Griffin's New E.I.

Griffin has a new Early Interventionist and she is fantastic! Her name is Ms. A and he responds really well to her. Ms. A is bi-lingual which comes in quite handy because lately Griffin has been most interested in Spanish and it just so happens that is what her specialty is. They worked with numbers to twenty in Spanish, flash cards, and other everyday objects and he did quite well saying the Spanish words each and every time with great enthusiasm.

Griffin has been playing his educational computer games quite a bit lately instead of watching TV and this thrills me to no end because he has learned so much from them. I just love to hear him laugh and repeat what the games say like, "I knew that you could do it. Great job!" He doesn't seem to be doing it in a scripting sort of way, he is just repeating it in context each time they say it in the game but not when the game is not on. So I don't think that he is scripting.

That's about it there's nothing more to write about mostly because I can't think of anything not necessarily because nothing has happened. I guess that you could say that I have writer's block rather than there's not a thing going on in our lives. I hope that you all are doing very well and leave a comment for me if you will about whether or not your child using scripting.

Griffin Is Better

Griffin is running around and seems to be back to his old self again and the amazing part of it is that he didn't take his antibiotics........none of them. Even though I tried to put the powder of the capsule in some food (like chocolate pudding) he still wouldn't eat it and I tried various other foods too and he wouldn't eat any of them, not even a bite. I am so glad that he got better without the help of the antibiotics because that means that his immune system is very strong and he won't be building up a resistance to them for the future. He could have gotten the shot that lasts 10 days but the doctor didn't recommend it unless it was an emergency, he thought that Griffin's natural immunities would do the trick even if he didn't take the medicine and he was right! Now I have some kind of virus it's just a head and chest cold and I am taking Musinex which is helping me tremendously. Otherwise there isn't much to report except that the weather is divine! It is 82 degrees today and I am enjoying it as much as I possibly can like going out on the deck to read a book. I am looking forward to feeling better and taking Griffin to the playground and/or to the neighbor's house where she has a swing set so he can play. I hope that the higher temperature doesn't mean that it is going to be super hot early on this year because I am NOT looking forward to the swealtering hot/humid weather, oh well we shall see. How's the weather where you are? I hope that all of you are doing very well.

Griffin Has Strep

I don't know what it is but ever since we got here in December Griffin has been so sick it seems one illness after another and now it is strep. He was never so sick in Alaska and certainly never had strep before. I don't know if it is because parents here have been sending their sick children to school or if he is picking it up at the grocery store. I need some ideas of what to do to get him to eat because the poor little fella just won't and can't seem to eat anything, I know that his throat hurts really bad but I've got to get the medicine in him somehow. The doc prescribed a medicine in capsule form and said that we could open it up and use the powder in food but if he's not wanting anything then I don't know how we're gonna get it in him. Thank goodness he is drinking lots of water and he hasn't lost any weight yet. So, if anyone has ideas of what kind of food to try that might entice him I would love to hear it. He is sleeping a lot which is good because he certainly needs the rest and his spirits are high in spite of all the pain he is in.......that's my little trooper!!!!

I Want To Change My Medication

I have shared so much about myself and my challenges with my Bipolar Disorder so much that I feel like I can write this and be honest and not have to worry about being thought of as "crazy", at least not by my blogger friends. I have been thinking a lot lately about how my life has been while taking this medication "Abilify" and it has not been a bed of roses that's for sure. It has been brought to my attention by those closest to me that I look and act like I am stoned/on drugs (like street drugs). I have realized that I have NO motivation for anything at all, not things that I used to enjoy like art, photography, exercise, and stuff as simple as watching movies/TV. I feel as though I am just existing and going through the motions of living. Before taking this medication I was full of life and sometimes anxiety too but nevertheless I was for the most part living a full life. Now I truly feel disabled, I mean , it is an effort for me just to take a shower or groom myself as I used to and to me that is really sad. I have made the decision that I am going to ask the doctor(psychiatrist) that I see on the 21st to change my meds for me. Hopefully he/she will cooperate with me and let me try something different. I am so tired of living this way and moving around like a three-toed sloth. It is disabling me not helping me to be more productive or to be an active member of society, I feel paralyzed. All I do all day is to sit down in front of the computer when Griffin is not in need of help with his schedule and do basically nothing of worth here. You'd think that I would be writing in the blog each day as much as I sit here but I do not because once again..........I simply do not have the motivation to do anything productive or meaningful in my life. I do miss my therapist and my ANP in Anchorage and I wish that I could get their opinion on my decision but alas, I cannot :( I will be at the mercy of this new doctor and I can only hope against all hope that he/she will be understanding and help me out. Maybe I shouldn't be so candid on this blog but it is my outlet, my journal of sorts and I feel that I will get support or at least some advice from my friends that will help me to do what is best for me. I just don't think that there is any quality of life present nor do I feel like I am being the best mother that I could be to Griffin. This where my candor ends and my journey begins. I will ask you to wish me luck with this new doctor and hopefully with new meds. Thanks ahead of time for all your support my friends, I certainly do need it.

