What's been going on
It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog. The biggest reason is now that spring is here life has gotten a lot busier with spring sports. Seamus has started playing baseball and soccer. He has baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday and soccer on Tuesday. Soccer and baseball conflict so I am working with the coaches to change the soccer practice time. What will end up happening is Seamus will practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Many other parents are having the same dilemmas with multiple kids in sports. Liam wasn’t too interested in playing soccer this spring until he saw Seamus’ first game. As it turns out our good friend and neighbor Sean is coaching a team and could use another player. We asked Liam if he wanted to play for Sean and he was more than enthusiastic. Liam will practice on Monday and have a game on Saturday, the same day Seamus has his games. It will be interesting to see how Liam does this session. The fall session he played was a quite a challenge for him, but I think he will do well if he sticks with it.
Outside of all the outdoor activities, Liam continues to have his struggles with anxiety. Everyday continues to be a struggle with him, his tantrums, and anxiety. Now that it is nice out he wants to be outside playing all the time with his buddy Kelly. If she is not around, Liam will go to other children’s houses nearby to play. The biggest struggle that normally leads to anxiety and a tantrum on occasion is when we tell Liam he can not go to someone house for a given reason. Liam has a hard time understanding the reasoning why he can’t go. All he hears is “NO” and his anxiety just takes off. The result is whining, crying, kicking, and that screeching he does. Sometimes we are able to redirect him to something else, but not always. Liam will often have a complete tantrum in which he will lay on the ground kicking, crying, and screaming, when he is not allowed to go somewhere. Liam will be told he is to stay in the yard and he will repeat to us that he has to stay in the yard so we know he understands. We always try and go out with him and watch him for safety’s sake. We still do not have 100% trust that Liam will know to stay out of the street or not chase a ball in the street. He will sometimes be unable to resist leaving the yard and will just go over someone’s house. This is always a challenge for him to stay in our yard. We will continue to work with him in this area. Liam has grown tremendously in the past couple years with staying in his general play area. Liam used to roam without concern anywhere in our neighborhood. One time Liam wandered out our house to a neighbor’s house we did not know and started playing with their dog. The neighbor saw this and went to talk to Liam. Liam then walked in her house, saw her tv and video collection started looking at them. Jill was out calling for him when the neighbor noticed and called Jill over. Another time Liam sneaked out of our house and wandered into the woods behind us. This was extremely dangerous seeing that there is small pond back in the woods. Any child could easily drown in it. Jill searched all over and was panicked. She was about to call the police when she heard some rustling in the woods and through the brush saw Liam’s yellow shirt. We got extremely lucky to have found him! It was after this that we had special locks and an alarm put on our front door to prevent him easily getting out. We even had our playground fenced in for safety sake. Now, the fence isn’t really needed seeing that Liam knows how to unlock it now and so do all the other kids in the neighborhood. Liam has also been very good about staying in areas he knows.
Liam continues to do extremely well at swimming. I hadn’t seen him swim in over a month and I went with him a couple weeks ago. WOW! What an improvement in just one month. When I was last there Liam was just starting to learn free style swimming. Liam was so on coordinated with his arms through the water and his kicking at the same time. I was amazed at how much he improved. You could still see him struggling with his arms rotating and kicking, but he was doing it. He is easily swimming the width of the pool he is in. To help build strength Miss Karen has taken Liam to the Olympic sized pool to have Liam swim that. He has done very well and has used a kickboard to help him make the distance. The biggest problem here is the water is too cold for Liam. It is a struggle to get him in. Once he is done he wants to go right back in the warmer pool or towel off and get dressed. It’s good to see Liam doing so well in swimming.
Liam’s progress in school still isn’t going as well as we would like. We got his progress report and the progress is minimal. Jill and are beginning to question whether or not Liam is getting the education and therapy he needs there. Most of the activities he brings home look like nothing more than the normal school art kids do. Everything Liam does needs to be geared towards his development. The fact this his teachers have not had one day of training on Autistic children is becoming more of an issue. Liam’s teacher has also been asking for his doctor’s reports the past few weeks. It has aroused suspicion with Jill and I at her persistence. Our assumption is that she is questioning Liam’s diagnosis. I will say when Liam is having a good day he is quite charming and comes across as a normal child. At school I think this is how he is most of the time. When he is at school he really works hard and does his best. Jill spoke with a couple other parents and asked if they were asked for their doctor reports and they weren’t. So, I think it’s safe to say that is what she is doing. When she calls next we are going to ask her why she needs the reports so badly. Stay tuned!
Jill also took Liam to see his neurologist recently. She again continues to amaze us at her true concern and care for how Liam is doing. She listens to Jill and makes notes about everything said. This time Jill made special note of how Liam still seems to be having problems with his potty training. He seems to just dampen his underwear. We aren’t sure if it is due to him being under sensitive, or if it is a medical issue. His neurologist made note and was going to contact Liam’s pediatrician to discuss options. Jill also mentioned how we are going to have an evaluation done by Integrations Treatment Center in Mentor. This evaluation will assist us in Liam’s next IEP meeting. It will also give us a better idea of where he is now, and what we can do to help him. We will note here how the evaluation goes. Jill also mentioned how his teacher has been asking for his doctor reports. The neurologist quickly said she has no business asking for them due to HIPAA. With this in mind, Jill and I are going to ask the question when she calls why she wants the report, and cite HIPAA. Liam’s neurologist also said she will write a note to her on our behalf. I was very impressed and pleased when I heard that! To further show how effective and happy Jill and I are with the neurologist, Jill got home at around 4pm. By the time she was home, the neurologist had already spoken to Liam’s pediatrician and have a plan on what they want to do with him. I honestly never expected a doctor to work that fast. It pleases and assures us that the neurologist Liam is seeing is definitely worth it.
