Update

Just a small update on Dylan!  He is doing amazing!  We have had so many good days these past couple months, minus destroying 3 bathrooms in 5 minutes the other night(toothpaste, soap, toothbrush down sink, etc.), and we are loving it!  He has not  peed or pooped in his room in a couple months(knock on wood) and we even got rid of his toilet, like threw it in the garbage, it no longer exists here!  That is a big deal!!!  He has been so happy and engaging lately, but he still likes to be on his own to watch his shows so we need to figure out how to get rid of that and fully engage with him but it is a work in process!  He has spring fever and has been going out and playing on the swing set a lot!  He is trying to communicate with us more and I love it!  He has gone in stretches of sleeping in until 7 but then we have stretches of waking up at 5, but either way he is sleeping and that is good!  I hear a lot of kids on the spectrum do not sleep, and woah I just couldn't do that, so I am thankful for sleep!

My kids have been sick pretty much the past couple months and Boston finally got diagnosed with Strep so they put all the kids on Amoxicillin.  I was actually a bit giddy about it because I have wondered about PANDAS with Dylan, strep throughout your body attacking the brain pretty much, and so I wanted to see if we see any improvement while on the medicine.  He has been very happy and more engaging since, but nothing mind blowing, but still something to watch.  Dr Goldberg wants us to have him tested for strep 24-48 hours after medication is done to make sure the strep is gone, so we'll see in a couple days!  So I just wanted a quick update because I haven't done anything for a bit and here is a quick update in the 15 minutes I have to spare!

1 Year Speech Assessment

Dylan recently had his 1 year speech assessment and I have to say I left there feeling amazing!  I know he has made some improvements but being with him everyday makes it hard to see how far he has come in a year.  He is really starting to make a lot of vocal sounds and we are focusing on getting his tongue to move so that he can place it in the correct location to say different sounds.  The speech therapist seems to be really impressed with how far he has come and where he is going, so that makes me one happy Momma!  And don't forget, proud as heck because he is working so hard!  We are focusing on consonant-vowel-consonant sounds and he is doing great!  He really follows along in Speech and is just doing amazing!  Here is his report:

UAA Parent Meeting

I met with Dylan's school for his 6 month progress report.  It is a bitter sweet meeting every time because I get to hear how awesome Dylan is and how much they love him and his cute little personality and that he is improving... but it is also pointed out at how far behind he is for his age too.  That can be a tough pill to swallow but I have decided not to focus on the bad and instead to celebrate the good!  The only skill he is right on target of his age group is his gross motor skills, so yay Dylan!  Too bad for him is because of the head trauma this Momma won't be letting him play any high contact sports anytime soon, if ever, aaaahhh.  I know but I just can't chance it causing a regression again.  But I know he has much more healing to go before we even get to the "if" he will ever play.  They said he is  making great progress and they are very pleased with how far he has progressed in this past year.  They said that his vocalization is getting really good and they are seeing so much more trying out of him and we are too.  He has met several of his goals such as responding to sounds near and far, giving up requested items(sharing), Rolling and catching, requesting items with his AAC device(something we need to use at home but haven't tried because it overwhelms me of where to begin setting it up),  and imitating play!  I know they are all simple goals but he is improving and that is all we can hope for.  He really does seem to be trying harder on talking so I hope and pray that comes soon!  Here is his progress reports:

We really love the people that work with him and know he is in good hands here.  I just wish they focused a little bit on education, like just the basics is all I ask, but they don't and so I don't know that this will be a long term solution for us.  I know he is a smart kid and he deserves an education too.  They have definitely pushed Dylan and got him to where he is today, and they deserve the credit.  Lately some of the updates I get is that he is sitting through the whole 25 minutes or so of story time at the Library, we all know I can't get him to sit for 2 minutes so this school has its very good points and I don't regret sending him here at all.  Now that he is getting to the age of school, I do think he needs to learn as well.  So we will probably get him back in the school system next year, but the credit of him learning to sit through lessons will go to UAA!

Speech Therapy is going pretty well and the therapist seems to be impressed with the progress he is making as well.  He has been saying his vowel sounds really well lately and even repeating many of the things she asks him.  Pam had us order this Speech Buddy tool to help him learn the placement of where his tongue needs to go.  She is focusing on the letters that you need to put your tongue behind your upper teeth right now because she notices that is where he struggles.  She said a true sign of Oral apraxia is that when having him stick his tongue out he also moves his head, so if we can get his tongue working correctly she thinks we will be at a great starting point and could see him blossom from there.

Dr Goldberg has changed his Lexapro medicine to Celexa and had us increase that from 1 1/4 tablet to 1 1/2 tablet last week.  He does seem to be a lot happier and more engaged lately!  I just need to get myself out of this long, long, burn out mode and start working with him!  I know we are a major part of his improvement but dang I just can't get myself to put in the work lately, with him or his younger sister that could use the help with her letters and numbers.  We also need to really focus on EATING, which is another hard part for me and I have no idea how to really enforce it, but that is my next goal.  We have to change this families way of eating and we need to do it now, so wish me luck!

We are really proud of Dylan and know that his life is a daily struggle but he is doing amazing at it!  I tell him everyday that I am a lucky Mom because no one else gets to say that he is their son and I am the luckiest because of it!  We make a great team and we will conquer!