An Update

Just a few notes about how things are going around here:

School is winding down-YAY! Just a few more weeks left and then we start SUMMER! We will probably take a week off from everything, but I do plan on doing some school stuff with the girls to keep them fresh (will blog more about that later). Cara will have her preschool graduation ceremony in a few weeks and is SO ready to go to "Cate's school". She is asking me every day if she can go yet. Cate is doing great and is doing really well in school. I think she will be sad when school is out. She still loves to go everyday!

Claire is doing well. We have been meeting with more people than I can count-but are getting lots of information, so that is good. This week, we met with a home-trainer from the school district (she is a special ed teacher too). She answered a lot of our questions and will be coming in a few weeks with some visual aides for us. These range from a schedule, to potty and handwashing to-do's, to visual prompts to help her communicate when she wants a drink and such. The best thing is that she was amazed at how Claire behaved with her. She said she didn't even act like she had autism! She asked to see her report and as she looked at it could see why she was given that diagnosis, but the "severely autistic" result is one she disagrees with. I will take that as good news! She thinks we should have her retested next year to see if she is labeled as moderate or slightly autistic. She just needs to talk! One big praise is that she said, "I want nanna" (banana) on Friday while bringing me a banana. That is probably the first sentence I have heard her say that wasn't a repeat of what I said!

We have also been attending an 8 week training course at Any Baby Can. I have really enjoyed it so far and I am looking forward to hearing about various training techniques we can use at home. We are meeting with a social worker from another agency next week to see about what is available to us. We are hoping to see if we can afford some private therapy for this summer and perhaps into the Fall. It is called ABA (applied behavior analysis). It is suppose to be very successful with helping get kids off the spectrum. It is, however, very expensive and is not used in the schools because it is typically a 1:1 ratio and that is impossible to do in a school setting.

We have been gluten-free and casein free (protein found in dairy products) for almost 2 weeks. She is doing well and I am working very hard at coming up with new things for her to eat. I am still not giving her any peanut butter, but she does well with all the other nuts. The doctor says she is no longer allergic to eggs so I can give her those (although I am still scared to and haven't done it yet). Chris, you will really appreciate all of the signs/notes I have made! She has her own basket in the pantry as well as a separate shelf in the fridge and pantry (all neatly labeled). It is still quite overwhelming to read all the labels and avoid cross contamination. We are probably going to need to buy a new toaster for her as well as some other kitchen gadgets to avoid cc (and toothpaste, shampoo, etc because all that stuff has gluten in it).

Thank you for your prayers! Here is how you can continue to pray for us:

*that this summer will be a FUN summer and that I will be consistent with their education
*that Ryan will be able to teach summer school (that is a huge financial incentive for us!)
*that we will be able to do the ABA training or something similar this summer for Claire since she will not be going to school (she doesn't qualify for continued public education during the summer)
*that I will find a good doctor that is kind, knowledgeable, and has a good bed side manner (bad, bad experience with the last one).
*that Claire's vision will be good and won't need glasses (the nurse at the school is concerned about it and wants us to have her vision tested because she didn't do well on the one that was given there).
*that I can balance being a mom to a child with special needs and two other children who need just as much attention and love, esp during the summer when they are with me all day.