Mercury be gone!

30 days since my last blog post?  Jeepers, Mercury was certainly in retrograde!  Very poor communication on my part.

We have had a busy month that included an illness, Halloween festivities,  a very first train ride and the first quarter school report.

Illness and Autism are always full of fun.  Fighting to get fever-reducers in her when she felt so awful was much like trying to herd cats, only the cats were 40 lbs each and fought back.  Her croupy cough made me cringe every time I heard it.  I took her to the doctor twice, which is always full of adventure.  She actually did well with the exams  and no "owies" were given so it didn't seem all bad.  My homeopathic remedy kit saved the day as those pellets are so tiny she never fought me on it.  They worked VERY well and I was thrilled to have them.

Examination at the doctor

Chairs lined up neatly in the waiting room

Witch girl

Halloween included 3 different costumes.  The one I planned only worked for 1 event, she didn't want it on at all after that.  I have no clue why.  The next event I made a make-shift pirate costume from playset items and putting her in jeans and an oversized shirt.  The night of Halloween brought rain and cold.   So, off to find a costume that had a little more water-proofness to it.  Great deals on Halloween for costumes, just FYI!

SpiderGirl

Pirate Girl

Her first train ride was full of adventure.  Watching her face as the train pulled into the station and her sudden realization that she was getting ON it, was priceless!  We enjoyed a day with Grandma and Grandpa and time at the zoo.   The train ride itself went off without a hitch.  Grandma had plenty of snacks and goodies in her bag to keep a 3 year old happy and busy.

Wearing the Conductor's hat!

My first parent-teacher conference was a very positive one.  It was nice to sit down one on one with the teacher and talk about my girl.  She's making good progress, only had to do time-out a couple times and continues to adjust to the school environment.  I so appreciate all the detail and love that these folks put into my kids education.  It's their passion and you can see it.  Nea is the class clown, which is no surprise considering the home she lives in.  We are all a little nutty here.

She's still getting private OT services with the therapist that's been with her since her diagnosis.  She shared with me concerns about Nea's speech patterns and felt that a return to private speech therapy might be warranted.  Admittedly, that set me back a bit.  Nea still does jargon speech (especially when excited or upset) and uses repetitive phrasing.  She has a handful of phrases that she uses on a frequent basis, and we haven't really seen many new ones. Even though she gets speech in the school it focuses more on social interactions and practical communication. I spoke to Diana and she will be starting up again with her in December. She'll be focusing more on articulation, trying to dissect that jargon and helping with more communication tools.  It's a never-ending saga when it comes to therapies.  Just when you think you have it figured out it changes in a heartbeat.

We head this weekend for evaluation of a possible start in equine therapy.  Equine therapy (working with horses) is a great opportunity for kids with Autism.  It can teach her bonding, communication, balance, core strength, sensory integration, etc.  Nea is very young at this point, but they want to meet her and evaluate her to see how she does.  If they think that she would be a good fit with the program, then she would be the youngest at this facility.  They also have group activities for kids, so socialization skills will get some attention as well.

If I've learned anything on this journey it's simply this.

Sometimes, you have to jump.