Mid October to Beginning of November Progress is by far the BIGGEST jump Brendan has even taken!!! 29/30 months old

     

     I don't even know where to start! This past month has been my craziest month to date! So much has happened. So bare with me this might be a long post. Back in April Brendan's occupational therapist requested for him to get a special needs stroller. He is labeled as a "flight risk" which is why I have to take the stroller everywhere! A special needs stroller will hold a child up to 100lbs. They actually did measurements on him and custom made him his stroller. It took 6 months but he got his new ride and he loves it! He actually doesn't want to get out of it thats how much he loves it!! The best part is it doesn't really look like a special needs stroller. They had told us that the Brendan's state insurance will more than likely pay for it but they have to go through our private insurance first. They told me most private insurances will never pay for it. My answer was, "well our insurance doesn't pay for anything related to autism, so I am sure they will deny it." Well low and behold my insurance won't cover any therapy but they decide to cover a $2,000 stroller. Really??? This makes absolutely no sense to me. Insurance company's really love to make my blood boil!

    Brendan's speech and occupational therapist had the opportunity to attend a feeding conference which they were excited about because they were hoping to get some tips and ideas that might help  Brendan. Brendan is only eating 3 different meals. He eats the same breakfast and lunch every single day and then for dinner he only has 2 different things I rotate. He has also started to gage in his mouth when I get to close to him when I am chewing. It is actually the weirdest thing ever. I am not making him touch it, eat it or anything just the thought of me chewing close to him makes him throwing up in his mouth. He has such bad sensory issues that he won't go near any food that is soft, chewy, cold, sticky liquid or mushy. For example he will only eat a banana if I am holding it for him, it has to be in the peal. If it breaks and I still hold it for him he will not eat it because it is out of the peel. While his therapist were at the conference they were given the opportunity to discuss Brendan's case with the experts. They offered to do a private therapy session with Brendan and his therapist while they were in town. Of course I was 100% on board with that!! So we went to the one on one session and Brendan's speech, occupational and developmental specialist therapists all came. Which was so cool because they all rearranged their schedules to be there for us. The 45 minute session was extremely informative and emotionally draining. They put Brendan in what I called a straight jacket looking chair. He couldn't move in it. The reason behind it is because they wanted to be in full control. He was not allowed to touch the food or feed himself. They had me bring the food he normally eats and they fed him tiny little pieces while rotating each of the food. Well Brendan HATES when anyone comes close to his face with your hands. Needless to say he kicked and screamed gave me the look of mom please help me. It was heartbreaking to watch. I do understand how it will and does work but it is so hard to watch your child have to go through that. We got in the car after the 45 minute session and I looked back at Brendan in his carseat and he looked like he had just had 10 shots and blood work done. Poor kid looked so drained. The problem was it was only 8:45 in the morning and he had a full day of therapy starting with the minute he got home. His developmental specialist therapist is the one who is doing the feeding therapy with him at the house. Well we have done it twice now and lets just say each time has gotten worse if it can get any worse. He gets so upset that last week when we did it he basically shut down and wouldn't do therapy the rest of the day, he wouldn't take a nap or even eat anything he was just a mess. I don't know how I am going to continue with this. But you all know me if I feel this is just making things worse then I am going to have to stop it.

          Next we had the Autism Speaks Walk!! The love and support we had for this event is something that gives me the strength to get through each day!! We had such a big Team walking for Brendan! You all made the walk so special for us! We raised $3,500 for TEAM BRENDAN!!!! Also a big thank you to the company my mom works for IES who brought there own team in support of Team Brendan and they raised $1,450 of our $3,500! She works for such an amazing company. They get involved in so many local charity's. I had Team Brendan backpacks made for everyone who walked this year. It worked out great because the bright yellow made it so easy to find everyone during the walk. After the walk we all went to the railroad park where we could just have lunch and say thank you to everyone. I had a crafting table for the kids where they were able to make and design their own Autism charm bracelets. The adults had corn hole to play and then the kids were able to ride the train and carousal. We also got to look at the most beautiful Autism cake you have ever seen. My girlfriend has a friend who was so sweet and donated the cake to our walk lunch. When I arrived and the saw the cake my mouth just dropped to the floor!! It was HUGE and GORGEOUS. Thank you to Juanita for donating the cake! You can find her business on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cakemojo or you can reach her at cakemojo@gmail.com. I know you all hear me talk about Dr Gentry Brendan's developmental doctor well him and his family came to our picnic. Who else has a doctor that does that! I am so lucky to have such an amazing team for Brendan. Thank you, thank you to everyone who came to enjoy such a special moment in spreading Autism Awareness!

 Dr. Gentry

    Then came Halloween. I was actually slightly dreading Halloween because in my head I pictured Brendan having a meltdown putting his costume on, wanting to run down the middle of the street, and freaking out because he wanted to go in every house. Well he was actually a complete angel! He started to freak just a little bit when we put his costume on but once we got him in the wagon and got him moving he was all good. We had worked on saying "Trick or Treat" for a day or so before Halloween. Which by the way when he said trick to treat for the first time I was so shocked. He has never really tried to put 2 words together so that was a HUGE moment for me as a mom!!! We went headed out to get candy that Brendan couldn't have but he actually really didn't care, thank goodness! I rolled up to every house with the wagon and had him say Trick or Treat and he said it at every single house. It was a moment that I could of only dreamt of. You would have thought he was a typical kid. The best part was when we would turn around after receiving the candy everyone would read the back of his cape and the sweet words, "ahh his cape is so awesome" was actually the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders. The fact that everyone knew he had autism actually gave me such a sense of freedom. It is actually hard to explain but when we go to places nobody has an clue that Brendan has special needs. Because autism isn't something that you can see by just looking at a child. It isn't always a visible disability which for me makes me super stressed out. I know you are all reading this going why would she think this, and again it is something that is just hard to explain. I know any other autism parent reading this can understand. I recently read a blog from a friend who has a child who was born with a cleft lip. She was saying that a grocery store employee asked if her son had a boo-boo on his lip and when she realized what she was talking about was his cleft lip it broke her heart and wondered if everyone would look at his lip and think that. I actually sat and read her blog and almost wished that people could see some sign of autism on Brendan because then it would just be known and he can be different without people thinking he is weird or I am a bad parent because I can't control my kid, or understand why he isn't doing things kids his age normally do. You can disagree with me and think I am crazy but that is how I feel!

Brendan saying, "Trick or Treat"

           The last 2 days Brendan has been starting to TALK. It is so amazing, he will attempt to repeat almost everything you say. When I mean everything I mean even if you sniff or clear your throat he will copy you. We will have to work on that not happening! He will look at his books and in his own version count, say his abc's. I can understand him but most of you won't. But the best part is I taught him how to say, "I LOVE YOU", can you say water works, Yup I cried the biggest happy tears ever!! All of the hard work is showing!  I couldn't be any happier than I am right now!!

Brendan saying, "I love you momma"

Brendan saying, "my name is Brendan"

          Today we had to take Brendan to down to the school district pre school where we had to have what they call a Transitional Meeting. He will be eligible to start school when he turns 3. But of course it is a process. He has to go through a bunch of testing and meetings which is why we are starting now. As they sat there today and explained what school will be like for him I couldn't help but get chocked up. It is so scary to think he will go to school, I have the option to have him not start at 3 years old but we will make that decision as we continue to do our own research and get a feeling of what we think will be the best move for Brendan.
     I am sorry this post was so long but I just haven't had a second to write so I will try my best to post more!