Hannah has been on the CES Waiver in Colorado for a few years. The past couple of years we used it heavily. She was able to do hippotherapy with The Right Step (highly recommend them), respite care, behavioral therapy including ABA. They bought her a swing set and a tandem bike and platform swings, etc. It has been a benefit in helping Hannah and us cope with her issues from day to day. The other day it was time for our annual meeting with Developmental Pathways. This is the meeting where we go through all of Hannah's issues and document them in order to plan the next year. It is always very painful for me to sit down and have to look at each and every thing that she is or isn't doing that she is or isn't suppose to do if she were neurotypical. Steven and I have been talking off and on lately about forfeiting the services and we have come to that decision. Forfeiting the services that the CES Waiver provided is a huge step...a huge statement that we are making. We are essentially giving up $35000/yr worth of services until she is 18 or so. When Steven told the service coordinator, he said that she was dumbfounded and that she didn't know of anyone just forfeiting these services. We know that there is a long line of kids waiting to get on the Waiver, kids with parents that have no hope, kids that need 24/7 care like Hannah used to be. We just couldn't in good conscience continue to take something that we didn't need. It feels so good to say that! Three months ago we weren't ready because what if BB wasn't what we thought it was even though we knew it was a proven program. We needed the CES Waiver to help us get through hard days and nights and it had its place but now if we continued it then it would just be a crutch. Brain Balance has given me the confidence to go out in public without that stabbing pain in my neck and shoulders because of the stress and anticipation of stress. We don't need respite care anymore. I actually enjoy going out with my children (most of the time). We don't need a behavioral therapist anymore. I used to make jokes with Steven about how I felt like I was in prison and the warden Hannah decided when I got to eat, go to the bathroom, cook dinner, go get my hair cut, etc. If I could work the care of Hannah out then I could do this or that. It was usually so much trouble that I would just put off going to the grocery store until we just didn't have anything to eat or put off getting my hair done or things of the sort. Well, the prison warden is now letting me outside for some much needed sunshine! Yes, that's exactly how I feel. I feel like I've been in a dark prison cell and I've been let out to get some sunshine. I just feel free and safe to go out with my children. I can't explain how much I have longed for this simple pleasure...the pleasure of going out to one place with my family without stress. For so long our family has been split up. Steven takes Garrett and Abby to church and Hannah and I come later. I take Garrett to his game and Steven stays home with the girls or vice versa.
Hannah has a long way to go but for now that sunshine sure feels nice on my face!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Doctor Visit
I made an appointment with a pediatrician last week for Peyton's check-up thinking that my parents might be here to help babysit while I take Peyton. Going to the doctor for the past 6 years has been a depression trigger for me. After Hannah was about 3 I avoided it. I only took Abigail once after she was born I think. I just hated filling out those developmental questionnaires. I hated the looks I got from the other parents and kids. I hated the doctors because they couldn't even examine my daughter much less help her. I think I had so much to deal with that it was just one more thing that I couldn't handle. When I took Hannah she would always be belligerent...screaming and kicking and fighting everything they wanted to do. She wouldn't stand on the scales. She wouldn't stand still to get her height. She would run around the halls making loud noises and crying and so forth. I knew she was scared and didn't understand why were there and I was stressed out. She even slapped one of the docs once. I think that was when I decided I wouldn't go back unless she was really sick. I was horrified and embarrassed because they seemed horrified. They were not equipped to deal with a kid like her. Perhaps I should have changed doctors but I couldn't think about stuff like that... I was just trying to crawl up the muddy pit from day to day.
Here's a picture that I took of part of a receipt/report from the doctor dated 2-11-11...just three months ago. It says, "referral to TCH special care clinic 720-777-6739 cleared for surgery". Hannah had to see the general practitioner in order to get a clearance to get general anesthesia for her dental surgery.
