Update

Wow, it's been a while.  I think that I am done posting here, maybe updates once in a while.  But, we are just having too much fun for me to get on the computer.  Literally we are seeing new things with Kate everyday.  Some huge and some little.  They said that would happen and it's true!  The development just keeps on!  It is really neat to watch.

I think around the holidays I get a little sentimental.  I am just feeling so grateful for Kate and for all that we have been through.  To be in a place of frustration, worry and hopelessness and to search for lots of different things to change that and now to be in a place of trust and gratitude is for me the greatest gift I have ever received.  I am also grateful for all of the people at Brain Balance and everyone before that worked together with me to find solutions and help her grow.  I have learned so many things from her and from being her mom.  What appeared at first to be my greatest challenge was really my greatest blessing.  I am so excited to see what is to come!

Being Home

It is really interesting to be home.  There are so many differences in Kate from when we left way back at the end of January.  She is doing new things everyday and Matt and I just look at each other in amazement.  Now don't get me wrong, there are still some things that are challenging for her and for us.  But, for the most part it is really awesome to see how much she has grown in the last 7 months.

Here are some highlights that she won't mind me sharing.  She is kind of sensitive with people knowing all the things she does for herself now  :)


She is cracking jokes like crazy.  And they are really funny!! 

She is helping clean up more and taking care of her own things better.  She puts up a fuss, but then she does what I asked.  A true miracle.

She shook someones hand with her right hand for the first time.  Usually she would offer her left hand to shake or say that she doesn't really shake hands.  It's not like this was one of my goals or anything, but it is cool to see her aware of how to do it.

She was looking at a picture of a baby and was saying how cute he was.  Before BB she didn't really like babies and they were anything but cute.

She likes big dogs.  Before she only liked poodles and little dogs like that.  She has been feeding our neighbors dogs and really seems to love it.  But, NO!!  We are not getting a dog.

The other day our neighbor was taking her dogs for a walk and I jokingly said to Kate that she should go.  Well, Kate ran to catch up to her and proceeded to go on the walk!  They were gone for over 30 minutes.  It was awesome!!

And I have to say that she throws less fits and they are much much much shorter in duration and intensity than before BB.  Phew.  She still is strong willed and still gets "pissed off" as she calls it, but it is nowhere near what was happening before.  I am thankful everyday for this alone!

Well, that's all I can think of right now.  There are so many more things, but I will have to write them down when they happen to remember them all.

ROA # 3

ok, here it is!  All of Kate's accomplishments!

Primitive Reflexes
level 4 is highest, 0 is the reflex is gone

Rooting- started at 4, now at 1
Moro-    started at 2, still at 2
Grasp-    started at 1, still at 1
ATNR-  started at 2, now at 1
TLR-     started at 4, now at 1
STNR-  started at 4, now at 1
Landau- started at 2, now at 0  yippeee!! gone!
Spinal Galant- started at 4, now at 2

It is great that most primitives are at a one or 2.  The ones that are at a 1, are just about gone.  So a few more months of doing the exercises and *hopefully* they will be gone.

Vision

OPK- was 6, now 8 (goal 15)
VOR-was 13, now 14 (goal 15)
Visagraph(reading)- wasn't able to complete this the first time, 2nd assessment was grade 1.5, now grade 2.6  (she went up 2 grades in 6 months in reading!!)
Pupillometry- was 6, now 8 (goal 9.5)

Hearing and Smells she is at her age level, she started out high in both areas anyway

Touch
Arm touch- was 10, now 9 (which is good because she was overly sensitive)
Leg touch- was 8, now 9 (goal 9.5)

Fine Motor skills- was age 3, now age 6
PRNG- was level 9, now level 15 (highest level)  PRNG is maturity of balance and equilibrium system.
Proprioception- was age 5, still age 5 (though she did improve on the right side, but left was weaker and they go with the lower score)

Core

Supine- was age 4, now age 9
Prone- was age 6, now age 8
Lateral- was age 4, now age 7
Brachiation- was age 4, now age 7(but she can hold this longer, just on testing day this is what she did)
Sit ups- was age 4, now age 5
Push ups- was age 4, still age 4

Balance Beam- was age 8, still age 8
Gait and Aerobics- was age 4, now age 7
Interactive Metronome- was age 5, still age 5 (improved greatly, just not enough to move up 1 year)


So she improved so much in alot of areas and it is evident in what we are seeing in our day to day life.  There are still areas that she hasn't reached age level for and we are still working on those in our home program.  We will continue the primitive exercises and also do the exercises in the areas that she is not at age level.  We asked how many more sessions she would need to be at age level and balanced and they told us two.  So, right now we are going to work at getting these primitive reflexes to integrate and keep up the core exercises and right brain exercises.  And we will see about some more sessions.......a little later.  Kate is not interested in doing Brain Balance again for a while at least!

Just for me, yesterday....

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

 

:: Soccer Field Parenting ::

I played a lot of chess when I was a kid, and I
learned that to win I had to pay attention to all
the pieces on the board -- to keep the *big picture*
in mind.

At school I noticed that when the other kids played
soccer, they focused only on the ball and mindlessly
*chased* it around the field. But my chess-trained
mind resisted the temptation to join the chaotic
"clump" of kids surrounding the ball. I paid
attention to the whole field and positioned myself
such that I could easily score goals when someone
kicked the ball out of the clump.

In parenting, children's *behavior* is like the
soccer ball, and the majority of parents are like
that clump of kids chasing the ball -- focusing too
much on behavior and missing the bigger picture.

Today, if your own parenting starts to feel like
that ball-chasing chaos, deliberately shift your
perspective to a more expansive view -- the
*context* in which your child's behavior is arising.
The context includes physical, emotional, and
developmental considerations.

