2 year Anniversary of Brendan's Autism Diagnoses-Brendan 3 years old

     

       Here we are 2 years into this crazy journey called Autism. As I sit here and go through all the videos of Brendan's progress this pass year I get so emotional! He has made so much progress it is just absolutely unbelievable! He has worked so hard along with Brendan's amazing team of therapist. Everyone has played such a big part in his progress. Thank you to everyone who has continued to give our family support. Your support is what keeps us going! We love you all.

Brendan turns 3 years old - May 2nd, 2015

     
      Today is May 2nd and my beautiful baby boy turns 3 years old. I have been actually hoping this day didn't come because it is so bitter sweet for me. All week I have been reflecting on this past year. I sat down and read some old blog posts I wrote from last year and I really can't believe how fast this year flew by. Brendan doesn't look like a baby anymore. He looks so grown up and so BIG! Yes he is tall and just so solid for his age which I think makes him look older. I am having a hard time carrying him around especially when I have to carry him up our stairs, lol.
              Most parents when their kids have a birthday they might get a little emotional knowing their getting older as I do when Haley has a birthday. But for me having a child with autism makes turning a year older extremely depressing. Any autism mom that reads this will understand and relate. For me Brendan turning 3 means he is expected to have so much more developmental growth. Which on paper or when he gets tested so many more skills are add that he can't do. So it is just an age but its more than just an age for me. When people would ask me how old he was I always say just 2. I never said 2.5 or almost 3 because then more questions could or would come. At 2 years old I felt like it was a nice safe zone. The only really thing was people would say is he talking or when we are at the store people would ask him his name. But it was easy to kind of take the conversation a different direction. But already I encounter what I know is going to happen all the time. I recently ran into two moms that we used to go to Gymboree with. Its been almost a year since we saw them and the first things they ask and talk about is what preschool is he going into this fall? How is potty training going? So I just came right out and said well, "Brendan has autism so we are holding him back a year so he will not start school until next year. And potty training isn't even on my radar. And btw he is sitting in a highchair watching his iPad here at Peter Piper Pizza because he hates crowds and loud places so this is the only thing that keeps him somewhat calm." You all know me I am 100% open about Brendan having autism and I will everyone if I could. But it isn't that in these situations it is more of having to be reminded that your child is far behind and different. Man it makes me cry just writing about it. This is a pain that will never go away or ever get easier. Every year on my kids birthday I write a letter to them so here is my letter to Brendan!

 Dear Brendan,
      How is it that you are already 3 years old. It feels like yesterday when I was planning your 2nd birthday. Just a minute ago we were celebrating you waiving, clapping, saying momma and learning to jump.  You are 100% FEARLESS. I knew I would regret you learning to jump. You jump and climb from anything and everything. We have had to bolt every single piece of furniture to the walls to keep you safe. You have never had a day where you didn't have 10 plus bruises on your little body from all your stunts around the house. You have definitely learned how to push all the boundaries. But this is part of your personality that has developed the most in the past year and I want to embrace it but I also want to keep you safe.
      But the thing you love the most is just getting to be a kid and explore. You love numbers and letters so much. You know how to count backwards which almost made me fall out of my chair when I heard you. When we go to target or the grocery store your favorite thing is to look around and find and say every letter or number you see. It puts a big smile on your face. You love playing with legos, airplanes, cars and trains. You have also finally learned to like your strider bike. You love going in the front yard and riding around following your sister around the court. You love to watch strange youtube videos of kids or cartoons speaking in other languages. I swear you know what they are all saying. It is pretty fun to watch you interact with all of your videos you watch.
     The best part for me this year was you getting and learning how to use your communicative device. It allows you to use your voice. Your voice may not actually be heard or say anything but you are able to use your device as your voice. However along with your device you have learned what the word "no" is. So if you don't want to do something you either say "no" or "all done". I think the device is starting to allow you to be more independent. Just the other day you wanted to stand in the bathroom and brush your own teeth. I stood there and cried watching you. Moments like this are so precious because you have worked so hard to understand everyday things we do.
       The biggest change you have made this year is your social skills! OMG it is so amazing how you will come and greet everyone who walks in our house. You say :"hi" and wave and look at them in the eye!! You are wanting to play side by side with other kids, you are learning to share so good. But also your pretend play is just incredible. You are playing appropriate with almost every toy. I watched you take a baby doll and try and swaddle her in a blanket and then hold her cradled in your arms, Once again tears flowed down my face.
     The thing about you that hasn't changed is your excitement over everyday things. You have a laugh that is contagious a smile that warms my heart and just a pure joy about life. I sit and watch you everyday and see what an incredible smart and fun little boy you are. If everyone could be half has happy as you, the world would be a better place.
        No matter how hard the week was, or how hard the year's been for us, you always put a smile on my face. You and Haley are the reason I can get through the tough times. You both are my motivation for everything. I'm grateful everyday of my life for this amazing, perfect little boy we created. Thank you for pushing me to be the best mom I can for you! You have touched so many lives and when you are older I can't wait to share all the stories of other families that you have allowed us to help.

