Autism Awareness Day 8

Autism Awareness Day 8 - Sensory Seekers. My boys are what some refer to as sensory seekers. What that means is that they crave sensory input or stimulation. They need activities like jumping, bouncing, and rough and tumble play. Ever since my boys were very small they would always try to lift things that seemed way too heavy for them. That's because their muscles needed that input. This is why Draiman loves to jump pretty much all the time and why he also enjoys walking on his tip toes. Gatlin also loves to bounce, jump, and run around a lot.

Without these kinds of activities it is very hard for my boys to settle down and focus. They need these activities on a regular basis and when they don't get enough of it then you see them get crazy hyper or overly agitated. Not to mention that they are nearly impossible to get to go to sleep if they haven't used up enough energy.

This is why in our home we have a fairly large preschool trampoline, an exercise ball for bouncing, a crash pad for jumping and wrestling, weighted balls for playing with, and several other balls as well. We spend quite a bit of time rough housing through out the day too. My boys love to be slammed down on the crash pad or smashed against the back of the couch. We have to watch out for Draiman too because he enjoys head butting, what hurts us feels good to him. Though he has gotten much better about that.

Now it may sound odd but these things are actually good for them. They need this kind of sensory input and like I said it does help them focus better. It also provides a good way for us to engage them, to actually pay attention to us rather than just being in their own world. Through P.L.A.Y project therapy we use the rough and tumble play to get the boys to communicate with us too. Draiman rarely says anything but if I'm smashing him in the chair behind me and then stop and say "Ready, Set ..." you better believe he will yell "GO" just so I'll continue to smash him some more.

Its kind of funny how their needs sort of force us to play with them but the truth is I really enjoy playing with them. We could all stand to play with our kids more. Find those games that your child enjoys and make them a fun, learning, bonding experience.

Autism Awareness Day 6

Autism Awareness Day 6 - Therapy alone is not enough. One thing that Dr. Soloman told us when our boys were diagnosed was that we needed to record our therapy sessions. He said that we shouldn't rely on therapists, that we needed to learn how to do the therapy ourselves at home. Dr. Soloman said that we as parents were the key to helping our children meet their milestones and that a few hours a week with a therapist was never going to be enough. So we took his advise and recorded the first several sessions so that we could replay them and learn how to provide therapy at home.

At this point in time we no longer record therapy sessions but at the beginning it was very helpful. We still observe therapy sessions and partner with the boys therapists to keep up with what skills we need to work on. We've done our best to incorporate the things they do in therapy into our everyday lives. We are constantly working on skills at home but we've made it more a part of life rather than endless therapy sessions. The key to teaching our boys is through fun and play. They learn so much more when they enjoy it and I think that is really true for just about anyone.

We've taken a lot of the advice given to us from therapists and put it into play (literally play time) at home. We've also found some of our own methods that work too. I don't feel that we are the best at this but I will say that the therapists have always told us that they can tell we're working on things at home. So if you ask me that must mean we're doing something right. All I know is that our boys have come a long way since the beginning of this journey.

Autism Awareness Day 5

Autism Awareness Day 5- Consistency is key. When you have a child with Autism you soon learn that being consistent and maintaining schedules can be very helpful. My thoughts on this are that if your senses can be easily overwhelmed, the world around you can seem chaotic and overstimulating, and you have difficultly clearly communicating with others then schedules and routines probably help you to feel more comfortable and secure. I think for my boys it is nice for them to know what's expected and what's coming next so they feel safe and in balance.

It is for this reason that we have a pretty set bedtime routine and schedule. We try to keep therapy appointments on the same days and times. We use the "clean up" song to signal the boys that it's time to put toys away. (songs in general are good but I'll talk about that on another post) I usually do not take my boys to the doctor if their regular doctor is not scheduled in that day. We like to keep the same therapists and the one time that we did have to switch therapists for a bit we tried to get Gatlin used to the new one before his regular one went on maternity leave. Doing these things helps to keep it familiar and comfortable for our boys. They are less likely to be overwhelmed and frustrated if we stick to the routine.

Now I'm not saying that you should never change things up because let's face it, life is full of change. What I am saying is that you should keep things on schedule when you can and when you can't it's best to talk about it, show pictures, or do whatever you can to clue a child with Autism in on what changes are to come. For example one time we missed physical therapy for the week so then when we took Gatlin in for Speech he became very agitated because it wasn't the right therapist. He was expecting to see Miss Megan and not Miss Jessica. This actually just happened with Draiman also since he's no longer in OT.

I have noticed that the more Gatlin understands what I'm telling him the easier he handles changes. On the other hand with Draiman it is just too overwhelming because he just doesn't understand what's going on. So we do our best to keep it consistent and when we can't we do our best to explain what is going on. We do incorporate change also because that's important to learn to deal with but we keep that in smaller doses since the boys have enough challenges on a daily basis any way.

Chalk board fun

The boys each got their own dry erase/chalk board easels for Christmas. As you can see here they are actually coloring together. As much as these two fight they do also play together very well at times.
I'm really glad that they got easels for Christmas. My sister got one for Gatlin and we got one for Draiman. Half the time the use just one together but hey at least they have the option of coloring seperately. Their occupational and physical therapists said that writing on a verticle surface would be good for strengthening their wrist muscles so let's hope these help them.

I'm back!!!

     Well it's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog and I apologize for that. Life got busier and more interesting to say the least. We had a lot of adjustments to make but it has been a great journey. I'm hoping to get back into blogging this new year, as well as lot of other things.
     Before I start any new posts let me give you a brief recap of things since I last blogged. This blog is aptly titled BrothersBad because it's really all about my boys and life with them. At the same time my boys are the reason I took such a hiatus from blogging. In February of 2012 Gatlin was diagnosed with Autism and with that we as a family had a lot to learn. Shortly thereafter we started noticing the huge similarities between Gatlin and Draiman. Then in August Draiman was also diagnosed with Autism. Since that time Gatlin has started preschool, Draiman has started early intervention home visits, and we have lots of therapy appointments as well. On a regular basis there are appointments for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. We spend a lot of time working on sign language at home as well as other things and we also have a P.L.A.Y. Project consultant that comes to our home to teach us the P.L.A.Y. method of engaging our boys.
     So as I'm sure you can tell it's been a busy time for us but it has been wonderful as well. Our boys have progressed so much this past year but more importantly they have taught us even more. We are blessed and honored to have them in our lives. For us Autism has not been a tragedy but rather a wonderful learning experience. We have learned new ways to understand and connect with our boys all while they have taught us so many valuable lessons. I am thankful for them everyday and proud to be their Mama.