Growing up

I guess it is inevitable...my kids are growing up! Anna Grace is in her room 90% of the time she is home, retreating from the rest of us. Content to come out just for food and then right back in there! She is thoroughly enjoying the new found freedom of having her own room. She deserved it. I have a rule, that all doors remain open. Since school has started back, there have been times when I have allowed her to go to her room to read or study quietly and close the door. Our house is very open and noises carry which make it difficult to concentrate.

Emily has anxiety about doors being closed. She doesn't like the separation. Hence the reason I NEVER use the bathroom in peace! The other day, she was being very quiet. Anna Grace was in her room with the door closed studying. I went upstairs and down the hall and found the door to Emily's room closed! It freaked me out a little. It was suspiciously quiet in there so I quietly opened the door and found this

She was doing her homework like her big sister! GROWING UP! Emily's birthday is this Saturday, and she will be 9. It doesn't seem possible that she is almost 9 years old. In many ways, she will always be young. I have always said that is one of the many blessings of having a child with special needs. They just don't seem to age as fast as typical kids. I get to enjoy the child like mannerisms a lot longer!

Luke is 4 and has surpassed Emily in several skills. They have always been the closest of my three children. I have said many times, that it is because they were on the same developmental level. I wonder as Luke grows up and continues to surpass Emily, if their relationship will change.

Growing up is inevitable, but it makes me sad in so many ways.

Thanks for reading!

Jessica

Echolalia-You talking to me?

Echolalia can be one of the funniest and worst symptoms of Autism. Emily has been affected with echolalia for as long as I can remember. This afternoon as I was cleaning up the kitchen, she came in and said "Your attitude stinks!"(YOU TALKING TO ME) Normally I would agree with her, but today was a good day. I immediately knew she has heard someone say that at some point today. I also knew that it probably was not directed at her, because she also had a good day(8/8 smiles : ) Gave me quite a chuckle!

There were times before she was diagnosed that echolalia(we didn't know that's what it was called at the time) was funny as well! She loved music, and had an uncanny ability to get the tunes of songs down, but not all the words. Of course after a car ride with my then teenage sister when she was 3, she picked up a few words to a song...I like Big Butts. She walked around saying those four words CONSTANTLY. Never forget the time I pulled up to a drive-thru window and rolled her window down so she could wave to the lady handing us our food. Instead of waving, she said those four words to the lady with the rounder backside! (YOU TALKING TO ME)Mortified I quickly rolled up her window and smiled
and drove off.

 There was a time before she was diagnosed, that echolalia was not so funny! Around the age of 3, she started saying 2 really bad words. Words we just don't say. Now I'm not saying my kids have never heard me use a few choice words, but this was one I KNEW I didn't say! Scott and I went for months blaming each other for her FREQUENT use of the GD word. I remember being mortified when she randomly spouted it out in front of my mother-in-law(YOU TALKING TO ME) who I know went instantly home and prayed about it. I knew that kids often repeated bad words, but this was different, more intense! One day Emily was watching Annie(one of her all time favorite movies that she had seen hundreds of times) with Scott. He comes running to me saying that Mrs, Hannigan had just said GD TWICE in the movie. Of course I didn't believe him, so he replayed the part. SURE ENOUGH she said it as she was chasing little orphan Annie on the railroad tracks. It was VERY subtle, and I had never picked it up in the many times I had watched it. Emily honed in on it though.

Emily has a TON of speech! If you are around her long enough, she know that it is mostly scripted and repetitive. For instance...Every morning when she wakes up, she says to me "How did you sleep"(YOU TALKING TO ME) I
would love to think that she truly cared about my sleep(or lack there of), but unfortunately she is just repeating my words to her over the years.

So while she is talking to me, she's not really talking to me!

Jessica

Racers, start your engines...