The referral to the "special care clinic" was because he couldn't do a darn thing with her. He couldn't check her ears, eyes, tongue, listen to her heart, anything. I can't believe I kept this receipt...I must have thought that I would look back on it "one day" and remember...I just didn't think that "one day" would be 3 months later! Ok, so let's get to the good stuff. Mom and Dad couldn't make it today for the appointment. I thought about canceling the appointment but then I thought, "I'm going to take them all. They will do great. I need to do this." So today I took Hannah, Abigail, and Peyton to the pediatrician's office for Peyton's appointment. Hannah followed us right in the office, sat down and started looking at a bird book and looked out the window and was so calm and so well-behaved while the doc and I talked. Abigail was also very well-behaved and did not interrupt us every minute. We had to go into another room to weigh Peyton and Hannah didn't follow us but I heard her say, "Mom...Mom..." and then I heard one of the nurses say, "Mom's in here, honey. Go in there." After the visit, Hannah walked out and sat in the waiting room and watched the fish without trying to reach in and catch one and without climbing on the tables and jumping off and without running out the door into the parking lot without me! She just sat there like a normal child waiting on her mother to pay the bill.
After the doctor visit I was overjoyed. I had no stress in my chest no stabbing pain in my neck from the anxiety no worries at all. I couldn't believe I just took my three girls to a doctor's office with no issues!! After that we went to the duck pond and Walmart. When I was in Walmart I just walked where I needed to walk and Hannah followed me. Sometimes, I didn't look back to make sure she was there. I felt no stress. I felt no staring eyes. I felt no pain.
Here's a picture that I took of part of a receipt/report from the doctor dated 2-11-11...just three months ago. It says, "referral to TCH special care clinic 720-777-6739 cleared for surgery". Hannah had to see the general practitioner in order to get a clearance to get general anesthesia for her dental surgery.
The referral to the "special care clinic" was because he couldn't do a darn thing with her. He couldn't check her ears, eyes, tongue, listen to her heart, anything. I can't believe I kept this receipt...I must have thought that I would look back on it "one day" and remember...I just didn't think that "one day" would be 3 months later! Ok, so let's get to the good stuff. Mom and Dad couldn't make it today for the appointment. I thought about canceling the appointment but then I thought, "I'm going to take them all. They will do great. I need to do this." So today I took Hannah, Abigail, and Peyton to the pediatrician's office for Peyton's appointment. Hannah followed us right in the office, sat down and started looking at a bird book and looked out the window and was so calm and so well-behaved while the doc and I talked. Abigail was also very well-behaved and did not interrupt us every minute. We had to go into another room to weigh Peyton and Hannah didn't follow us but I heard her say, "Mom...Mom..." and then I heard one of the nurses say, "Mom's in here, honey. Go in there." After the visit, Hannah walked out and sat in the waiting room and watched the fish without trying to reach in and catch one and without climbing on the tables and jumping off and without running out the door into the parking lot without me! She just sat there like a normal child waiting on her mother to pay the bill.
After the doctor visit I was overjoyed. I had no stress in my chest no stabbing pain in my neck from the anxiety no worries at all. I couldn't believe I just took my three girls to a doctor's office with no issues!! After that we went to the duck pond and Walmart. When I was in Walmart I just walked where I needed to walk and Hannah followed me. Sometimes, I didn't look back to make sure she was there. I felt no stress. I felt no staring eyes. I felt no pain.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Hannah Loves Me Now
"Hannah loves me now, Mommy!" That's what Abby said today. Abby has always naturally looked up to Hannah and wanted to play with Hannah. It has been so heartbreaking to watch Hannah these past few years completely ignore Abby, her little sister. In fact, when Abby came around Hannah would leave. Abby is little and unpredictable and hyper so I understand that. One of my dreams as well as every mother's dream is for my children to love each other. I want them to be friends when they are old. I want them to learn to be gracious and forgiving toward each other while they are young. Hannah's Autism has definitely changed how we deal with sibling relationships in our home. What are we suppose to tell Abby when she says, "Hannah won't play with me. Hannah doesn't love me. Hannah's mean. I wish we could give Hannah away." All of those statements communicate Abby's pain and frustration. Enough about that. Here's Hannah hugging Abby today...melted my heart!! As you can see in Hannah's eyes, there is no anxiety, she is really hugging Abby and not just appeasing us with a quick lean into her. 
Here they are again at a restaurant tonight. Abby could not get enough but by this time Hannah was done for awhile.
Ok, by no means does this constitute that loving relationship that I dream of for them, but hey, it's a start! They are sharing a room now because Abby wants to be with Hannah (we have an extra bedroom if anyone wants to come for a visit!). They fight and also even negotiate and compromise in their own way, for instance tonight they traded stuffed animals because Abby wanted Hannah's shark and then Hannah took the shark back but didn't give Abby the elephant and this went on for a few minutes. They worked it out.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Never Give Up!!
