Apraxia Awareness Day May 14th---Every child deserves a voice

This coming Wednesday--May 14th is the 2nd Annual Apraxia Awareness Day (blue and white are the colors).  Childhood Apraxia: Significant impairment in motor planning (trouble getting message from brain out).  For Littlefoot this means he understands everything perfectly well, knows what he wants to do and say perfectly well, but can't get the message through to his muscles.  For him this LOOKS LIKE: limited speech (probably about 12 coherent words), trouble with running/stepping, and using sign is not always an option as his body often loses the motor planning memory.   

 There is still a lot of uncertainty about statistics and prognosis.  What we do know is early intervention---and awareness is HUGE to help these kiddos get all the help they can, in addition to reducing the stigma.  We had no clue about this until our son was diagnosed this past year, and had we known more we could have had access to resources sooner.

This is Littlefoot.  His loves worms, the color blue, Buzz Lightyear, eating peanuts, bananas, and searching for airplanes in the sky. He may not be able to sing you Twinkle Little Star, but he can dance better than John Travolta back in the 70s.   He adores both his big brother and little sister, building forts out of kitchen chairs, and giving high fives. 

Now I don't mean for this blog to be based on being the mom of a kiddo with special needs---although I LOVE those blogs.  But my blog is based on life as a therapist, and as a therapist I need my own outlet and self-care to do what I do at work.  Thus, this blog today is for ME, it's my therapy.  This past week has been an emotionally draining week in many ways, and I think I have finally come full circle with accepting that Littlefoot will need some additional help to find his voice.  That help requires multiple appointments a week, multiple use of PECS/flashcards, and countless hours doing my research.  I am determined to help be his voices, to raise my other children to be understanding of kiddos with any challenges, and to help increase supports for other families in the area. 

  I also have been disappointed to find out that in our area there no support groups for parents with a child with apraxia or dyspraxia.  There are groups for families of Autism--which for awhile Apraxia was assumed to be a part of Autism--this is partly why the statistics on the disorder are vague.  But they can be separate, and in Littlefoot's case Apraxia occurs without a Spectrum Disorder.  So Please, in efforts to help all families impacted by this--wear Blue and White on Wednesday and help spread awareness.

Stay tuned because this coming Family night will be a special addition Awareness celebration!!!  Also, because the parents that blog and tape their child's progress has been so helpful to us---I am going to start posting video clips as well. 

Finnicky Eaters and Spring Sunshine

I will be posting an upcoming blog about Mother's Day later this week---so stay tuned.  This Wednesday was another wonderful family night.  We had a new dish that was delicious--to the adults.  A teeny tiny tidbit I have left out up til now is that the littles (all but baby girl) are extremely picky, my boys are basically vegetarians, and none of the littles will eat salad and or/things with sauces.  Sooooo----cheese, broccoli, crackers, and French fries are usually staples at family night.  We pick our battles, and that is one that we just don't pick on Family night. 

We might be lax on mealtimes--but that can is not  Coors for the record--
it's a Barg's Rootbeer  We're not THAT lax.

 Dinner tonight was homemade sweet/sour chicken, brown rice, and Asian salad--- followed by chocolate covered strawberries made by Buttercup's mom.  Yummo---the littles love strawberries so they were all over those--but not one touched the delicious chicken

Chicken Recipe

Dredge cut chicken in egg/corn starch and pan fry in sesame oil until lightly browned but not all the way cooked

Toss in a homemade sauce of 1cup sugar, 1/2cup vinegar, 1/2 cup ketchup---then bake at 350 for 40 more minutes. 

Add some cilantro, basil, or mandarin oranges for a new twist

Crisyp/juicy and delicious!!!!

 

Family Game

Once again, the teams somehow were made into the exact same teams as last time---"Beat the Adults" and The "Thumpers"/ the adults.  The Thumpers redeemed themselves from the Easter loss.  Tonight was Scavenger hunt relay.  We pick activities that all ages can complete. 

TASK 1--every member had to do 10 jumping jacks

TASK 2--each team had to find and bring me a live worm and eat it----JUST JOKING, no eating, but yes they had to find it.  One of the littles is terrified of worms, so Team 1 got sidetracked as Gentle Giant tormented his little brother with a wiggly worm. 

TASK 3--sing 2 full verses of Old McDonald.

