A Bunch of Updates -- April 10, 2009

I will be attending the FASD conference in Madison, Wisconsin in the beginning of May. I can't wait, we decided to go down and do a mini vacation as an added bonus. I am bringing a sitter with me to watch the kids while I am at the conference, except for Aiden who will stay here with a sitter for the two days. He is too small to enjoy any kind of vacation. After the conference we will be visiting the Zoo, museums, etc, and doing some general sight seeing. It's not the best vacation but it will be fun. To get out of here for a couple of days and go do something fun will be great. And I can't wait to learn more about FASD and how best to teach children with this disorder, manage behaviors, and everything else I will learn.
I will be taking Katie to a genetisist to learn more about her diagnosis. I would love to know more about where she falls on the spectrum and what it means for her future. More about therapy options/treatment options. More about what school can do to make it easier for her. I was hoping to be able to get in before her IEP meeting the end of May, but they couldn't get her in until the beginning of June. Atleast she won't have to wait 6 months like she would if I would have taken her to a developmental pediatrician. I am so excited.
Aiden, has finally started to talk about school. Usually when I ask him how was school, he will just say fun. Which I know is echolia from me asking him if he had fun at school so many times. Well the other day he named off both of his teachers. When I asked him if his teachers were nice, he told me yeah, then went on to tell me that his buddy was nice (in not so many words). I asked him who his buddy was and he named off this little girl who is in his class. She also sits next to him on the bus. I doubt that she views their relationship in the same light, but I am so glad that he is now talking about school. It's something we can build on. Hopefully one day he will be able to tell me about his day at school so I am not left guessing. I talk to his teachers when I drop him off in the morning. And if I didn't do that, then I would never know how school was going for him.
Aiden is doing really well. I tend to freak out about odd things that he does. I guess having two children with special needs leaves you worrying about the littlest thing that seems off. The other night he was staring at the light in the kitchen for like ten minutes straight, with this expressionless face. I called my mom and asked her if it was normal for a two month old to do that and she assured me that he was fine and it was normal for babies to be fascinated by lights and fans. I guess that if there is a problem I would like to catch it at the earliest possible age so we can start therapy or whatever. I still feel horrible that I stayed in denial about Alex's autism for well over a year. He could have started therapy sooner and would have been better off then. I just don't want to do make the same mistake with Aiden.
I still think about where Alex would be now developmentally if I would have known sooner and if he would have started therapy sooner. When he had a full evaluation right after his diagnosis, he was at a two year old level for about everything and his socialization skills were that of an 11 month old. I know he would rate much higher now after starting school and therapy. I have been buying alot of books and actually managed to find one about FASD. After reading about half of that book I am now positive that my little girl has FAE. I guess before reading it in black and white I could atleast keep some denial about her condition. She was diagnosed by her primary physician. The way he put it was that he was positive that she fell on the FASD spectrum but couldn't say more than that because he was no expert. That's one of the reasons that I want to have her seen by the genetisist, who actually has alot of experience with FASD. Another is learn more about the disorder. Katie has been having tantrums lately. Not like her normal ones, alot worse. It gets to the point where I have to put her in her room and shut the door, and let her cry it out. I don't know what else to do with her. It isn't like everyday but has been happening alot, atleast a couple of times a week. I talked to her occupational therapist about this and she wants me to try Alex's weighted blanket on Katie while she is having these meltdowns and see how she responds. I know with Alex, the blanket is a life saver most of the time. When he has a meltdown, I put the blanket on and it has an instant calming effect. He will still be crying but he won't be flailing around, kicking and screaming. Of course she hasn't had a meltdown since we seen her therapist and I hope that she doesn't have any more but I am curious to see if the blanket has the same effect that it has on Alex.
I can't believe how big all the kids are getting. I ended up having to buy Alex a bigger bed. He was getting way to big for his toddler bed. So now he is in his big bed, Katie is in the toddler bed and we put the crib in the garage. Katie never wanted to be out of the crib before. I think it was a security issue with her. I gave her the option of keeping her crib or starting to sleep in the toddler bed. She choose the toddler bed. So now we are down to only having one crib in the house again. I also put the bassinet into the garage too. I can't wait until we have the garage sale sometime in early summer to get rid of all of this stuff. I am sick of hanging on to it all and I am not planning on any more children.