When you want your child's behavior to change, and
you understand *why* it's happening, you can
lovingly address your child's underlying needs and
desires, and blend them creatively with your own.

Now *that's* teamwork! :-)

http://dailygroove.net/soccer-field

Take the next step...
Join the PATH Program:
http://www.enjoyparenting.com/path/info

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(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2012 by Scott Noelle

Home again Home again

I know I need to give the results of the final assessment but they are still packed, somewhere.....
But, we are home now and have been trying to settle in for the last few days.  We arrived home late Sunday night.

Kate is loving it!!  She has been playing outside a ton and she is loving being with all of her toys again.

It is quite the temperature change for me.  It was 76 today and I felt a little warm, but it doesn't even compare to 100 degrees.  So I have been wearing thermals and long pants and slippers, hehe.  Hopefully my body acclimates soon!

Exercises are going great!!  It is so much easier to get her to do them.  This morning, she even told me it was time to do them.  I was shocked.  She still is sassy and yells at me sometimes during them, but overall they are taking less time.  YAY!

I will write more later, but just wanted to let everyone know we are home.

Graduation

All the friends at graduation, but missing Sydney and Tony.

Ellie!! and Ginger and Dash

Opening a present

Today was the big day.  Kate was so excited this morning.  She woke up and said, "OK.  Get up and go make breakfast so we can get ready to go to graduation!"  I hated to tell her that graduation was after lunch at 2pm.  We managed to fill the morning and then went to Brain Balance.  Ginger and the kids joined us which was so fun.  Kate has already used her markers and construction paper!  Thanks guys! 

Everyone was in the room and clapped as Kate walked in.  She just looked around and then noticed Derek with a camera.  After a minute of talking about it, Kate and Tammy worked it out so that we could take some pictures, but not a video :) Then she was given a scrapbook with notes from all the staff, her picture they took of her first day, and all of the "brains" she was awarded throughout the program.

She told what she liked and didn't like about the program which was kind of funny.  She had such a captive audience and she couldn't think of what to say!

Then she sat there with everyone and got her picture taken.  That in itself is a miracle!  Lucky for me she was willing to do it.  I was not going to let this event go by without a picture!!

Final Assessments Done!!

Yay for Kate!  She is finished with both the cognitive and sensory-motor assessments.  She finished each one quicker than before.  In fact, I was out shopping when she was done today!!

We said goodbye to Sydney today which was hard.  Kate said it best when she said "Really, I couldn't have done it without you."  She looked forward to being with Sydney each session which really helped her to want to go to Brain Balance.  Sydney really matched her well and I feel so lucky that Kate was able to work with such a loving and positive coach.

So, Kate's part of Brain Balance is over!!  She has graduation tomorrow, but today we went to the car wash to celebrate!!  Whoot!

Last week

Phew, one week left.  Kate has a session on Monday and her last session on Wednesday.  She will do the cognitive assessment on Tuesday and the sensory-motor on Thursday.  The final report and home programming meeting will be on Friday.  Then a little graduation!!

Kate was not pleased that we will continue with exercises when we get home.  She thought graduating meant we are totally done.  Hopefully some (if not all!!) of the primitives are gone so we don't have so many exercises to do.   But she hasn't really been cooperative the last few weeks to do exercises.  We are both kind of burnt out on them.  She is really ready to go home.

We are both such a mixed bag of emotions too.  She is really going to miss our neighbors, Elizabeth (the mom) and Gabriel (the 2 year old).  And her other friends that she has met.  So she is happy to go home, but sad to leave these friends.  And I am happy to be with Matt, and go for walks in the woods, and sleep in my own bed again.  But I am sad to leave the people, and Costco, and the fun places to play. 

So, I am trying to make this last week a fun one, but we got a rough start today.  I am realizing more and more that we both like to be out of the house.  So, we went on a drive and looked at houses that I will buy one day soon when I am rich.  But the day still ended with yelling.  Oh well, she is asleep now and hopefully, tomorrow will go smoothly!!

Fun Weekend

Kate and I were soooo lucky to have our friend Terra come to stay with us.  She came Friday afternoon and left Sunday morning.  We played and went swimming and read.  And when Kate went to bed, Terra and I actually got to talk :)  And we stayed up way too late.  It was super fun.  She did the exercises with us which made them fun to do, instead of the usual daily drudgery.  It is so awesome to be around Terra. She brings such a fun energy and reminds me of a fun time of life when we lived in Logan.  I love having her as a friend.  She loves Kate, no matter what, and she listens to and understands the joys and challenges of parenting.  Terra notices all the little changes in Kate and supports her in the areas where she still has some growing to do.  How did I get so lucky 15 years ago??

 

Swimming video

Kate is exploring all areas of the pool now.  Tonight, she was in deep water and took in some water with her snorkel.  She started treading water (where did she learn that??) and yelled "help!".  It was pretty cool, she knew what to do.  I told her that she had to learn to get to the side if she was in trouble and not depend on me if she wanted to go in the deep end.  So, after that, when she needed to, she swam over to the side. Yay!

Little fishy

Today, Kate put on her new face mask and snorkel and started swimming!!  She got the hang of the snorkel pretty quick and soon after started swimming back and forth from one side to the other.  She was floating too, another thing she has never done.  It was amazing to see!!  She loved putting her face in and seeing the bottom of the pool.  She would come up and report what she saw with great enthusiasm.  One time she said "Just in one day, I'm a PROFESSIONAL!"

She got quite a lot of mouthfuls of water from going under too deep, but she would come up, cough a bit, empty the snorkel and try it again.  She never asked for help once she had the mask on.  It was really cool to watch.  There was another girl in the pool and Kate would chase the girl and the girl would drop pool toys in front of Kate while she was swimming.  They even had a race a couple of times.

