Autism Archives - Page 2 of 3

Light it Up Blue for Autism

April 12, 2014 by Emilee Evans

April is Autism Awareness month. World Autism Awareness Day is April 2nd. Many people put up blue lights or wear blue – all to join Autism Speaks to shine a light on Autism by raising awareness. It begins April 2nd and lasts all month long. Many are doing this in support of friends and family and many of us are living it every day and are grateful for this awareness! Check out World Autism Awareness Day on Facebook as well! 1 in 88 people are on the Autism Spectrum. Do you want to help? Visit my Light it Up Blue page to learn more and make a donation to Autism Speaks.
I wanted to share our personal journey with Autism as every story is different. Our oldest son who will be turning 8 at the end of the month has PDD-NOS, which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified. For those that are familiar with Autism Spectrum Disorders you are probably familiar with PDD-NOS. Those that aren’t have probably never heard of it, and you might not anymore as there is discussion that they are going to start grouping everything into “Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
To sum it up – Brayden is high functioning on the Autism Spectrum. Sometimes a “high functioning” diagnosis can be both a blessing (because it absolutely is a HUGE blessing) and a downfall (for insurance purposes). Brayden currently receives Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, but even getting both of those is a push on our insurance because he is high functioning. He has never qualified for special services such as Applied Behavioral Analysis, which is covered under an insurance “extension” because he is high functioning (or mild by their definition), and it must be at least moderate to severe to qualify.

So, being an advocate for him has been frustrating at times! In that way, we have had to learn a lot about the Autism Spectrum and how to best help him. Because I homeschool I am blessed to be able to work with his special needs and be sure he is getting the help he needs?

So how do you know?

I often hear or get asked how do you know if your child is on the Autism Spectrum? I mean we also have two children with Sensory Processing Disorder as well – how are they different? Well, that’s for another blog, but my best answer to how do you know is this – go with your gut instinct. Whether it is an Autism Spectrum Disorder or something else – if you feel there is something “different” talk to your child’s healthcare provider about your concerns. If you feel they aren’t listening then push for answers!
Maybe it’s nothing, but maybe it is something. There may even be some incorrect diagnosis along the way or people ignoring you, but YOU know your child. I always encourage parents to ask for answers – demand answers.
Our journey with Autism actually started when Brayden was only 15 months old. He had maybe 3 words. It was definitely concerning, but to be honest, we just thought it was a speech delay at that time. He had some “different” behaviors particularly the drawn out screaming and fits which we associated with his frustration and not being able to talk. He was a happy baby. He didn’t really like to be held and liked to just kind of do his own thing.

As he entered the toddler years he went from being the happy baby to the always frustrated toddler. When he started speech therapy it was brought up that he might have PDD-NOS. When I looked it up and saw “Autism,” I have to admit my response was NO. That’s ridiculous! There is NO way! I did put the idea in the back of my mind and then moved on.
When Brayden turned 2 my husband left for Basic Training. Brayden was in an Early Intervention program at that time, and his behavior at home was escalating. I assumed it was due to having a new sister (she was 4 months old when Joey left for Basic) and daddy being gone (except he called him “mom” because that was one of the few words he had at the time). He did well in the early intervention program and did OK in our weekly early intervention play group except he just couldn’t seem to “play well” with the other kids.

Waiting for his bus to special ed preschool

Once my husband got back we had to pack up and move to his first duty station in the Washington DC area. Once getting there we hit a “reset” button for Brayden’s therapy, and that was really frustrating. At that time his behavior hit a major decline and not only did he seem mad and frustrated but he also started getting violent. It was scary! I actually feared for our daughter because of his violent tendencies. Knowing how he hurt me I was very afraid of how he could hurt her.
What was I doing wrong? Why did my happy baby become so angry and mean?? It was really disheartening! Everything I had been learning for his Early Intervention was no longer working. It was at this point that I just felt that nagging – something is “off.” This isn’t “normal,” and I don’t think it’s “bad parenting.” Many parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders have heard more than once, though, that it’s bad parenting!
We finally got him in for a speech evaluation, and he did qualify for therapy. I felt like speech therapy wasn’t enough, though. I felt like there is definitely something more going on here. They sent someone out to our house once a week, but it was already the end of the school year, which is what the therapy program followed as well. So, she would only get to visit 3 times. That’s all it took. Brayden had one of his MAJOR meltdowns.
He grabbed Aurora by the head (which I obviously intervened), started hitting the dog, started hitting me, and then he started throwing everything he could get his hands on – at me AND at her. When a child gets violent with an adult they have only seen a few times it raises a red flag that something more could be going on. So, although, I was MORTIFIED by this visit she was glad to see this behavior so she could recommend him for further evaluation.