Happy 3rd Birthday Monster!
We love you so much!

Love,
Mom

        

The signs of how I knew my Son had Autism before the age of 10 months old

  The one question I get asked all the time is how did I know that my son had autism at such an early age. I know I have shared in my first original blog post our experience of when Brendan first got his diagnosis but I just want to give a more detailed post of all the early signs when I knew something just wasn't right.
     The very first week of life when Brendan came home from the hospital he had what I thought was colic. He seemed to always just cry and not much would sooth him. During the first couple weeks he was extremely constipated because he went almost 2 weeks without a bowel movement. I tried the grape juice, prune juice gas drops nothing was working. We then we tried the dark Karo syrup in each of his bottles. That definitely seemed to work to get things moving. But he still seemed extremely uncomfortable and still had the colic. I was extremely concerned with the amount of Karo syrup I had to put in each bottle for him to have a bowel movement. This stuff was just pure sugar. A couple months have gone by and the Karo syrup was starting to not work anyone. We then proceed to try every single kind of formula that we could buy. That seemed to just make things worse for him. Some of the formulas like the soy based definitely made him extremely sick. Other formulas would give him horrible diarrhea. Then he started to get these horrible body rashes, so then we were referred to a gastroenterologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Brendan was now almost 5 months old. As sick as he was the first couple months he still some how was gaining weight. His doctors honestly couldn't even believe his size considering he couldn't tolerate any of the formulas. His GI doctor had decided to put him on a prescription formula called Neocate. It was free of the seven major food groups, soy, dairy, eggs, gluten, peanuts, shellfish, and wheat. Well that was a game changer for us. Brendan finally seemed to be colic free and just seemed to be a happier baby without any reactions. The first couple months of his life just seemed like one big blur to me. But now he was 5 months and we finally had a formula that agreed with his body.

        I could now function and enjoy my baby because he wasn't always crying. But then he faced another medical issue. He was born with a pretty awkward shaped head so at 5.5 months he was fitted for a helmet to reshape his head and to help his torticollis that he was diagnosed with. So we now were trying to adjust to wearing a helmet for 22 hours a day. He actual did very well adjusting to the helmet. He ended up needing a second helmet because it wasn't corrected with just the one. So he wore both helmets for a total of 6 months from 6-12 months.

     If so far he hadn't overcome enough hurdles he was faced with another medical issue. When he was born he had what was called a Chordee. This was a congenital condition resulting from abnormal development of the penis. We found this out shortly after birth, but they didn't want to do the surgery until he was 6 months old. So at 7 months old he went in for surgery and had the chordee repair done. The surgery took about 3 hours and within 2 weeks or so he was healed and back to normal.
    During all this time he had started to fall behind in his milestones. My first thoughts were well his helmet was holding him back from sitting up, rolling over and other milestones that he should have reached by 6-7 months old. So I just started to pay really close attention to him. As a couple months passed I started to notice a lot more "Strange" characteristics. I started to take notes and write down anything that I thought was not really normal for babies to do. I had decided to not even tell my husband about any of the concerns I started to have. I also started to video him on top of taking notes because I thought when I do tell my husband I can show him video of the things I was talking about. By the time Brendan was 9 months old my list of concerns had seemed to become significantly large. Here are just a few of them:
-never makes eye contact with anybody
-always rotates hands and feet
-doesn't talk or babble just makes moaning sounds
-does not respond to his name
-will not self feed
-rejects all foods solid or pureed
-doesn't clap or wave
-isn"t crawling
-will not cuddle or let you hold him
-always tenses his legs and arms
-hates when his hands & fingers are touched
(please see photo below of my full list)

