One of Samuel's helpers has been waiting for the arrival of his baby, whose due date was Christmas day. I got a call from him this morning with the good news that his wife gave birth this morning to a healthy baby boy! Congratulations! Another of Samuel's helpers is a good friend of theirs and generously made herself available during the week of Christmas, and much of last week, to assist them, but the baby had other plans I guess! She wasn't able to help them after all because she is now on vacation, visiting her family.
Our family has been fortunate to have help from both of these individuals with Samuel for almost a year and a half now. We have help from two other people as well, but they do not work as regularly. They all have their own ways of interacting with Samuel and I am glad that he is able to have a variety of people helping him (and me!).
I stand corrected, I found out that the friend was present at the baby's delivery after all! His baptism is next weekend. I cannot wait to see him! I saw his picture and he is soooo darling. I miss having a baby! My 40 pound 3 year old is still my baby, but I miss the little newborn kind!
Showing posts with label In-home help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In-home help. Show all posts
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Friday, March 14, 2008
Vision Exam
Yesterday Samuel had his first-ever visit to the eye doctor. I started telling him about this appointment a few weeks ago. I have learned that it is best to inform Samuel ahead of time of these things so that he has plenty of opportunity to voice any concerns or objections! He expressed concern about having to get a shot and also asked, "Will it hurt?" His concerns were very easy to answer and I am convinced that talking about them helped the exam to go smoothly.
The in-home helper who is with us during the morning and afternoon has become very good at picking up what is going on with Samuel and he makes upcoming events a part of their conversation as they play together. He even suggested that they act out an eye exam, since we have an eye chart as part of our toy doctor kit.
When I scheduled the appointment I informed the receptionist that Samuel was autistic. Just a few hours before the appointment I called the office to remind them of this and the receptionist was once again very reassuring, telling me that they have seen other special needs patients and that there are ways of checking vision if the patient has difficulties communicating.
Samuel did very well! I went in to the office to fill in paperwork while Samuel and his helper waited in the car. I called them in once I was finished. There were some toys in the waiting room and I remembered how Samuel likes to check those out. We have had issues in the past at dentist visits if he doesn't have time to look at the toys! He voiced some last minute concerns about the exam, which we (his helper, the office staff, and I) were able to talk to him about. I was relieved to find we were the only ones in the waiting area. The appointment was right after the office had reopened after lunch.
After just enough time to look at the toys he was called back. Samuel went along with the examiner just fine. His helper and I both sat in the room. His helper was terrific in assisting Samuel. Sometimes I feel like I don't let his helpers do enough. It took some effort yesterday but I made myself sit back and tried to let him take care of Samuel getting through things. It was a challenge at times to get Samuel sit still, but his helper and the examiner were able to explain things and Samuel cooperated very nicely!
Once some measurements were done and photographs of the inside of Samuel's eye were taken, we were then moved to another room. This is where the optometrist examined Samuel. It really helped that we did not have to wait very long. Once again it was challenging to get Samuel to sit still, but somehow he did long enough to get the exam done. There were issues with the chair needing to be moved, getting Samuel to properly cover one eye so that he could look out the other eye, and also with getting him to look through the viewing lenses correctly. He was in a very good mood and was making the funniest comments! (To the doctor, "This isn't so bad!" "I love this, I love you!") Most amazingly of all, the doctor had a laptop computer sitting on the counter that Samuel did not disturb at all, even though there was a slide show of photos being displayed on it!
The end result, Samuel needs glasses. I am not surprised. He has been squinting the past few weeks. I'll be curious to see if he notices and tells us about his improved ability to see once he gets his glasses, which will be in about a week and a half.
Factors that contributed to the success of this appointment: informing Samuel ahead of time, letting Samuel voice his concerns and discussing them with him, having good assistance from his in-home helper, timing the appointment well during the day, leaving his siblings with a very generous friend (I almost brought them along!), Samuel's previous experience with visits to the dentist.
This appointment was followed with a quick visit to a video store and the grocery store. There were a few bumps in these, separate post to follow.
The in-home helper who is with us during the morning and afternoon has become very good at picking up what is going on with Samuel and he makes upcoming events a part of their conversation as they play together. He even suggested that they act out an eye exam, since we have an eye chart as part of our toy doctor kit.
