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.

Thank You All

I cannot thank you enough for your kind words of encouragement, they surely helped me a great deal.....more than I can express. It never fails that when I am feeling low and need help, when my depression has got me down and I can't seem to get up my blogger friends always come through for me and for that I am eternally grateful. Your words of advice and your wonderful suggestions have definitely gotten me up and feeling better about myself and about being a good mother. I have made such dear and precious friends here through this blog and met some new ones recently who have been so supportive and I believe that if not for that support there would be times that I could not have gotten up and feeling better about myself. Yes, you all have that kind of power to help me "heal" my psyche and get through my bipolar moments. It is a wicked affliction and I often wish that I did not have it but I do, it is part of me, and there's not much I can do except take my medication and live with the residual symptoms that remain. My previous post was essentially a cry for help and now that I read it it sounds so sad and pitiful which is how I was feeling I guess but that was then and this is now and I wouldn't be in this place had you all not helped me.

I now realize that the move was a good thing for Griffin and eventually it will be a good thing for me too, I just need more time to adjust that's all. I do have some good news, my medicaid was approved and my application for public assistance came through for me (it's not much but every little bit helps). Now all I need to do is get a new lawyer in this area to represent me for my social security disability hearing and sit and wait for them to have the darn thing. Social security has bypassed their deadline as of August of 2006 but of course it makes no difference to them that they passed their deadline for my hearing. There's no need for me to rant about it, all I need to do is to be positive and do what I must to take care of business.

I Need Your Help

This is a new site that I discovered called CafeMom and here is an article that the moderator wrote entitled Happy To Have A Spectrum Kid it is inspiring and encouraging and so are the replies to the article.
Griffin is seen here with my Mom goofing off and being a ham for the camera, I have noticed that lately he has been doing that more and more.

I don't know what it is but lately I have felt like I am not a good mother to Griffin. Maybe my depression is not as good as I thought it was, I thought that since moving from Anchorage that I was doing better but I guess that I was wrong. Sure, I miss Alaska and all my friends, I miss the people, the city, the magnificent scenery, I miss my privacy and my independence but I don't miss the isolation of that apartment in the freezing temperatures and darkness of winter. What to do? I am taking my medications the way I should and my parents are helping out with Griffin. I get out of the house nearly every day but at the same time I cannot seem to shake this feeling that I have that I'm not a good mother and that Griffin is better off here than he was in Anchorage because I wasn't a good mother to him then or now. Griffin has been thriving here and talking a lot, hardly having any meltdowns in fact he is acting more like an NT child more than ever. What is it that I was doing wrong in Anchorage? I talked to my friend Sue about a situation that happened here with my parents which I won't go into out of respect for them but Sue told me that I WAS A GOOD MOTHER! She told me that I was a good mother in Anchorage and that I am still a good mother. She asked me why all of a sudden that I was doubting myself when I was doing fine in Alaska. I couldn't answer her and I still have no answers. It's like a sadness that has overcome me and it only seems to be getting worse. I wish that I had a therapist here, if only I could find out about whether or not my medicaid was approved but it has been over a month and still no word. I miss my therapist in Anchorage, she was so awesome and I will never ever have someone like her ever again. My thoughts have been so dark lately and I wonder about "what if" all the time such as "what if something happens to me then how would Griffin feel, would he miss me?" things like that. I realize that I am pouring my heart out here but I just don't know what to do and I need some support from my blogger friends. I wish that I could hear someone tell me on a regular basis that I am a good mother, someone who is close to me, ya know? What a big difference that would make to just hear those words. Don't we all want to hear them? Am I just a strange one who needs reassurance and validation all the time? I am wondering if any of you have felt the way that I have. Have you ever had dark thoughts about what would happen if you were to die and if your child would even miss you or not? I think that Griffin would miss me but not really bad which breaks my heart but at the same time it would be good because it would mean that he was his usual happy camper self that I always want him to be. Now I am just rambling on and on. Is there anyone out there who has some words of wisdom? Do you think that you could help me? Please!