Emily's birthday is coming up September 3rd. Chuck E Cheese has been the winner two years in a row, and I was prepared to book another party. However, she has mentioned several different places recently. Build A Bear, Tree Top Family Adventure, The fair. We have been to Tree Top several times, but she absolutely refuses to get on the go carts. They are just too loud for her. She talks about riding them ALL the time and has been obsessed with them lately.  She even figured out how to get go-cart videos pulled up on youtube.

iJump has indoor go-carts that are electric instead of gas and aren't as loud. I called them the other day and asked if it was ok if I brought her up there before I signed up for a party to see if she would actually get on one. They are single rider carts, so she would have to drive it herself. I had her ABA therapist take her this afternoon and guess what? She was reluctant at first, but she got on and drove around the track! She won't win any races at the speed she was going, but YIPPEE!

PS...And she is officially out of storage space on her itouch now!

Jessica

Temple Grandin

I went to hear Temple Grandin speak last night at Indian Springs School. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. For more information here is a link Temple Grandin.  I equate my encounter with her to that of meeting a Rock Star. She is a fabulous speaker and is quite funny. I will caution those who tell her that they have  medicated their young child with anti-psychotic medication during a Q&A session. She will become somewhat agitated and blast you with a "That's Bullshit" comment that will create instant shouts, claps and cheers among a room full of 450 people! That poor woman...(and no it wasn't me)!

I read two of her books a few years ago after Emily was diagnosed.  "Emergence, Labelled Autistic" and "Thinking in Pictures" I found similarities between Temple and Emily. Temple gives an insiders view of living in an Autistic world. One of the things she mentioned last night was teaching kids on the spectrum, life skills. Vocational skills. Something that can help them succeed in the world after they are out of school. This was something that the Neuropsychologist mentioned to me last summer after his evaluation of Emily. My brain has been in this mode ever since. What can Emily do later in life? There are many articles floating around right now about what will happen to our kids once they reach the age of 21. There will be no school support, there will be no place they can go and nothing they can do. Parents will be left with an adult who can't be left alone.

Emily has loved photographs since she was a baby! I actually said when she was 4, that she would one day be a photographer, because she loved pictures so much. She also loves chocolate, so I narrowed her vocation down to Chocolate Photographer. How fun would that be? She has nearly 2000 pictures on her iPod touch!! I have tried buying her actual camera's, but she doesn't like them much, because the screen is not big enough. My mission is to get her an iPad 2 so that she can take pictures just as she does on her itouch. Not only would the iPad help her with her interests, but there are SO many apps that can help her with the educational skills she has trouble with. I have found valuable apps through a4cwsn that I have put on her itouch. She knows so much more than I ever thought! Sight words that I had NO idea she knew. Hopefully by Christmas, she will have an iPad, so that she can show us all that she knows and sees! BTW...I already have a blog name picked out so that I can share the pictures that she takes!

Jessica

Don't worry...

I am a natural born worrier. As I have gotten older, the things that worried me long ago, now seem so silly. I mean, I seriously use to worry about what I would wear on a date or to a public function. If anyone has seen me in recent years, those worries are LONG gone. I have had to let go of so much worry in recent years and put my faith in a higher power and know that HIS will would be done. Easier said than done at times, but my heart knows this to be true.

We have been to Worship Service at our church nearly every Sunday since they started the special needs ministry in April. Yesterday was Back to School Sunday and the goal was to get 500 people in Sunday School. We decided to try Sunday School since the kids would be moving up to new classes. Perfect time to start. Of course I was a little apprehensive about Emily going into a regular class.  She has not been in a "regular" class in a few years. There were 19 little girls in the class. One was a friend from her Kindergarten Class at her old "regular" school. Emily is a girly girl and longs to be social. Unfortunately most kids she is placed with at school due to her exceptionality and behavior, are boys. It's always her and "her boys" as I call them. She did AMAZING in the Sunday School class with those girls though. Ironically their lesson was about....Worrying! Those who know Emily, knows she is constantly worried about what's next, where are we going, etc. She gets it honestly I guess. So yesterday when they were talking about things they should not worry about, she tells her teacher, that she is "Not going to worry about High School Musical". Now she wasn't really worried about the movie or characters, but whether or not she was going to get to watch the movie when we got home from church. I thought that was a GREAT revelation for her to have!