I’ll cut out some of the middle here and say he was first diagnosed with ADHD and told he should be put on medication. We felt this was wrong and disagreed. After pushing for more appointments we were referred to a child psychiatrist. While I was talking to him Brayden started flipping over the chairs, shaking the weight scale, and then proceeded to dump out my purse and put a couple things in his mouth as he took out and lined up all of the pictures from my wallet. When asked if this was “normal” behavior I said yes.
He asked more about the putting things in his mouth at which point I told him he also bites and chews on almost everything wood and has left teeth marks all on his bed and our entertainment center. I was almost in tears at that point because it truly was embarrassing for me! It was then that I got my answer. He said this isn’t ADHD, although it is commonly misdiagnosed as such at a young age this is PDD-NOS. I thought back to when he was 15 months and wanted to smack myself in the face for blowing it off! Even though he explained Brayden is high-functioning I have to admit it was still a little disheartening to hear.

After my initial feeling of discouragement with an Autism Spectrum diagnosis I realized we had to move on together as a family and do the best that we can. We have to continually be an advocate for him, and this attitude has proven to be extremely helpful. Although Brayden has not qualified for certain therapies due to being high-functioning we have made sure he does get the therapy for which he does qualify and there has been major improvement! There will always be things that are “different,” but it’s who he is, and we accept it as such while helping him become the best he can be.
It’s been quite a journey. There are still good days and bad days, and we have a lot of the journey still ahead of us, but it gets easier as we go – as we learn to trust God and learn more about Autism and where Brayden is now and where he will be. We have nothing but hope for his future, and I continue to pray that as more awareness is raised for Autism many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders of various degrees have bright futures ahead. As more people learn about Autism and educate themselves and others the journey already becomes much more pleasant!
Are you on this journey as well? I would love to hear from you!

ARK Therapeutic Review

March 14, 2014 by Emilee Evans

Disclosure: I received the products mentioned to facilitate my Ark Therapeutic review. Regardless, I only recommend products I feel would be good for my readers. All opinions are my own and those of my family.

Having three children with special needs, I appreciate quality therapy tools. Our oldest son is on the Autism Spectrum, and our younger two children have Sensory Processing Disorder like myself. What I appreciated about Ark Therapeutic after learning more about them is not only that they offer a variety of of quality therapy tools, but they also offer helpful articles and support as well. I could tell they have a passion for helping others. They have a great blog with a variety of articles that address a number of topics.
For my review, I received a variety of therapy tools to use with the kids as well as a catalog with detailed information.

I want to highlight each tool we received and share how we used them with our children.

ARK’s Grabber®

ARK’s Grabber, which our kids’ refer to as the “P,” is a sensory chew toy. It is squishy for chewing yet sturdy and thick, and it can be held onto it easily thanks to the shape. It has a smooth texture and is manufactured here in the USA with safe, FDA compliant materials. If you have children with oral sensory needs, you know they put anything and everything in their mouth, so having a safe alternative is necessary!
ARK’s Grabber can be used for multiple purposes including: a safe chewing alternative, an oral fidget, to help decrease oral defensiveness and food aversions, to practice biting/chewing skills without a choking risk, and satisfy an urge to chew for individuals who are fed through a g-tube. In our household it serves the purpose as a safe chewing alternative, oral fidget, and practicing biting/chewing skills with our youngest son. The Grabber is easy to wash and disinfect, but with any oral therapy products, you don’t want to share with other individuals – even siblings.
When our little guy starts chewing on something else I simply intervene and hand him the Grabber instead. I encourage him to use it for exploration to the back of his teeth and mouth as well. Because it has the nice handle to grip, he can do so easily and work with the Grabber himself. This gives him a feeling of accomplishment, too.

ARK’s Y-Chew®

ARK’s Y-Chew, which our kids’ refer to as the “Y” (I’m sure that was obvious!), is another chewy tool with a different shape and texture, which offers different uses. It is also made of safe material that is flexible but sturdy. It has a variety of bumps, ridges, and striations, which adds another level of sensory input. It can be used for the same purposes as ARK’s Grabber.
We use ARK’s Y-Chew with our oldest son who is always putting things in his mouth – particularly his shirts. He has stretched out the necks of so many of his shirts due to this. The Y-Chew is a great, safe alternative that also offers that input he craves as well. The different textures also encourage him to use his tongue. He has articulation challenges due to the fact that he has a hard time focusing on using his tongue properly, and the Y-Chew really helps him to focus on it.
Something I didn’t expect but that has really come in handy is he uses it as a fidget in his hand as well. Because of the flexibility, it makes a nice fidget for him when he is trying to concentrate on reading or other times in our homeschooling day where he’s not holding a pencil. Reading is a particular challenge for him, and he has an absolute need to be doing something with his hands in order to work through it. This has led to tearing pages, ruining the binding, and worse, hitting himself. Since giving him the Y-Chew during reading time he now squeezes it, bends the ends, etc. when he’s really trying to concentrate, which is a much better alternative!