Sandbox Fun

I am happy to report that Griffin is once again using the potty as he once did, he has even told me that he needs to go and walks into the bathroom on his own. I think that being sick just threw him off and he just needed time to get back into the swing of things. Here Griffin is pictured playing in the sandbox with his cousin and boy oh boy did he have a blast. I think that it was the very first time that he has actually played in a sandbox. He thoroughly enjoyed rolling around in it and putting the sand in his hair, I just let him do as he pleased and have fun not worrying about how dirty he got. Griffin did actually interact with his little cousin who is about 2 years old, he seems to really enjoy the company of children who are younger and smaller than himself for some reason. Granted the interaction was brief at best and it mostly involved him taking turns and sharing toys but anyhow it was great to see that he even had the least bit of interest in her at all.

I am also pleased to report that I got my medicine that I so desperately needed for my Bipolar Disorder through the P.P.A.(Partnership of Prescription Assistance). I had not written about it in the blog but I was running out of my medicine which costs $500.00 a month and had actually been taking it every other day instead of every day as I was supposed to because I was running so low on them but I called the PPA and they came through for me!!! Now I can feel like myself again, my medicated self, and be stable emotionally/mentally and not have to worry about flying off the handle or weeping uncontrollably whenever someone happens to mention something that touches a nerve. I am so grateful for the 3-4 month supply that they sent to me, just think how much money those meds are worth!!! It was actually the drug company who sent me the meds........Bristol-Meyer Squibb but it's about time that the drug companies finally give back to the consumers and not just robbing them blind over medications!!! I am not a big fan of the pharmaceutical industry even though I will be stuck taking their meds for the rest of my life but I won't go into it right now. It just makes me angry and there's not a thing that I can do about it either!

Need Help With Toilet Training Tips

Griffin has been mouthing non-food objects again and putting his fingers in his mouth and writing on windows & mirrors with his saliva (YUCK!), it's no wonder that he keeps getting sick. I try to sanitize his hands as often as I can especially when we go out in public but I can't keep up. I know that it means that he needs more oral stimulation like a spin toothbrush and a Nuk brush too and I guess that I'll be going out to get one in order to help him stop doing these things. Since Griffin got sick recently he has stopped using the toilet almost completely and I don't know how to get him to start using it again. He had been going consistently with a little bit of encouragement getting to the bathroom but once in front of the toilet he would go willingly. Now he has to be practically dragged to the bathroom and once in front of the toilet he refuses to even push his pants down to urinate. He also needs to a great deal of encouragement to get to the bathroom when he needs to have a BM and often goes in his pullups/diaper. I have tried using a reward system where he got a jelly bean or m&m after using the toilet but it stopped working because he totally lost interest in eating them. I don't know of a reward that he likes better than those, he has no interest in stickers either. Of course I give him lots of praise when he goes but he doesn't really seem to care whether I do or not. Who has some suggestions? I would love to hear some ideas that you might have, I'm getting desperate because he has regressed so badly and I feel like we are at square one, even worse than square one because at least at square one he liked jelly beans! Oh and he doesn't seem to be bothered by the feeling of a wet pullup either so that's not a factor. He has some "big boy" underpants but he is not in the least bit interested in wearing them so I don't know how to motivate the little guy.

