Mini Boots finally received another diagnosis. Sensory Processing Disorder, also known as Sensory Integration Disorder. We all experience most of life though our senses, taste, touch, smell, and so on. While Mini Boots' brain takes in the same sensory information we all get, he has abnormal responses to normal stimuli. Which essentially means he feels out of sync. All the time.
He craves certain things, and avoids others. He still cries when he hears thunder. Mini Boots will hide in his room while I run the vacuume even though I give him lots of notice. And in class every tiny little noise as small as a child moving a chair in another classroom, or his teacher dropping a pencil will distract him. He loves to move, he is constantly jumping, running, and feels the most comfortable and balanced on the playground, riding bikes or in our pool. But on the other hand? He wants to jump in class, he wants to run around the house, and will plow you down if you are in his way. There is a saying "He just doesn't know his own strength" and in his case, this is absolutely true. Because his mind doesn't experience touch the same way ours does, his physical play is often rough.
You know that feeling when you dream that you're falling? And you wake up startled that you didn't hit the ground? Imagine if you felt like that several times a day. If that feeling of uncertainty about where your body is in space, wondering if you were going to smack into the ground or simply wake up was "normal" for you? For him that feeling is experienced so often it is a slice of normal in his world. Mini Boots lives his life feeling like he is literally riding a roller coaster everyday, all day. And to be honest, I am not sure how he handles it as well as he does. Now that we know we are getting him some help, Occupational Therapy to be specific. We are discovering how to communicate with him about how his body feels, and searching for the best ways to help him level off. And when he climbs all over me or tackles his siblings, I don't get irritated anymore. I just pick him up, squeeze him really tight feeling so proud of his progress on this journey... and then blow up the bouncy house so he can jump till he feels like himself again.
Showing posts with label Mini Boots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mini Boots. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Monday, November 22, 2010
Road Trip To Do:
We are going on a road trip for Thanksgiving. The kids, my 24 year old cousin and myself will be driving to Chicago. The drive is almost 17 hours not including breaks for peeing, breastfeeding, eating and playing. I have been planning, sorting, listing and packing for three days. Wanna know what the list looks like? I thought so....
1. Wash winter clothes.
2. Pack Little Britches clothes.
3. Pack Mini Boots clothes.
4. Pack Mighty Mouse clothes... crap. He has no winter clothes.
5. Go Shopping for Mighty Mouse winter clothes.
6. Wash new winter clothes.
7. Pack Mighty Mouse clothes.
8. Repack Little Britches because I can not shop for clothes without buying her something new.
9. Wash my clothes.
10. Start to pack, remember that I have to take the car in before they close.
11. Take car in for oil change and tire rotation. Wish Super Boots was here to deal with car crap.
12. Clean car. Find 22 french fries, 2 half empty juice boxes, 67 cents. Wish even more Super Boots could take over car stuff.
13. Pack toys for kids in the car.
14. End up sorting all of toys they own just to find the Leapster. Realize half their toys are broken, out grown or annoying.
15. Bring sorted toys to Goodwill.
16. End up buying more toys at Goodwill
17. Pack kids toys.
18. Pack for myself. Realize everything I want to bring doesn't fit or is dirty.
19. Wash my clothes again.
20. Pack snacks for the road.
21. Go to the grocery store because we have nothing that qualifies as "road food."
22. Realize I left my laundry in the wash and now it has a slight oder. Re-wash.
22. Pack snacks.
23. Clean house.
24. Find 34 things I need to bring on the trip and repack.
25. Pack my clothes, finally.
26. Load car. Realize I suck at this and kinda hate Super Boots for being gone. (Because he totally would rather be there than going to see family for Thanksgiving with his family).
27. Have a nagging feeling I am forgetting something but know that can not be possible as I have almost the entire contents of my house loaded into the mini van.
28. Get Gas.
29. Remember I did forget something. Shoes.
30. Feel thankful for Walmart, get shoes, more snacks and a Christmas decoration for the car.
31. Put on Christmas music and try to forget that we are going 1100 miles for Thanksgiving with three kids... and no Daddy.
Yeah, I love road trips... once we are on the road that is.