Well, I've been trying to get her to put her head underwater for years!  And all of a sudden, today was the day.  She swam around for about an hour and a half and I just couldn't bring myself to stop her.  She was having so much fun that I let her swim until she was done.  She was pretty tired when we got back to the apartment but it was so worth it!  I hope she will let me take a video next time, hehe, we'll see.

Meeting new friends

We went to the trampoline place last night and Kate jumped by herself this time while I relaxed.  She meet several kids that she played with.  She is really enjoying the dodge ball arena.  She throws the balls at people and gets balls for them to throw.  She let a kid know that he could hit her with a ball, but just not very hard.  He was so nice and would run by her and tag her softly with the ball.  She would run over to me and, laughing, tell me that she got hit in the "weirdest" places.  Once on the hand and once on the butt.  Then she would run back and keep throwing, jumping and rolling around on the tramps.  They never did play a "game" of dodge ball, but were just playing around.  She even challenged one of the boys to a thumb war!

Hot

It is so hot here that I actually felt like I burned my bottom today when getting into the car.  We have white leather seats and they were soooo hot.  I had to put a cloth grocery bag on Kate's seat so she could sit in it.  We were driving and Kate said "I'm sorry, Mommy.  I have to fart and I don't want to fart on your bag!"  I laughed so hard. 

Winding down

Both Kate and I are having lots of mixed emotions these days.  A lot of our friends here are going back to school so the people who we have been hanging out with 3 days a week are not going to be here, or are going to BB at different times.  As Kate said today "It sucks."  I said goodbye to two friends today that have shared our time slot for quite a while.  We chat every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and catch up on the new news of what our children are doing, what are some meal ideas, and such.  So, it was hard today, knowing that the only way I will see them again is on Facebook.  Blah.  Kate was pretty sad that this would be the last day of seeing one of the moms.  She never saw the kids because they were always in programming, but she would chat with the mom all the time.  The cool thing is that she is actually sad about not seeing these people again. Yay!! She is making lots of friends(young and older) and will miss them.

On Stage

Here is Kate, her first time on stage, helping the magician with the rope trick.  He tied several pieces of rope together and she is holding one end of the rope while the magician is about to tie it to the rope in the other girl's hand.  There were about 30 people in the audience and lots of others walking by.  She is braver than me that's for sure!!

Start

When I started to ask the question, "What is right about this (autism, stimming, certain "negative"experiences) that I am not getting?" it was really cool what showed up.

We went to the fair last night to go to a magic show.  We were sitting in the magic show and the magician was asking questions and Kate was yelling out her answers with all the other kids.  He asked for some volunteers and she raised her hand.  She got picked to go up on stage to do a rope trick.  She did everything he asked and made funny comments that the magician played with.  When she came back to her seat she was bubbling with excitement.  "How did he do that??"  "I just can't believe this!"  and so many other comments and questions.  She went up to him after and asked how he did the rope trick and he showed her!!  It was so cool.  He really encouraged her to look into doing magic tricks at home and gave us his card so we can email him and he will give us some links to check out. 

After the show, we were looking around at some booths and I noticed Kate shifting from one foot to the other.  I asked if she had to go to the bathroom and she said no, as she kept shifting.  So I asked a question.  Not in an annoyed way, but in a curious, nonjudgmental way. 

Me- "Why are you moving from one foot to the other?"

Kate- "Because it helps me think" was her simple reply.

Me-  "Thank you.  That is a great awareness."

What is right about the way our kids move their bodies that we are not getting?

This and that

Oh my, I haven't written things down for a long time.  After today, Kate has 9 more sessions.  So that is 3 weeks from today.  Gosh I don't really know what to write.  Kate is in the shower right now with her swim mask on "so I can let the water run down my face!"  So I have time to write, but where to start??

I guess I will tell about going to our friend's house yesterday.  I ran bars on 2 of the kids and the mom.  It was such a gift to me, I learned so much.  Kate played with the kids the whole time.  She even did her primitives with the older boy.  Before this she hasn't let anyone else do her exercises with her, it always has to be me.  She didn't want him to tell me that she did them, but eventually she told me about it.  When she was hungry, she got out her own lunch out of our cooler and ate it.  I was in the next room, but she just helped herself.  Later she played outside with the younger boy while I chatted with the mom.  She didn't want to leave, she was having so much fun.  She is already talking about how hard it will be "never to see them again".  She said she likes Brain Balance because she met these friends, but she doesn't like Brain Balance because of the exercises and she doesn't get to do her repetitive things.

We are getting sick of eating the same things day after day.  I have not been very creative in the kitchen.  I make the quickest meals possible, which is a big change for me.  I used to spend quite a while making a meal.  So, we were thinking of some meals that we would like to have and I was writing them down.  I asked what she would like and she said "ummm, cookies and fries."  Me too, really :)

One of Kate's favorite coaches, Allen, had his last day today.  We just found out today and I thought she was going to take it really hard.  He talked with her for a few minutes and she seemed ok with everything and was especially intrigued that he will be working at a jail for his internship.  She almost started crying when he was about to shut the door and then calmed down.  We'll see how Friday goes when he isn't there.

Progress Report 20th session

So, I think I forgot to blog about the 10 session progress report.  Oh well.  I had the 20th session meeting last Monday and Brianna and I figured out that Kate has been in a regression period for the past 3 weeks.  It didn't help that she was sick for 4 days as well.  She made a little progress with VOR and balance beam and gait and aerobics but that was about it.  Basically, her brain is trying to catch up with all of the changes that we have been throwing at her these last few weeks.  Its all good stuff, but she needs a little time to process and then we should start seeing more progress and happier moods.  Well, when she got out of her session, right after my meeting, she was in a great mood.  It was such a relief.  I wish there was a way for all of these changes to happen easily and smoothly.  What would it take for us to know how to do that??