Fun Depot

Last Saturday we celebrated Griffin's birthday by going to Fun Depot in North Carolina and he seemed to have a really good time. The place was packed and noisy but it didn't seem to phase him at all until the very end when he became restless and started to do the limp noodle bit. It was quite understandable that he would eventually become overwhelmed but he had lasted a few hours playing and running around just as a typical kiddo would. My sister's daughter was there and we got a picture of Griffin kissing her on the cheek unfortunately it was a pic taken in the portrait booth and I cannot share it with you but just the same it was an awesome picture. I am thrilled that he gave her a peck on the cheek because it was an interaction, I mean he actually touched her and in an affectionate manner too. Once Griffin started to show signs of fatigue and of being overwhelmed we went straight home and he zonked out before his meds even had time to kick in, must have been exhausted. All in all it was a great day and I am so grateful that my family was there to share such a special experience with us. I really think that Griffin has enjoyed being around the family, he seems to love the attention and affection. Even though things are not quite the same, the school is not as good, and the services, money and resources are not as good, I am still glad that we are here. Anchorage was good for many things this is true but there's nothing like having family and loving support which we did not have there. I do miss my friends considerably but I don't miss the endless days of darkness, frigid temperatures (that kept us inside all the time), and the tons of snow.......well, I do kind of miss the snow but not shoveling it and having to drive in it! Everything is a trade off and there's got to be a balance in life so instead of complaining about what I don't have I will just be grateful for what we do have and just love life in spite of it all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRIFFIN!!!!!

January 31st Griffin will be 5 years old!!! Happy Happy Birthday to my big boy, I love you so very much!!!! As I reflect I think of how he has grown and developed over these years and it seems like such a long long time ago that he was being diagnosed at age 15 months with autism but at the same time it seems like just yesterday that he was being such a goofy little baby and making me laugh just as he still does. I have read about how parents mourn for the child who once was NT before being diagnosed but I don't feel that way and never have. I just see that little guy as being the same one that I have right now. It's just that he has progressed and digressed in certain areas just as a NT child would but in different ways. There are ups and downs in our lives/his life just as in any family. I don't believe that I am looking at the world through rose colored glasses either, I think that I am just loving life and living in the moment, and accepting Griffin for who he is and throwing all the expectations out the window. Griffin brings so much joy to my life and to those who are near him, he truly touches their hearts with his infectious laugh and brilliant smile. Every day I am grateful for all that he is, I have the whole package.....autism and all so why not be grateful for him because it's not gonna change (or is it?) and if it does then I will love and accept that Griffin also. Sure there are times when I just want to throw my hands up in the air and curse his autism but often times it isn't the autism that is to blame, it's just Griffin being a child. There are times when it is the autism and I can blame it but at the same time it's never an excuse for trying to separate "IT" from him....they are one and the same and I must accept that. My beautiful child has autism and I celebrate who he is and love him unconditionally autism and all. For some of you it may be a different story but isn't that what life is all about anyhow? Even for parents, children, families who are considered NT? We all have our own challenges/struggles to deal with from day to day and isn't it our PERSPECTIVE that makes all the difference in the world? Some of you may HATE autism but how can you hate what is part of your child? Because the two cannot be separated. Perhaps I need to be enlightened by you in order to understand how you feel. I want to understand because I know that you love your children too, just as much as I love my child. My point is that we are all living different life experiences no matter what type of child we have, it is all a great big puzzle and at the same time it is a lovely mess. Life is a mystery to me and I'm not sure that I want all the answers especially if there's no solution (That statement no doubt has ruffled some feathers). I am an optimist but sometimes to a fault but I have have been inspired by my child's joyful disposition and I believe that if I follow his lead then he will take me places that I had only dreamed of finding. For in the end, it is he who is the teacher. He has been put upon this earth to show me the meaning of life and what love is all about. I gave birth to a brilliant and loving soul who has heart is bigger than anyone I have ever known and I cannot wait to see which way he leads me and all the precious moments that I am so privileged to share with him. We have one more blessed year and many an obstacle that we have overcome and for a child with autism who isn't supposed to like change.........he certainly has shown me that change is good and at times it is destined to be. With all my love and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you Griffin for all that you have shown me and taught me along the way!!!!!!!!!