When I scheduled the appointment I informed the receptionist that Samuel was autistic. Just a few hours before the appointment I called the office to remind them of this and the receptionist was once again very reassuring, telling me that they have seen other special needs patients and that there are ways of checking vision if the patient has difficulties communicating.
Samuel did very well! I went in to the office to fill in paperwork while Samuel and his helper waited in the car. I called them in once I was finished. There were some toys in the waiting room and I remembered how Samuel likes to check those out. We have had issues in the past at dentist visits if he doesn't have time to look at the toys! He voiced some last minute concerns about the exam, which we (his helper, the office staff, and I) were able to talk to him about. I was relieved to find we were the only ones in the waiting area. The appointment was right after the office had reopened after lunch.
After just enough time to look at the toys he was called back. Samuel went along with the examiner just fine. His helper and I both sat in the room. His helper was terrific in assisting Samuel. Sometimes I feel like I don't let his helpers do enough. It took some effort yesterday but I made myself sit back and tried to let him take care of Samuel getting through things. It was a challenge at times to get Samuel sit still, but his helper and the examiner were able to explain things and Samuel cooperated very nicely!
Once some measurements were done and photographs of the inside of Samuel's eye were taken, we were then moved to another room. This is where the optometrist examined Samuel. It really helped that we did not have to wait very long. Once again it was challenging to get Samuel to sit still, but somehow he did long enough to get the exam done. There were issues with the chair needing to be moved, getting Samuel to properly cover one eye so that he could look out the other eye, and also with getting him to look through the viewing lenses correctly. He was in a very good mood and was making the funniest comments! (To the doctor, "This isn't so bad!" "I love this, I love you!") Most amazingly of all, the doctor had a laptop computer sitting on the counter that Samuel did not disturb at all, even though there was a slide show of photos being displayed on it!
The end result, Samuel needs glasses. I am not surprised. He has been squinting the past few weeks. I'll be curious to see if he notices and tells us about his improved ability to see once he gets his glasses, which will be in about a week and a half.
Factors that contributed to the success of this appointment: informing Samuel ahead of time, letting Samuel voice his concerns and discussing them with him, having good assistance from his in-home helper, timing the appointment well during the day, leaving his siblings with a very generous friend (I almost brought them along!), Samuel's previous experience with visits to the dentist.
This appointment was followed with a quick visit to a video store and the grocery store. There were a few bumps in these, separate post to follow.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Our Family - What A Difference A Year Makes
Estee, at The Joy of Autism, recently posted about how far both she and her son have come in the past year. She invited readers to comment about what their year has been like. Since I just passed the one-year anniversary of blogging at the end of January I feel like I have a lot to say about this topic. I didn't want to "overload" her comments so I decided to do my own post about this.
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Travel Challenges
I would not be painting the entire picture of our recent trip to Maine if I did not share some of the challenges we had with Samuel and our other children. Travelling with children, any children, takes some planning, preparation, and spontaneous creativity. That's all part of our travels and it's nice to know we have the ability to take our children on certain trips without too much difficulty. That doesn't mean, however, that I am willing to travel any time the opportunity comes up. I have yet to take my three younger children to go see my oldest son race his go-karts. I know that my husband will be busy with my oldest son and I cannot take care of the other three children on my own in a racing environment right now. Even though there might be other people who could help, I know that the conditions would be too difficult for Samuel to manage right now. I don't think my 2 year old daughter would be very tolerant either. I'm pretty confident that within a few years, however, we'll all be able to go together.
As far as our recent trip, we had a few challenges while riding in the car. Periodically Samuel would get bored and want to stop or have a snack (which would then turn into repeated requests for snacks). If he did not get his way immediately he would sometimes scream, unbuckle his seatbelt, or try to kick and hit his siblings. I attempted to deal with this by scheduling snacks. I would pick a time and tell the boys that there would be no snack until that time and I would remind them that it would be only ONE snack at that designated time. This helped Samuel to accept the restrictions a little better. To reduce boredom, I asked Samuel to pick a few things that HE WANTED to bring, and I asked my oldest son to pick a few things he had seen as recent favorites. Oldest son kept the bag of toys (which included toys for the other 2 younger children as well) in the middle row of seats and he would hand them out when necessary.
While in other people's homes it could be challenging to keep Samuel out of trouble. In our close friend's house, he kept trying to get into flour and oatmeal canisters in their kitchen. We also had to hide sweets because he would "raid" them if left unchecked.