Anyway, the truth is, as I see it, Kate is amazing.  She may not always be happy with all of these changes I am making or asking her to do, but she is doing them.  I was just thinking about that today.  Some of these things she has been doing (or thinking that she needs) for several years.  How hard is it to break habits that I have been doing for several years?  How hard is it for people to stop smoking or maintain a healthy weight?  It is just as hard for her to go places without salamander or her fur or tail.  But she is doing it!!  It was such a process to get her to this place.  Before Brain Balance she would have had meltdowns just talking about leaving salamander at home.  But, she is becoming more flexible.  And she really likes cookies! LOL.  That is really a motivator for her.  So I use it in exchange for these things that we are trying to help her let go of and move on to new ways of doing things.  Chocolate cookies.  I think I love them.  Me and chocolate cookies, working together to move Kate to new levels.  Oh ya, and throw in a little Brain Balance too.  I am so glad that Kate has brought me here to learn all of these things!!  She is so powerful!    

Swimming

Today, Kate was swimming in the deep end for about 7 seconds by herself before she had to hold onto the wall.  She was so excited about it, grinning from ear to ear.  She even said I could sign her up for swimming lessons, YAY!  She was almost brave enough to put her head under the water, but not quite.  She wants a face mask and a snorkel so she can see under the water.  She saw that her friends Alec and Collin had one and she's been wanting one ever since.  Hey MOM!! That would be a great thing to get her :)

It is so amazing how going swimming totally changes her mood.  She doesn't like being in the house for very long and is kinda grouchy, but as soon as we got in the pool she was so happy!  I need to remember that!

My Birthday!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!!  I chose to celebrate my birthday by taking a day long class.  Kate and I woke up early, had birthday blueberry muffins, and drove 2 hours to go to this class.  I was so excited for it and Kate was interested too (and it was free for her to attend) and it was awesome!!  I learned so much and it adds to everything I have been doing.  It is called Access Bars and it is basically releasing stuck energy from 32 points on the head.  This helps us be able to make the changes in our life that we want to make.  Kate got her bars run once and I got mine run twice.  I practiced on two people also.  So, now I am an Access Bars Practicioner.  Yippee! 

So we spent the day at the class and then came home around 10 and went to bed!  We both woke up about 8:30, which is late for Kate :)  And this morning she woke up around 8:15.  I like that.

One thing that I have already noticed is that I usually hate talking on the phone to people I don't know very well, but today I felt comfortable during a phone conversation.  It doesn't seem like much, but to me it is!  And, today we were late to Kate's craft class and I didn't feel stressed about it.  Usually I don't like being late, but today I felt relaxed about it.

I really recommend getting your bars run.  I have had mine run 3 times now and things shift each time.  I love it.  I feel more peaceful and more confident too.  How can it get any better??

Treats!

We have been wanting to get some popsicle molds for a while and I finally got them.  The popsicles are a little small but so easy for Kate to fill.  She did all of them on her own and put the lids on by herself too!  She is so excited to go into the freezer and eat popsicles whenever she wants :)  For these we used Vitamin Water Zero.

I like these because they are like the ring pop candy I used to get.

One of the things I miss about Vermont is getting creemees!  I was at the thrift store yesterday and I saw this soft serve ice cream maker.  It was the best $4 I have spent in a long time!  I was super excited and so was Kate.  We made chocolate ice cream this morning and it turned out really well!  Kate thought it was a little too coconutty, but I loved it.  And the consistency was great, nice and smooth.

Kate's first serving :)

A pretty good swirl!

This was my recipe:

1 can organic coconut milk (full fat)
2 Tablespoons organic cacao powder
3 Tablespoons agave
2 of the tiny scoops of powdered stevia
YUM. 

YES!

Man, these little nuggets, are just perfect for me!!  I love this one! And it is so easy to feel when we are doing one or the other.  What would it take to always look for the solution?

If you intend to be of assistance, your eye is not upon the trouble but upon the assistance, and that is quite different. When you are looking for a solution, you are feeling positive emotion— but when you are looking at a problem, you are feeling negative emotion.

--- Abraham

A Kate Quote

"I guess I could have waffles for dinner.  At least it's better than starvation."

Craft Class

Today was Kate's first craft class.  She was quiet going in but nodded, yes, when I asked if she was fine and I could go.  I peeked in toward the end and she was painting the puzzle pieces on her frame.  She came out and was upset because the teacher was strict and also threw some things away.  Two of her pet peeves, pet peeves is probably a mild word for it :)  We talked about it and hopefully the fun parts of the class will outweigh the parts she doesn't like.  We'll see.  At least she was open about talking and hearing some ways to deal with the uncomfortable parts.  The other great thing is that she said she likes me more than her teacher.  Which is saying a lot since these days I am not her favorite person.  I keep pushing her out of her comfort zone and asking her to be responsible for certain things, which is not making me popular, hehe.  I am so glad that she can be with others so she has someone to compare me to.  Anyway, these are the projects that she painted:



plaster mushrooms



Trampolines!!

We get such a workout when we go here to play!  We chase each other, play ring around the rosies, and even do jumping jacks.  Lots of ways to move!  I didn't take a picture of the dodgeball place, but we actually played in there this time.  Kate was actually throwing balls at me and trying to hit me.  Luckily, there were no other kids in there so we could practice.  When we were done, she said that she LOVES dodgeball.  Now THAT is a first!!

right side

left side

me!

Who Says

This is for Kate and all of us who have been told we are not enough.  We love dancing to this song!!

