Wednesday, February 28, 2007

We get by with a little help for our friends

Club Kangaroo continues to roll along, with each Sunday bringing new teaching and learning experiences for all of us. It is so uplifting and satisfying to watch our younger helpers (5/6th grade) take on the responsibility of assisting kids with special needs. As the weeks go by, the confidence grows in each of these helpers as does their love for "their" kids. However, it only starts there. The club kids themselves, especially those on the spectrum, have all shown "improvement" in the classrooms and in their interactions with their buddies. The parents are more at ease because they can go into service and not worry about their child; further, when they pick up their child, they aren't hearing the "negative". Of course there are tough times, but when we step back and look at it as a whole, it is so exciting!

So, since things are going well, it's time to take the next big step - it's time for outreach. We could come up with 100 excuses, but it's time to actively invite the community around our church to enjoy the benefits of Club Kangaroo. We've already seen parents come who had previously not gone to church because they didn't believe there was a place for their child. How wonderful it would be to meet more families like this and really give them a place of respite each week.

Speaking of respite, we work with Green Pastures who brings churches in the area together who are serving those with disabilities/special needs. We had a great meeting last night in which several churches shared how their ministries are growing, how the kids are doing, how the helpers doing, and so on. And of course, we all shared our ever-present need for more volunteers. We also heard from Joni and Friends about their family summer camps; if you need to get away with the whole family, check it out!

Green Pastures hosts a respite event each month at a local church - here are the next few:
March 10, 1-5, at First Baptist in San Mateo

April 14 at Grace Lutheran in Palo Alto
May 5 at Saratoga Federated in Saratoga
June 2 at Los Altos United Methodist

If you live in the South Bay and would like an afternoon of respite, please feel free to email me, or contact Green Pastures to reserve a spot.

Also, if you are in the South Bay and would like to go to church - your child is welcome! Please feel free to come to Bethel Church in San Jose. Here are some of the other churches in the area with similar ministries (that we know about):
Great Exchange Covenant Church (Santa Clara, CA)
Saratoga Federated (Saratoga, CA)
Crosswinds Church (Dublin, CA)
Calvary Church (Los Gatos, CA)
Abundant Life Christian Fellowship (Mountain View, CA)

Fascinating history of mercury

The latest in Dan Olmsted's fascinating series of articles on autism...

Mercury Rising
A Possible Link Between Chemical Exposure And Autism May Have Been Overlooked In The Very

Earliest Cases At Johns Hopkins

Regardless of your take on the role of mercury on our population, this is worth reading just for the historical aspect of both autism research and agriculture.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Big words

The announcement brought tears to our speech therapist's eyes as she gasped "That was our goal!" For 5+ years now, it's been our dream, way beyond a goal, to hear Grant call us Mommy and Daddy. Truly, it is a selfish dream. It has almost everything to do with hearing our son say our names. But, aside from that, it's a huge step in his path towards real communication.

Yesterday, that dream came true.

For about the past 7 months, he has been able to name us when shown a picture, or when pointing to ourselves. For the past few months, he's been saying Daddy in reference to the games we play, such as "Throw me, Daddy" and "Go, Daddy".

Yesterday, it was different.

As we were both leaving for work in the morning, we both arrived at the same time to say goodbye to him (the kids are on break this week).

"Goodbye, Grant", said Staci.

"Bye... Mommy", returned Grant.

"Goodbye, Grant", I said.

"Bye... Daddy", returned Grant.

No prompting, no pointing, no labelling. Just words - delivered the way he wanted to say them, and just the way we wanted to hear them.

Pinch me.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Throw Me, Daddy

Grant and I made up this game "Throw me, Daddy" a couple of months ago. He loves to be thrown, tossed, twirled - all that fun stuff. One day, he pulled me over to his bed and somehow got the point across that he wanted me to pick him up and throw him on the bed. Over time, we've learned that once we have a new activity that's "motivating", we need to require him to use words to request it. So, every time he wanted to be thrown, he had to say "Throw me, Daddy". I used some hand/arm motions so that he would understand, especially the word "throw". He picked up on it pretty quick, although he needed to be reminded to say it about 70% of the time.