Outside of all the outdoor activities, Liam continues to have his struggles with anxiety. Everyday continues to be a struggle with him, his tantrums, and anxiety. Now that it is nice out he wants to be outside playing all the time with his buddy Kelly. If she is not around, Liam will go to other children’s houses nearby to play. The biggest struggle that normally leads to anxiety and a tantrum on occasion is when we tell Liam he can not go to someone house for a given reason. Liam has a hard time understanding the reasoning why he can’t go. All he hears is “NO” and his anxiety just takes off. The result is whining, crying, kicking, and that screeching he does. Sometimes we are able to redirect him to something else, but not always. Liam will often have a complete tantrum in which he will lay on the ground kicking, crying, and screaming, when he is not allowed to go somewhere. Liam will be told he is to stay in the yard and he will repeat to us that he has to stay in the yard so we know he understands. We always try and go out with him and watch him for safety’s sake. We still do not have 100% trust that Liam will know to stay out of the street or not chase a ball in the street. He will sometimes be unable to resist leaving the yard and will just go over someone’s house. This is always a challenge for him to stay in our yard. We will continue to work with him in this area. Liam has grown tremendously in the past couple years with staying in his general play area. Liam used to roam without concern anywhere in our neighborhood. One time Liam wandered out our house to a neighbor’s house we did not know and started playing with their dog. The neighbor saw this and went to talk to Liam. Liam then walked in her house, saw her tv and video collection started looking at them. Jill was out calling for him when the neighbor noticed and called Jill over. Another time Liam sneaked out of our house and wandered into the woods behind us. This was extremely dangerous seeing that there is small pond back in the woods. Any child could easily drown in it. Jill searched all over and was panicked. She was about to call the police when she heard some rustling in the woods and through the brush saw Liam’s yellow shirt. We got extremely lucky to have found him! It was after this that we had special locks and an alarm put on our front door to prevent him easily getting out. We even had our playground fenced in for safety sake. Now, the fence isn’t really needed seeing that Liam knows how to unlock it now and so do all the other kids in the neighborhood. Liam has also been very good about staying in areas he knows.
Liam continues to do extremely well at swimming. I hadn’t seen him swim in over a month and I went with him a couple weeks ago. WOW! What an improvement in just one month. When I was last there Liam was just starting to learn free style swimming. Liam was so on coordinated with his arms through the water and his kicking at the same time. I was amazed at how much he improved. You could still see him struggling with his arms rotating and kicking, but he was doing it. He is easily swimming the width of the pool he is in. To help build strength Miss Karen has taken Liam to the Olympic sized pool to have Liam swim that. He has done very well and has used a kickboard to help him make the distance. The biggest problem here is the water is too cold for Liam. It is a struggle to get him in. Once he is done he wants to go right back in the warmer pool or towel off and get dressed. It’s good to see Liam doing so well in swimming.
Liam’s progress in school still isn’t going as well as we would like. We got his progress report and the progress is minimal. Jill and are beginning to question whether or not Liam is getting the education and therapy he needs there. Most of the activities he brings home look like nothing more than the normal school art kids do. Everything Liam does needs to be geared towards his development. The fact this his teachers have not had one day of training on Autistic children is becoming more of an issue. Liam’s teacher has also been asking for his doctor’s reports the past few weeks. It has aroused suspicion with Jill and I at her persistence. Our assumption is that she is questioning Liam’s diagnosis. I will say when Liam is having a good day he is quite charming and comes across as a normal child. At school I think this is how he is most of the time. When he is at school he really works hard and does his best. Jill spoke with a couple other parents and asked if they were asked for their doctor reports and they weren’t. So, I think it’s safe to say that is what she is doing. When she calls next we are going to ask her why she needs the reports so badly. Stay tuned!
Jill also took Liam to see his neurologist recently. She again continues to amaze us at her true concern and care for how Liam is doing. She listens to Jill and makes notes about everything said. This time Jill made special note of how Liam still seems to be having problems with his potty training. He seems to just dampen his underwear. We aren’t sure if it is due to him being under sensitive, or if it is a medical issue. His neurologist made note and was going to contact Liam’s pediatrician to discuss options. Jill also mentioned how we are going to have an evaluation done by Integrations Treatment Center in Mentor. This evaluation will assist us in Liam’s next IEP meeting. It will also give us a better idea of where he is now, and what we can do to help him. We will note here how the evaluation goes. Jill also mentioned how his teacher has been asking for his doctor reports. The neurologist quickly said she has no business asking for them due to HIPAA. With this in mind, Jill and I are going to ask the question when she calls why she wants the report, and cite HIPAA. Liam’s neurologist also said she will write a note to her on our behalf. I was very impressed and pleased when I heard that! To further show how effective and happy Jill and I are with the neurologist, Jill got home at around 4pm. By the time she was home, the neurologist had already spoken to Liam’s pediatrician and have a plan on what they want to do with him. I honestly never expected a doctor to work that fast. It pleases and assures us that the neurologist Liam is seeing is definitely worth it.
posted by Jim McIlwee at
7:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home