So sick

Ok, here is some good news!  Kate is SOOO sick of me!!  She wants to play with kids and be with other people!  So now I get to arrange play dates.  And I signed her up for a craft class that starts on Tuesday.  It is for an hour, twice a week, and it is a good one to start with.  I checked the library today and found out when the story times are.  They have some programs for kids 12 and under so we can do that (I'll sit in the back :) or go read by myself in a corner (won't that be nice???)

If the craft class goes well, there are some other day camps that I will look into.  There are so many options here for fun stuff for kids to do.  I asked her if she wanted to take swim lessons but she said no.  I'll ask again in a couple of weeks.  I think she would pick it up really quickly now.

OH!! and today at the library I was trying to find a good movie for me.  I heard some footsteps running away and Kate was nowhere to be seen.  I looked around and couldn't see her anywhere.  So I walked into the next room where the kids section was and she was laying on the floor reading a book!  She actually ran away from me.  And she did it two other times!!  When I was busy, she would pitter patter away and I found her in the same place picking out some books.  It was so great!  She said she kept forgetting to tell me where she was going :)

Kate in a Bubble

4th

This has been the best day in a long time.  We saw and did so many new things and had fun doing it.  That is the best part.  We went to the parade which started at 8am!  Then there were some fun activities at the park after.  We threw wet sponges at people, watched the slip and slide (she didn't want to go on it because it had dish soap on it), watched people being dunked, listened to Karaoke (she thought she might sing a Selena Gomez song), and so much more!  I just had to take pictures of her, which she wasn't happy about, but oh well.  This was too good not to get a picture of!!  And notice the shorts!!  I have been asking her for several weeks to wear shorts and today she finally did.  Perfect day.

Friends from Brain Balance walked in the parade.

Kate kept this candy.  She won't eat it but she thought it was cute.  Imagine candy flying past you everywhere and not eating it.  She got a Frisbee and a free smoothie coupon.

Bubble fun at the park

Kate deflated

Kate, after they inflated the bubble

Kate moving around the pool in the bubble!!

Shaved ice! Luckily I had some blueberries in the cooler that we could flavor it with.  She was happy to have it, but still wanted some of the bright red flavor that the other kids were getting.

Huge slide!

Chatting with the attendant while getting ready to slide :)



Sitting still

Kate and I went to listen to some music tonight.  There were supposed to be people singing, but they cancelled and some symphony players were there instead.  I told Kate it was classical music and she said she didn't really like that type of music.  But, when I asked her if she wanted to stay she said yes.  She kept asking me questions, always in a whisper.  I told her to wait until the musicians stopped playing, in the breaks between pieces, and ask her questions then.  And she did!!  One time she said that it seemed like we were in a castle because it was fancy and looked royal.  We were in the Tabernacle and there are really high ceilings, fancy molding, tall windows and chandeliers.  We ended up staying for about 35 mintues and then she said she was done.  I said we needed to wait until they were done playing and then we could go.  Without a word, she waited and when they were done, got up and followed me out quietly.

For me this was great because I love classical music and I love to go to the symphony.  It was the first time in a long time that we have been able to do that together and it was a really enjoyable experience.  No one turned around to look at us once!! LOL.  But, really, I was a happy mama. 


I had the 10th session meeting today with Brianna.  She gave me some more homework to do, but this time it is more fun stuff.  YAY.  We need that.  I will put up the areas that she moved up levels another time.

I hope I have good breath

Some days I don't know what to write.  Things happen so fast and then I can't remember what I've blogged about.  So here are some things I think I haven't talked about yet.

Not only is Kate getting dressed by herself, but she is putting her dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  She started doing it with quite alot of encouragement and then one day I walked in the room and saw the clothes that she had worn that day in the laundry basket.  She did it herself without me telling her to.  I was quite excited.  Of course, I didn't say anything, just kept my excitement to myself.  She is still sensitive about people commenting how much they like when she does x y or z.

Today we went jumping at the trampoline place with some friends.  It was fun to see her running around the tramps chasing or being chased.  We all had  a great time and most of us were tired by the end of the hour.  Her friend and partner at BB  could have stayed longer!  He has a ton of energy and is in really good shape!  The rest of us are getting there :)

We had a minor setback yesterday.  Kate was shown a car wash video and she couldn't stop talking about it basically for the rest of the day and into today.  It surely stimulated that left side.  It was a really good lesson for us both.  It reaffirmed my decision to avoid carwashes and carwash videos.  She hasn't had compuuter time in the last few months because it was creating such a disturbance.  It was so hard for her to find new things to do and not focus on carwashes for the rest of the day after she had been online.

I learned today that physical exercise helps to clear that obsession away.  Going to jump really helped to take the focus off carwashes and she was able to talk about a variety of things.  Being out of the house helps immensely.

So, since she has been in the program for a while, we are starting to pinpoint the areas that she gets stuck and encourage her to talk about other topics.  Anything that is new will stimulate the right side and that's what we want.  So, when she asks about carwashes or starts to play with carwash stuff, I have to redirect her and help her find an activity to do that is new.  She doesn't like it one bit.  Hopefully soon she will catch herself and not have to depend on me always telling her to find a new activity.  It is very challenging, but very necessary in order to get that right side strong.

The best part about yesterday was that my friend took Kate for a few hours.  I was so happy to have the place to myself.  I watched a video on Spain and pretended I was there eating tapas and strolling down Las Ramblas.  Beautiful.  And then I took a nap.  I had dinner all ready before Kate could utter the words "I'm STARVING!!!!"  That was nice not to hear that for the fifth time that day.  Thank you my friend!!!!