     I had started to google some of the concerns on my list and "autism" seemed to keep coming up. I had come across a self assessment test that I could take that would tell you if your child was on the spectrum. I took the test and my results told me that my child was on the severe end of the autism spectrum. I honestly couldn't even believe what I was reading. I kept thinking he is to young and there is no way he has autism at 9 months old. I continued to google and research everything about autism. I was reading that a lot of kids with autism have GI gut issues just like Brendan was having. Also his head and penis issues started to make me think that those also played a part in the autism clue's. Those things just weren't developed all the way along with his gut not being fully developed.  So many things started to make sense. Well my nightmare started to seem like more of a reality. It was time I told my husband. I was so scared to tell him because I thought he is going to be mad that I have kept this to myself for the last couple months. I sat my husband down and showed him the videos I had taken and then showed him my list of concerns. He was pretty quite and didn't say much other than lets not jump to conclusions or assume anything. He suggested that we make an appointment with his pediatrician and discuss our concerns with her. Over the next couple days my husband started to pay more attention to Brendan and watched him closely. He came to me and was extremely upset because he couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed these things like I did and now he was seeing all the concerns I was talking about after our talk. My husband works two jobs to support us so honestly there is no way he would have seen the things I was seeing.

     The following week we went to see his pediatrician. As we were headed to her office I had told my husband that if she thinks I am just a crazy over protected parent then we were going somewhere else for a second opinion. We sat down with his pediatrician and showed her the videos and went over the list I had made of my concerns. Brendan wasn't having a very good day but I guess that was a good thing so she could see him this way. Well once again my nightmare was becoming a reality. She told us that she definitely thought he was showing a lot of signs of having autism. She then referred us to a developmental pediatrician because they are the ones that can give the diagnoses.

     We were referred to the Melmed Center but unfortunately there was a 6 month wait list to see any doctor there. But they told us because Brendan was only 9 months old that they would move us to the front of the wait list and when they would get a cancellation they would call us first. Just a couple weeks later on March 12th 2013 at noon I got the call saying they had a cancellation at 1:30 that day. Of course I said we will be there. My anxiety and nerves started taking over. I was so scared because I knew my life was about to change. We meet with the doctor and did a lot of just answering questions that she asked us. After we did that she did an evaluation on Brendan. She also agreed that Brendan was showing all the signs of having autism. So because he was only 10 months old his doctor wanted to give him the "at risk of autism diagnosis". She wanted us to start him in therapy right away for the next 3 months. Over the next 3 months Brendan received speech, occupational therapy, feeding therapy and physical therapy. Well unfortunately he seemed to be getting worse and not better. We went back to the Melmed Center for our 3 month check up. Brendan was now 13 months old and his doctor now felt comfortable with giving him "Autism Spectrum Disorder" diagnosis. Even though I knew this was coming hearing those words coming out of your doctors mouth was absolutly the worst feeling I have ever gone through so far in my life. There really isn't any words to explain the feeling I felt at that moment. But what I did know is that I was going to do everything I could to make sure my son was getting all the help he could get. From that moment I have been his voice and I have had to do so much fighting but he is now almost 3 years old and he has been getting 46 hours of therapy a week for almost the last 2 years. He has made such incredible progress but he still has a long road ahead of him. The best advice I can give any parent is always listen to your gut and be the loudest voice for your child! Happy Autism Awareness month! 

New Year, New Challenges & New Accomplishments (January 2015 update, Brendan 2.8 years old)

       
         I have attempted to sit down to write his January blog about 15 different times but somehow I never seem to start it. My life has always been busy since Brendan's diagnosed but somehow the last 2 months life has seemed to have gotten even busier. I get asked the question all the time from family and friends of how I can manage to do it all and usually my answer is, " I just get it done." But lately I feel like my head is just barely above water. So I apologize for being so behind in my blog updates.

       I don't even know where to start because I have so much to catch you all up on. Right before Christmas Brendan received his communication device which is an iPad mini. This has an app on it that allows him to tells us what he wants. It basically talks for him. As you all know he uses PECS(picture card system to communicate) so this is basically is his PECS cards now uploaded on to this device. This is an actual iPad mini and eventually he will be able to use it to play his games and youtube videos but right now he doesn't even know that it has the ability to do that. We are trying to transition him to this device. It has been an adjustment for me as well. I am still learning how it all works. This device is actually going to get him to use more language and hopefully someday we will not need it. My dream is someday he will talk! The state actually purchased the iPad mini and also purchased this very expensive Touch App for Brendan!

