Meeting my Hero

Today Brian and I went to an Autism Conference here in Oregon. It was put on by Future Horizons and the guest speaker was Temple Grandin. I have been looking forward to this for MONTHS.

It was such an amazing experience, that I must start at the beginning.

Back in January of this year I had a dear friend tell me I needed to google "Temple Grandin" She was an Autistic woman who became successful and that she thought I would really benefit from her. I kinda waved her off and told her that I was too "busy" to try and deal with researching one more thing that dealt with Autism. I was up to my eye brows in research from google and Charlie's therapist's that I honestly didn't need or want one more thing to read.

Ironically a couple days later one of Charlie's Therapist had mentioned this Temple character again. At that moment I thought to myself "I might as well have my whole head under water" and googled it.

I did not realize how much she would change my life. I read a little about her and then ordered almost all of her books. I still have 3 books of hers I still need to read, but life with an Autistic two year old you don't get much down time.

So when her books came in the mail, I read, and read and read. Temple showed me a side of Charlie that I never would have known. She taught me things that no other google search or therapist has yet taught me. Through her books, she taught me to connect to my little boy that I though I wouldn't ever be able to connect with.

So once I found out that she was going to be in town, I bought tickets. Fast forward to months of waiting. This morning I woke up at 5 AM, made the kids their breakfast muffins, and got ready to go. We had to leave the house by 6:30 to get there in time to check in, eat a little breakfast, and see what books and tools they where selling.

Fast forward- We are in the hotel, already checked in, I was feeling pretty nervous, and had high anxiety. I not only was going to meet my hero, but I was leaving m

y kids for one full day (YIKES!) So Brian and I where standing at the end of the book line, looking at some children's books that explain bullying, why Children on the spectrum are different when we heard an "Excuse me".

That's right folks, it was Temple Grandin herself!

All night I had been rehearsing my speech that I would say to her if I got to meet her, and it went a little something like this

"Dr. Grandin I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have helped me connect with my son that I thought would be lost forever, You have given me the courage and strength to take this journey with him, and you have give my family hope. Thank you so much"

Want to know what I did instead?

I cried.

Yep... like a baby. Talk about EMBARRASSING! I tried to regain composer, and when I turned around she was talking to other moms about their children, but just couldn't. Instead Brian and I went to our seats and ate our breakfast.

A short while later Dr. Grandin started her speech, she talked for about an hour and a half. It was so insightful. I took lots of notes, and hung on every word. Once it was break time I figured I had enough courage to speak to her, to say something, anything. So, I got in line. I was the last person in line to meet her, and again, nothing came out. I was so overwhelmed with emotions, that all I could say was "Thank You" as she signed my paper.

The next speaker was Paula Aquilla. Her speech was on Building Bridges through Sensory Integration. It was VERY interesting. A tid bit long, but so informative. Gave me more insights into why Charlie does this things he does. There was one more speaker after Mrs. Aquilla, Her name was Britt Collins. Ms. Collins talked about OT in school and the In's and outs.

The whole thing was just so completely overwhelming with information, that I am completely Exhausted. I now have new tools to use with Charlie and feel re-energized to get him on the right track again. Today was a total make over -sort to speak- for me. It gave me fresh ideas on how to teach Charlie, and set in stone the things we have been doing.

Here are some pics from the conference.

My lovely Breakfast

People waiting to see Dr. Grandin

Dr. Grandin Signing Books and Answering Questions

You can see the massive line. There was about 200 people attending.

Dr. Grandin

Brilliant!

Charlie's Vocab is literally growing by the day. I am so impressed with him. I want to get this all written down so I remember what he is saying in case of regression. So here are the words and phrases Charlie can say willingly. Note- These are the ONLY things he can say.

-He know's his Alphabet

-He knows his numbers up to 9

-He can Greet (Hello, Hi, Bye, See you soon, night night)

-He gives kisses

-He can say "Your turn" in proper context

-He knows manners (Please, Thank you, More(knows the sign for more))

-He knows people (mom, dad, papa, grandma, Nannie (the dog))

-He knows "i don't know" (not sure if he understands this, but it sure is cute!)

-He knows "Whats that" and "I say..." "It's a...."

-He knows objects (Car, Ball,)

-He knows somewhat Inside and outside. Still working on it.

