TGIF! Have an awesome weekend everyone!
I am writing this in a hurry so I can get out the door and go to the city to look for places to live. We are checking out an apartment complex today…yeah I broke down and decided to go check one out even though I was dead set on a house or townhouse. I have never lived in an apartment before so I am kinda intrigued by them but I know for kids it may be tough…aka no yard. We shall see.
My son’s speech therapy went MUCH better yesterday. I basically took control of the situation, LOL. Right from the get-go I put him on my lap and did the puzzles with him. He ignored the therapist when she would say… “This is a cow.” She expected him to repeat the word to her but he had no idea what she wanted him to do. So I would then jump in and ask…”What is that?” And he would say “Cow”. Sometimes he would still not say it so I would say “That is a cat” and deliberately get it wrong and he would immediately correct me and say “No, that is a cow”.
We played that game for 20 minutes and the therapist still never quite caught on to the fact that he won’t respond if you don’t ask or engage him in some way. For getting him to talk on his own the situation needs to be more social. He did speak a few sentences to other kids in the gym room. The therapist was just happy to write down new words she heard him say when I was the one who did the work to get him to talk. Oh well.
When he started to break down again and get frustrated, after 55 minutes mind you, I decided to call it quits and the therapist agreed that we should. He tried to bite me again, three times, but I was hip to him this time and managed to get away unscathed.
Weekend plans include going to the zoo hopefully and breaking in our annual passes. And perhaps just driving around looking at various homes for rent. I would love to go back to Innniswood and take pictures of the tulips that are most likely in full bloom now. My main goal is just to enjoy the weekend and pray for sunny days. I need some sunlight and warmth.
Interesting links this week:
A great article by Healthy Child, Healthy World about taking your shoes off before you enter the home. It has lots of great info about why this is a good idea and healthier for us. We have a plastic tub that sits inside our door for this reason. That way we don’t have to worry about mud getting tracked across the whole house and we don’t need to worry about pollutants getting tracked everywhere either! We use a plastic tub because we have wet shoes often and our old cardboard box got wet through once and made a nasty mark on the hardwood floors.
I came across this article called Fourteen Studies last week, and it addresses the argument from vaccine pushers that 14 studies have been done that show no link between vaccines and autism. They use these studies as their “slam dunk” when they dismiss concerned parents.
This well researched article refutes those studies convincingly. It highlights little flaws such as the fact that of the 11 major vaccines given to children only one, the MMR, has been studied in relationship to autism. What about the other ten???? Also there are NO studies that compare vaccinated children to unvaccinated children…NONE. It is a great site.
Last, check out this video the kids and I did for earth day. Fun!
I lived all my life in an apartment. It didn’t bother me mainly because I didn’t know any better. About a year after our son was born we went from living in a one bedroom apt to a 2 bedroom townhouse in CA. The TW was nice and more spacious but the “back yard” really wasn’t much but we has a pool and my husband had his “man cave”. Now we live in a 3 bedroom house in Washington. What a contrast! The house is not huge but still bigger than the TW and the front AND back yards are huge! My son is now 2 and he just loves being outside and riding his tricycle. I don’t think I could ever go back but sometimes certain situations call for certain measures.
On another note, that therapist sounds really…lame (sorry, no other words to describe her)
I remember feeling the way you did about living in an apartment. We had 3 kids and an apartment seemed so worng and too little space. We lived ina 1 bedroom for 1 year and LOVED it! We then moved back to Canada and went to a town house, it was good. Then we went back to a 2 bedroom in California for 2 years. I really really really miss the intimacy, we were all so close and seemed ot be invovlved in what each other was doing. We now live ina 5 bed room town house with the 2 boys upstairs in the loft. It is good that they have their space but I LOVED the apartment so much more!
Good luck findign the perfect home for you andn your family!
great video, you’re doing a great job with your kids.
We went to the Zoo yesterday! We have a great smaller Zoo about 25 minutes from us! It was a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors!
Great video! The kids are so engaging. I would love to know more about the cloth wipes you use to replace TP. Did you make these or purchase them somewhere. I just got a sewing machine and this would make a great first project. Thanks!!
I love you blog. Be sure to check out mine too!!
Thanks for posting the link to the website on autism and vaccines!
I worked in health care and started no shoes in the house. After working in an Alzheimers unit where poop and urine were normal things on the floor…. Also at the clinic where my Dir of Nursing had worked conducted a study using a mat showing what employees carried into the unit and out of the unit on their shoes. They had just as much on their shoes going in as coming out. NO SHOES inside.
DTP caused autism. DtaP is better but of course they still dont admit it. Hum….wonder why they changed it then. And, why did it take the US years to quit using the DTP when other countries had yrs before? $$$ f course. I highly recommend The Vaccine Book by Dr Sears. He is not die hard anti-vaccine nor is he pro-vaccine. Just the facts….Educate yourself and make your own decision. Dont just accept things blindly, especially when its such an important decicion.
Good job taking control during the speech therapy. My son has speech therapy too, although not due to autism. He goes through the school district now, and I can’t sit in anymore, but talking to the therapist really helps. He has made great progress and overall it has been a great experience.
On the other hand, one of the other moms I know has had constant problems with the services her son is getting. You just can’t sit back. Know what your child needs and make sure he gets it.
As a speech pathologist who specializes in early intervention, I am appalled at your child’s therapist’s methods. It sounds like she is trying to make the child bend to her preferred methods (in other words, she’s wasting your child’s time).
(The following advice assumes that you are through the testing phase and that your child has begun actual therapy sessions).
I’d encourage you to request in writing to video tape some of your speech-language sessions. Then I would probably request in writing that an IEP meeting be held (parents have the legal right to request an IEP meeting to discus IEP goals, treatment methods, new testing, treatment frequency and duration, etc). I would probably start trying to request a new therapist whose methods are more appropriate for your child. You even have the right to attempt to get the district to pay for private therapy. Best wishes! Your child is fortunate to have such an engaged mom.
Love the video – your kids are just awesome!
Thanks for the link to fourteen studies. Do you happen to have a good childhood natural health book that you use at home that covers all illnesses etc? Interesting enough (a side note) I mentioned to my midwife that I am opposed to giving my kids that sugar synthetic vitamin D supplement and she said that the recommendation is 30 min’s in the sun each week (I’m pretty sure we can manage that.LOL) PLUS..she said I can grab a real VitD from a ND. Sweet!
Eileen, I got the wipes from Flutterby Baby
Monica, I do not have any recommendations. I had several books years ago but gave them to charity. But there are many good web sites. Think Twice is one that I like.
I don’t think this therapist is giving what your son needs. I will email an article I am working on for cheap eco friendly parent driven therapy.
I think smog causes autism not vaccines but I don’t mock those who think so. I have my own theory.
In the states that have high autism you have high smog levels though vaccination rates are lowering.
Also some are claiming a relation to BPA which is everywhere. Children who drink formula are more likely to have autism. Liquid formula and canned foods are full of BPA. I love canned foods “Sigh”