Just wanted to take a minute to update everyone on Gavin's progress. He began preschool at the end of August. He is a full time student in a PDD program. Overall, he had a great transition to school. Gavin loves school. I transferred to teach at the same school that he is attending. This way, he comes in with me, and leaves with me. The plus side....one less drop off in the morning, one less pick up in the afternoon. The down side...it can be difficult before school and after school to try to get things done in my classroom due to the fact that he is "all over" the place. Since the start of school, Gavin has mastered drinking from a juice box. We are now working on drinking from a cup. We started potty training last week. He has been dry the past three consecutive days at school. He has had a few accidents at home. Gavin loves verbal praise. Every time he successfully goes on the potty, he will look at me and say, "good boy!". We are blessed to have been given such a wonderful teacher for Gavin. I can't say enough incredible things about Lynne. You can tell she loves what she does and makes such an impact on her students. The challenge about potty training is that he LOVES playing in water. So, he independently puts himself on the potty every ten minutes. Good thing, right. Well, as he sits on the toilet, he loves to play in the toilet water. The more of a reaction you give him, the more he will do it. So, right now I feel like I spend my entire day in the bathroom. Physically redirecting him out of the toilet while trying to make no eye contact. After an hour of this, I can feel my patience starting to fade. Lately, Gavin has been obsessed with lights, buttons, and doors. He is constantly shutting and opening doors, shutting off and putting on lights, and pressing any button that he can find. One night last week, I came downstairs after putting the boys to bed and noticed the house had a funny odor. It smelled like something was burning. Well, I quickly noticed that Gavin had turned all the thermostats up to 90! Ugh! So, you could call my house, "The house of signs." There are "STOP" signs, "Do not enter" signs, and "Do not touch" signs over anything and everything! His new thing is that he likes to take the sign off, look at you, and say "Do not touch!" all while he is touching what he is not suppose to be touching. Again, the more of a reaction you give him, the more he does it. Some days are just so EXHAUSTING!! Last weekend was just so exhausting for me. I actually cried myself to sleep. I told God that I really don't know if I can do this. Can I really be Gavin's mom? I just wasn't sure if I could do this anymore. I then asked him for the strength to keep me going. Some days I really depend on my faith to get me through.
I also carry this guilt inside my heart that I neglect my other children. William is so laid back and such a big help. My middle man, Landon, is the "spicy" one. He can be defiant and stubborn. After a long talk with their pediatrician about whether I need to have them see a therapist in fear that I am "scarring" them, she assured me that they do not need therapy. They just need outlets. William's outlet is football and friends. Phil coaches his team. So, it is good alone time with dad. We have searched all year for outlets for Landon. We finally signed him up to be a cub scout. He will be in the same pack as his best buddy, Zach. This is something that Landon can do with his dad all by himself. He is very excited about it.
Gavin is currently on a waiting list for the Autism Language Program at Children's Hospital. We are hoping that he will be able to get an appointment by January/February. We also had to have genetic testing done on him. Long story short, his genetic testing showed a deletion on his 14th chromosome. The chromosome is there, just has a deletion on it. So far we have no answers about this. We have been given the run around due to insurance!! The insurance will not cover all the genetic testing. The only thing the doctors can tell us is that it may be linked to ALS/Lou Gerig's Disease. We need to have more testing done in order to get more answers. However, that may mean thousands of dollars out of our pockets. So frustrating!!
I have had the opportunity to talk with parents or family members of children around Gavin's age who have recently received an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis. This has been therapeutic for me in more ways then one. It feels like I am doing something good, somehow, someway I am helping them. Even if all I am doing is listening.
And then there are our good 'Gavin' days......the days that his smile melts your heart. The days that he gives you a big hug. The days that he says a new word. The days that you walk into the room, he looks at you and says, "Hi mama!". The days that I see his siblings interact with him with such love for him. The day that his cousin, Tealei, tells her teacher that her favorite group is the "G-Man Group!". The days that I hear him mimic his teacher by saying, "One more minute guys.". The days that I hear him sing a song. The days that I can share his story with people like you.
Thanks for taking the time to check in.
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