Sunday, September 29, 2013

Shenanigans. In photos.

We had a whole family visit to the chiropractor yesterday.  Here's how Dominic amused himself while Rod was getting adjusted and I was waiting:





Thursday, September 26, 2013

Self Awareness

I just wanted to post a story from today that shows much more self aware Dominic has been lately.  Its growing exponentially.

Today our chiropractor stopped by on her way home from the office (she lives very closeby) and worked on Dominic while she was here.  She started with his yeast and liver which are the reason she came by... and when she was done, he laid across her lap and would not move. So she adjusted his spine.  She and I went and looked at my garden and chit chatted.  CAme back inside and he bent over in front of her and touched his toes.  Sacrum was out.  Go figure.  She fixed it.  Then, as she was getting ready to leave, he stood in front of her aand put his hands on his neck. Yep. out of alighment.

About an hour after she left, he looked at me, lifted his shirt up to show me his tummy and said - completely spontaneously "tummy, feel better". 

Friday, September 20, 2013

Hilarity

Today was a really good day for Dominic.

We started with him completely behaving while we applied for passports at the post office.  He sat on the floor at my feet and played with my phone and his cars.  I'm now hoping that the govt. doesn't shut down because if it does they might not process the applications...

Then I took Dominic with me to a colleagues house for a work team building.  He had no school today.   Said colleague has a trampoline and Dominic jumped on it for easily 3 of the 4 hours we were there.  The other hour he spent trying to get the dog to play chase.  The dog wore out long before he did.





We left late afternoon, and came home.  I put leftover food in the fridge, and set the cooler, with melting ice on the back porch.  WE all know how much Dominic LOVES to play with water... he's been out there now for an hour... first he was just fishing out ice cubes and playing with them



But the next time I came out, he'd scooped a handful of toy ocean creatures (octopus, dolphin, turtle, etc) into a baggie, added water, and told me they were fish. 




That would qualify as imaginative play, thank you very much.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

just keep swimming...

So after we found out that Dominic didn't qualify for the CES waiver, we figured that path of potential funding/therapy was a closed deal and we would just have to keep on doing what we've been doing.

About a week ago, I got a very strangely worded letter from the state of Colorado stating that Dominic had now been designated as disabled by Medicaid in the state.    I called our TRE case worker for an explanation and was told that she had not stopped the long term disability process even though the CES waiver came back disapproved because there might be another waiver that would work.  She referred me to another organization to see if we qualified for the C-HBCS waiver.   It would cover speech, OT and PT if he qualified.

We're rather organization weary at this point, but I called and spoke with a case worker.  Nice lady.  We met with her today and provided all the documentation we've done to this point (for CES) as well as their denial information. 

She was kind of flummoxed that we were denied because she believes Dominic should've been qualifiied for it.  She's going to speak to her supervisor, and the CES folks and get more information, and we will see where that goes.  I'm not actually sure if he qualifies for HCBS, but if he does (and she'll get back to me next week), the wait list would be 18 months or so.

We did learn, however, that there's a medicaid buy in program we could do if he didn't qualify for HCBS, that is a sliding scale (highest amount is $150/mo)which would cover  OT/PT/ST long term since the state has decided to qualify him as disabled.  Health insurance only really covers those things in an acute situation, where this really would be a long term requirement.   No idea if we will do that, but she did say you could not both be on the wait list for HCBS AND on the buy in.  Its one or the other.  At this point its just interesting possibility.

As an aside, it royally sucks to go through your childs day (using the worst days as an example) and highlight all the ways in which your child - who has made and is making very good progress - is disabled. 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Another month... another parent breaks...

It just doesn't stop. 

Knowing the hoops you have to even jump through to get so far as to get a case to the FARCE that is the Vaccine courts... and knowing how difficult the teenage years are for Autistic children...  I can hazard several guesses as to what straw broke this mother's back.

Somethings gotta give. 

The Canary Party recently released this video, which is the best way to explain the Vaccine courts.... 



Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Now that is more an an inchstone

Dominic got a dental cleaning today.

without being sedated, crying, biting, screaming... etc.


Yes, this is a first :)




Its more impressive because yesterday was a doozy of a day w/his Chiro appointment.  He literally opened the door and ran screaming off (he saw a bird and chased it, but still.  goofball)  Always a rollercoaster around here.

On a slightly unrelated note, when did schools start needing doc's notes when you tell them you need to pick your child up early for an appointment?

Monday, September 9, 2013

Someone told him he could grow…



Saturday we were just finishing lunch when Dominic asked if he could have some chips.  And as soon as I said yes, he went and got them off the top of the refrigerator.

Whoa.
Back up.

I did a double take myself, since I barely caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, so I put the chips back on the fridge and told him to get them.  He stood on his tiptoes and stretched and he got the chips.

We looked at each other and said, uoh, we are in TROUBLE.

Further… he’s now officially outgrown his booster seat.  When he sits with his back and hips firmly against the back of the seat, the bend in his knees is at the edge of the seat.

I am kind of glad I didn’t buy him new school pants yet… the ones from last spring are exactly the right length now (last spring they were long) as it appears he’s got some growing going on.   I weighed him at the zoo a week or so ago and he’s holding steady at 62lbs.  

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A new situation



We don’t, as a rule, leave Dominic at anyone else’s house without one of us.  We used to at his grandmothers, but she is no longer physically able to keep up with him and its been several years.  

So today there was no school.  Daddy had a class he could not get covered, and I had a meeting I needed to attend at work that precluded working from home (which would’ve been our usual strategy).

We considered our options and ended up asking a stay at home mom friend of ours (who has known Dominic from birth) if we could drop him off for the hour and a half that Daddy would be teaching.  She said “of course”.   I was a little worried because this morning he was extra giggly (yeast) which usually means all his emotions are running high and he becomes non compliant at the drop of a hat.

Turns out, he did great.

She emailed me that he spent a lot of time chasing and being chased by Koda (their Alaskan Malamute puppy), and that he talked with both her and her son.  Actual relevant chatting about his toys and the movie that was playing in the background.    And she emailed me pictures.

We know he’s made great progress, but its really nice to hear from other people that they think he’s doing well too.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

NT Moments...

Yes, I know I haven't blogged a lot lately. In fairness, I've been busy at work, and in the garden (on the upside, i made tomato paste from my own tomatoes yesterday - fun!) and we've been on a very even keel.

School has gotten back in swing with no big surprises. He seems to be doing well. His aide hasn't reported anything that isn't a good day since school started.

We've had a series of cute neurotypical moments the last few days and i wanted to write them down...  Last night, Dominic had finished dinner and i was cleaning up the kitchen. After dinner he goes immediately into bathtime (which takes 30+ minutes as he LOVES water), and then to bed.   Anyway - he had finished dinner, and brought me a DVD and said "I want watch Madagascar, please".  I said  "No, its almost time for Bath".   I finished the dishes and went to start his bath a few minutes later and found him watching Madagascar.  he'd left me, turned around and went to Daddy, who put the movie in.  SO NT!!!!

Then today, I took him to the zoo (it was finally a pleasant day instead of being an oven out) and while he had a good time, he was in a hurry to "go home".   So after we saw the gorillas, we headed home.   Leaving the zoo involves going through the outdoor gift shop this time of year, and he told me "i want animals"  (meaning more little toy animals of which he has approx 32000 already).  I said "No, not today"  and he proceeded to look at every single bag of animals and try to get me to buy it.  It took 10 minutes to get him to leave the shop and he pouted all the way home.

Here're pictures of the zoo visit