the flip side, Seth cannot always tolerate lots of different loud noises.  For example: when he is watching the television, he cannot handle other people talking in the same room as him or in the next room over.  I suppose this would fall under the sensory overload category. Add that to his bag.
* Oddly enough, Seth is not even phased one bit by his own loudness. God sure does have a funny sense of humor at times.  


Perfectly in tune.  

We may not always enjoy the sounds others make while eating, sleeping, drinking, toilet time... you get the idea, but at least we know it will all end in a matter of a few swallows, gulps, a flush or two, a pillow over the face or an elbow jab to your partner's side.  Not me though, my sidekick Seth will most likely always be on the loud side and out of tune.  With that said, my ear plugs are always close by.     

2 years old

3 years old

5 years old

Oh Dare oh Dare

Dare County is located in northeastern North Carolina along the Atlantic seaboard. Dare County stretches along almost 110 miles of shoreline known as the Outer Banks. Population: 34,307.  Lat and Long : 35.6549619, -75.6208088.

So now you have a brief idea of the county in which I live in.  Beautiful and serene.  Just like something one could dream of retiring too no matter how young or old. Living the "beach life" to surf and fish.  Come, come to me says Dare County. Trade in your coats and ties for board shorts and flips.  Live the easy, laid back life. Sounds lovely, right?  There is a catch for some of us here on the Outer Banks aka OBX.  While this is true for most, it is not for me and my son. 

I love the surfing, beaches, fishing, outdoors, laid back lifestyle but the OBX is not the most "special needs" friendly place to be. This is not a secret.  Finding certain therapies for Seth has been a challenge to say the least.  Also, finding other out reach programs and support programs has been harder then I thought. 

Every 4-5 weeks Seth and I take a 5 hour trek (drive time to and from) to his psychiatrist in Greenville, NC. We will also be venturing to Virginia Beach, Virginia (3 hour drive time to and from) for a pediatric behavioral therapist probably once a week.  That is a lot of drive time for my little guy and me too, as well as loss of school time.  That in itself is extremely physically and mentally exhausting and can cause Seth numerous meltdowns, making me want to insert my ear plugs. Of coarse it is worth it, but if he has a meltdown on the drive to the appointment - the apt is almost always useless.  I never know what will trigger Seth to have a major meltdown so I can never plan what to expect.  

Please do not take this post as a dislike for the OBX, that is so far from the truth!  I love living here and the lifestyle. We also have some freaking awesome friends and family that bless us everyday! As well, Seth has an amazing occupational therapist, a wonderful pediatrician and had great speech therapists.  And we are gifted with a stellar program called,  "Surfing for Autism".  You should check them out. http://www.surfingforautism.org/ . 

As for Seth, depending on his day/time/mood/hyper state/hunger/phase of the moon/tide charts... he too loves to surf, bogie board, fish, swim and the beach life.  Heck, that's all my kid knows.  

Before 6 years ago, I did live the laid back beach life and could not have imagined otherwise. Hopefully most of you have never had a special need and never will but if you did or do then I am guessing you have some understanding for my post.  

Yes, there are days that I wish we lived closer to an area that catered to all of Seth's need.  Just to spare him the "off routine" of the day. Then, just as I wish for that, I find myself longing for the sunrise on the beach, smell of the salt air, sand in my hair, saltwater skin, feel of the surf, sunset on the sound and most of all, my loving home I so adoringly call, OBX. 

Seth surfing at the Surfing for Autism event. Nags Head, NC 

Kai, Keana and Seth. Sunset on the sound in Kitty Hawk. 

Step Brothers and buds: Kai and Seth

Sunday sunrise

  .     

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