      Brendan has a huge love for Mickey Mouse and even bigger love for Minnie Mouse. I had seen that Disney on Ice was coming to town and I really wanted to take the kids to see it. But as it has been for so many other events that I have wanted to go to, I think to myself there is no way Brendan can go. He isn't able to sit on my lap. He doesn't even let me hold him, he is what we call a "flight risk" he runs and runs and runs and doesn't care who or what is in his way. But this time I thought I am going to see if there is any possible way I could make this happen to take the kids. I called US Airways arena and asked for the special needs/handicap supervisor. I explained my situation to her, I wanted to be able to keep Brendan in his stroller as if that would be the only way we could enjoy the show. However I was afraid that where the handicap sections were that there would be the bars in front of them and since his stroller is much lower than a wheelchair I just didn't think it would work. She was so sweet to me and talked me through all my options and was willing to help in anyway she could. She offered for us to come down to the arena with his stroller to test all the sections out. I thought perfect that is what we will do. Well she called me back about an hour later and said that they actually had front row seating as an handicap option. I was so excited because I knew if anything Haley would be so excited! So that is what I eneded up buying for us to go as a family and enjoy the show.  I picked a Friday morning show knowing that it would be less crowded and more than likely a lot of younger kids. I knew there was a chance that Brendan wouldn't be able to handle the show. So we took Haley out of school, Brian took the day off work and off we went to the show. We got personally escorted down to our seats through all the secret behind the scenes hallways. Haley was in heaven. We got their with just a couples minutes to spare. The show starts and with in 5 seconds Brendan starts crying. Lately he has been showing so much sensitivity to crowds, noise and lights. I try to calm him down but nothing was working. I get up and take his stroller into the tunnel area where the Suns players come out of. Thank you to all the staff who allowed us to stay back under the tunnel. As long as he was under the tunnel he was ok. He could see a little but not much. I sat on the concrete floor in front of him to make sure he stayed calm. Brian stayed in the seats with Haley so she could enjoy the show. The intermission came so I thought I would try this again. I went back to the seats while the lights were on but he then started to cry so back I went to sit on the freezing cold floor. lol. About 10 minutes into the second half I look over at him and he is completely sleeping! How he fell asleep with all noise is so crazy to me! Thank you to US Airways for helping us make memories with my kids. They were so great and easy to work with!

 This was our view from the tunnel!

       The following week Brendan needed to go down to the school district to get an evaluation. This was needed because he is in the state early intervention program, they require it gets done before they turn 3 years old. At 3 we have the option to put him into a developmental preschool with the public school system. However I had no intensions in putting him into school yet. We are actually applying for what is called an ESA(Empowerment Scholarship), which is a scholarship provided by the state for you to use toward any kind of private school. Your child has to have an IEP or an MET with the public school system in order for you to qualify. If you choose this scholarship then your child will not be able to attend public school only a private school. It can also be used for home schooling and some Aba therapy. This is what we are choosing to do for Brendan. We don't plan on enrolling him into school for at least another year. He is getting all there therapy he needs at home so there is no need to start school. So I needed the public school to evaluate him because that is what I had to turn in for my scholarship application. The evaluation lasted 3 hours and was super nerve racking. The part that was hard is that I had to keep quite about the scholarship he was applying for because the school system could of really messed everything up for me. So this was all super stressful for me. The evaluation report came back Preschool Severe Delayed and Speech Impairment. This was actually the worst diagnosis you could get at his age in the school district. The school district doesn't give your child an autism diagnoses until the age of 5. Which I know is stupid but that is the way the system is. Even though a developmental doctor has given him the diagnoses it is not accepted in the school district. But I got all the paperwork I needed for the scholarship so fingers crossed it all gets accepted.

      Just last week we had the pleasure of having Aaron Blocher-Rubin the CEO of AZA United which is where Brendan gets his 40 hours of habitation therapy with come and visit us at the house. He came during one of our monthly HAB M meetings. He wanted to video tape Brendan and observe him. I was excited for him to come and see how great he was doing. Well that morning Brendan was in kind of a funky mood. So I was keeping my fingers crossed that he would do good. Well that didn't happen. Brendan was a complete NIGHTMARE!!!! He had so many big melt downs while he was here and he just didn't want to do anything for us. So I was of course totally embarrassed. I know this wasn't the first time he has experienced this but still not something you want to happen to you. So the visit was a big disappointment.

     Overall Brendan is doing pretty good. We have encountered lots of new issues lately but this is all what being a parent to a child with autism is about. He continues to show improvements in other areas so that is all I can ask for. Brendan has such an amazing team of therapist. I am so lucky to have each and everyone of them! They invest so much time into him and they are always researching and thinking of ways to help him even on their own time.