We played every few days and the words continued to be hit and miss, although he definitely understood the words.

However, yesterday, after not playing the game for a couple of weeks, he pulled me to his bed and immediately said, "Throw me, Daddy" complete with the original hand motions. No prompting, just words.

Needless to say, Grant flew a little higher and farther after that.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

A hint of spring

Well, more than a hint. Today was simply beautiful here in our little California town - 80 degrees, sunny, and wet. Wet? Well, at 80 degrees it was time to jump in the pool! Days like today are the reason so many people want to live here. Of course it will be back in the 60s tomorrow and it will rain this week, but let's not think about that today.

Today was even better for other reasons. Grant had a great day today as well.

The last 3-4 weeks have been a bit puzzling as he seemed to hit a plateau after such improvement since starting chelation and the diet. It started with breakfast... he's usually stuck with one of two choices - either wheat squares or homemade pancakes. He generally loves the pancakes but we've been out for about a week, so it's been the cereal all week. Of course, it would be great to have some choices for cereal, but we haven't found anything else with no sugar, no oats, no corn, no soy, no dairy, no...

So this morning he said 'bo' (bowl) and got out the cereal. Whoops! He grabbed his siblings' cereal which he can't eat. He really seems to understand now when we tell him why he can't eat something. He put it back and pulled out his cereal, which he's really tired of eating. He poured it and got out the milk. Whoops! He got his siblings' milk which he can't have. Another explanation - he put it back and got his rice milk. He opened and poured, not a drop spilled. He got out the rice syrup and poured a little on for a sweetener. And he ate, and ate, all with his spoon, until he was all done. It wasn't just the eating, it was the independence and the focus.

As the day went on, it was his communication which stood out. It's still surprising to see and hear him trying to talk all on his own - using words (at least some of the time) as the first point of communication, before pointing, before pulling us silently to something. Sometimes we understand him, sometimes we don't. It's always a challenge to try and decipher a new word - is he missing the beginning the word, the end, the middle? But the important part is that he's trying.

Of course, communication is only communication if it goes both ways. Today, it was. "Grant, go put on your swimsuit." "Grant, turn off the TV." "Grant, it's time for lunch." He was listening and responding today.

Warm weather. Swimming. Talking. Listening. Focus. Can't beat this Saturday!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

13 percent

The headline caught my attention - 13% of kids in Oregon are in special ed. Whoa! What's up in Oregon? The first thing I thought was "how could it be so high?" I mean, the California average is probably 5% and the national average is maybe 3-4%. What's up in Oregon? Well, a lot of California transplants, that's for sure.

And then the article ends with this kicker - 12% of kids nationally are in special ed. First, the headline about 13% meant nothing, what appeared to be completely abnormal was right in line with the average. But 12% nationally? That seems huge to me, am I way off? Even w/ the 1 in 150 autism numbers, that barely makes a noticeable dent. I'm interested to find out how the other numbers play out, I'd imagine a big % is speech, hearing, or vision as opposed to learning disabilities.

However, 12% strikes me in another way. This number is yet another reminder that a great number of that 12% is invisible. We don't see them (even those of us with the 12% living in our homes). These kids aren't at the parks, they are not on the ball teams, they aren't, as much as I hate to admit it, in our churches. This notion of invisible kids has been with me since I first attended a fund raiser for the Capernaum Project in San Jose. This ministry started in San Jose but has since grown world-wide and is dedicated to bringing fun, friendships, and love to these kids. They are truly inspiring.

Maybe, someday, after many others take on the same focus, the 12% will no longer be invisible and it will no longer be such a shock that 12% of our kids are in special ed. We can dream...