Thank God for Grammy

My mom is amazing. She made Fall a weighted blanket and it is working wonders for her! She sleeps soundly, through the night most nights. Before, she was up at least 1x a night to go potty, and then had a hard time falling back to sleep. And, she has also been following directions well, and not having nearly the amount of meltdowns she was before.

We have some other things going on to help her out too, but I really think this blanket has helped her immensely.

Thanks Grams.

The funny side of an Aspie

My Aspie can be quite OCD sometimes, but luckily God has a sense of humour. You know, like the week that she was stuck on butts. Yeah, I said it, BUTTS! She watched, and chatted about how some people's booties dance when they walk, or how they hang out of their pants. And, if it weren't so VERY innappropriate we may have laughed.. Okay, so we did laugh, but not in front of Fall. The downside was that because it was an obsession it was painful to stop. We had many days at the park where she would come running over and cry that she was trying not to look, but she just couldn't help it. I kept saying to myself "This too shall pass", and it did.

Last night, she took her shoes off in her father's tiny little car. After about 30 seconds, her feet were all anyone could smell. We all giggled and teased about it for a minute, even the little sis yelled "Ewwwwee!", but the funniest part was when she poked her foot up to the front seat and plopped it on her daddy's shoulder and said "Smell it Daddy! I stink!" This went on for a good 30 minutes. She got stuck on the conversation, but it was so nice to be lost in the hilarious moment, everyone laughing and being totally inappropriate, but having SO much fun. "Daddy, smell yourself, you stink too". And, she was right. He did. HAHA

Realizing there was a problem

When Fall started preschool it became apparent that she wasn't the average three year old. She had some definite attachment issues. Every time I dropped her off she would cry hysterically, then cling to the teacher for the entire three hours. The teacher was so kind, you could tell she was frustrated, but they held her tight but also gave her room to grow when they knew she was capable. By the end of the year she would cry when I left, and still didn't join in any activities without prompting, but she was happy about going once she was there and settled. By her four year old year, she was doing much better with going into the class sans tears, and she would even sign herself in, but by the middle of the year we started hearing that she would probably need another year, she just wasn't as mature as the other kids. When the conversations went deeper we learned that she wouldn't do any of the activities, and would often just stare into space. I knew staring was a problem for us, but I thought maybe she was just tuning us out. We decided to take a closer look, and took her to a neurologist. They ran an EEG, looking for seizures, which came back negative. Then we looked at her eyes, since she was also covering them quite frequently. We learned she was having some pretty debilitating problems there, one eye was wandering out causing her double vision, so she went in a few times, did some computer therapy at home, and finally had her second eye surgery. We thought we had finally fixed the problem. Only that wasn't the end of her struggles.. More next time..

We have a diagnosis

We struggled hard for months, if not years. In and out of doctor's offices, speaking with people at school (both preschool and now Kindergarten), calling hospitals and clinics to get our child some sort of testing. Finally, we have found the right path. Our little Fall is being tested through the district. They are running an entire Neuro-educational battery of tests, as well giving her a consult with the Occupational Therapist, and modifying a lot of her work. We got a referral from the teacher for a doctor that specializes in behavioral issues and were finally given the diagnosis of Asperger's Disorder.

I guess you could say it started as early as eight months of age. Fall wouldn't let anyone but her father and I near her, God forbid they tried to hold her. In crowded rooms she would just cry. At the doctor's office she would just cry. She didn't walk until 15 months, and she didn't run or jump until well past her second birthday. I noticed her eyes wandering out when she was an infant. Things just didn't add up. She is special though, and I don't mean that in a Special NEEDS way, I mean she is wonderfully kind, and so nurturing. I don't know if this is a learned behavior (I'd like to think so, but doubt it). She is an old soul. People have always said she has the kindest soul. Thats her trait, the one that you see and love FIRST. She is quiet, and reserved, my mellow baby. Always content to watch the world around her, learn the scenery and plan before delving in. She is wonderfully imaginative, but in her own world most of the time. Forever lining things up, and pretending to be the teacher to her "students". Never comfortable to be watched, never performing any of her interesting skills. She wrote all the letters of her name at 18 months, and lined them up nicely by two. Coloring was not her "thing", rather she would draw neat lines, circles, or letters all over her papers. She was like Van Gogh though, and could paint masterpieces Always intriguing me with the neat strokes she used, so unlike other children her age. I never worried that something (other than her eyes) was wrong. Not until she entered preschool. Thats when the proverbial poo hit the fan. I'll get into that next time...