     We are also lucky enough to have Brendan's story featured in North Phoenix Family Magazine in their February issue. They asked us to share his story and resources to help spread awareness to other families. This is my passion, I want other parents to get educated and know that they can get a diagnoses early! Thank you for letting us share our story. Here is the link to see our story http://northphoenixfamily.com

Beginning of December 2014 update and Results of The Adaptive Behavior Test (Brendan 2.7 years old)

       December is here and it is already flying by so fast. Brendan absolutely loves Christmas. He loves to watch any show that is a Christmas episode. His favorite of course is Mickey's Twice Upon Christmas Movie. We have watched it for the last month more times than I would like to share. He is really enjoying looking at the christmas lights everywhere. We have gone to the Mormon Temple and enjoyed the light display as well as the McCormick Ranch Train park. The train park had a special night just for special needs kids. It was really such a treat. They had so many volunteer out with tables that you could decorate cookies, do holiday crafts and visit with Santa. The best part was it was all free. As a mom these events make my life so much easier. Brendan was having a complete anxiety meltdown when I was trying to get him to ride the train. But that is why we enjoy these nights because everyone around understands what you are going through. We also went to visit Santa Claus yesterday and Brendan was not a big fan. Santa didn't seem thrilled with the screaming kid I was about to put on his lap! But everyone survived and it could have always been worse!

     Brendan is continuing to make some great progress. He is doing a lot of vocal imatation which is great. Our goal is to try and get him to do more vocal requesting on his own. He won't talk or say a word without someone prompting the word first. He will use his PECS cards and request things all day long but getting him to vocalize is what we are really trying to work on,
      We had our 3 month follow up at the Melmed Center and this appointment he was getting some testing done. I wasn't sure exactly what testing he was going to get done but anytime he has to get a test done it brings so much fear and anxiety to me. Even though I know he has autism already they just magnify how far behind your child is compared to typically kids during these tests. As a parent that is hard to have to here ALL THE TIME!!!! They gave him the Adaptive Behavior Test! This test is broken down into 4 categories which are Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization, Motor Skills. Within each of these areas they have separate categories in them broken down.  This is so they can see from year to year what areas he is improving on. He will get this test done every year. The physcologist that did the test total me he scored really good on the motor skills(which isn't a surprise because that is his strength) and he scored really low on the other categories.  After the test was done we then saw his doctor. She was explaining the test to me in more detail and said he is scoring really low but also wanted me to tell her what progress he has made in his therapy. She then told me in the next 6 to 8 months she wants him to take a non verbal test! Which she said that she can almost bet that he will score extremely high on this kind of test. She said he is extremely smart and has so many non verbal skills that most typical kids don't have. So that made me feel a little bit better. She just kept telling me that I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing for him and he is getting all the right therapies. As his mom I know he is making progress so that is all I can ask for! I am so proud of everyone on his team. They have all devoted so much personal time and energy. I truly feel so lucky to have such a great team. With all the anxiety, nerves and sleepless nights leading up to this test I got in the car called my mom and just had a good cry. I may appear to be strong all the time and look like I have it all together but I am human and I cry more than most of you would think. I know any other autism mom would understand our behind closed doors cries!
        A couple days after the test I received his test scores and report in the mail. I know both doctors told me he scored low but looking at this report I was completly devastated. They were so much lower than I had ever imagined. In Communication he scored at 1 year old level. In Daily Living Skills he scored a 7 month old level in two categories and a 1 year old in another. In Socialization he scored a 6 month old level, 7 month old and a 10 month old level. In Motor Skills he scored a 2.5 year old level and a 3 year old in another level. He is currently 2.7 years old! Now you can all understand why I HATE THESE TEST!!!!

Brendan loves to Dance

Brendan Loves to run. He does this all day long!

      I am so excited for Christmas and for Brendan to get a couple days off of therapy. He has no clue what is going to go on or even what Christmas is but I am excited to watch him with his gifts! Thank you to every single one of you who have given support to my family!!! You all mean the world to us!!! 

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!

September/Beginning of October Progress 2014-Brendan 29 months old(2 years old)

     

      The month of September just seemed to fly by so fast. We hosted our first fundraiser event to raise money for our Autism Speaks Team Brendan Walk.  I want to THANK EVERYONE who either came to our fundraiser event or who ordered online. The event was not only successful but it was also fun! We have been getting ready for the walk which is just 2.5 weeks away. My goal is to have this years walk be even bigger than last year. I hope you all come out and support Team Brendan and bring awareness to Autism!
                                          Brendan Loves this book!