Visit Tina's Blog

ELMOS SING ALONG GUESING GAME is what it reads, this is Griffin's fantastic spelling with only one minor mistake so I think that he is doing a wonderful job. There's not much to report so this is going to be a really brief post. Please visit my friend Tina's blog AutismSchmatism
and read about her son who is sick and in the hospital, say a prayer for them and that he heals/recovers from his illness quickly. He is only 6 years old and they don't even know what is going on with him. Tina is a very dear friend of ours and so are her son's Chance and Jayce. Tina has her hands full with taking care of Chance and Jayce being in the hospital so sick. It breaks my heart that he is so ill and so very unhappy. Let's give Tina some support by leaving her a comment and letting her know that you are thinking of her.

Griffin Had His O.T. Eval Today

Today we met Lauren, Griffin's new O.T. and it was an upside down session. He did not want to listen and do what she asked of him at all. As I quietly observed I wondered if the presence of myself and my Mom was making a difference so I asked her if she preferred for us to leave the room and she said that it was up to me and that I knew Griffin best. So, instead she left the room with him and I could hear him playing and laughing in the distance. He wouldn't put his shoes on for her nor for me or for my Mom. I began to think that perhaps it was because everything was so new and he may have felt overwhelmed or maybe he was just pushing buttons and seeing how much he could get by with......who knows? He was restless and acting very silly and I know for sure that he can do all the things that she asked of him but he flatly refused to do anything she asked especially when she asked. Lauren did recommend that Griffin have O.T. once a week for about 30-45 minutes. We would do it more often but there is a waiting list apparently and I guess that we are lucky to even get that much. Now I've got to get a referral from his new pediatrician for Speech and Language therapy. I do have some new pics of Griffin but I just haven't uploaded them to my computer yet........LOL What a lazy arse I am!!!

Change Is Inevitible and ABA Welcome

Griffin just got over some kind of stomach flu that has been going around the area and boy was it vicious. He was sick with vomiting for several days and it was all we could do to keep him hydrated but he is better now and back to his happy camper self again. He has been hanging out with Nana (my Mom) and having a ball and still talking up a storm. I have decided that I should just trust Griffin's new teacher and her methods even though they are new and strange to me. I have spoken with a key person who thinks that the new classroom and the ABA will be good for him, this person knows Griffin very well and I trust her opinion. So maybe I just need to open up my mind and see how it works, I really don't think that Griffin is being abused in this new classroom so why not give it a try? I truly think that it could actually be beneficial for him. If necessary I will request another I.E.P. meeting and have things changed around. I think that part of my concern was that Griffin was being over disciplined for his behavior and now since speaking to this individual I believe that it's not the case at all. After speaking in detail again to Griffin's new teacher I feel more at ease with what she is planning to do with him and with the ABA method. I guess that I also need to do some research on ABA and become more familiar with it and that way I will be much less afraid of it. For all these years Griffin has been taught through the TEACCH method and it has worked so wonderfully for him and I was afraid that changing would not be good for him but now I have opened up my mind and realized that he is growing and with that growth comes progress which is in turn a product of change. Griffin is unusual in that he doesn't seem to mind change at all unlike so many individuals with autism who prefer sameness. He does well with the lack of structure and routine but I guess that the structure of ABA will still do him some good. It is good that he can adapt to the change of the new environment, people, and classroom but as it was pointed out to me, he is going to try and push some buttons to see how far he can go with his new teachers so it only makes sense that there are methods in place that help him and them to deal with his behaviors and to keep them in check so they don't get out of hand. I don't want my child to be out of control at this age and most certainly not at any age especially as he grows older and larger. Here's hoping that it all goes well and that this strange and new situation grows on me and helps Griffin to grow up.

