Brady recently received a new touch-screen computer through his Medicaid Waiver. This computer has been amazing for him. He really connects with it and learns so much more quickly from it than from people. Since he got it he's mastered at least 30 words!! That's huge for him. Also in addition to the computer he got six software packages and the nice desk from Lakeshore Learning. The desk is great because we can adjust the height to make it perfect for him. Isn't it awesome?

Congratulations Brady!
You have mastered First Words!!

Potty training kicked my butt!!

Today was the start of a new year and the day we started potty training Brady. Now we knew that it wasn't going to be easy but I think secretly we both hoped it would be. Like he was going to pull a rabbit out of his hat which would be pee in the potty, right?

Well let me tell you, I stared at my son's penis way more than I care to admit today. I started him off in our bathroom that I scrubbed last night. I knew he was going to touch a lot of surfaces and it wigged me out. I cleaned it up and then brought in all his favorite things. I put down his playrug, his toys, his CD player, his DVD player, food, and lots of drinks. When he woke we gave him juice and put him on the potty. He sat quite well for a long time but then I really had to work to keep him happy and sitting. Finally after an hour and seven minutes he peed. I praised like crazy and reinforced him with his DVD player. He took it, layed on my bed and proceeded to pee like crazy. Super. What I've learned today is Brady pees a very tiny amount before he let's the big pee go.

So back on the potty he goes. Twenty minutes later he POOPED on the potty. He had been passing gas like crazy. I smelled the awful smell that is his toxic poop and I checked. He had pooped but he had never given any outward signs of it leading me to believe that at this point he doesn't have real control over his bowel movements. If you've followed my blog then you know he had diarrhea issues we're working on. So potty training is going to be tough.

I won't give you all the details but let's leave it at he peed more in his underwear and on my floor than he did in the potty. We'll leave it at we watched the kid's penis like a hawk so that we could swoop him up and run or praise him like crazy and it has exhausted the crap out of us.

I was surprised and happy that Robin (Brady's Daddy) was more patient with him than I was.

We're hoping tomorrow goes better. Please God!

Vision Therapy is great!!

We recently started Vision Therapy with the most amazing therapist Colleen. We've often had great therapists but she stands out. She's so patient and intuitive. She's also brilliant. She's constantly thinking of novel ideas to help Brady. We've seen a HUGE improvement in eye contact since he started VT. He'll look at you deeply and longly. Sometimes his gaze will brief but end with a big smile. Those are awesome and often bring me to tears. He's far-sighted and has various other vision issues so he wears glasses. He looks so freaking handsome in his glasses too!

Since he started VT he's trying to catch a ball. Before he would stand there and let it bounce off his chest. Colleen explained that to Brady the ball was two dimensional and that it looked like a paper ball coming at him and he didn't understand to catch it. Now he tries, often late but that's ok. You start somewhere right?! He also clearly enjoys throwing the ball to us. It's cute because he gets excited.

He's such a loving kid. He wants her to hug and kiss on him all throughout the session. He smiles a lot too. While it sucks he can't talk we consider ourselves lucky to have a child with autism who seeks our love and attention and a child who rarely, if ever, acts out against others in anger.

Look soon for a post on his Springboard Lite!
And coming to you tomorrow......PottyTraining! Wish us luck!

Angela