At another house we visited, Samuel couldn't keep his hands off their television and DVD player. We thought he might have broken the DVD player, but it ended up being okay. These friends were so nice and understanding, but my husband and I really should have taken more effort to set some limits with Samuel and follow through. We got too caught up in interesting conversation while Samuel was in a basement playroom. Their children were playing with our other three children while Samuel was by himself with the television.
While at home in town, I try to have one of Samuel's "personal attendants" accompany us when we visit others. That is so helpful! My husband and I can socialize and Samuel is encouraged to play with other children and can be kept away from the computer, VCR etc.. Samuel got a portable DVD player for his birthday. We will be teaching him how to use it and will try to take it along when we go somewhere so that he won't be so tempted to get into other's property.
As far as our recent trip, we had a few challenges while riding in the car. Periodically Samuel would get bored and want to stop or have a snack (which would then turn into repeated requests for snacks). If he did not get his way immediately he would sometimes scream, unbuckle his seatbelt, or try to kick and hit his siblings. I attempted to deal with this by scheduling snacks. I would pick a time and tell the boys that there would be no snack until that time and I would remind them that it would be only ONE snack at that designated time. This helped Samuel to accept the restrictions a little better. To reduce boredom, I asked Samuel to pick a few things that HE WANTED to bring, and I asked my oldest son to pick a few things he had seen as recent favorites. Oldest son kept the bag of toys (which included toys for the other 2 younger children as well) in the middle row of seats and he would hand them out when necessary.
While in other people's homes it could be challenging to keep Samuel out of trouble. In our close friend's house, he kept trying to get into flour and oatmeal canisters in their kitchen. We also had to hide sweets because he would "raid" them if left unchecked.
At another house we visited, Samuel couldn't keep his hands off their television and DVD player. We thought he might have broken the DVD player, but it ended up being okay. These friends were so nice and understanding, but my husband and I really should have taken more effort to set some limits with Samuel and follow through. We got too caught up in interesting conversation while Samuel was in a basement playroom. Their children were playing with our other three children while Samuel was by himself with the television.
While at home in town, I try to have one of Samuel's "personal attendants" accompany us when we visit others. That is so helpful! My husband and I can socialize and Samuel is encouraged to play with other children and can be kept away from the computer, VCR etc.. Samuel got a portable DVD player for his birthday. We will be teaching him how to use it and will try to take it along when we go somewhere so that he won't be so tempted to get into other's property.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Life is going along at our house quite well. I am as busy as ever. I rarely have a free moment anymore. I am stealing time that should be used for other things around my house to even do this writing. It's a little frustrating sometimes, but this shall pass. Even with all the frustrations and challenges I am happy with how we are all doing.
I am not at all in the Christmas spirit yet, which I suppose is okay. After all, it's not Christmas yet! We are enjoying our new Advent wreath and two Advent Calendars; one given to us by my oldest son's godparents and the other from my parents. It is still somewhat of a novelty for me to keep up with all the feasts and celebrations that the Catholic religion has. I didn't really grow up with these things being celebrated in my home. I gather all the kids together in the morning and we talk about feast days as we go over the calendar each day.
I am so grateful for the Personal Attendant help that Samuel has. The two people who help us out are doing well with Samuel. In between the times that I do his school work they keep him busy and out of trouble. It's really great to know that I don't have to worry about Samuel sneaking food or sneaking time on the computer. We still have a ways to go teaching Samuel to be more independent in using his free time appropriately. The visual schedule we use will help us teach him.
I have made a renewed effort to properly use reinforcers with Samuel. Using them properly makes his school work sessions so much calmer. As I prepare his schedule I prepare a token board. If I know that he will be agreeable to the work then I will use "high 5's" as reinforcers. Then for the subjects that he is not so agreeable I use "sweet snack" (Skittles ) or perhaps a "healthy snack" (raisins or peanuts) , or a "crunchy snack" (pretzels or a cereal bar). I want to move beyond just food reinforcers. There are some books he likes to look at, so I should have a supply of them ready for him to look at after he "works".
I hope everyone is enjoying preparing for Christmas! My thoughts and prayers this evening go out to a family I know whose son is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
I am not at all in the Christmas spirit yet, which I suppose is okay. After all, it's not Christmas yet! We are enjoying our new Advent wreath and two Advent Calendars; one given to us by my oldest son's godparents and the other from my parents. It is still somewhat of a novelty for me to keep up with all the feasts and celebrations that the Catholic religion has. I didn't really grow up with these things being celebrated in my home. I gather all the kids together in the morning and we talk about feast days as we go over the calendar each day.