-He can point, and get a spoon when he wants food. He brings his cup when he is thirsty.

-He can follow single commands- "Sit on your bottom" "Get your coat," Get your shoes", Get your Bink ( he can also say Binkum for his Pacifier)

-He knows animals (Frog, Kitty (he can meow), Dog)

-He know's Actions (Go, Stop(working on stop ;) )

-And he LOVES talking on the phone with his Pop Pop (my father)

Charlie has grown in leaps and bounds over these last few months. I am really enjoying this stage in his life. He is learning new things everyday, and keeps me on my toes.

He is definitely a 2 year old! He is Crazy and pushing the limits. We are also finding out that more and more things are starting to bother Charlie. The lights in most stores seem to set him off about 5-10 minutes in the store. We are trying to teach him how to tell us when something is bothering him. But it's like mixing oil with water. He is not willing to learn it at this moment, so we must not push.

Charlie LOVES to sing. His new favorite song is by a kid, Justin Bieber. I personally can stand the song. Nothing is wrong with it, just his voice drives me crazy, but to Charlie it's like heaven. We listen to it several times a day. He sings the song all day even when we aren't listening to it.

Here is a video of him rockin out to it.

Although I hate the song, I still play it as much as Charlie wants. I love hearing him sing and watching him Dance. Amelia gets in on the action too, and she is just as cute as her brother!

Amelia still seems to be opening Charlie up. He mimics her and follows her around the house all day. He is engaging in play with her and gets upset when she is sleeping or doesn't want to play. It's pretty awesome.

Pssst.....

What a week. It has defiantly had it's up's and downs. Last week Amelia got sick, then a couple days later I got sick, then Brian, and then Charlie. Anyone who know's an autistic toddler knows that when they are sick, they regress. Some kids regress more then others, and it takes longer for them to rebound and come back to their "normal"

So it's been 6 days since Charlie was sick. and today has been BY FAR the worst day. He has been stimmin SO hard. He is getting more and more sensitive to noises, lights, touch, smells, everything.

Today was so frustrating. He's two so he loves to explore, get in and play in the dirt. But he's also autistic, so the minute dirt or anything touches his hands, he FREAKS out. Screaming at the highest pitch possible until I wash his hands. Oh but wait!! Now water temperature freaks him out too. Can't be too hot or too cold.

So today Charlie was having a "i'm gonna lay on the floor and stare off into space" moment, and I said "pssst.....Charlie" he didn't respond so I said "Hey Charlie....pssst.... Your autism is showing," and in the smallest voice he said "yeah. love you"

Totally broke my heart. I was totally kidding, but it's like he understood and was apologizing.

I don't want Charlie to ever feel sorry for who he is. I want him to embrace it. But those feelings lead me to this question. Should we ever tell Charlie he is Autistic? Or should we just wait for him to ask us why he is different?

I know we probably won't tell him until he is old enough to understand, but it's the whole telling versus asking. Parent hood is hard but it's nothing like having a 2 year old Autistic boy.... Never a dull moment!

New Horizons!

I for sure thought these days would never come, especially this yearly. I was warned from the day Charlie was Diagnosed that he probably wouldn't potty learn until he was around 3-4 years old. I had it set in my mind that we would be stuck in diapers forever.

Once again Charlie has amazed us all! He is on the road to Potty learning! I announces each time that he goes "pee" and brings me a cloth dipe to change him. We are working on having him pull his pants down, but it seems to be a pretty big issue for him, so we will probably just keep him pant less at home and slowly teach him how to pull them up and down. Another hurtle is he HATES the feel of the toilet seat. So Brian is going to teach him how to pee standing up. We are going to go buy him a little stool this weekend and get started on it. I can't believe he is 2 1/2 and ready to learn the potty! I am so incredibly proud of him!

Oh and if that wasn't enough learning for a week, he learned how to CLIMB out of his crib!! The story is actually pretty cute...