Last year (in April I believe) we started doing Brain Balance Primitive Reflex exercises with Hannah. It was hard to say the least. Her brain, body, and heart just did not cooperate with our desire to rid her of reflexes that should have been gone long ago. Her body was stiff and it probably hurt a little too. I was up and down and all around with my emotions. Fear of failure haunted me (as it has all my life) and kept me from really believing that things could change for Hannah and for our family as a whole. We also were dealing with disbelief in BB. How could the solution be so simplistic? Were we so desperate to find a solution to the Autism problem that we were believing yet again that what we were trying this time was the answer? I was also dealing with my pregnancy and bulging disc and everything that goes with that and being out of shape and 39 and pregnant! I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that I told myself. With all my doubt and fear and grief, I still pressed on. Granted, I would miss days here and there and sometimes stop doing the exercises altogether for weeks at a time and you are definitely not suppose to do that. However, I did believe that God was going to use Brain Balance to heal my daughter and heal our family which was my prayer. During those times (and all times) I relied on my wonderful therapists to do the exercises. We didn't do all of them...just started with a few day after day, week after week. My friend, Mindy, posted a quote today that struck a chord with me. "Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." - H. Jackson Brown I have learned the old-fashioned way throughout life and especially this trial with Hannah that if I give my all today, then the todays will add up. We will not be "on" everyday because of our humanness. We will fear and doubt and procrastinate and have bad days, but we must keep striving because our diligence will pay off in one way or another.
I am happy to announce that our diligence has paid off in a big way! Hannah has lost the Rooting, Spinal Galant, Tonic Labyrinthine, and Landau reflexes and is very close to losing the other four! In fact, we believe that they will be gone by the end of our first BB session (in 4 weeks). Ok, I know what you're saying, "what?" "why is that exciting?" A long time ago when we started these exercises, I only had a general knowledge of the primitive reflexes. I didn't realize until I did more research on my own how much of a problem the retention of primitive reflexes can be! That research coupled with Hannah going long periods of time without wetting the bed became my motivation to keep pressing on with the uncomfortable for Hannah and the ever-so boring and monotonous exercises that accomplishes the passing of the primitive reflexes. The following is a chart that is simply stated and given to me by BB:
What the above chart has translated into for Hannah is many little victories that I won't list all here but many as such: She is sitting through church much more quietly and still (I am working on an entire blog post just on that!) She doesn't fidget and wiggle so much during dinner and other times that we might wish her to be still or atleast not jumping up and down on a chair. Actually, she didn't even use to sit with us at dinner. She would do everything she could to get away from us. She stims (self-stimulates) much less with her hands. She used to wiggle her fingers and hands in front of her face all the time. She also use to play in the dirt and through the dirt up in front of her face. Many times throughout the day, she just sits quietly and observes us and she is much more aware and interested in her surroundings. She still wets the bed occasionally but it's usually when changes have occurred such as Daddy coming or going or staying at Papa and Grammy's house. She is starting to move her eyes without moving her head or body and she has even crossed her eyes twice (if you can't cross your eyes, there's a problem). There are so many other little things that are missing now that we don't even notice until we go somewhere we haven't been in a while or be around someone that notices a difference. For instance, we went to Sensations Therafun (a place to play, climb, zipline, and the like) the other day after weeks of not going (because of the horrible experience it was due to her tantrums and obsessions) and Hannah was not so obsessed with the ballpit and she tried everything we wanted her to try without being so obsessed with one thing. It is just amazing (sorry to use that over-used term) progress for her to go from being inflexible in trying new things to being completely flexible in eight weeks time!
As I think now about summing up this post, I am thinking of many other things I could have written. I originally wanted to only write once a week but I'm thinking once a day now because of all the little things that are happening with Hannah as well as adding a new member to the BB journey -- Abigail! I will write more on Abby later but time to get back to work now! Thanks for reading!