Griffin is Talking Much More

I knew that we would miss Kathleen and sure enough we miss her really bad. I miss her in more ways than just one. Not only was she an excellent teacher but a great friend and advocate for Griffin. Pictured here is Kathleen reading a book "Oh The Places You Will Go" by Dr. Suess (My all time favorite Dr. Suess book) while I am crying and trying to take a photo. I haven't given the new teacher a chance yet but I am trying to do my best to get to know her and her teaching methods. I plan to go in there and observe her and Griffin to see how things are going. I put a note in Griffin's backpack this morning to her asking how he is doing and some concerns of mine but she did not respond. I am hoping to keep the lines of communication open with her and discuss what is going on with Griffin if not on a daily basis at least on a weekly basis. It is imparitive that I keep up with how he is doing, how he is progressing, and how his behavior is. I got upset the other day because I had discovered that the bus driver was talking on her cell phone while driving the bus. This greatly concerned me so I called transportation and talked to the supervisor of the bus drivers who pretty much made excuses for the driver and didn't even care that it was going on. She said that it was her personal cell phone and that the aide couldn't answer it because of that fact. I was becoming really quite frustrated at this point and decided to go over her head on the matter so I called the district office and spoke with a man there. This guy basically laughed in my face when I asked him if he agreed with me that it was a safety issue, he told me that he wasn't going to comment on that at this time. He did, however state that it was their policy for the drivers to NOT use the cell phone while driving the buses. So, now I guess that the morning bus driver is not too thrilled with me since she is the one that I reported even though I doubt that anything has changed except for her attitude towards me (and hopefully not towards Griffin). One day soon I am going to call the bus driver again and see if she is on the cell phone while driving the bus and if she is then I guess that I will have to go over the head of the guy at the district office and see what happens from there. Otherwise, Griffin is doing great and I am too. Griffin's speech has really taken off and he has been talking up a storm and everything that he is saying meaningful and has a purpose. I am so proud of him and he seems to be proud of himself too. He gleams with pride whenever he accomplishes a sentence or two and gets his point across. Griffin's communication has become easier to hear and understand and I attribute that to being around my parents and hearing more people talk all the time as opposed to the time he spent at home alone with me and I didn't talk that much. Things are definitely looking up for us in many ways. Life here is not without its drawbacks that's for sure but I am doing my best to remain positive and hopeful that everything will turn out for the best.

All is Well

Here my Mom and Griffin are eating pumpkin pie, Mom called it a "pie party", in case you notice, Griffin has a pair of goggles on top of his head. I have spoken with the assistant principal and the teacher of the school Griffin is to attend to resolve some of the issues that I had with the program. I feel better now that I have talked to them and have been assured that they would follow my guidelines and respect my wishes as I had described in the IEP meeting. There will be no use of the Rifton chair for any other purpose than to help my child have a place to sit still and be organized. I am going to go in and observe early on and see exactly how Griffin reacts to the use of this chair. I am going to see how well Griffin does in a thirty minute circle time too because I think that it is just too long for him. I have decided to give it a try and see how it goes because Griffin does need to socialize even if it is only for 2.5 hours a day. There is no other classroom available to him at this age, the school system here does not accomidate 4 yr. olds in an all day setting. Griffin must wait until next school year in order to be able to go to an all day program which really really stinks! He deserves so much more and I am sure that he would do a lot better in a longer program but I knew that there would be a price to pay for moving and sure enough I am not surprised at all. What I can do is to check into other private programs/schools that might support what it is that Griffin needs. I called to get private Speech Therapy but there is a long waiting list and I don't think that there will be an opening anytime soon (he will be getting speech at the school). At least he will get O.T. and soon so that is something to get excited about. It is raining here and is in the mid 60's so it is a warm rain which I absolutely love and it is around -3 in Anchorage right now so I am not missing it too much right now even though there is tons of snow and I know that it is absolutely gorgeous which I do miss.