I am so grateful for the Personal Attendant help that Samuel has. The two people who help us out are doing well with Samuel. In between the times that I do his school work they keep him busy and out of trouble. It's really great to know that I don't have to worry about Samuel sneaking food or sneaking time on the computer. We still have a ways to go teaching Samuel to be more independent in using his free time appropriately. The visual schedule we use will help us teach him.
I have made a renewed effort to properly use reinforcers with Samuel. Using them properly makes his school work sessions so much calmer. As I prepare his schedule I prepare a token board. If I know that he will be agreeable to the work then I will use "high 5's" as reinforcers. Then for the subjects that he is not so agreeable I use "sweet snack" (Skittles ) or perhaps a "healthy snack" (raisins or peanuts) , or a "crunchy snack" (pretzels or a cereal bar). I want to move beyond just food reinforcers. There are some books he likes to look at, so I should have a supply of them ready for him to look at after he "works".
I hope everyone is enjoying preparing for Christmas! My thoughts and prayers this evening go out to a family I know whose son is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
Friday, July 27, 2007
No Time to Blog!
I haven't been blogging all that much lately for a variety of reasons which, all put together, are really eating up the little spare time I have ever had to do so.
Our family has received a big blessing in the form of a Virginia Medicaid "waiver" which, if all goes through, will give us the money to pay for an attendant for Samuel for his "medical" needs, his ability to dress and care for himself and to remain safe during the day. In the last two weeks I have been hiring and training two attendants, who either attend or have graduated from an area college. Everything is approved, I'm just waiting for a final confirmation about the number of hours of assistance we will be getting.
I have also been very busy putting together "work" for Samuel to do. We finally finished reading the book about whales. I'm preparing a "test" for him to take early next week. I'll share the worksheets and study sheets about this as soon as I can. I have been reading books to all the boys about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington at bedtime, so I have been making up worksheets and study sheets for Samuel about this.
After assessing Samuel's handwriting skills the past few weeks I have decided to delve more into Handwriting Without Tears (HWOT). Samuel learned to print upper case letters with this method at school. I'm not sure how closely this was followed to teach him lower case letters. In any case, he has had trouble writing within the lines on traditional kindergarten-size lined paper but seems to do better when I used HWOT ruled paper. I can get some of this from abcteach.com website, but I have gone ahead and ordered some supplies from HWOT as well. I plan to use this method for my rising kindergartner and if I can I will teach them together. We'll see.
A semi-annual review of Samuel's already in-home services is coming up next week. This is causing my husband and I do lots of thinking about Samuel's school situation. I will talk more about this when I am able to (after our meeting next week).
I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging "support group" that much lately, but I will get back in touch as soon as I can.
Our family has received a big blessing in the form of a Virginia Medicaid "waiver" which, if all goes through, will give us the money to pay for an attendant for Samuel for his "medical" needs, his ability to dress and care for himself and to remain safe during the day. In the last two weeks I have been hiring and training two attendants, who either attend or have graduated from an area college. Everything is approved, I'm just waiting for a final confirmation about the number of hours of assistance we will be getting.
I have also been very busy putting together "work" for Samuel to do. We finally finished reading the book about whales. I'm preparing a "test" for him to take early next week. I'll share the worksheets and study sheets about this as soon as I can. I have been reading books to all the boys about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington at bedtime, so I have been making up worksheets and study sheets for Samuel about this.
After assessing Samuel's handwriting skills the past few weeks I have decided to delve more into Handwriting Without Tears (HWOT). Samuel learned to print upper case letters with this method at school. I'm not sure how closely this was followed to teach him lower case letters. In any case, he has had trouble writing within the lines on traditional kindergarten-size lined paper but seems to do better when I used HWOT ruled paper. I can get some of this from abcteach.com website, but I have gone ahead and ordered some supplies from HWOT as well. I plan to use this method for my rising kindergartner and if I can I will teach them together. We'll see.
A semi-annual review of Samuel's already in-home services is coming up next week. This is causing my husband and I do lots of thinking about Samuel's school situation. I will talk more about this when I am able to (after our meeting next week).
I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging "support group" that much lately, but I will get back in touch as soon as I can.
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