Well, again it's been awhile since I have posted. I really need to work on that and get better at updating more often. Oh well...Life is crazy busy and sometimes just gets in the way. Since the new year there has been many new things that have happened and outcomes that have been made. Hunter continues to make great progress with his therapies and we will be cutting down back on how often we are going. The OT has been amazing but at this point is at a stand still. Hunter isn't showing as much progress as he was so the therapist is going to have him stop for awhile and then we'll hit it hard again in a few months. Hunter has grown quite a bit and we need the muscles to catch up so we can work them again. His therapist has put him out to once a month and that's great. Our home life has been much better lately. Hunter still has his moments, but not nearly as many as he used to. When he has those moments I can't believe that we used to deal with that everyday. When that happens is when you can really see the progress. Hunter is still taking his supplements and is gluten free. The gluten free has really been amazing to see the change in his behavior. When he does get into gluten he reverts back to the "old" Hunter, the naughty, yelling, agitated, and over stimulated Hunter. I believe I've made my point to way he needs to be gluten free and the family agrees with me. (I love when I'm right) School has been going OK, I think it could be better and he could try harder to get his work done when it's suppose to be done. Homework is still an issue for us, and a battle, but it's getting done fast and more efficient lately. We were once again denied a special ed evaluation for him at school. I really have a hard time with this...He has a sensory disorder that is treated with OT, and the school has an OT on staff, but because I won't let his DX in his medical record say that he has ADHD they won't give him OT services, He's to smart for special ED. Here goes my issues with that...Special Ed doesn't always mean SLOW!! ARGH! It's frustrating to me. So, I'm over the fact that he can't have OT at school. I continue to take him once a week and yes he does miss some school and yes I do miss some work, but you have to do what you have to do for your children. We decided to try to qualify for a 504 plan, this would allow for certain accommodations for him in the classroom. Like to type a paper instead of write it. (he has a writing deficit) I had notes from his OT, and a letter from his therapist and a meeting with the school and they discussed it for a month and then denied him the plan. His teachers that he has right now are allowing these accommodations and it's really helping him, but my question is will other teachers in the future? I'm going to try again next quarter when they have notes from the teachers stating that it's helpful to him and it is a good thing. I don't like being mad at his school, I LOVE his school and it's really tough being angry with something that you love. So I guess we just play the waiting game and either they give in or I give up...Pretty sure we all know what's going to happen....this mom doesn't give up. I'm also going to have some new testing done on Hunter, it's testing for neurotransmitters and we're going to be able to tell what's over firing and what's under firing and then get on the right RX for supplements. I'm still refusing to treat him with meds, and that's why I can't get him the services at school. I believe that his ADHD comes from his sensory disorder, if we get rid of the sensory issues then the ADHD will cease to exist. Why would have have him DX with ADHD if it's due to something else and I believe we can fix it??? I'm not going to put my child on meds for ADHD to only make him more anxious and need meds for that and then that makes him not sleep so he'll need meds for that, but they make him want to throw up so he'll need meds for that...Pretty soon your child is on so many meds for side effect reasons that they aren't themselves anymore. I just can't do that to my son. Not at this point anyways. (that's my rant on that)
With all that being said I hope I made sense...LOL
My future goals are to figure out how to help my child to succeed in school to his potential not someone else's standards. I want to get these tests done and get his supplements going, and eventually not have to go to therapies unless to just check in.I see that in our future.
OH on a side note...Hunter had a birthday and is 9 now! We had a wonderful party with swimming and friends. Lexi made an amazing gluten free cake and it was SO yummy!!!
All right, I'm off for now. Remember to keep positive and everything will happen. You have to stay strong and stick to what you believe in!!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Cheers to a new year
Welcome to the year 2012! This is the year that I feel everything is going to be worth it. Through all the struggles we've been through, all the breakthroughs we've had and all the new adventures life has brought to us over the last year. This is the year that it's all going to make sense. I feel it, I'm staying positive about the future. I've set the standards pretty high for this year. I've never made a new years resolution, partly because I can't deal with disappointment that well. I understand that no one really enjoys disappointment, however it does come and you do have to deal with it. I feel that you don't have to set yourself up for disappointment, and if you don't then when it does come knocking on your door it's a little bit easier to answer and deal with. With that being said I'd like to recap (the short version) of what the last year has meant to me.