Have A Happy New Year

With the approaching new year I think back of this time last year and wow what a huge difference and what a long way we have come. I have much to be grateful for and one of those many things is my mental health. Since moving down to South Carolina I have noticed a big difference in my well being and the lack of a feeling of depression. I don't know if anyone remembers but this time last year I was just coming out of the mental health crisis center in Anchorage and I had to leave Griffin with Kathleen for a week and it was such a painful and empty feeling that I thought that I would never get through BUT, I made it through and here I am. There are many things that I miss about Anchorage and one of those things is having my own space and the independence that I don't have here (yet) but it is but a small price to pay for having my mental health back (though never fully restored...lol) and having help with Griffin. Since my last entry I have found out that the medicaid down here does in fact pay for OT for Griffin. I am so thrilled! He has an appointment for the 15th for an hour eval. I am keeping in touch with Gayle, Griffin's previous OT in Anchorage, and we are going to compare notes once he is up and running with his new OT. Just in case there is someone reading this who doesn't know what OT means, it is Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy and if you have a child with autism I highly recommend seeing one because it has made a world of difference for Griffin. I don't know yet if the OT here does swimming or not but I am eager to find out what is in store. My time on the computer is still quite limited and I have been really quite busy but I have been thinking of you, all my blogger friends, and hope to get by your blogs soon to see what is up with you and to say "Hi" and to let you know that I still care and am interested in what is going on in your lives. I wish you all a very happy new year and may you have great success in all that you do. May you be surrounded by those who love you and whom you love and have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve. Oh, I forgot to mention that the photo above is of my niece Hayley with Griffin, he really seems to like her and seems to enjoy all the attention that he gets from her as she loves to snuggle up with him and give him lots of hugs. Thank you to all of you with whom Griffin has had contact and those of you who have helped us in the past year because we wouldn't be where we are today, doing so well, if not for you. We love you all very much and miss the ones who are far away in Anchorage. It makes sad to think about all that we left behind in Anchorage but now is the time to live in the moment and appreciate all that it has to offer, never to forget those we love and miss but to be strong and look forward to the bright and promising future. Hugs to you all and Happy Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays

Griffin was thrilled to get his Big Bird, a present from our dear friend in Alaska, Glenn. He seemed to not be able to grasp the concept of Christmas but did understand the concept of giving gifts because he was spending a lot of time wrapping up presents (which were his toys) in tissue and tape to give to NaNa and PaPa with a bow on top of course. Griffin did really well with the chaos going on in the house, he did do some stimming but only briefly though. The weather is rainy and has been for the past few days and this damp cold is more difficult to tolerate than the dry cold of Alaska. It is hard to understand, I'm sure, if one has not felt the difference but even when it was in the single digits in Alaska I could stand it better than the damp 40's here in SC. I hope that all of you are having happy holidays no matter what holiday you celebrate/observe I hope that you days are full of love and laughter. We are enjoying being with our family, it sure is nice after having been all alone in Alaska for 16 years, well not totally alone, we did have some friends there indeed but for the most part Griffin and I have spent most of our time there alone/all by ourselves. I don't know how I made it by myself for 4 1/2 years raising Griffin by myself especially now that I have the loving support of my parents/family here. Hugs to you all and a very happy holiday!

Griffin went to the doctor yesterday because he needed a new prescription for his Clonidine. I had my concerns about the medication that I had presented to him such as: Does Clonidine, being a medication for high blood pressure, lower Griffin's otherwise normal blood pressure? The doctor answered with: Clonidine does not lower "normal" blood pressure only "high" blood pressure. That was a big relief. I asked him about Griffin waking up in the middle of the night despite him having taken the .2mg of Clonidine and having zonked out. He told me that the medication only lasts 4-6 hours and then wears off (that is when Griffin wakes up). So, it is up to me at that point as to whether or not I want to give him more meds to get back to sleep. Usually if it is around 5 a.m. or so I will just tough it out and stay up with him and not give him more meds but if it is earlier than that I will give him more meds in order to help him get back to sleep. We also discussed the fact that Griffin might be having night terrors and the doctor explained to me that he is in a transition between stages of sleep and they are hard to awaken and very difficult to console because they are still asleep and do not hear or see you. Then Griffin got 3 shots: DTAP, Polio, and the 2nd Chicken Pox vaccinations. I feel so bad giving him his vaccinations but he cannot school without them at least as far as I know that is the law but I was wondering if there is anyone who has stopped giving vaccinations due to the possible thimerisol in the vaccine. My sister has not given her child any vaccines at all and her daughter is 2 years old but I am afraid to not give Griffin his required vaccines even though some of the illnesses are pretty much non-existent anymore. I would love to hear what you have to say about what your opinion is about vaccines/thimerisol and whether or not you think that they are necessary and can my child attend school without these vaccines. I need to do some research and find out whether or not he can go to school without them. Othewise, Griffin is doing great and the toilet training is coming along wonderfully. He uses the toilet by himself now and will even go when I ask him if he needs to. I usually tell him that it is time to go "potty" but he now knows very well whether or not he really has to go, so asking him if he needs to go and leading him into the bathroom he will then decide if he truly needs to go or not. Of course he still has times when he is too involved to take out time to go to the toilet but that is not so often anymore. Just in case I don't write again soon then I wish you all a happy and joyous holiday, may you and yours have lots of smiles and laughter and be surrounded by those you love the most.