Littlefoot felt it necessary to wear a bike helmet during this competition
The pressure gets REAL

Add caption

I don't know what the yellow bat is for--threat maybe?

But the thumbs downs by the Little cracks me up.

Bonfires, Bullies, and Baseball

Cinco de Mayo is swiftly approaching, and I don't typically drink mas tequila on a Monday, thus we celebrated it on Wednesday Family night this week.  (And I subbed whiskey for tequila....the Irish like to embrace Hispanic culture as well).  Plus, we had a rare 80 degree sunny day.  So I whipped up some grilled carne asada, mango salsa, and my hubs set up the bonfire.  Porch swing, sweet tea, BBQ, family, friends, and a bonfire----nothing beats it.

Here's my MANGO SALSA RECIPE.  I usually use up various things, but this is what I had for this time round:
one full ripe mango peeled
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a splash of olive oil
a splash of worcheshire
juice of one lime
1/2 of one jalepeno pepper
1 cup diced tomatoes (I used cherry this time, but you can use whatever)
1 cup cilantro
onions would be great--but my sister is weird and loses her appetite if she even smells onions
If you can make the night before--do it, it gets spicier over night.
Also goes fantastic on shrimp or fish tacos

My nephew shared with us a recent event at the high school where he was basically taunted and bullied to "fight after school".  Ugh---are we all irritated yet at all of this bullying?  I am not one to endorse violence, but I do think on some level the main way bullies back off is if they  get a bit scared.  If you act like a honey badger for a hot second, people typically won't mess with you.  My sweet nephew is a gentle giant, and I cringe at the idea of people picking on him because he rarely stands up for himself.  But not this time, no.  My sweet Gentle Giant dropped some profanity and the kids actually apologized!!! No blood drawn, no suspensions, crisis avoided.  Now, I can't in all rationality tell the kids that I see in counseling to drop a couple of F-bombs at their bullies.  Their parents would kills me!  But I can tell them to find that inner rage--and give some sort of guttural, primal, and potentially squatchy yell and say simply "back off and leave me ALONE!!!". 

We  may not be wealthy, extremely talented, or exotically gorgeous---but we know how to throw a ba-bah-coo (Cajun for BBQ).  The men pretend that they are going to the World Series of Softball (it doesn't exist for 30 something men), the kids pretend they are shirtless ninjas attacking the world of garden worms, the teenagers canoodle and laugh, and the women soak up every bit of giggle and smile around them.  Happy and Safe Cinco De Mayo Everyone---"I don't always get bullied, but when I do I call them Butt Sandwiches"---Stay Thirsty My Friends! 

Picture courtesy of Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/pin/128352658101889699/

Autism and Arrows

I had a bit of an epiphany tonight while pondering on ideas of some sort of visual aid for my social skills groups.  The kids were asleep, Pinterest was up on the IPAD, and the Merlot was flowing!  Working with kiddos on the Autism Spectrum has grown to be "one of my favorite things".  This has been a significant work in progress, I'm not going to church it up.  10 years ago I remember dreading my job as a direct residential staff after being bit not once, not twice, but 3 times by the same little boy in one shift.  I have learned a ton in the past decade about Aspergers and Autism, and gained an appreciation for the strengths within that pretty heavy diagnosis. 

The following goes off some generalizations, albeit positive ones:  These wonderful children tend to have some amazing sensory sensitivities, their minds process information best in visual/picture format, and abstract concepts are often a challenge.  Yes, I know there are some exceptions to this, but when I talk to people and give them pointers on how to get on the same level with a kiddo--these are the pointers I have found most helpful. 

As a counselor this has been a bit of a challenge for me as I want to improve emotional awareness--"How do you feel when things like that happen? What can you do to feel better when that happens?"  These are very difficult questions for kiddos on the spectrum as if they are not feeling it in the moment, they tend to have a very difficult time reflecting on it and tracking thoughts/feelings.  Sure, sometimes  the child has a complete meltdown of catastrophic proportions for an hour.  But then he comes in to see me, and is as good as gold.  Out of sight out of mind, hyperfocus on the here and now---a true talent if you ask me.