I hope that one day she will have the ability to look back this time and say, "I seriously was worried about High School Musical." I know that her worries will increase as she matures, but I pray that she will learn to face her fears and earn her badge of Courage just as the Lion did in the Wizard of Oz.

~Jessica~

If I Only Had a Heart:Part 2

Second part of blog post that will talk about giving and receiving from the heart.

I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and follow my heart...

Children on the Autism Spectrum often have sensory issues. They vary with each child and can range from mild to severe. For some kids, sensory issues mean, noises too loud, smells overwhelming, too much visual stimuli, food aversion because of texture or taste, or not wanting to be touched. For others, it can mean that they need to smell everything or put everything in their mouth in order for their brains to process the incoming stimuli. Emily has a sensory bag that I made for her to take to school or anywhere we go. It contains items for her to chew on, it has lotions and room spray, it has sensory brushes so that she can get "soft tickles" as well as a light up spinning toy for visual stimulation. She also has noise reduction headphones at school. Last year, she would gag upon entering the cafeteria and refused to eat. The smells and the noise were TOO much for her system to handle at one time. We put the headphones on to reduce one stimuli and she was able to start eating again!

If I had to choose a sense that she had the most difficulty with, it would be smell. She typically smells EVERYTHING! Food, objects not related to food, pictures of food, people. There is not a day that I pick her up from school, that she doesn't have a little marker under her nose from smelling them. We even give her smencils(scented pencils) to write with. If we are in a checkout lane, she will commence to smelling every packet of gum in order to choose the one she wants. Pretty smart way to tell if you may like it, but not appropriate for an almost 9 year old.  We were at Chuck E Cheese recently and she was smelling every game there was. I will sometimes put lavender lotion on her arms and redirect her to smell herself instead of others. Lavender is also very calming for most kids! I know of another ASD child who likes to smell everyone's hair. Even saw her walk up to a bald man once and smell his head! LOL!

A few weeks ago on facebook, I was directed to a page called Buddies for Autistic Kids. This sweet woman, Mary Olson, was GIVING away Scentsy Buddies to children with autism. They are stuffed animals that you are able to put scent paks inside. Calming scents like lavender and vanilla. For those of you who know me, know I LIKE free stuff. I posted on the wall, that I would be interested in getting one for Emily. Completely prepared to pay for it, since I knew this was something Emily could benefit from. She would not allow me to pay for it! She relies on donations and an online open scentsy party to provide these for ASD kids. I immediately went to the open party and bought 3 scentsy paks to help her out a little. I also told her that I would host a basket party. When Emily RECEIVED  her Penny the Pig and I saw how much she loved it and how calming it was for her, I posted pictures on the Buddies for Autistic Kids wall and thanked Mary. She and I spoke on the phone several times and I decided that my heart was leading me to help this woman out in her campaign. Mind you, I had NEVER even ordered anything Scensty until just now!

So with that being said, I am following my HEART! I signed up to become an Independent Scensty Consultant! My goal is too get Scentsy Buddies into the hands of as many sensory kids as possible. I will have an on-going online party,Jessica Lawson, Independent Scentsy Consultant, where people can order Scensty products and ALL  proceeds will go to the Buddies for Autistic Kids campaign. You can also order a buddy and give it to a child who may benefit from it. I have a paypal button on my blog for anyone wanting to donate towards the buddies. They are $25 each and come with a scent pak. I will be having a launch party and all proceeds will go towards the Buddies! I will also need some sweet souls host parties for me! There are excellent hostess benefits. I can even do basket parties for those who don't live near me! I send you every thing you need to have a basket party and even include return shipping postage. I will also be able to do fundraisers!! This is one of the other reasons I decided to sell Scentsy products. So many people need fundraisers to help with medical costs, therapy sessions and equipment purchases. You get 20% of all sales. I will probably be asking many of you to help me along this journey.