So it seems each week we are adding new things, reaaranging our schedule, putting things away that have been overused, and trying to keep it fun while switching everything up.  I am sorry to say that keeping it fun and positive have been a challenge for me lately, but I am doing the best I can. 

At the end of the day, at bedtime, Kate and I always make up.  We say our sorrys and snuggle, and she says funny things like "Mommy, I can smell your breath through your nose..."

Jill McCormick

This rocks my world.  Kate was listening to her talk at the beginning and said "Mommy, that's you!  That's what you say!" 

Oh Selena!

It is so great that Kate is in the shower and even better that she is enjoying it enough to sing. She doesn't know I took this recording of her, but I just had to.  She has been singing this song and trying to learn all the words.  I need to get some more songs for her to sing, as this one is turning repetitive.  But it is cute anyway.  She really likes Selena Gomez and likes the video to this song too.

Summer fun

We've been trying to get out of the house early in the mornings because it is already about 90 degrees by 10am sometimes.  Here is a fun park we went to last week. 

 Kate painted her toenails and thumbnails with watercolor pencils.  She scrubbed them and still couldn't get all the color off.  She is coming up with some pretty funny things to do lately.

Assessment #2!

Today it was so awesome to see how much Kate has progressed in just 3 months.  When you see the results just stop and think what it really means.  In some areas that part of her brain has developed 3 years, in just 3 months!!!  That is just amazing to me. 

I know I already posted the primitives but I will put them here again.  The interesting thing is that it shows, since she still has the primitive reflexes, that parts of her brain have not developed past an infant.  All of these reflexes should be gone by age 1, so the parts of the brain that govern these reflexes are still at that age.  So the most important thing for us to focus on is getting these primitive reflexes to integrate.  We want them GONE so she can really take off and not be held back by them anymore!!

The scale goes from 1(weak) to 4(strongest)  (0=GONE)

Rooting- started at a 4, now a 1:   I can tell a difference with this one!  She is less sensitive when I stroke her cheeks.  AND she has been swallowing small capsule supplements for the last few days, YAY!

Moro- started at a 2, now a 2:   We really want this to release, because it is the startle reflex.  It will help her to be more relaxed more of the time.

Grasp-  started at a 1, now a 1:  She is getting a stronger grip for sure, just not releasing the reflex yet.

ASTNR- started at a 2, now a 1

TLR- started at a 4, now a 2:   This is a big decrease!  Her neck muscles have gotten so much stronger and she can hold herself in a ball easier than at the beginning.

STNR- started at a 4, now a 1:  also shows the strength of the neck muscles and ability to hold her body still

Landau- started at a 2, now a 2:  no change, but she is getting a stronger core so it shouldn't be long

Spinal Galant- started at a 4, now a 3:  when this releases her body will be less sensitive to clothing, we are already seeing a change, that she can tolerate different clothes and textures a little, but when this reflex releases the textures won't bother her anymore.  Right now, she is just tolerating some different textures, but her body is still very aware that they don't feel very good.

I will just put the areas that she went up levels:

The most interesting of the assessment was the visagraph test.  She wasn't able to complete this test in the first assessment because it is timed and she wasn't a fast enough reader.  So, this time, she read a story and the computer tracked her eye movements while reading.  She understood 90% of the story and she read at a 1st grade, 5th month level. The amazing part was that the computer showed how her eyes moved as she read.  It is hard to explain, but basically showed that she doesn't read smoothly from word to word from left to right.  She is reading the words well, but her eyes are moving back and forth from left to right and then left again to part of a word she already read.  Does that make sense??  It was a little heartbreaking to think that I used to get frustrated with her because it was so hard for her to read.  Now, it is easy to see why she was having such a hard time.  Her eyes are not working together and they are not developed enough to move smoothly from one word to the next.  It really hit me that so many kids who have a hard time reading would benefit from this simple test.  And it would help parents and teachers so much to know how their eyes are or are not working.  Anyway, it was a real eye opener for me, and I have never really pushed reading for her.

Eye movements-OPK (ability to perform slow and fast eye movements) From level 6 to level 7

Pupillometry- sensitivity to light- from age 6 to age 8- so she is almost at age level for this!!  Her brain developed two years in this area!!

Auditory Processing- processing of sound- From age 10 to age 9- which is good! She is hypersensitive to sound, so she can hear us whispering from the other room!!  Hopefully we can get away with it a little better now :)  And she won't be so sensitive to all of the noises in crowded places and get overstimulated.

Fine motor-  From age 3 to age 6!!!  This is huge!  She progressed 3 years in just 3 months.  I am blown away by this.  So, I can see that it is easier for her to use twist ties and rubber bands.  She is able to write easier and has a stronger grip on markers and pencils.

PRNG- maturity of balance and equilibrium- from level 9 to level 13-  She is able to spin in circles now and not get dizzy.  We jumped around in circles on the trampolines and she was having a blast.  We never had to stop because she got sick, just because we were tired.

CORE
Supine- from age 4 to age 8, 4 years growth!!!
Prone- from age 6 to age 8
Lateral-  from age 4 to age 7
Brachiation(holding her body up above the monkey bar) from age 4 to age 11!!
Sit ups- from age 4 to age 5
Push ups- stayed the same at age 4, she is getting stronger but push ups are still hard for her although we work on them every day!
These core exercises are really important because they all are strengthening the right side of the brain.  So, to see so much growth means that her right side is getting stronger.

Gait and Aerobics-balance and using both sides of the brain at the same time- from age 4 to age 7!


This progress was fun to see on paper.  There are still some areas that are staying the same and they will focus on those this session.  We hope the primitives will fade away soon so that those parts of the brain can grow and develop to age level.  It is amazing to me that different parts of her brain can be at such different ages.  Some parts are at an infant level, some are at an 11 year old level, some an 8 year old, some a 5 year old.
 