My Complaints About the IEP Meeting

As you may know already if you have read this blog for very long, I am a HUGE fan of the TEACCH method because it has worked for Griffin for as long as he has been in school which will be 2 years now. I realize that ABA works wonderfully for many of your children and that there are HUGE fans of ABA out there. That is just great for all of you but for Griffin he has become accustomed to TEACCH and thrived with it and I just do not think that he would do well with ABA or at least not as I understand it. This new teacher that is supposed to be his educator is only trained in ABA and has no clue as to what TEACCH is nor does she have a clue that it is totally inappropriate to tell a child that he is a "good boy" as apposed to telling him that he did a "good job". This is all just the surface of what is bothering me. She told me that she was very proud of the fact that she does exactly the same things every single day, day in and day out. I do know my child well enough to know that that simply would not work for him. He would be bored out of his mind if he had to only do the same things, that he already knows, over and over again. Not only that but then she tells me that they have circle time for THIRTY minutes!!!! That is absolutely outrageous and even Kathleen said that it was way too long for Griffin. Then she said in an almost gleeful manner when I asked her what method she used for behavior management she said that they used redirection first (she didn't say that they tried it more than once) then they,the children, are made to sit in a Rifton chair and held down if necessary. I was totally dumbfounded!As she turns to me and asked me if that was okay with me. I found it so appauling that I was speechless, then I found the words and protested and replied that NO it was not okay with me. On top of everything else, the class is only 2.5 hours long and they do not have gym nor do they go outside to play so I just don't see how there can be time for him to socialize. Griffin is used to being challenged and if he is not challenged then he is bored and then he will act out and be "disciplined" and then boy oh boy, will I ever be an exceptionally upset parent then. Perhaps to some of you this does not seem like much of a problem but I am really upset with the IEP meeting and I am going to demand another one and this time I am going to have an advocate there with me from the Austism Society of SC. And yes I did know when we moved down here that the schools would be "poor" at best and that the teachers here wouldn't have anything close to the education and intellegence or the experience that Mrs. Kathleen has in Anchorage, Alaska. She was trully a blessing indeed. There is more to it than I have mentioned but I just get so darn upset then I can hardly type and will have to continue on later. I am seriously considering finding a private school for him until after he turns 5, or rather until the end of the school year and then get him ready for kindergarten. He has been working at Kindergarten level in Kathleen's class, working on tasks individually, and he has shown signs of interacting with his peers in his classroom and outside of it. I need to go now and go to sleep. I thank you all ahead of time for all your support. Please let me know, from those of you with lots of experience, how you think that this might turn out and what I might be able to do about what I consider to be "inappropriate education" and do you agree with the individuals who told me that restraining a child is illegal unless there is some kind of behavior plan in place or something like that? It is all so overwhelming for me and the darn IEP meeting consisted of talk about other people and somebody's colonoscopy, I was beginning to wonder what the heck I was doing there and was it just some kind of social event for them. The one positive thing that I can say is that the director of special needs from the district office seemed really really nice and the teacher seemed to have lots of enthusiasm but most of all the speech path. was the only one whom I found to be totally professional and focused on my child and what is best for him. I will continue later because I didn't even mention anything about the goals, or the lack thereof. Love to you all , thanks and I hope to have time to visit your blogs soon because I miss you terribly and I've got to get an e-mail to Tina and the Boys too. I haven't forgotten you guys.