1. Wash winter clothes.
2. Pack Little Britches clothes.
3. Pack Mini Boots clothes.
4. Pack Mighty Mouse clothes... crap. He has no winter clothes.
5. Go Shopping for Mighty Mouse winter clothes.
6. Wash new winter clothes.
7. Pack Mighty Mouse clothes.
8. Repack Little Britches because I can not shop for clothes without buying her something new.
9. Wash my clothes.
10. Start to pack, remember that I have to take the car in before they close.
11. Take car in for oil change and tire rotation. Wish Super Boots was here to deal with car crap.
12. Clean car. Find 22 french fries, 2 half empty juice boxes, 67 cents. Wish even more Super Boots could take over car stuff.
13. Pack toys for kids in the car.
14. End up sorting all of toys they own just to find the Leapster. Realize half their toys are broken, out grown or annoying.
15. Bring sorted toys to Goodwill.
16. End up buying more toys at Goodwill
17. Pack kids toys.
18. Pack for myself. Realize everything I want to bring doesn't fit or is dirty.
19. Wash my clothes again.
20. Pack snacks for the road.
21. Go to the grocery store because we have nothing that qualifies as "road food."
22. Realize I left my laundry in the wash and now it has a slight oder. Re-wash.
22. Pack snacks.
23. Clean house.
24. Find 34 things I need to bring on the trip and repack.
25. Pack my clothes, finally.
26. Load car. Realize I suck at this and kinda hate Super Boots for being gone. (Because he totally would rather be there than going to see family for Thanksgiving with his family).
27. Have a nagging feeling I am forgetting something but know that can not be possible as I have almost the entire contents of my house loaded into the mini van.
28. Get Gas.
29. Remember I did forget something. Shoes.
30. Feel thankful for Walmart, get shoes, more snacks and a Christmas decoration for the car.
31. Put on Christmas music and try to forget that we are going 1100 miles for Thanksgiving with three kids... and no Daddy.
Yeah, I love road trips... once we are on the road that is.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Put Those Cars in Row Again and I Will Panic
Every time anyone puts anything in a row around here I FREAK OUT. Did you know that lining things up is an early sign of Autism? Well it is. And since I have a son with speech and language issues (also an indicator) I have an eagle eye for toys lined up. Do all kids do this? Yes. It's called categorizing and is an important part of development, but the thing about having a kid with any kind of disorder means you are living in fear that they will uncover something else. Or that another one of your children will have it, or something worse.
One of the bigger fears I hold is having a child on "The Spectrum." Autism and Asperger's are scary. They are scary because there are a lot of theories about how you get them, and theories about what to do once you have them, but it's not a direct road. There is no A+B = success, no cure. So the Mom's are left to try on therapies until they find one that fits, and hopefully helps. It's daunting. My heart goes out to the Mom's who support their kids through this maze. They aren't just trying to find help, they are trying to unlock the chains around their own children. On a much smaller scale, I know how hard that can be.
When my kids don't answer me after I call their name, or they are avoiding eye contact, I get a little surge of anxiety. God forbid one of them starts flapping their hands (aka self stimulating). I know that getting the diagnosis is the easy (emotionally debilitating) part, but then you can more on and start fighting for your child (less crying with your family, more crying in Dr's offices). But I am always asking for reassurance Mini Boots is not included in the 1 of every 94 boys diagnosed. That number is even higher for military families. Although most likely it would have presented itself already, and thankfully has not, I have another little boy coming up in the ranks. I feel the need for continued vigilance.
In my life I have had a couple of friends whose children clearly had something going on, but they, the parents, were in denial. They couldn't admit it, thought the child would grow out of it, and made excuses not to address whatever it was. But in that scenario the only one punished is the child. If they are not diagnosed, they can not receive help. And I refuse to be one of those Mom's who lets fear paralyze them. If you think something might be going on, put on your big girl panties and deal, because the only one who will pay for your denial is that sweet helpless child of yours.
One of the bigger fears I hold is having a child on "The Spectrum." Autism and Asperger's are scary. They are scary because there are a lot of theories about how you get them, and theories about what to do once you have them, but it's not a direct road. There is no A+B = success, no cure. So the Mom's are left to try on therapies until they find one that fits, and hopefully helps. It's daunting. My heart goes out to the Mom's who support their kids through this maze. They aren't just trying to find help, they are trying to unlock the chains around their own children. On a much smaller scale, I know how hard that can be.