Let's start with January 2011, My middle child (Hunter) turned 8 years old. It's still hard to believe and now he's going to be 9 in a few short weeks. In February of 2011 is when we started therapy to help learn to deal with his anger issues. We still continue to go to therapy, but we know so much more now. Fast forward to May 2011, and my husband graduate college with an architectural technology degree. This was over 2 years of being laid off. I'm so proud of him. He took something negative and turned it into a positive situation. In the mean time I was the only one employed and life was difficult. It's hard enough when you have a child that needs therapies and your trying to work through those issues, but toss on the financial difficulties and you have so much more unwanted stress. We made it through it, sometimes we thought we were fighting a loosing battle with ourselves, but again fast forward to July and my husband is employed. This is a dream we were waiting for. He has a career and it is what he went to school for. Life is getting easier. Jack is back in daycare and loving his preschool schedule. The older two are enjoying their summer and we all have something to be proud of. Things with Hunter are getting better at this time, we are seeing changes, and they are positive. I know there isn't a magic key or button and all is better, but any progress is good progress. September was back to school month and we are always so excited for this month. The kids get back to reality. Things get busier with activities but it's life and we all enjoy life more on a schedule. We've had a wonderfully calm winter and I'm so happy about that. I really don't like the cold. It makes everyone a little bit more cranky. When the kids can get outside they burn energy and then we don't have as much trouble with getting along. We still have issues here and there, but they are less and easier to deal with. Hunter is still on his gluten free diet and I believe that it really is making a difference in his behavior. We continue to see his therapist and OT, PT has been put a on hold due to schedules, but I hope that we can get back into seeing his PT soon. We also had a new adventure just the other day. We are trying reflexology. In easy to explain terms this is the belief that everything in the body is connected down to the feet and you can "clean" out the body's systems by working on the feet. It feels amazing and if we can see progress with it, then I'm sold! I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but I am totally into holistic healing. I believe that our body's systems are one and if anything is thrown off in any system it can cause problems in another system. I believe in natural healing. I don't like medication, but I do get that sometimes you need it. When we get strep throat we take meds. There are somethings that you just don't mess with. I do not believe in mediating issues that can be "fixed" naturally, or at least not without trying all the natural approaches first. If it's not a life threatening issue then there is time to try the natural approach. This belief became even more strong when I myself had a horrible rare side effect reaction to an allergy/asthma medication. I've never been more afraid in my life, my husband thought I was dying. It was a very scary week long ordeal. Needless to say, I'd rather have a runny, plugged up nose then ever be afraid for my life again trying to get rid of it. Last night, New years day Eric and I watched a documentary called "The Medicated Child" here is my personal review on it....HOLY MOLY! NO WAY!!! I couldn't believe it. This made my views on not medicating even stronger. If you haven't seen it I suggest you watch it. I can't even begin to explain all of it. It's something you have to see for yourself.
Now back to why I feel this year is going to be great....I have two home businesses, I'm going to give them my all this year. I'm really going to take charge and see what I can become with them. Who knows maybe someday you'll all be reading about my success. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Next, I am going to take charge of our finances...My goal is to work on being debt free, with the exception of our house. We don't have any credit cards and I want to keep it that way. If we don't have the cash for it, then we don't get it. This sometimes is not a blessing..example today Eric car battery went dead...We can't get another battery until payday..so until Friday we will be a one car family. Kind of hard when we have children going in two different directions, but we can do it, we can do anything. Nothing can stop us, we are unstoppable together. Another goal is to be better organized. I'm a fairly decent organized person. I call it disorganized organization. I know where everything is, but it has no rhyme or reason. I'm going to fix that. I'm open to any suggestions. I have a feeling that Hunter is going to become an amazing young man this year. That we'll be able to back off of the therapies a little bit so he doesn't have to miss school. And that brings me to the subject of school....I'm a bit upset with the system lately. The school has an OT on staff...We see an OT once a week..My thought is well he can see the OT at school then he doesn't have to miss half a day once a week. WRONG...They can't give him OT services at school unless he qualifies for special ed...Ok, then let's get him qualified for special ed..WRONG again...They won't give him a special ed evaluation because his grades are good. Like I've mentioned before Hunter is very smart. Skipped a grade, and he's in the highest reading class they have. I get that his grades are good, but could they be better? Could he excel even more? He has a handwriting disorder. Because of the ISD it hurts him to write. So his writing grades are low, shouldn't that be enough? He can read at an 11th grade level but writes at a 2nd grade level. He can speak the answers, but just can't get them on paper. To me that would make sense if they called him "special ed" for writing. I don't really understand all of it and what is all involved with the process. I'm learning but there is no much information out there on it all. We are going to meet about a 504 plan where he can get special accommodations in class to help him, such as typing instead of writing. Now the main question I have is....Why does special ed mean slow? It drives me crazy. He attends an amazing school and this is the only time I've had an issue with the way things are dealt with. However, if he had a medical diagnosis of ADHD and on medication then he would qualify no questions asked...but I don't believe in medicating him..it's a catch 22 and it ticks me off. Someday things will change. Children will succeed and not have to be medicated or labeled to do so.
These are my goals and I sure hope that I can stick to them and not disappoint myself or the ones around me. I know I can do it and I want to update with the progress of everything. How therapy is going for Hunter and the reaching of my goals. I can do it, and if I can do it then so can anyone else. Life is going to change for the better. Instead of two steps ahead one step behind, we're going to always look forward and keep our eye on the prize. 2012 is going to be the year that everything has been worth. I can feel it!!!