Just a Quick Entry, Then I Will Cry

I am sooooooo upset that I could cry for a couple of reasons, one being that I just downloaded my pictures from Anchorage and our trip and all the people that we left behind and only to find out that they were not retained in my computer like they usually are so now I have forever lost those images and it just makes me want to cry!!!!!!! The second reason and the most important reason that I want to cry (really bad) is that my worst nightmare of Griffin's education pretty much has come true. I can't go into it right now because I am so upset, so upset in fact that I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just say that it is a good thing that it is Christmas/holiday vacation for the schools down here otherwise the teacher and the administration would be getting an earfull from me about what their idea of an appropriate education is for my child. I just knew that it would be the farthest from Kathleen and that I would never ever be so lucky as to have such a wonderful, intellegent, kind, and considerate teacher such as her but for sure I didn't think that it would be THIS bad. I know that you are probably eager to hear what happened in Griffin's IEP meeting but unfortunately I just can't do it right now and will have to come back to it. I think that I am going to do some crying now and get it out of my system. Otherwise, we are both doing great. Happy Holidays!

Griffin has adjusted great, interacting quite well with my parents, family, and complete strangers. Although it is not even close to the low temperatures of Anchorage it is still quite chilly here sometimes in the teens. Griffin pays no mind to the chill in the air and I think that it is exhilirating and refreshing so we have no complaints. Nothing can compare to sub-zero temps like we had in Alaska so it is nearly tropical here, I do miss the snow though in a way. It is nice to be able to move around freely without having to worry about road conditions though. It is a bittersweet situation because there are good and bad points to each place. I have been kind of helping my parents out with remodeling their house, helping my dad put down the hardwood floors. We finally received all the packages that I had shipped all except my computer that is. So, not only am I staying busy but I still have little time on this laptop and am still waiting for my computer to arrive. We went shopping with my family yesterday in Asheville, NC for Griffin's school clothes and I am going to go and register him for school today. I didn't get the IEP in the boxes that were shipped until last Friday so we are just now able to do that. I am reluctant about putting him into this new classroom because I am not sure about the teacher or her ciriculum, nobody could possibly compare to the awesome talents and skills that Kathleen possesses. I know that Griffin is very intellegent and will do well no matter where he is or what he is doing but I wish for him to love his new teacher just as he has loved Kathleen and for us to become good friends too. Am I wishing for the moon here? Do I expect/desire too much? Is it unrealistic to hope to have a similar situation as we had in Anchorage at Nunaka Valley School? Kathleen, if you are reading this we miss you terribly and thank you again for all that you have done for us, we love you dearly. I am still waiting for the Dept. of Social Services to get in gear and get Griffin's medicaid up and running so that we can begin Speech again, I would say OT also but I found out that in SC medicaid doesn't cover OT unfortunately. Well, it is time to make sometimg for Griffin's breakfast so I need to get going. I will hopefully get my computer before Thursday so that I can send some e-mail and read and comment on blogs again but until then I won't be online for long but I wish you all well and I hope to make another entry soon/before the holidays that is. Take care all of you

We Are Here

This is just a short post to let everyone know that we are here in South Carolina and doing well. Griffin did do very well on the airplane(s) and in fact did not have a meltdown. He has been enjoying himself here at my parent's home. I can't stay online for very long right now because I am tying up the phone line but I will be back soon to post a new entry and give some details of what's going on down here. Love to all my friends and big hugs especially to Tina and the Boys. I haven't had a chance to check my e-mail or to send any out because I don't have my computer yet and my time on this computer is very limited but I will get to it soon.