When my kids don't answer me after I call their name, or they are avoiding eye contact, I get a little surge of anxiety. God forbid one of them starts flapping their hands (aka self stimulating). I know that getting the diagnosis is the easy (emotionally debilitating) part, but then you can more on and start fighting for your child (less crying with your family, more crying in Dr's offices). But I am always asking for reassurance Mini Boots is not included in the 1 of every 94 boys diagnosed. That number is even higher for military families. Although most likely it would have presented itself already, and thankfully has not, I have another little boy coming up in the ranks. I feel the need for continued vigilance.
In my life I have had a couple of friends whose children clearly had something going on, but they, the parents, were in denial. They couldn't admit it, thought the child would grow out of it, and made excuses not to address whatever it was. But in that scenario the only one punished is the child. If they are not diagnosed, they can not receive help. And I refuse to be one of those Mom's who lets fear paralyze them. If you think something might be going on, put on your big girl panties and deal, because the only one who will pay for your denial is that sweet helpless child of yours.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
More Fail
After hearing my daughter shout "I FINALLY GOT MY SEVEN STICKERS FOR TURNING IN MY HOMEWORK! FINALLY!" at the top of her lungs in the pick up line I felt sufficiently embarrassed for one day. I was, again, beet red. But I figured well that's over. Now I can continue to be the awesome Mom I am right?
Wrong. Later that day we had a long overdue play date with one of my Mommy friends. She is super nice, very sweet and her kids are bilingual! I have known her for a very long time, and she has always been a Mom. She had her first right before we met. Now that I am in the Mom's club, its a lot of fun to hang out. So we woke up early from Naps, packed up, went down to her house and hung out. We had cake (from Costa Rica *squee*) and coffee, the kids played well, and I learned a little more spanish. It was a wonderful afternoon and I had almost forgotten that I suck at Mommyhood. When we got home the big kids were starving and Might Mouse was crying but I somehow managed to get them all fed, bathed, pj'd and almost tucked in before it hit me. We left turtle.
Leaving a lovie behind is a ten on the freak out scale for kids and Mom alike. I freak out because I know they won't sleep well with out it, they are giving me dagger eyes because I forgot (uhh, you did too kiddo) and they literally worry what will happen to their precious. Will we ever see Turtle again? Will he be safe? Will I die without him for one whole night? It's only happened to me one other time, we drove back, got lovie and set up a new rule. No lovies in the car. But I broke the rule because Mini Boots got up early and was a crabby pants. Now we were both paying for it. Because it was late, there was nothing to be done for the night, but deal. So we continued to pay for another hour until he eventually crashed.
Right after dropping Little Britches off at school this morning we went to pick up turtle. Mini Boots was reunited with turtle and it was like a slow motion love scene (cue the cheesy music and wind blown hair). The no lovies in the car rule has been reinstated. And I learned the spanish word for turtle, tortuga. So even though this week is like one never ending fail at Mommyhood... there's that.
Wrong. Later that day we had a long overdue play date with one of my Mommy friends. She is super nice, very sweet and her kids are bilingual! I have known her for a very long time, and she has always been a Mom. She had her first right before we met. Now that I am in the Mom's club, its a lot of fun to hang out. So we woke up early from Naps, packed up, went down to her house and hung out. We had cake (from Costa Rica *squee*) and coffee, the kids played well, and I learned a little more spanish. It was a wonderful afternoon and I had almost forgotten that I suck at Mommyhood. When we got home the big kids were starving and Might Mouse was crying but I somehow managed to get them all fed, bathed, pj'd and almost tucked in before it hit me. We left turtle.
Leaving a lovie behind is a ten on the freak out scale for kids and Mom alike. I freak out because I know they won't sleep well with out it, they are giving me dagger eyes because I forgot (uhh, you did too kiddo) and they literally worry what will happen to their precious. Will we ever see Turtle again? Will he be safe? Will I die without him for one whole night? It's only happened to me one other time, we drove back, got lovie and set up a new rule. No lovies in the car. But I broke the rule because Mini Boots got up early and was a crabby pants. Now we were both paying for it. Because it was late, there was nothing to be done for the night, but deal. So we continued to pay for another hour until he eventually crashed.
Right after dropping Little Britches off at school this morning we went to pick up turtle. Mini Boots was reunited with turtle and it was like a slow motion love scene (cue the cheesy music and wind blown hair). The no lovies in the car rule has been reinstated. And I learned the spanish word for turtle, tortuga. So even though this week is like one never ending fail at Mommyhood... there's that.
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