ARK’s Z-Vibe®

We received the Plastic Z-Vibe with an extra battery, unscented Bite-n-Chew Tips, and Pencil Tip. I was really excited about this because there are just so many possibilities! The plastic Z-Vibe has gentle ridges on the handle and vibration is activated by slightly turning the end and turned off again by turning it back.
Probe Tip

We used the included Probe Tip with our youngest son for further therapy for the same reasons we use the Grabber – particularly oral motor exercises. The Z-Vibe offers a completely different level of stimulation with the vibration and the textures on the Probe Tip. He is resistant to teeth brushing and certain textures in his mouth, so the Z-Vibe with the Probe Tip is perfect for this. I use it all around his mouth and started with the smoother side and have built up to the textured sides.
I have also found the Probe Tip is also good for the sides of his face, arms and hands. He is resistant to things like doctor’s visits because he doesn’t like others to touch him – particularly his face, arms and hands. So I have been using it on these areas as well for sensory input.
Bite-n-Chew Tips

The Bite-n-Chew Tips came in a pack of three which means one for each of our kids! I make sure after cleaning it to put it away in their special drawer so we don’t get them mixed up. It is pretty firm but slightly squishy for chewing. Turning on the vibration during use adds that extra oral input. Because it is round, I found the Probe Tip was best for reaching the back of the mouth for our little guy, but these tips are great for general oral stimulation and biting and chewing skills.
Pencil Tip

I was really excited about the Pencil Tip as all three children have fine motor delays. When you add the Pencil Tip to the Z-Vibe it creates a vibrating pencil to help with writing and fine motor skills. Our oldest two children have been using it while writing since our youngest isn’t writing yet! I’ve noticed they focus more on writing while using it, and turning on the vibration offers relief for their tired hands. Both of their hands tire quickly, so this is welcome relief!
I mentioned above our oldest son uses the Y-Chew for a fidget when he’s not writing, but I was excited to discover I could change out the Switch Tip on the Z-Vibe for one of the Bite-n-Chew Tips. This also means when he is stressed out during writing, he also has something he can safely stick in his mouth and not even have to put down the pencil! No more chewed up erasers!

I am so excited to be connected to ARK Therapeutic. I love reading all the great tips on their blog and love their passion for helping others. I feel like I have learned so much more since connecting with them, and have seen many benefits because of it. I love that they offer such a variety of products! I know we’ve already added a few more products to our “going to order” list like the Lip Blok and Cup Sets for our youngest who often gags and chokes when using a straw! What product(s) catch your interest?

For More Information:

Visit the ARK Therapeutic Website
Get social! Connect with ARK Therapeutic on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube

Homeschooling Sensory Seekers

September 4, 2013 by Emilee Evans

Day 2 of my 5 Days of Homeschooling with Special Needs is “Homeschooling Sensory Seekers.” Although our three children are very different in many ways they do all have one thing in common – sensory seeking. Our oldest is on the Autism Spectrum, and as you may know, many children on the Autism spectrum exhibit sensory related behaviors as well. His are fairly mild in the sensory avoidance area but plentiful in the sensory seeking area. Our daughter and youngest son both have Sensory Processing Disorder (I will be sharing a post soon on how Autism Spectrum and Sensory Processing Disorder are NOT the same) and both have sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviors.
I’m sure you’re wondering now if our days get pretty crazy. The short answer is “yes.” I have to be very in tune with what behaviors are present that day and work with them the best I know how. Sometimes one is having a high sensory day while another isn’t getting enough sensory input. So it CAN be a tough balance, but I just handle each day as they come. Tomorrow I will be covering Sensory Overload.

So, what is sensory seeking?

Sensory seeking happens when the person (I don’t say child because I have Sensory Processing Disorder as well – it is not limited to just children) isn’t getting enough sensory input. They will act “hyper” as some people may call it because they can’t sit still. They may chew on their pencil, kick their feet a lot, jump out of their seat often, draw all over their paper, and overall have a hard time concentrating. It can be exasperating, but instead of throwing in the towel we should look at ways to accommodate their needs and still make it through the homeschool day.
Every person is different, but I want to share some general tips we have found helpful for our household!

