Sep 21, 2010

A LITTLE DROP OF WATER



A poem I wrote for Hunter's Speech Festival last year:

What kind of world would it be
if water didn't exist naturally?
We would have cracked lips and hands
and Summers without any lemonade stands.
Our hair would be caked with grease and grime
and our toilets would be---oh never mind.
We wouldn't have oceans with all of those fish
Or water fountains to make that one special wish.
There wouldn't be lakes to ever go swimming
We would just lie in a dirt hole-
and that's just the beginning!
There wouldn't be sleet or hail or rain
Not even the Snowman would be the same.
Imagine what mysteries we could uncover-
the mermaid, the Loch Ness, maybe another.
But what about the penguins and the Eskimos?
What could they do if their toes weren't froze?
No snow globes, no Icee's, no white water rapids,
no movies like Jaws or Christopher Columbus.
I've come to the conclusion that's better than none
Water is more than just plain, old fun.
A little drop of water falling from the sky
becomes a part of something greater
than just you or I.
A little drop of water
small as can be
can save a life eventually.

Sep 19, 2010

I AM SPENT


We have switched DD agencies and all of the kids are doing some testing now.

We have found that Mercedes has executive dysfunction or brain damage to her right parietal lobe. This came as quite a shock. She had extensive testing done, and they ruled out some of her past diagnoses such as ADHD and CAPD. She is a smart girl, but her left side of her brain is over compensating for her right side. This explains why she is so good at English and Vocabulary, but not so good at math. A possible EEG is on the horizon.

Ryder's challenges mimic Angelman's Syndrome or Prader Willi Syndrome. He will need another genetic chromosome test to determine.

Mason's anxiety continues to climb. He gets ready for school 1 hour ahead of departure time and paces the floor until then.

Hunter's endless questions bombard the family at all times. He craves food constantly and does not like therapy.

William silently struggles with activities of daily living. Only if you lived with us, would you be able to tell. Or smell, let's put it that way.

I am spent. ...Trying to figure out what the future holds...and trying to keep it all together.

Sep 3, 2010

A BALANCING ACT


There is a fly buzzing around my head. And no, we don't live in squalor. Although as I look around, the office could use a good pick me up. :) I would like to be a fly on the wall to see how my kids are doing in school. They started school recently. Well, three of the four started. Mason stayed home because he was too drugged up to even open his eyes. I have debated for a year now whether or not to try an anti-anxiety medication with him. We have tried two during the summer and they just make him way too tired and sleepy. Even at the lowest dose! And this kid is 5 foot 4 and weighs 130 pounds. Finally around 10am the Prozac started wearing off (we gave it the night before) but he is getting so stuck in routine especially when it is coupled with anxiety that I couldn't get him to go to school late, even if I walked him into the class. He is now acting like he did in preschool. If I didn't play "chase" outside around our car every morning before the bus showed up, our morning would be spent dealing with a major meltdown which also involved the bus driver. So, in the famous words of Carol Anne from Poltergeist, "They're Back!"

This morning, in order to be very early to school so that he has enough time to play before school starts, Mason picked out his older brother Hunter's uniform, poured him a bowl of cereal with milk, got Hunter's backpack ready, and kept prompting Hunter to hurry. Then took Ryder out to the car and buckled him up. This kid means business.

Hunter and Mason are so very opposite from each other -- I sometimes wonder if they really came from my womb. They are meant to be brothers, they really balance each other out.

BEING GREEN

THE CUT-OUT KID STRIKES AGAIN!

Ernie and Oscar learn they like different things-great for kids on the Spectrum!