Our Autism Journey-Part III

 Therapy and life as we know it

*Note: I am not an expert. I am just a Mom who is doing the best I can while trying to make the best decisions for my family.*

When we got pregnant with Big, I lost my job. Actually, I lost my job the same morning that we found out that we were pregnant.

We chose to see this as a blessing.

We had just lost a baby early the previous year and my income wasn't enough to pay for insurance and daycare, so in the long run, it would save us money for me to stay home. We decided that I would stay home for the duration of my pregnancy and the first year with the baby and then we would start looking into me going back to work.

Now that we had a diagnosis, those plans changed.

There was absolutely no way for us to manage the enormous amount of therapy that Big needed if I went back to work and it was impossible for us to hire someone to care of him and manage all of his therapies.

So, that left me responsible for the remaining 23 hours of therapy a week that we wouldn't get from private and home therapy.

We ended up not being able to afford the ABA therapy that Big needed.

Shockingly , this awesome therapy that is proven to help children on the spectrum is not covered by our or any other insurance that is offered in our state. 

I was baffled but I knew that he needed it and still needs it.

Therefore, I watched video after video online. I read articles, spoke with his therapists and his pediatrician and also scoured Pinterest for any and everything I could find to get us started.

I made schedules and picture books and made sure to include him in everyday tasks to try and teach him how things work and why they work that way. I looked into a Montessori style approach and I've just blended and shifted things as we go to make them work for what Big needs.

      We played.

Oh we played and still play. 

Play therapy is my favorite.

You can really get to know a child, typical or A-typical, best by just playing with them. No expectations, as few rules as possible, and just pure imagination.

That's what we do.

I try to make sure that we have a balance of work and play.

I am a strong believer in letting children be children. Even the children who may do things differently or express themselves differently deserve to have free play where there is no one directing them or making them play "appropriately".

I knew that I wanted to give Big freedom to be himself from the start and as long as he wasn't endangering or hurting himself, then I let him have at it.

 I let him stim to his little heart's content when he has free play time and I think it really helps him.

     Before Little was born we were doing 15 minutes worth of an activity or type of therapy 4 separate times in the morning and 4 in the afternoon which ended up totaling 4 hours a day worth of therapy.

Since my last trimester with Little and up to now it is more like 2 hours total of therapy a day and we still have private Speech and Occupational Therapy.

We have slowly transformed his play room into more of a therapy room.

He has a small indoor trampoline, a make shift ball pit, toddler mattress and pillows to use as a calm down corner or even a crash pad, a calm down tent and sensory toys galor.

We decided after Little got here that they would share a bedroom (or their clothes and furniture would share a room since they are both still co-sleeping with us) so that we could make sure that all areas have a distinct purpose (e.g. Play room is for toys, bedroom is for rest and sleep, kitchen is for eating). it makes things a little easier for us.

   We initially started with home therapy through our states Early Intervention Program but this year Big moved from that
program to a School program. 

This was a terrifying step for me because I hadn't decided that I wanted to put him into a Public School yet.

I still considered that decision being 2 years into the future.

 I'll be honest. I panicked at the thought sending a child with multiple food allergies, asthma, autism and sensory issues to school where I couldn't tell people what he was trying to say or what he was telling them with his body language and stimming.

I've spent the last 2 years watching him and learning him.

The thought of sending him off to someone who didn't know him or understand him made me freak out on the inside and a little on the outside too.

 But, I knew with a new baby in the mix and the levels of stress that any special needs mom has to power through was going to be a lot.

We didn't really have anyone who was pro-school in our family either which made the decision even harder for me.

The Grandparents more especially weren't thrilled about it.

Ultimately, we had to make the best decision for Big and I really felt like I was slacking with his therapies. We came to the conclusion that he could only benefit from being in a structured environment with professionals who know what they're doing. Opposed to sticking with me and a new baby all day and not getting the things he needs.

We of course did a few interviews and got everything squared away and we started him at the beginning of this school year.

It was the best decision we've made for him.

He absolutely loves it.

The little baby who used to cry when I would drop him off 2 doors down from our classroom at Church is now waving me bye so he can go have fun with his class.

We have been blessed with teachers that he loves and loves him and he seems to like the other kids as far as we can tell.

 He is still a little awkward with how he approaches other children but I feel like having him around them part of the week can only help him build stronger social skills.

Since we added the new baby to our circus in April he has done wonderful. He adjusting almost immediately and really seems to love his little brother.

 He holds his hand and gives him kisses and lets him pull his hair without a complaint.

We are still learning how to live in this crazy world just like everyone else on this planet. We are taking on challenges as they come and we are trying to live a full, happy, joy filled life.

We want others to see our life and know that Autism is not the end of the world.

In fact, you get to live in a world full of creativity and awesomeness that a lot of other people won't get to experience.
There are hard days but there are way more awesome days, you just have to wake up and choose joy.

We live on this great big spectrum of what happiness can be. This is our end of the spectrum and we look forward to how this life will grow us and use us.