Change their seat

Many times movement can help with sensory input and still allow them to concentrate on their work. Instead of using a standard chair switch it up to something that can offer that such as: an exercise ball or wiggle seats. I also saw in a store recently a bungee chair. Even a rocking chair or swivel chair may be a good solution if you have one. The important thing is that they are able to move around easily without the need to get out of their chair often.

Take frequent breaks

We take a break in between each subject. Sometimes it’s simply a 5 min break or up to 15 minutes if that is what is needed. If I can tell one of our kids is in desperate need of sensory input I will suggest they jump on the trampoline for a few minutes. We have a small indoor trampoline that I got in the fitness aisle of a store, which was more reasonably priced than others I had seen, but it is still a little trampoline. We do also have a large one outside now as well. I don’t generally use the one outside in the middle of our homeschool day (though we will at the end for PE or just to play) because getting them to come back inside can be quite a hassle!
If you don’t have a trampoline available you can play quick, high-activity games that get them running and moving!

Provide other resources

Does your child fidget with or chew on their pencil? Our oldest son does this. Instead of replacing pencils a couple times a week it made more sense to give him things he COULD fidget with and chew on such as: fidgets, chew tubes, a chewable pencil topper, etc. That way he was still getting the input he needs without ruining the pencil and getting the materials from the pencil in his mouth.

Do more hands-on work

As I mentioned in my Homeschooling with a Chronic Condition post, it’s not always easy for me to do a lot of hands-on work depending on the day. Luckily, not all days are “bad days,” and a lot of hands-on work is the perfect solution when your child is in need of additional sensory input. Let them get dirty, make a mess, do their work outside, etc. You may feel at first it’s counterproductive, but you’ll learn that the more input they get will also mean better results on their schoolwork as well!

Have patience

The best way to tackle the day when your child is sensory seeking is to have patience. I know this can be a hard one because I, for one, am NOT a patient person overall. I find starting our day with Circle Time and prayer (and some at-home therapy) helps me to gauge their overall “mood” for the day. If I know one, two, or all three are having a day where they need additional sensory input I adjust the day’s plan accordingly and prepare to be patient.
I know you’re probably thinking “how do you prepare to be patient?” I simply change my mindset and expectations. There will be a lot of jumping out of chairs, yelling the answer, fidgeting, etc., unless I have fully utilized all the resources above, so I know to be prepared and not instantly correct with sharpness but rather with a reminder and redirection. If I discover I misjudged and needed to include more fidgets, then I do so. I also find praying that I will acknowledge that and move forward to have the best day we can really helps me to not overreact but respond lovingly and with consideration.
So where do you get those type of products? NationalAutismResources.com has a variety of products like the products I mentioned.
My 5 Days of Homeschooling with Special Needs was meant to be part of a large blog hop by other Schoolhouse Review Crew members. Although my posts are coming very late, you can still check out the blog hop by clicking on the picture below! Many different topics were covered, and I know you will find something amazing!

Flummox and Friends review

May 25, 2013 by Emilee Evans

Flummox and Friends is a show with a unique spin. It’s fun and quirky and covers some very important skills that most don’t. Social skills. In fact, they referred to them as the “unspoken rules,” and I honestly didn’t think about this until now, but they pretty much are! This is exactly why I was intrigued by it and interested to check it out. As you probably know, we have one child on the Autism spectrum and two with Sensory Processing Disorder. Social skills don’t come easy for any of them. Our youngest is only three, though, so I didn’t really expect him to pull the lesson out of the show, but I did hope it was entertaining enough for him to enjoy it with his brother and sister!
Luckily, it is! Flummox and Friends is quirky and fun! It features Professor Flummox and his assistants and friends. In the pilot episode, which you can watch for free, the social lesson happens in a party setting where everybody is at the party but not really engaged in the party. Their version of fun is talking about what THEY think is fun. Sounds familiar, right? I know this is a social lesson we and our kids’ therapists have worked with them on. So when this lesson was brought up in the show it was a great reinforcement for them and they (our 7 and 5 year old) were able to get in on the discussion. I also love that are little “intermissions” that are both exciting and help reinforce learning.
Overall, I think a show like Flummox and Friends is long overdue, and it is definitely something I could see our family watching on a regular basis. I think they totally nailed it when they chose their goals for the show and went after them. They truly knew their audience, and I think they did a great job appealing to that audience and benefiting that audience!
Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for an honest review. Regardless, I only recommend products I have tried myself and feel would be beneficial for my readers. For more information please read my Disclosure Policy.

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