Let's start with January 2011, My middle child (Hunter) turned 8 years old. It's still hard to believe and now he's going to be 9 in a few short weeks. In February of 2011 is when we started therapy to help learn to deal with his anger issues. We still continue to go to therapy, but we know so much more now. Fast forward to May 2011, and my husband graduate college with an architectural technology degree. This was over 2 years of being laid off. I'm so proud of him. He took something negative and turned it into a positive situation. In the mean time I was the only one employed and life was difficult. It's hard enough when you have a child that needs therapies and your trying to work through those issues, but toss on the financial difficulties and you have so much more unwanted stress. We made it through it, sometimes we thought we were fighting a loosing battle with ourselves, but again fast forward to July and my husband is employed. This is a dream we were waiting for. He has a career and it is what he went to school for. Life is getting easier. Jack is back in daycare and loving his preschool schedule. The older two are enjoying their summer and we all have something to be proud of. Things with Hunter are getting better at this time, we are seeing changes, and they are positive. I know there isn't a magic key or button and all is better, but any progress is good progress. September was back to school month and we are always so excited for this month. The kids get back to reality. Things get busier with activities but it's life and we all enjoy life more on a schedule. We've had a wonderfully calm winter and I'm so happy about that. I really don't like the cold. It makes everyone a little bit more cranky. When the kids can get outside they burn energy and then we don't have as much trouble with getting along. We still have issues here and there, but they are less and easier to deal with. Hunter is still on his gluten free diet and I believe that it really is making a difference in his behavior. We continue to see his therapist and OT, PT has been put a on hold due to schedules, but I hope that we can get back into seeing his PT soon. We also had a new adventure just the other day. We are trying reflexology. In easy to explain terms this is the belief that everything in the body is connected down to the feet and you can "clean" out the body's systems by working on the feet. It feels amazing and if we can see progress with it, then I'm sold! I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but I am totally into holistic healing. I believe that our body's systems are one and if anything is thrown off in any system it can cause problems in another system. I believe in natural healing. I don't like medication, but I do get that sometimes you need it. When we get strep throat we take meds. There are somethings that you just don't mess with. I do not believe in mediating issues that can be "fixed" naturally, or at least not without trying all the natural approaches first. If it's not a life threatening issue then there is time to try the natural approach. This belief became even more strong when I myself had a horrible rare side effect reaction to an allergy/asthma medication. I've never been more afraid in my life, my husband thought I was dying. It was a very scary week long ordeal. Needless to say, I'd rather have a runny, plugged up nose then ever be afraid for my life again trying to get rid of it. Last night, New years day Eric and I watched a documentary called "The Medicated Child" here is my personal review on it....HOLY MOLY! NO WAY!!! I couldn't believe it. This made my views on not medicating even stronger. If you haven't seen it I suggest you watch it. I can't even begin to explain all of it. It's something you have to see for yourself.
Now back to why I feel this year is going to be great....I have two home businesses, I'm going to give them my all this year. I'm really going to take charge and see what I can become with them. Who knows maybe someday you'll all be reading about my success. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Next, I am going to take charge of our finances...My goal is to work on being debt free, with the exception of our house. We don't have any credit cards and I want to keep it that way. If we don't have the cash for it, then we don't get it. This sometimes is not a blessing..example today Eric car battery went dead...We can't get another battery until payday..so until Friday we will be a one car family. Kind of hard when we have children going in two different directions, but we can do it, we can do anything. Nothing can stop us, we are unstoppable together. Another goal is to be better organized. I'm a fairly decent organized person. I call it disorganized organization. I know where everything is, but it has no rhyme or reason. I'm going to fix that. I'm open to any suggestions. I have a feeling that Hunter is going to become an amazing young man this year. That we'll be able to back off of the therapies a little bit so he doesn't have to miss school. And that brings me to the subject of school....I'm a bit upset with the system lately. The school has an OT on staff...We see an OT once a week..My thought is well he can see the OT at school then he doesn't have to miss half a day once a week. WRONG...They can't give him OT services at school unless he qualifies for special ed...Ok, then let's get him qualified for special ed..WRONG again...They won't give him a special ed evaluation because his grades are good. Like I've mentioned before Hunter is very smart. Skipped a grade, and he's in the highest reading class they have. I get that his grades are good, but could they be better? Could he excel even more? He has a handwriting disorder. Because of the ISD it hurts him to write. So his writing grades are low, shouldn't that be enough? He can read at an 11th grade level but writes at a 2nd grade level. He can speak the answers, but just can't get them on paper. To me that would make sense if they called him "special ed" for writing. I don't really understand all of it and what is all involved with the process. I'm learning but there is no much information out there on it all. We are going to meet about a 504 plan where he can get special accommodations in class to help him, such as typing instead of writing. Now the main question I have is....Why does special ed mean slow? It drives me crazy. He attends an amazing school and this is the only time I've had an issue with the way things are dealt with. However, if he had a medical diagnosis of ADHD and on medication then he would qualify no questions asked...but I don't believe in medicating him..it's a catch 22 and it ticks me off. Someday things will change. Children will succeed and not have to be medicated or labeled to do so.
These are my goals and I sure hope that I can stick to them and not disappoint myself or the ones around me. I know I can do it and I want to update with the progress of everything. How therapy is going for Hunter and the reaching of my goals. I can do it, and if I can do it then so can anyone else. Life is going to change for the better. Instead of two steps ahead one step behind, we're going to always look forward and keep our eye on the prize. 2012 is going to be the year that everything has been worth. I can feel it!!!
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