My First Blog!

Hello everyone! Well... I decided to join the rest of the world by starting a blog. Mainly because I wanted to be able to keep everyone up to date on what is going on with our family and Benjamin. If you have reached this blog, most of you already know that Benjamin, now nearly 2 1/2, was diagnosed formally with High Functioning Autism back in December of 2006. Sorry this blog will be so long, but there's a lot to catch up on!

Questions we get asked a lot:
What is Autism? This is from the CDC website:
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities defined by significant impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests. Many people with ASDs also have unusual ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to different sensations. The thinking and learning abilities of people with ASDs can vary – from gifted to severely challenged. ASD begins before the age of 3 and lasts throughout a person's life. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups and is four times more likely to occur in boys than girls.

What led you to get Ben evaluated?
Even from 8 months old, Benjamin continued to "barely" make developmental milestones like sitting up unassisted. He sat up less than a week from turning 8 months old. He crawled then walked at 14 months old. Ben began to have some "odd" behaviors like an obsession with any and all doors. Especially those commercial doors that open and close automatically! He could care less about the toy department at Target, as long as we got to watch those doors! :) Ben did have a few words, we remember at one point our pediatrician asking us if he said 10 words or more, and we could say, "why yes, he has 9!". Ben never really liked to be cuddled, and had limited eye contact. A He also flapped his hands when excited, made some unusual facial grimaces, and sometimes looked out of the corner of his eyes. Finally at his 2 year appointment there were some clear signs of developmental delay that could no longer be ignored. We were referred to a developmental pediatrican and Ben was evaluated by a team of 8 professionals.

What causes Autism?
Good question and a scary one at that- no one knows. While there is a genetic component (either Ryan or I carry the gene) there is also an environmental factor that triggered the autism. What that is, no one seems to know. There is a lot of speculation about the mercury in vaccines, some toxin in the environment, etc... If you have a little one, do your research on vaccines- I used to think this was a silly idea, but now that my child is the one with autism, I am beginning to wonder....

What is Ben like?
Benjamin is one of the most easy going little two year olds you'll ever meet! He is sweet, loveable, laid-back, and he is SMART! Before age two, Ben could recite his books, read letters, sing his ABC's, and count to 30! He could also stack blocks like a lego champ, and play chase with the best. He loves to play peek-a-boo, be tickled, play with his trains, cars, and read books. Ben does not have temper tantrums, care if his schedule is changed, or in any way aggressive. Again, he is TWO, so he does have some typical 2-year old behavior issues, but not many!

What are you doing to help him?
Everything we can! Now that we are living in Oklahoma, we utilize the services of our state program, Sooner Start, and they come to our home and provide speech therapy and occupational therapy. We also go to a private speech therapist, and we are doing ABA therapy, where a therapist comes to our home everyday for two hours. We also see an allergist/asthma doctor in Dallas who is employing what they call the "Bio-medical" piece of Autism therapy. Ben is receiving 9 vitamin supplements and B-12 injections as well as implementing a Milk-free diet.

What is ABA Therapy?
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)- Typically developing children learn without our intervention--that is, the 'typical' environment they are born into provides the right conditions to learn language, play, and social skills. Children with autism learn much, much less from the environment. They are often capable of learning, but it takes a very structured environment, one where conditions are optimized for acquiring the same skills that typical children learn 'naturally.' ABA is all about the rules for setting up the environment to enable our kids to learn. It's really just teaching basic skills and repeating them over and over again. Our ABA therapist is a gift from GOD- the most patient person I have ever met.

What will Ben be like when he grows up?
Only God knows! Our hopes and prayers is that he will be a "normal" (whatever that is) little boy in a typical classroom with typically developing peers, and that he will grow up to do whatever he wants to do- the sky is limitless!

Is Ben in school?
No. He was in Mother's Day out in San Antonio, and he is on every waiting list in town here. For Fall, we really aren't sure what we're going to do- that's too hard to predict in April! We are planning on enrolling him in a Mother's Day Out program at a church, and he is on the waiting list for another program for kids with communication delays.

Are you having more kids?
Funny to post this on a blog, but we get asked this ALL of the time. Only God knows this too! We were advised genetically about our odds of having a second child with some form of Autism is about 1 in 10. Our honest fears: 1: having a child with severe autism, 2: time and attention to either Ben or another child.