I am happy to announce that our diligence has paid off in a big way! Hannah has lost the Rooting, Spinal Galant, Tonic Labyrinthine, and Landau reflexes and is very close to losing the other four! In fact, we believe that they will be gone by the end of our first BB session (in 4 weeks). Ok, I know what you're saying, "what?" "why is that exciting?" A long time ago when we started these exercises, I only had a general knowledge of the primitive reflexes. I didn't realize until I did more research on my own how much of a problem the retention of primitive reflexes can be! That research coupled with Hannah going long periods of time without wetting the bed became my motivation to keep pressing on with the uncomfortable for Hannah and the ever-so boring and monotonous exercises that accomplishes the passing of the primitive reflexes. The following is a chart that is simply stated and given to me by BB:
What the above chart has translated into for Hannah is many little victories that I won't list all here but many as such: She is sitting through church much more quietly and still (I am working on an entire blog post just on that!) She doesn't fidget and wiggle so much during dinner and other times that we might wish her to be still or atleast not jumping up and down on a chair. Actually, she didn't even use to sit with us at dinner. She would do everything she could to get away from us. She stims (self-stimulates) much less with her hands. She used to wiggle her fingers and hands in front of her face all the time. She also use to play in the dirt and through the dirt up in front of her face. Many times throughout the day, she just sits quietly and observes us and she is much more aware and interested in her surroundings. She still wets the bed occasionally but it's usually when changes have occurred such as Daddy coming or going or staying at Papa and Grammy's house. She is starting to move her eyes without moving her head or body and she has even crossed her eyes twice (if you can't cross your eyes, there's a problem). There are so many other little things that are missing now that we don't even notice until we go somewhere we haven't been in a while or be around someone that notices a difference. For instance, we went to Sensations Therafun (a place to play, climb, zipline, and the like) the other day after weeks of not going (because of the horrible experience it was due to her tantrums and obsessions) and Hannah was not so obsessed with the ballpit and she tried everything we wanted her to try without being so obsessed with one thing. It is just amazing (sorry to use that over-used term) progress for her to go from being inflexible in trying new things to being completely flexible in eight weeks time!
As I think now about summing up this post, I am thinking of many other things I could have written. I originally wanted to only write once a week but I'm thinking once a day now because of all the little things that are happening with Hannah as well as adding a new member to the BB journey -- Abigail! I will write more on Abby later but time to get back to work now! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Hannah Shows Empathy!!!
I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.. very behind but I have some in draft. Scrapbookers always say when you get behind, start with the present and work backwards so I will.
How sweet is a timely word!! Just today I was feeling burned out and stressed/worried and was sharing it with Steven and crying tears in front of Hannah while doing her exercises. I never think twice about crying in front of Hannah. It's like crying in front of Peyton... Steven was trying to encourage me but I was so discouraged and just missing Garrett and feeling guilty and feeling sad because Hannah seemed to be regressing in certain areas (which we were told that she would...however, I suppose I thought it would be different for us...ha). Attentively and adoringly, Hannah sat up and looked at me with her sweet eyes and smiled. "Kiss", she said, and then crawled over, wrapped her arms around me and and hugged and kissed me and said, "I love you" and then kissed me again and said, "I love you" and then again and again. I was shocked and I looked over at Steven and saw the same look in his eyes that I saw when the girls were born...pure joy. Then I cried some more...and I'm still crying.... This is huge, folks! She has never shown empathy at all in her entire life. She has never expressed two hoots when anyone is down or hurt or crying! Thank you, Lord, for my sweet Hannah!
How sweet is a timely word!! Just today I was feeling burned out and stressed/worried and was sharing it with Steven and crying tears in front of Hannah while doing her exercises. I never think twice about crying in front of Hannah. It's like crying in front of Peyton... Steven was trying to encourage me but I was so discouraged and just missing Garrett and feeling guilty and feeling sad because Hannah seemed to be regressing in certain areas (which we were told that she would...however, I suppose I thought it would be different for us...ha). Attentively and adoringly, Hannah sat up and looked at me with her sweet eyes and smiled. "Kiss", she said, and then crawled over, wrapped her arms around me and and hugged and kissed me and said, "I love you" and then kissed me again and said, "I love you" and then again and again. I was shocked and I looked over at Steven and saw the same look in his eyes that I saw when the girls were born...pure joy. Then I cried some more...and I'm still crying.... This is huge, folks! She has never shown empathy at all in her entire life. She has never expressed two hoots when anyone is down or hurt or crying! Thank you, Lord, for my sweet Hannah!
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