This is one of those truly magnificent qualities that I am so appreciative of witnessing with these kids.  See, for most of us if we have a bad day, a nasty interaction with someone, frustrations building---we tend to work on trying to LET IT GO.  This is never easy, and there are many days where I find myself stewing for hours over mundane things.  The instant I think about it ---my anger fuels up and I am in "ragin Cajun" mode.  The snide comment by another pre-school mom about my son wearing ninja turtle jammies in public has me replaying in my head all day about how "she should mind her business".  In those moments, I can see the beauty of having black and white, good or bad, all or nothing kind of thinking. 

Now back to my epiphany....I have always wanted to come up with a visual to help the kiddos I work with gain some insight into this wonderful ability to "bounce back" and not let a negative event impact their whole day.  Part of this concept is that I want the kids to gain an understanding of how to  learn from the event and handle frustration better in the future.  It is difficult to plan for the future if you can't recall what the past hurdles were.  THE FAILED EXAMPLES:  the minions from despicable me, a beach ball held under water, a bommerang---all got mixed reviews aka big-time confusion.  Instead, I love the symbolism of an arrow.  When I think of arrows I think of: direction, Cupid, swiftness, the hot elf from Lord of the Rings (Legolas) :), and purpose.   An arrow can only be released when it is pulled back----love this symbolism!! 

The arrow metaphor is not only simple and easy to visualize, it can also be easily acted out for kids.  At my next group the kids and I are going to talk about what can pull our arrows back (bullies, loud noises, poor sleep, losing our favorite item, etc.). Then we are going to talk about what we can do to release our arrows and feel strong again (belly breathing, fidget toys, warm tea, talking with someone, etc.)  This metaphor can be used at the family dinner table as well.  Reference your inner Merida (reference to the Disney movie Brave).  How do you control your anger arrows to hit a bullseye?  What makes arrows more dangerous?  Who is the best archer in the family and why? 

Link to the tattoo featured in this blog entry (it's not my tat ;)

Time to use your noodle--Easter Sensory game

Easter is a fantastic holiday, but it can certainly be overwhelming in many facets: the sugar highs, the running to and from egg hunts, church services, and family gatherings.  We try to keep it simple: I don't usually do candy in the baskets, but instead focus on props and "evidence" of an Easter bunny.  This year, it was dollar store bunny ears, ties, and bunny footprints. 

After a full day of visits with the family we needed a very calm sensory active.ity to help the kids wind down.  The swim noodles I had cut up for the "beading" in the Egg Olympics are great for sensory play.  NOTE; for kids under 2, just make sure they don't bite/swallow the material.  Otherwise, these things are great: quite, cheap, colorful, soft, and STACKABLE.  While I tried to find all 600 plastic eggs my kids threw about the house this morning, I dumped a bag of 3 cut up swim noodles in the middle of the room.  My 2 yr old and 1 yr old began gathering and stacking towers.  This is great for counting, learning size, colors, and sorting. 

The best part of the game was when they decided to build, then knock them down.  AGAIN AND AGAIN.  But, instead of legos and blocks, this was not loud, and no one got hurt.   When it was time to clean up it took them less than 2 minutes to put them in the toy bin.  This kept them all entertained for over an hour. 

Our little peanut turned ONE this weekend!!!

Another wonderful, busy, fun weekend.  We celebrated my baby girl's 1st birthday, enjoyed the Easter holiday, held another social skills group at my practice, and finished up sowing my seeds in the garden.  I love doing kids' birthday parties.  This time I actually had a choice among all things pink and frilly.  Well, I couldn't choose and sometimes the best stuff comes from a hodge podge--hence elephants and tutus.  I got most everything for the party either from the Dollar Store or the Goodwill.  The Tulips are fresh from the Tulip Festival going on right now in Mt.Vernon, WA---if you've never heard of it, you should check it out.  Eye candy for miles.

The cake was a work of art and the Little lady chowed down.  I don't know many cake artists that could whip out an "elephant wearing a tutu" with a little over 2 weeks notice.  Not only was it adorable, the vanilla bean cake was delish with cream cheese frosting.  Baking is a talent I do not possess and luckily for me I always find people that are the best of the best.  Pink Confections out of Marysville, WA did this little beauty for my special girl. 

I've mentioned before prior to my daughter, our large family is very skewed to the masculine side.  Thus, this whole notion of a very girly birthday took a toll on some of the guys who by the end of the night caved in.  They not only tried on the tutus, but actually willingly posed for pictures.