Autism in Our Home, Part 1 - The Diagnosis

This sweet boy, after a lot of evaluations, doctor visits, and tests, has been officially diagnosed with autism. As many of you know, autism is an enormous spectrum. I am going to blog once a week about autism in OUR home. As you read these posts, please don't expect that others who have autism will be the same. All autistic people are so incredibly different. This blog, and these posts, will journal what autism is like in OUR home, and with OUR child ONLY. I also want to say that ALL doctors, therapists, school personnel, and psychologists are in complete agreement with this diagnosis. Although it is a bit of a punch in the stomach to us because we had been going off of a false diagnosis of ADHD for two years, we are so thankful that he now has an accurate diagnosis and we can move forward with the resources we need. ***** Autism is something that normally begins to show symptoms and characteristics in infancy and toddler years. Looking back, the signs were there, I just didn't know that they were signs. I was so focused on Kaydon's health and being a single mom of four boys that I didn't think that they were "signs" at all. For instance, I had Colton's hearing checked twice while he was a toddler. I was deeply concerned that he had hearing impairment. I was told that his hearing was fine and that he must just have selective hearing. I went with that and moved forward. Also, looking back on many pictures of Colton as an infant and toddler, he rarely smiled, and when he did it was a very uncomfortable smile. These, in fact, were characteristics of autism. ADHD symptoms and characteristics are also often times seen in autistic people. Therefore, we are not the only family who has had a misdiagnosis. And, in fact, Colton is remaining on the medication that was prescribed to him for ADHD. These medications help to stabilize his mood and help him to function at a higher level. Colton is considered semi-high functioning autistic at this point. Colton is communicative, as opposed to autistic people who are completely non-communicative. However, Colton's communication is very inappropriate, and is far below age-appropriate. I will be discussing his communication in future posts. As we move forward with this diagnosis, Colton will receive the resources he needs in school through a new IEP. He will also be seeing a new therapist outside of school who specializes in autism. Colton has been told what his diagnosis is, although he doesn't seem to understand what it is or what it means for him. This is to be expected, however. And so the journey begins, or continues...

Jackson vs. Homework

Jackson was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework on Saturday while I was baking. He had me laughing so stinking hard. He is a little high strung, kind of like his mama. It was hysterical!

After-Christmas Party

On the Saturday after Christmas, Uncle Matt, Uncle Mike, Aunt Jen, Kyra, Jessica, and Josh Sides came over to do some skeet shooting in our backyard. Afterwards, I served up a soup bar with homemade rolls and dessert for everyone. Then, we had a table tennis tournament. Braxton may or may not have been injured in the playing of table tennis. Josh may or may not have broken one of our kitchen table chairs. Kaydon may or may not have said a bad word. I may or may not have LOVED watching all of the action!

Christmas Day 2014

Christmas Day was a little different than any other Christmas. We didn't get Brooklyn until 1 pm. The boys decided that they would wait to open gifts until Sis got there. We had our first snow fall in West Point on Christmas morning, so the morning started off with the boys going out to play and play. It was so fun for them to be outside in the snow... finally! Josh got up and made our traditional scones and we all ate and then just relaxed until Sis arrived. We opened gifts, then everyone just hung out, playing with their toys and enjoying the entire afternoon. Brooklyn went home Christmas night at 9 pm. Oh, and everyone got a carry-on suitcase for the trip!

Christmas Eve 2014

I was very, very sick for the five or six days leading up to Christmas. Therefore, not many pictures, which breaks my heart! On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma LeAnne's house. Uncle Matt & Aunt Jen, Uncle Mike, Uncle Colton, and cousins Kyra and Jessica were there. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner and then opened gifts. We laughed lots and loved being with family! Josh helped me make dessert to take and share. He did a great job! The cupcakes and peppermint bark was delicious!

Goodbye, Gram

Sunday night was Gram's viewing. None of our kids had ever been to a viewing before. We told them that they didn't need to touch her, or even look at her if they didn't want to. We were about two hours early so that we could make sure everything was just right. Each of the kids walked right up there and talked to her! Jackson immediately broke down sobbing and went to sit down. Kaydon never left her side. It was very sweet. He was adjusting her blouse, fixing her hair, puffing her pillow and fixing the lining in the casket throughout the whole viewing. Every time someone walked up to the casket, he stepped up right in front of them and just put his hand on her. He was extremely protective. Josh finally had to tell him that it was okay to go sit down. It was very sweet to watch the kids with her. It was a long, long night and the kids did great. Right before we left, Kaydon walked up and said, "Well, see ya Gram's body!" He was spot on. It was just a shell. Grandma wasn't in there anymore. Til we meet again Sweet Gram.

Santa Claus

Josh's dad (Papa) was Santa Claus at Home Depot this year. SO cute! We just had to go pay him a visit.