Please go like Buddies for Autistic Kids on facebook and see pictures of those who have benefitted from the Buddies campaign! If you have a child on the spectrum, post a comment on the page and we will get your sweet child(age doesn't matter) a buddy as soon as possible! Mary has sent out over 30 buddies in just a few weeks!

Thank you for allowing me to share my HEART...

Jessica

Here are some pictures of Emily with Penny the Pig!

If I Only Had a Heart:Part 1

"Giving from the heart has beneficial effects upon the mind, body and spirit including health, happiness, and prosperity...."

In sticking with my blog theme, my post today is about the heart...specifically the giving heart.

I like to think that I have a giving heart. People can't come to my house, without me trying to send them out the door with something.  Food, toys, clothes...whatever I have on hand that I think they may like, want, need, I give.  I never think much of it, I just do it. I am sure some of it gets thrown in the next goodwill box. I give our teachers little tokens of appreciation ALL year long. Not because I think it will make them like my kids better(ok maybe a little), but because I truly appreciate the work they do with them. It takes a giving heart to work with kids.

 A few months ago, a fire destroyed the home of a friend in Emily's class. Immediately touched, I set out to get as much gathered up for his family as possible. I posted a request on FB for any used clothing, and what came in was so much more than that. I had friends give giftcards, money, brand new clothing from as far away as TEXAS! I know I am not alone with my giving heart.

When the tornados came through our state in April, like everyone else, my first thought was WHAT can I do to help. So many lives lost and many who lost everything. I set to work gathering up my stockpile items and put to good use my couponing skills. I even attempted to get Boston Butts donated a month after the tornados to feed 8, STILL displaced, families at a local church. I ended up getting a few donated by sweet people and the rest I did myself. A full meal for 40 people. I gave me such a great feeling knowing I was helping a little.

Giving from the heart DOES have beneficial effects! Part 2 of this post will include giving,receiving  some opportunities that I am excited about! I will probably post later today as my kids are in need of receiving attention. Stay tuned...

Jessica





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If happy little bluebirds fly...

I have finally decided to join the ranks of those who type their thoughts out and publish for the world to see. Well, maybe not the whole world, but those who care enough to listen to stories about my life raising three kids, one with special needs. I decided to start this blog for several reasons. 1)To raise awareness for children with special needs  2)As therapy for me in dealing with the daily struggles and 3)Because I got so tired of trying to tell a funny story on facebook and getting cut off because my status was too long. I love sharing stories about my kids and often try and find the funny in everyday not-so-funny situations. I am unable to share a story without including every detail of the incident. Facebook does not allow for these types of ramblings unless I edit as a note, and that is just no fun. So Blogging world here I am.

Just a little background information about the wonderful kids you will be hearing about:

Anna Grace is my oldest and is 11 years old. She was born at 26 weeks gestation due to severe preeclampsia. She weighed 1 lb 12 oz and stayed in the NICU for two months. She had fine motor delays as well as sensory processing issues. She outgrew all by the time she was 4. She is my miracle!

Luke is my youngest and is 4 years old. He was born at 34 weeks and weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and stayed in the NICU for 2 weeks. He had no lasting effects of his prematurity and is a healthy, full of life boy.

Emily is my middle child and is almost 9. She was my full term baby and weighed 7 lbs 6 oz. She has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, OCD, Tourette's and Sensory Processing Disorder. The running joke in our family is that she baked too long in my oven. Her road has been long and difficult. She definitely did not follow "The Yellow Brick Road".

I love my kids dearly and they are my life. I could not imagine any of them being any different from who they are. One of our favorite movies is "The Wizard of Oz" hence the name of the blog, Somewhere Over the Spectrum. I hope to show you that even though we face a lifetime of uncertainty that "skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true".

Thanks for reading,
Jessica

"If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?"