This blog explains how Brendan was diagnosed with autism at 13 months and it will also follows his day to day experiences. His journey will explain how and why getting early intervention works. He will go from being non verbal to verbal to not needing any more therapy. He will define the odds and prove that getting diagnosed with autism at such a young age helped him live life like a normal kid. As a parent always listen to your gut!
I got a call yesterday from the state saying that all the speech and occupational hours that I have been fighting for the last 8 months has finally been approved. It is only approved for the next 90 days but that is ok it is a start. Thank you to my new team from UCP(united cerebral palsy) who helped get him the services he needs! I am pretty sure with all complaints that I have filed against my past team and the crazy emails I send weekly they are finally just giving into me. lol But it is what he deserves. I might be one crazy autism mom but I will never give up fighting for my kids. Never give up!!!!!!
April is Autism Awareness month and I am honored to have so many family and friends who have helped spread awareness. We celebrated World Autism Day Light it up Blue on April 2nd. It was so fun to see everyone wearing their blue and team Brendan shirts. On April 6th we participated in Autism Society of Greater Phoenix Bowling Event. Team Brendan had about 50 people bowling! It was such a fun event. We had 3 different families on our team that won Lego Land tickets, gift baskets, Opera tickets, Suns tickets and more. We also had the Fountain Hills fire fighters who played for Team Brendan. We now have our 2 fundraisers a year that will be participating in the Autism Speaks Walk in October and Bowling in April. Thank you to everyone who donated money and supported us. We do this to spread awareness and educate people on Autism. I had my best friend who has 5 kids tell me that she loves how we embrace and educate everyone on Brendan's journey with autism. She said because of what we are doing her kids now know and accept people with autism and can tell others about it. Those words mean so much to me. That is why we are doing this.
Brendan has had a rocky couple of weeks. He has had some good days and some bad. He has been having a lot of sensory issues which reflects his learning. He wants to swing outside all day. The movement of the swing really calms him. He also has been hanging out in his very small tight spots. He seeks that pressure and loves to be smushed. He has also gotten SUPER attached to me. Which don't get me wrong I love but it has gotten pretty bad. He won't let Brian or his therapist do things for him, he only wants me. If he wants a snack and someone tries to give it to him he will go grab it out of their hands put it in my hands and then only take it if it comes from me. If I try and give it back to the other person he will have a complete melt down. It is making my life even more difficult then it already is because I have people that want to help but they can't because Brendan won't let them. So we are working on trying to find a solution to this. His language is slowly progressing. His favorite word is "momma". But he uses "momma for everything and anything. He still doesn't understand that I am mom. But he will someday. We are only 2.5 weeks away from Brendan's 2nd birthday. I have been getting very emotional about it for some reason. This year has been filled with so many ups and downs but most of all it has been filled with love!
