A long and busy week!
Wow, it is hard to believe it has been almost a week that I have not updated this blog! We have been extremely busy with events in and out of the home. The best thing to say is that through all this busy activity, Liam has done very well. He has still had his moments in which his anxiety and meltdowns have occurred. Luckily they have not been too bad.
This past Sunday we went to Jill’s cousin’s house for a cookout and swimming. There Liam was comfortable with everyone as he knows them now. Liam could not wait to get in the pool. I had not seen him in the water since he started taking Adaptive Aquatics at Lifeworks. Liam just completely amazed me how comfortable he was in the water. He jumped to me in the water a couple times and showed me how he can go underwater and hold his breath. Liam had a great time until their 7 month old retriever puppy came out. The dog had a lot of energy, ran around,and was quite hyper. The dog scared Liam. At this point it was near going home time so we decided to get going. Liam became very anxious from this and was very concerned about everyone getting in the van to go home. He finally settled down once we started heading home.
Memorial day we had a cookout at our house. Liam’s cousins Katie and Bridget came over. Our neighbor’s Joe and Lynette came over with their kids. The children all played and had a great time. At one point Liam could not be seen. One of the kids in the front yard something that sounded like “LIAM’S IN THE STREET!” I ran and sure enough, Liam had gotten in a neighbor’s battery powered jeep and drive it into the street and was on his way for a ride. I caught up to him quickly and got him out of the street. We got very lucky in that no cars had come down the street. Lord only knows what could have happened. Liam has not left other kids like this in a long time. I think the only reason he did it was because he wanted to ride the jeep around.
Tuesday, grandma McIlwee came over to stay with the boys as Jill had to go in for carpal tunnel surgery on her right hand. We were there all afternoon and did not get home until after 6pm. Grandma said the boys were great all afternoon. It was good to hear! Jill’s surgery went as planned. Since it was her right hand done first, she has been unable to do much on her own. The pain has been bad at times, but luckily she has vicadin.
Wednesday was busy as Jill has had to rest completely to let her hand heal. One thing for sure is she does a hell of a lot during the day with the boys. It is amazing how many little things that can’t done with a disabled hand. After we all picked Liam up from school, we made a few stops along the way before we got home. Once we got home the boys were all ready for a nap. They slept until 1pm and woke up ready to play. We went outside and played for hours outside. It was really a beautiful day out just play. As we started to make dinner we realized we forgot Liam had his OT appointment. Liam and I went to his therapy where he had another very good session. Liam quite often kept saying he was done and wanted to go home. I kept telling him the same thing. First he had to do his work with Mark, then he can go home. Each time this was repeated he was able to be directed back to his work. When he was done we celebrated his completion and went home.
Thursday was another busy day. Liam had his end of the year school picnic. We took all the boys to the Olmsted Falls park on Lewis Road. It was really a nice park and the boys enjoyed themselves playing the whole time. We got his teachers cards and flowers to thank them for their hard work. Looking back on his first year, Jill and I have been very happy with his teachers. Together they make an excellent team. They had both learned a lot FROM Liam, and Liam in turn has learned a lot from them. In the beginning of the year one of the teacher’s questioned his diagnosis. This was simply from a lack of knowledge and understanding of how Autism can vary in so many ways. Once she got to know Liam she was able to best help him through the year. Liam developed a bond with her and her assistant. This bond was evident as other teachers and aides did not have easy success with Liam. We look forward to Liam’s school year this fall.
Liam had his Adaptive Aquatics class today that I finally got to attend. I took my camera and took a lot of pictures. I was again amazed at Liam’s performance in the water! He had no fears going underwater, swimming, and floating on his back. His teacher Miss Karen has developed a bond with Liam and you can see that. Liam is very responsive to her. Miss Karen said Liam really seems to be at his best in the water. Jill, her parents, and now myself feel the same way. Seeing how Liam is in the water with her was amazing. While he was in the water he again wanted to go home and was done. I told him he had to finish his swimming, then we could go to Burger King. Miss Karen repeated this to Liam to help refocus him on what he was to be doing. Karen had several tasks Liam had to do with toys in the water. Seeing him perform these tasks was something to see. He was so focused on what he had to do. I have never seen him as focused on one task as he was in the water. Amazing. Lifeworks has a “swim team” of children with different disabilities. Miss Karen thinks as Liam gets older he could be a part of it. We’ll see when the time comes, but right now we are just thrilled with his progress. Grandma and Grandpa McIlwee got to see Liam in the pool today as well. They really glad to finally get to see Liam in the pool. Once his lesson was done Grandma and Grandpa went with us to Burger King. Liam definitely worked up an appetite as he ate 2 orders of chicken fingers and french fries. Once he got home Liam took a nap after his busy day. Finally this evening, Liam’s dosage of risperdal was increased to 2 tablets at night. We will see how he does over the next several days.