So, for right now, even though we are seeing changes in Kate, some things will stay the same until we have the primitives gone and then the body and brain can develop and then we will see even more changes in the things Kate is able to do.  It is quite a process to witness.  But it is a process, first this, then that.  Tammy keeps saying "We are setting the foundation and the development will follow."  We will continue to see development throughout the next year, and beyond....

Little presents

Everyday, no matter the day, I keep seeing these little lights.  Sometimes they flicker quick and go out and sometimes they stay for a while and I drink in their beauty.  Staring in awe.  All it takes to see them is to quiet the mind, look carefully, look closely, with wonder.  Always wonder, what will I see next?  And wait with anticipation and excitement.  And you will see them too.

Grand Opening

We were lucky to attend the Grand Opening Party at Brain Balance this week.  Grandma Shauna, Aunt Linda and Grandma Linde came to the ribbon cutting.  Dr. Melillo was here and we got to meet him and ask him questions.  Kate asked if it was left brain(repetitive) to listen to the Brain Balance music 5 times a day :)  Dr. Melillo said no and Kate replied "I guess it's only left brain if it's things you like".  Haha.  She's got it!  Kate had fun with her friends playing in the sand and jumping in the bounce house.  And some of the food was on our diet, of course, so she was super excited to be able to eat lunch there.  She had 3 servings of the chicken!!  For once, we got to eat the food at a party  ;)

Sand box and some welcomed shade. 

Ribbon Cutting!

Kate, Aubree, and Andy's accomplishments



Dr Melillo

Later that evening, we attended a lecture by Dr. Melillo.  It was so helpful!  All that he was saying brought everything together for me in a clear way.  It was really inspiring.  Kate and Grandma Shauna were there and at one point, Kate leaned over to me and said "What is autism??"  Interesting. 

I will just share a few points that he talked about:

He talked alot about the functional disconnect in the brain of kids with learning differences, ADD, ADHD, ASD etc.  Basically, there are parts of the brain that are at different ages.  The brain didn't develop, for a variety of reasons, at the same rate.  So that is why we see kids who are brilliant in some areas and struggling in other areas. 

He talked about the brain being like a symphony.  If there are a few instruments playing out of tempo, then it affects the whole sound of the music.  You can't just tell all of those players to speed up, because maybe one of them is playing too slow.  You have to address each musician and have it play the right tempo.

So, the kids with the label ADHD have, say, 10 instruments(or parts of the brain) out of tempo. And kids with ASD(autism spectrum disorder) have 30 out of tempo.  We have to pinpoint what parts of the brain are out of tempo and either slow them down or speed them up to match the rest of the brain.  Then, the whole brain can work together.

The other interesting point he said was that people used to think that at conception the DNA was essentially wiped clean.  That the developing baby got a brand new set of DNA.  Now the research shows that all of the mom's and dad's marks(I can't remember what he called them, but all of the toxins, health issues, etc that affect the DNA) get passed on to the embryo. 


It was a really great talk.  I know I keep saying that, but it was the highlight of my week.  They are making a DVD of it so if anyone is interested, just let me know. 

The funniest part of the night was when Dr. Melillo said Aspergers and of course it sounds like ass-burgers.  Well, Kate looked at me with the funniest expression and pointed to her bum with this questioning look.  "Like???" and pointed to her bum again.  It was so funny.  I had to explain that the word starts with that sound but it is just a name.  She is cracking me up more and more as she becomes more aware.

Cars

The other day Kate and I played with this vehicle(I don't know what to call it, hehe) for at least 20 minutes.  It started by her rolling it to me across the carpet.  We played with it like that for a while.  Then we took it in the bathroom on the vinyl floor and tested it out there.  It was really fun!!  We have never really played with cars or vehicles, she was never interested.  Anyway, she got the idea for salamander to have a ride.  So we taped salamander to it and had fun zooming salamander around.  Kate would say these funny comments that salamander was saying, like "whoa, that was too fast" or "weeeeee" in salamander's funny voice.

It seems like a simple thing, but it is really big!  We were laughing and sharing this fun experience together, taking turns passing the vehicle back and forth, looking at each other in the eyes, and experimenting with how soft or hard to push it so it would go where we wanted.  And it was all new.  It was cool to see Kate enjoying it so much since it was something that she never paid attention to or enjoyed before.

Feel it

Everything is valid and everything is truthful, because Law of Attraction lets everything be. The question is not whether it's right or wrong, whether their approach is right or wrong, or whether my approach is right or wrong. The question is: Does their approach feel good to me? And if it doesn't, then I choose a different approach.

--- Abraham


I am into the Law of Attraction so this quote was especially meaningful to me today.  There are so many opinions about parenting and in the past I had a lot of them!!  In early childhood education there are standards and best practices and developmental models.  Billions of books are written on the subject each with their own flavor.  All of that is fine, but I am finding that lately it is more important for me to parent by what feels good to me.  When I see or learn new ways of doing something, I always notice how that feels to me.  Like today when I heard a mom in the store say "NOW!!" to her child.  I cringed when I heard it.  That doesn't feel good to me, even though I have said that to Kate a time or two.  And it was probably today, lol.  So, even though I do things that don't feel good to me, I notice those things and try next time to act in a way that does feel good.  It is a constant process for me, but noticing what feels good to me and my body helps me to discover who I am and how I naturally parent.  Books and education and other people can provide the ideas or approach, but each person finds what is meaningful.  And it's cool that everyone gets that chance to notice what feels good to them because we are each unique.