The Switch Was Successful

I am so happy that I made the switch to the new blogger because everything is just the same on the blog and hopefully it will function better for me now.

I am no longer having problems with my usual e-mail but Amy you can still write to me at the e-mail address (griffinblaise@yahoo.com), I will be checking the mail more often now looking for your letter.

Janice, I am sorry that I haven't gotten back to you sooner but I wanted to answer your questions. ADHD and Bipolar Disorder are not the same/related but here is the link to some information on Bipolar Disorder that you may find helpful if you are interested in reading about it. Here is a link to some information and the definition to Auditory Processing Disorder. I think that you will find the answers to your questions there and if not then leave me another comment and I will be happy to either find more information for you or give you my version of what I understand it to be which is probably not the best information you can get. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope to hear from you again soon.

Griffin is doing great, his toilet training is going really well. He has gotten to the point where he will tell me that he needs to go or he will just run into the bathroom and go on his own. I don't think that he is ready for "big boy" underwear quite yet even though he is beginning to stay dry the 2.5 hours that he is at school. I do think that pretty soon we will try the underwear just around the house and see how it goes. I will keep you posted.

Griffin's Speech Evaluation

Griffin had his first appointment with his new SLP and it went quite well, she is so animated and fun and I am looking forward to the summer when she gets to see him again. There's a waiting list so it won't be until about June until they will see each other again. Anyhow, he did great, responding to her questions l. His receptive language/auditory comprehension is at 4 yrs. 3 months, his expressive speech is at 3 yrs. 9 months, and his articulation of sounds is at 3 yrs. 11 months. I think that he is actually doing better than what these scores reflect but it was just a test and he was distracted by her toys and kept wanting to play with the LaLa and Barney toys so he wasn't as focused as he could have been.

I am not feeling like writing much today so I am going to make this a short post. I will write again soon. I am about to switch over to the new blogger and I am so afraid that everything is going to disappear, like my blogroll because someone told me that it would. If something happens then you can find me at Griffin and Autism .

I hope that the link works and if everything goes awry then I will see you on my new blog and be weeping for the loss of my old blog. I found that I still cannot comment on your blogs and I am certainly missing that, I even tried to use the Griffin and Autism account and it didn't work still. I don't know what's up.

Amy from Colorado, I have been having problems with my e-mail account, I have Incredimail and it's not working properly. You can send the e-mail to griffinblaise@yahoo.com and I will get your e-mail there. If you don't mind, leave me a comment and let me know that you have sent it, that way I will know to check my mail. If anyone else would like to send me an e-mail feel free to write me, I would love to hear from you and open the lines of communication. Thanks for writing Amy, I look forward to hearing from you.

I Cannot Comment on Your Blogs

For some bizarre reason I cannot comment on your blogs because the word verification is not working properly and there simply is not any letters there. It is a bummer to me because I so enjoy reading your blogs and leaving comments so that you know that I have been there. Has anyone else had this problem? Do you know what I should do to remedy this situation? Please let me know if you know of something that I can do.

Otherwise, things are going very well around here. Griffin has been really polite as of late and using his manners all the time. He will use Please, Thank You, and Excuse Me appropriately in every instance. When he burps he says "Excuse me", if he wants you to back away and give him his space he will say "Excuse me" or "Please, move away". I am very proud of him and impressed that he is using such good manners, he even uses sign language to go with his words.