Well, the new things aren't really that new anymore, but they're new since my last post.
I'm going to have to separate this into sections by person because there's lots to cover.
Sean
Sean started preschool in late September through a government program that helps speech-delayed kids catch up before starting school. He's in the same place that his brother was for the last two years so it's very familiar to us. He absolutely loves it there, and his speech has been improving by leaps and bounds! (He was assessed a few months ago and rated in the 5th percentile. This means that 19 out of twenty kids his age have better speaking skills.)
He knows his entire alphabet at three and a half years old. He can actually sound out and read some three- and four-letter words. We've got him doing some preschool video games on his brother's Ipad, which seem to be helping him to learn basic reading skills. It also makes him feel a little less left out where the fun Ipad his brother always gets to use is concerned.
Derek
My husband has been insanely busy at work lately. They lost two experienced people in the space of a week in late August, (one got another job, the other had a baby and is now on maternity leave) and when you combine that with the busiest fall his department has ever seen what you get is lots of overtime and not much time at home with the family. But he's home every night and every weekend so we still get to see much more of Derek than many families do their fathers and husbands.
Noah
Lots and lots and lots has happened since my last post! Noah got approved for government funding for an aide to come to the house to do therapy, as well as 4 hours a month each of speech therapy and occupational therapy. The process was surprisingly painless and not too terribly long. We got more services than we really thought we could ever get.
Noah started Kindergarten in September. I don't have details but I think he kind of freaked out the staff on the first day. We thought that being in two full days a week might be too much for him and it was suggested that Noah attend four half-days instead. (I was against this idea because it would mean that we were deciding to hold Noah back to repeat Kindergarten, and we'd be deciding that just as he started! I wasn't against the idea of him being held back alltogether, but I did think some more time was necessary to make that decision.) He actually settled in very quickly and that whole idea was scrapped by October. Which makes me very happy, of course! Noah has a full-time aide who works just with him, one-on-one, to help him integrate with the class and transition between activities.
Noah's home aide comes over on the three days a week he's not in school. She's here for three hours each of those days. We're seeing some good progress on his self-help and living skills, but his speech is still very poor for his age. (We believe this is part of the reason Sean is so far behind.)
So now Noah has an aide for school, a (different) aide for home, a speech therapist for school, a different speech therapist for home and an occupational therapist who sees Noah both at the school and in our home (which is great, because Lisa is the same therapist who saw Noah in preschool last year, and she's the only familiar face we've had starting out this school year).
Things have gotten kind of hectic.
A really nice recent development in Noah's ongoing therapy is that most of his team have recently gotten training in what is called "R & R" therapy. It stands for "Reference and Regulate". It's a newly developed system created specifically for Autistic individuals. It teaches how to make eye contact and read facial cues and body language. Noah was actually doing this therapy for the last half of last year at preschool, and when he finally started to catch on to it, it was incredible! He learned to make good eye contact and was communicating much better. I'm very excited about him starting this therapy again.
Aaaand....
Noah has started to read. We started him on some learning programs on the computer and Ipad, because he's so fixated on electronics. He can sound out words, and read simple sentences. He can sight read over three dozen words. He'll be turning five a the end of this month.
So lots and lots of progress on the Noah front. One or two years of this kind of intensive therapy should help him immeasurably in the future.
And last but not least...
Me
(I saved the best for last.)
I noticed that I'd been depressed for about three months in August. So I've been going to counselling every two to three weeks since then. It's really nice to have someone who you can talk to who just gives you ideas on how to make things better and doesn't judge.
I threw my back out. Couldn't bend over, etc. I've been going to physiotherapy once a week since then. I haven't been able to go jogging, but the physio has helped. My strength is back and I'm almost entirely pain-free.
Despite this, I have been watching what I eat and I've lost the five pounds I gained back recently. I just hit the "lost a full 20 lbs this year" milestone two days ago! I'm going to try to lose another 10 to 20 lbs by next summer.
I had to get an Iphone to remind me of my appointments because between Noah and I, we've got a lot of appointments all of a sudden and I was starting to flake out and forget them. Those stupid little gadgets are freaking addictive! Books on my phone?! How am I ever supposed to get anything done now?
So that's my life over the last 2+ months. I've been busy and avoiding this blog. I've been thinking about writing a novel and it's been making me nervous and I think that's been making me neglect Finding My Voice. I give you no excuses. Thanks for tuning in!
Love,
-Nan