      In September Brendan had an appointment with Dr Melmed. It was really just his normal 3 month check up. However these appointments bring me so much anxiety, nervousness and fear to me. I just can never prepare myself for these appointments. I just never know what they are going to say. I made Brian come with because it does help when I have someone there for support. Dr Melmed does a lot of talking with us and asks us questions on how everything is going. I felt as if I was giving him a pretty good update and letting him know that Brendan has made good progress. We got on the subject of his supplements. He asked me what he was taking, "we give Brendan a multivitamin and DHA all liquid form every morning." Dr Melmed said so you are not giving him any calcium?  I got a little flustered and said, "no, no one had suggested we give him any." He then began to explain to me that they had done a study at SARRC and kids who received 600mg of calcium a day showed an increase in there language skills. So he said go home and calculate how much you think he is getting a day and  to start giving him the amount to total 600mg a day. He then said he wanted to start Brendan on a supplement called DMG(Dimethylglycine). He wants to just do a trial for a month. He said they also did a study at SARRC and kids that took DMG showed an increase in their focus and better behavior. I was totally on board with both of the supplements. I did feel a little overwhelmed but knew I was going to go home and research the supplement for myself and then make the final decision. He then started to play and talk to Brendan. He then said when we come back in 3 months in December he wants Brendan to see the phycologist first and get a behavoir test done along with ADOS test again which will gives a better idea of where he is at on the spectrum. When he had the test done last year he tested on the severe side of the spectrum. So my fingers are crossed that we get a better result. I will keep you all posted when that happens. When we got home we discovered Brendan was only getting about 200mg of calcium a day so we immediately started him on the 600mg a day. We did that for about a week before we started the DMG to make sure he didn't have any reactions. We started the DMG and honestly I don't know if it is just coincedient but after the 3rd day of being on it 2 different therapist who didn't know he was on it made a comment about how engaged and focus he seemed. So I guess it is working. I have also noticed a difference in his focus. So we will continue the supplement and see how it goes.

         Brendan has decided to basically stop sleeping at night. He has been getting his 2 year old molars now for a couple months. The pain he has with them coming in really sends his sensory and sleep to another whole level. He has been waking up at 3:30,4am for the day or waking up 3-4 times a night. It really isn't fun for Brian or I. This has been going on for over a month. I am just at a loss of what to do. He goes to the dentist next week so I am looking forward to them looking at his molars and telling me how much more he has to go. When Haley was teething I would just give her Tylenol  or Motrin but with Brendan it is different. His gut(stomach) is so sensitive that I just don't have those options.
         Brendan's new favorite thing is to count 8,9,&10 and he also loves to say "bye, bye". His imitation skills have gotten so good. He will try and repeat most of the words you say. But the crazy thing is he will not speak unless you say the word first. So if I didn't speak to him all day he would be completely silent. So yes you all see him saying words on the videos that I post but he will not say them without someone helping him. I just hope that this will change someday. He has also started what I would call the bratty 2 year stage. Since it is natural as a mom when we don't want our kids doing something we say, "Brendan STOP". Well since he is so good at repeating he will just whine and say, "STOP" back to me and cry at the same time. I think because he has started to make some of his own choices that when he is wanting something and can't have it he really doesn't understand. This has been leading to LOTS of tantrums. But overall he is doing good. He brings such joy to my life and his therapist life. It is so nice when his therapist get just as excited as I do when he does something for the first time!

      We got the chance to take our family photos as we always do this time a year. We attempted to have them taken in June when we were in Huntington Beach but unfortunately Brendan wouldn't cooperate at we didn't get any pictures without Brendan crying. So I had no idea what Brendan was going to be like the second time around. I basically prepared myself for another disaster. Well let me just tell you he was in great mood that morning of pictures. Marnee Marriott who has taken my kids pictures since birth has the MAGIC touch. She was making Brendan laugh, he was telling her to "go" which he wanted her to run and tickle him. We had the best time getting our photos done. The pictures turned better than I ever could have imagined. I definitely can't wait to share the pictures but you all will have to wait until you get your Holiday card. Thank you Marnee for capturing such amazing memories of my family. She is absolutely the best and if you are in Arizona then you need to hire her www.marriottphoto.com
           I just really want to SAY THANK YOU again to everyone who has donated to Team Brendan. We have definietly made a name for ourselves in this autism community and I couldn't be more proud to share this journey with everyone.
You can donate here for Team Brendan:
http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/arizona/teambrendan14