I was sitting in the front room trying to get miss Amelia to fall asleep, when from Charlie's room I just hear taking and jabbering. I went in to take his toys away ( he usually sleeps with a car or 5) and told him it was WAY past his bed time and needed to go to sleep. He would see daddy in the morning (Brian was taking a test) , kissed him goodnight and shut his door. He did the typical screaming at me and telling me no. Then it got quite. I figured he had probably settled down and would go check in a minute as Amelia *just* fell asleep. I heard the door handle rattle and a door open, I thought Brian was home and was ready to pass off Amelia and head to bed, when a little boy walked out of his room, threw up his arms and proclaimed "TA-DAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

He was so proud of himself! I couldn't help but giggle, but told him that he couldn't do that and it was time for sleep. Yeah so did not work. He continued to climb out of his crib 4 more times. Finally I just let him stay up until Brian got home. Charlie finally stayed in his bed around 11pm. We put up a baby gate just in case he got out again, we didn't want him escaping the house.

I am mentally not prepared for all these new challenges that are ahead of us. This defiantly is the door way to an new chapter in Charlie's life, and some way some how I need to get prepared!

It's been awhile!

Sorry Everyone! It's been a CRAZY month. Amelia turned one April 3rd. We threw a HUGE party for her. Charlie did amazing with so many people at the house. He had a couple rough days afterwards, but we expected it.

Charlie seems to be progression at such a fast pace! He is talking more and more. His Vocab is defiantly getting bigger. I am so grateful that he is starting to talk. While none of it is useful in his daily life, it is will amazing. By useful I mean he still can not vocalize that he is hungry, thirsty, or wants something. He is getting better as in he goes into the kitchen and will stand there and sign for "more" Which is a HUGE step, but figuring out what he wants is still a challenge.

Last month I made Charlie some flash cards that has the Alphabet on it. He learned his ABC's in 1 day. He now points at everything and says what letter he see's. The linoleum in the front hallway is a big distraction for Charlie. He is CONSTANTLY pointing out the X's and I's in the pattern (Sometimes we don't see it until he points it out) When taking a shower (he prefers showers over baths) the water droplets on the sides are O's. He is so incredibly smart in that he can find a letter in anything. He LOVES reading T-shirts. His current favorite letters are X's, and W's . He says them pretty well too!

Charlie is starting to learn animal sounds. After 2 years of telling him "Cat's say Meow, and Dogs say RUFF!" It finally clicked. He only does it to the cats, but he will say "This is kitty! MEOW!" and now when he see's the cat he runs over SCREAMING "MEOW!!!" So freaking cute!!

He is starting to show more signs of Autism. His coping skills in public are decreasing. He is also starting to spin a lot more. I know it's to be expected as he gets older, but it doesn't make it an easier to deal with.

We are starting to connect with support groups, and other families of Autistic Children, and it really makes me grateful that Charlie is so high functioning. I am lucky to have such beautiful children.

Just a Few!

Just a few of our Family and Friends showing their support!!

Charlie and Daddy Wearing Blue!

Cade and Mads Wearing Blue!!

My sister, Erin, Cade and Mads!

Our friends from England!! Peter, Ben ( who is the same age as Charlie!) And Scarlett!

And Jenn's hot legs and Feet.....

Cami from CC Bums Shows her support too!!

Happy Autism Awareness Month!

Yesterday was the first day of Autism Awareness month!! Today everyone is supposed to wear blue in support of those who have Autism. I have been spamming my friends and family, telling them all to wear blue today, and to show their support for Charlie. I asked for them to take pictures and post them on Facebook, I wanted to see their support since all my friends live all over the world, and my family is spread out over Oregon, California and Washington!

I am so grateful for all of the support we have. My sister text messaged me a photo of herself and my nephew Caiden, and niece Maddie. They were all wearing blue! I honestly didn't expect the reaction I had. I started Crying, and then I jumped on Face Book and there they were!! Sporting the blue! Of course I started to cry even more. I was not expecting myself to cry. I really wasn't. I just forget how much support we have, whether it's big or small, we still have it.

I am just so lucky and thankful that I have such supporting friends and family!

I remember when we first started this journey. I remember Charlie's 18 month check up (which was a year ago in a couple of weeks) that our Dr. told us to get him evaluated. This past year has had SO many up's and downs, and full of moments where our heart swelled with pride, and ached with sadness. I'm taking this day to reflect back on our year, and how much everything has changed. Charlie has grown and changed so much. He is such an amazing little boy. But most of all Brian and I have changed. We are better parents because of him. He makes us want to do things (like work out..... ) to better ourselves.

Charlie, YOU are my hero, YOU are my sunshine on a cloudy day, YOU are the most hard working person I know. I love you babes!