Autism 2 April 2012 blog hop

Welcome to the World Autism Awareness Blog Hop hosted by Created By Cori. Thank you for joining us today as we spotlight our loved ones.

If you came from  Liz's blog at http://decadeofscrap.blogspot.com then you are in the right place! If you just came upon this hop, please start back at the beginning by going to Cori's blog www.createdbycori.blogspot.com.


Autism is very near and dear to me and to many.  This is my Son, Jayden  - age 7 (for a few more months :)

  Jayden loves experimenting with Science, School,  loves church and God, likes tae-kwon-do (just made his green belt),  loves his new DSI xl, like to play at the park and ride his bike!

 After he was born, we knew there was something different about Jayden, he didn't want to sleep hardly ever..   eating and touching him was very different too and then he stood up and walked along furniture at 4.5 mo and walked all by himself by 7.5 mo and then didn't communicate very well.. We started Speech therapy and sign language at age 2 (still use it to this day - not fluent but he gets by with the necessary info) but still no speech and then other services followed. age 3.5yrs  - his Dr. refused to label him yet saying he will show more if he was and it was not time yet...

  WELL.. age age 5 - it came up again and he was diagnosed.  HIGH functioning he is.
 **Jayden has always had Sensory Processing Disorder - part of this we couldn't hug him or touch him even as a baby - it was hard - we didn't understand.  He allows us to hug him now - but still has those days - when it's on his terms...  A friend at church has been working on giving him a slight hug for 2 years now.  he allowed her one day about a month ago, she was SO excited to make that progress!!  Eye sensitivity even to this day - bright lights in or outdoors..  wears sunglasses a lot - says his eyes are burning..

 **anxiety of where we are going, how long we will be there, etc.. (stores can be the worst ever  ugh!)  hard to make plans sometimes.  you can't say in one month we will go to...    you just have to wait till almost the day before.
 ** food to be exact. (like his food cannot touch and will use maybe 2 forks during a meal or toast has to be cut into 2 and will not at it unless it is in 2..  cut it by accident one time in 4's  -wouldn't eat it had to make another piece)         
**food binging (eats the same thing over and over again till he has had enough.. sometimes weeks or months),      
**ODD (occupational defiency disorder) (strikes out - hits, etc and this is a progress in working.. but proud to say - is better than used to be),        
**Melt-downs,   these are NO fun!!  especially in a store..  hard to get him to calm down..       
**Loves deep pressure on his back, head and arms when getting upset and also when ready to go to sleep.(weight is a good thing) .  Speaking of sleep took meds since age 3 till a few months ago to go to sleep. we are trying to clean his lil body out of all these meds..  he takes mellatonin  -some days good - some not..
          and the list goes on a little more...  ( he is getting better at some of these issues..)

So much to learn...

 He understands now he has Autism and it may take his brain a little longer to understand BUT that is no excuse why he can't do something... or to get away with something...  we just have to change some of the rules to adjust...  Jayden's verbal skills are terrific now so relating back what he understands is awesome for sure!!

 OF course most sports are out so Tae-Kwon Do is OUR sport.  Social Cues are a struggle - so snide remarks  are not something he catches on. (could be a good thing some days..).  IF you tell him you will do something or he can do something - he WILL remember that to to the exact time.  We have to use the timer a lot!  time is hard for him to catch onto.  how many days will that be..  just tell me a number he says. TIME is a challenge to fully understand..

It's so hard for him to make friends or to be invited to parties by his peers.  He doesn't understand as we invite them to his - some show up - many don't.  

We have done extra kindergarten and now repeating 1st grade.. so he is now catching up to grade level  - it will always be a struggle in school and will take a little longer than most - BUT he will help him!

Sometimes family and some friends are having the hardest time accepting Jayden as HE IS.... telling us what THEY think is wrong with him and what we should do or not do and that is the hardest ever  -they don't live with him yet.. a need to decide what he should or should not do...  like his anxiety - just make him.. was told. UM NO...
 We are his grandparents bio - we have been raising him since he was a baby (mom was a teen) and we adopted him. So my adult children have their opinion and that hurts the most - he just gets away with that.. if we did that.. you would have...   UGH!!    

So today - WE celebrate these special boys and girls - the young and old alike in their specialness of who GOD made them to be...  AUTISTIC!   yet.. we have much to learn and April being  AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH..  I hope I have taken you into a little inside of Jayden's world and ours in understanding.

ONTO MY PROJECT...

I cut out a bunch of puzzle pieces in various colors.  laid them down and left a few of them stacked on top. If you notice the last piece is left empty.   I typed a sentiment on my computer.

Your next stop in the World Autism Awareness Day blog hop is Zenita over at http://www.scrappinwithz.blogspot.com  - 

Complete Line-up in case you get lost...

1. Cori- http://createdbycori.blogspot.com  Start at beginning
2. Liz - http://decadeofscrap.blogspot.com   should have come from
3. Doris - http://mybugandmecreate.blogspot.com  ME
4. Zenita - http://www.scrappinwithz.blogspot.com  NEXT
5. Chriss- www.chrissandlou.blogspot.com
6. Colleen - http://www.cbcscrapbooking.blogspot.com
7. Pam - http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
8. Kristy - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com