Back at it

After about a week at home, we are back and Kate had a session today.  So we are on a roll again.  Since she was sick for several days last week she has lost some strength and the exercises are very tiring again.  Once she gets back on the supplements and does some core exercises, I hope it will come back quickly.  The last few nights she has gotten to bed pretty late so hopefully tonight she can get some good sleep.  Yesterday was the Grand Opening Party!!  I will write about that later.  But, the coolest thing was that she referred to her BB partner as her friend. It was so sweet.  He is 10 and doesn't have many friends (according to his mom) but Kate thinks he is so funny. 

There has been a lot going on lately that I want to catch up writing about.  But, not tonight.  Just wanted to give a quick update.

Weird

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

 

:: Weird Is Good! ::

Our culture is full of contradictions. For example,
it's good to be unique and original, but it's not good
to go too far off the beaten path... "Don't be *weird*!"

But aren't uniqueness and originality weird by
definition?

So let's settle this once and for all: It's *good* to
be weird! In fact, the words *weird* and *worthy* have
the same root. (Really!)

If you subscribe to "The Daily Groove," you're
probably a weird parent. You don't *do* conventional
parenting, and you probably get strange looks from
parents who do. If you think they think you're weird,
it's because they do!

But only because YOU ARE! :-)

So get a piece of paper and write "Weird Things I Do"
along the top, then make a list... a LONG list.

When you're done, cross out "Weird Things I Do" and
change it to "Things I Appreciate About Myself!"

Now, whenever someone points out your weirdness, you
can proudly agree and accept the compliment: "Thanks!" :-)

 

Our family does some pretty "weird" stuff in the name of healing and wellness.  And I am so grateful for it!!!  We are benefitting so much, even if other people cannot or choose not to see it that way.  I am weird and so is my kid!  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sunblock

I know...I should be packing but I just had to write this down.

Today we went swimming.  It was 100 degrees!
Kate changed out of her pants and put her swim shorts on by herself without any hesitation.  AND, she didn't wear her jammy pants underneath like usual.  Then, she let me put sunblock on her!!  She hasn't let me do that for the past few summers.  She had so much fun playing with the kids.  AND, when it was time to go, we left.  Easily.  Smoothly.  No protesting.  Wow.

Primitives

We weren't able to do the assessment report today but I asked if Brianna could share the results to the primitives and she just called me!  All of our persistence and Kate's hard work has paid off.  She is losing her primitive reflexes!!

Here are the results from her 1st assessment in February:

The levels are from 1-4 with 4 being highest or most prominent:

Rooting-4
Moro-2
Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex-2
Grasp-1
Tonic labyrinthine reflex-4
Landau-2
Initial Spinal Galant-4
Symmetrical Tonic Neck reflex-4

Here are yesterday's results( I am missing some)

Rooting-1
Moro-2
Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex-1
Grasp-1
Tonic labyrinthine reflex-2
Landau-2
Initial Spinal Galant-3
Symmetrical Tonic Neck reflex-1

So, the bottom line is that we only have to do one exercise 5 times a day and that is snow angel which she likes anyway!  The rest we can keep doing 3 times a day.  So I am happy about that.  Of course, doing any of these 5 times a day will help them go away quicker, but right now we are both happy for a little break!!

This week

It has been a busy week.  Kate had her assessment this week so we have been at the center every day this week!  She is glad that the assessments are done.  Tomorrow, they will go over the results and see how much she has gained these last 3 months. 

We have been going to the park or somewhere every morning.  Well today we didn't go anywhere and she was in a less happy mood and more repetitive.  So, I think getting out in the morning is really critical for us.

I got some work done on my back and neck yesterday.  There was a free coupon for an chiropractic adjustment and I used it.  I really liked the clinic!  They have lots of detox options and the doctor was really nice.  Kate was disgusted by the looks of the foot bath that someone was doing.  Brown, curdled water just grossed her out!  I had to give her a healing while I was getting my treatment.  It didn't work very well and she woke up in the night and asked me to clear the rest of it out.  When she woke up in the morning she said she could think about the foot bath and not be grossed out.  Anyway, the doctor said that I was in alignment but my muscles are super tight.  So he worked on them for a while and I am so sore today.  He asked where I hold my stress, HAHA, of course in my back and neck.  So I need to attend to that a little better.  I wonder what else we can be doing for Kate as well.  I will take her for an appointment and see what they have to say. 

On Saturday we will head home for a few days.  So I may or may not update the blog when I am there.  I am going to focus on relaxing and spending time with Matt and friends.  But, I will try to give an update tomorrow about the assessment results before I leave.

Shopping!

Today after Brain Balance, Kate and I went shopping.  She was in such a good mood!!  She only has a few pairs of shorts and I thought maybe if she had some new pairs that she picked out, she would be fine with the switch to shorts instead of wearing fuzzy fleece pants.  It has been in the 90s this week!!

So, we went to a few stores and I showed her some of the shorts that I thought were cute.  Finally, she picked out a patchwork pair that she liked!  She also picked out a blue pair of shorts and a fuzzy long sleeve shirt at Walmart.  And the funny thing is that she wanted to shop some more.  So we went into The Children's Place and she found some flip flops that she liked.

So usually when we go shopping she will say she likes something and then when we get home she won't try it on or wear it.  Ever.  But, today was different!  She tried both shorts on and continued to wear the patchwork pair to do exercises!!  Pretty cool.  We will have to see if she wears them next week when it is hot again.

A Visual

Here is the new list of exercises we do each day.  I wrote everything down so Kate could see how many we have to do and I can show her how many are left if she is having a hard time.  I wrote down the times and which set of exercises we are doing.  We also wrote down Kate's incentives that she can spend her stickers on.  I think she likes being able to see everything and it seems helpful.  And the cool thing is that she can read it all now, we don't need pictures!

Car Wash

Kate is enjoying drawing!