Dyspraxic Journey

Monthly Archive: February 2015

Literally searching for answers

When I am searching the internet for blogs and personal stories, I am looking for one of a few things 1) answers to help diagnose my son, 2) answers to help cure/improve my son’s condition, and 3) stories I can relate to. We all want to not feel alone on this journey. Even though our children are all different, it is always affirming to find other kids and parents with similar experiences. It is encouraging to know others have already traveled down the long, winding path and everything ended up okay OR that others are down in the trenches dealing with the same tough situations we are. We want to read those stories to lift us up and help us get through the next day/week or to have the strength to OWN the next day/week/month. It would be nice to be able to look into the crystal ball and know everything will be okay. I know every parent, regardless of their child’s needs, wishes for this. Instead, we all make the best choices we can given the resources and options we have available to us. And if you are like me, you continue to troll the web looking/searching/hoping the answers are out there waiting for you to stumble upon them.

February 26, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings 0 Read more >

Feeling down

Today I am feeling discouraged. You know when you are having your good days and you feel so positive and that you can help your child and are taking the right steps. And then bam, you feel like you plummeted to the bottom of the well. You question everything and focus more on the negative. You don’t handle things in the best manner and more tears are shed than need be. You feel lost, unsure and sometimes heartbroken. Having a child w/special needs is hard. I understand and know that having kids, period, is hard. The main difference I have seen w/raising my 2 boys is there are tough phases w/neurotypical kids and then bigger periods of reprieve or change or something new. With my older son with special needs, the demands are always there.

I honestly am already feeling the veil being lifted. I don’t know if it is this delicious Thai food I am savoring or the cathartic release from writing. My mind already feels less heavy and foggy. It is probably a little of both.

 

February 25, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings 0 Read more >

Behavior and swim class

CB is 4 years old …

Earlier today during CB’s weekly swim class, he acted mostly like his usual self except he was more impulsive. He didn’t respond very well to his instructors and was trying to play with the other boy in his class. His play was spitting at him, splashing him, and screaming. Fortunately, for CB’s confidence, the other boy responded positively to CB by laughing. Unfortunately, it probably motivated CB to continue with his behavior. CB’s play is still quite limited. He enjoys big movements with loud sounds, getting others to laugh, lining and slowly moving his cars around, watching cartoons & parts of movies, hugging his brother repeatedly and often, reading books, collecting leaves, rocks & nuts, checking out cars, trains, construction trucks, and other big moving machines, reading car magazines, playing with others, hide and seek, tag/chase, looking for monsters, and sleeping w/lots of blankets, stuffed animals, pillows and toys.

We don’t have an official diagnosis for CB except for severe neuro motor planning speech disorder with developmental delay. He also has global motor-planning, sensory-processing, slower processing, auditory and visual issues. He is behind on his language, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and potentially some comprehension delays.

Since he is 4, it is hard to know how much behind he will remain.

Glowing Glances: CB & his younger brother played a game independently outside where they were talking the whole time, working together to achieve a goal, and greatly enjoying their time together without parental guidance. I am not sure what they were creating or building but it involved moving wood from 1 pile to another location.

Lousy Low: Reading through another evaluation that placed CB in the <5% for fine more skills.

Promising Progress: 1) Latest loose stool issue appears to be resolved. Changing CB’s supplements caused him to have loose stools for 3 days. We backed off the supplements and the issue disappeared. We slowly have reintroduced supplements and so far his stools are normal. He is skipping some days. (The extra vitamin C was the culprit) 2) Pooping and some peeing in the potty at school independently and 100% self-initiated. Keep in mind independently does still include help wiping.

February 25, 2015 Growth and Progress, , , 0 Read more >

Our responsibility about posting about our kids

What is our role as parents of children in this technological age, where anything posted on the web can potentially be viewed by anyone at any time? The info may never archive and may remain accessible to our children’s friends, frenemies, teachers, bosses, partners, spouses, co-workers, etc. in 15 years, 20 years, 40 years, and beyond. How do we make decisions now that suite our needs for the time being but do not impede on our children’s privacy? How will my child respond to things I posted about him on Facebook, my blog, or other social media? Or will the laws change and we will be able to remove things so our children’s online account of their childhood can be locked-up and be only accessible to certain people? This is a dilemma I am facing right now. I want to share our story and our journey but I don’t want to feel I am sharing it at my child’s expense.

February 23, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings 0 Read more >