This past Sunday we went to Jill’s cousin’s house for a cookout and swimming. There Liam was comfortable with everyone as he knows them now. Liam could not wait to get in the pool. I had not seen him in the water since he started taking Adaptive Aquatics at Lifeworks. Liam just completely amazed me how comfortable he was in the water. He jumped to me in the water a couple times and showed me how he can go underwater and hold his breath. Liam had a great time until their 7 month old retriever puppy came out. The dog had a lot of energy, ran around,and was quite hyper. The dog scared Liam. At this point it was near going home time so we decided to get going. Liam became very anxious from this and was very concerned about everyone getting in the van to go home. He finally settled down once we started heading home.
Memorial day we had a cookout at our house. Liam’s cousins Katie and Bridget came over. Our neighbor’s Joe and Lynette came over with their kids. The children all played and had a great time. At one point Liam could not be seen. One of the kids in the front yard something that sounded like “LIAM’S IN THE STREET!” I ran and sure enough, Liam had gotten in a neighbor’s battery powered jeep and drive it into the street and was on his way for a ride. I caught up to him quickly and got him out of the street. We got very lucky in that no cars had come down the street. Lord only knows what could have happened. Liam has not left other kids like this in a long time. I think the only reason he did it was because he wanted to ride the jeep around.
Tuesday, grandma McIlwee came over to stay with the boys as Jill had to go in for carpal tunnel surgery on her right hand. We were there all afternoon and did not get home until after 6pm. Grandma said the boys were great all afternoon. It was good to hear! Jill’s surgery went as planned. Since it was her right hand done first, she has been unable to do much on her own. The pain has been bad at times, but luckily she has vicadin.
Wednesday was busy as Jill has had to rest completely to let her hand heal. One thing for sure is she does a hell of a lot during the day with the boys. It is amazing how many little things that can’t done with a disabled hand. After we all picked Liam up from school, we made a few stops along the way before we got home. Once we got home the boys were all ready for a nap. They slept until 1pm and woke up ready to play. We went outside and played for hours outside. It was really a beautiful day out just play. As we started to make dinner we realized we forgot Liam had his OT appointment. Liam and I went to his therapy where he had another very good session. Liam quite often kept saying he was done and wanted to go home. I kept telling him the same thing. First he had to do his work with Mark, then he can go home. Each time this was repeated he was able to be directed back to his work. When he was done we celebrated his completion and went home.
Thursday was another busy day. Liam had his end of the year school picnic. We took all the boys to the Olmsted Falls park on Lewis Road. It was really a nice park and the boys enjoyed themselves playing the whole time. We got his teachers cards and flowers to thank them for their hard work. Looking back on his first year, Jill and I have been very happy with his teachers. Together they make an excellent team. They had both learned a lot FROM Liam, and Liam in turn has learned a lot from them. In the beginning of the year one of the teacher’s questioned his diagnosis. This was simply from a lack of knowledge and understanding of how Autism can vary in so many ways. Once she got to know Liam she was able to best help him through the year. Liam developed a bond with her and her assistant. This bond was evident as other teachers and aides did not have easy success with Liam. We look forward to Liam’s school year this fall.
Liam had his Adaptive Aquatics class today that I finally got to attend. I took my camera and took a lot of pictures. I was again amazed at Liam’s performance in the water! He had no fears going underwater, swimming, and floating on his back. His teacher Miss Karen has developed a bond with Liam and you can see that. Liam is very responsive to her. Miss Karen said Liam really seems to be at his best in the water. Jill, her parents, and now myself feel the same way. Seeing how Liam is in the water with her was amazing. While he was in the water he again wanted to go home and was done. I told him he had to finish his swimming, then we could go to Burger King. Miss Karen repeated this to Liam to help refocus him on what he was to be doing. Karen had several tasks Liam had to do with toys in the water. Seeing him perform these tasks was something to see. He was so focused on what he had to do. I have never seen him as focused on one task as he was in the water. Amazing. Lifeworks has a “swim team” of children with different disabilities. Miss Karen thinks as Liam gets older he could be a part of it. We’ll see when the time comes, but right now we are just thrilled with his progress. Grandma and Grandpa McIlwee got to see Liam in the pool today as well. They really glad to finally get to see Liam in the pool. Once his lesson was done Grandma and Grandpa went with us to Burger King. Liam definitely worked up an appetite as he ate 2 orders of chicken fingers and french fries. Once he got home Liam took a nap after his busy day. Finally this evening, Liam’s dosage of risperdal was increased to 2 tablets at night. We will see how he does over the next several days.
posted by Jim McIlwee at
9:57 PM
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