My Boy

Lately I have really been thankful for how far my boy has come. 3 years ago our prayer was that Harrison would be able to start kindergarten without pull ups (we were told it he may be 6-9 before potty trained, we still wear at night but we will glady do that), and being able to tell his simple wants and needs, and to just be able to function at all in a normal school setting. AND TODAY I took him his second kindergarten screening for magnet schools here in our town. NO speical education meetings making the decsions on where he needs to go, NO pull ups, able to go with people he did not know, check in by telling his whole name and writing his name and doing all of that with a SMILE.

Harrison in the past 6 months has moved, started a new school, visits churches and classes in those churches, played soccer when he knew not one person, played basketball (which would have not been possible even a few months ago with the LOUDNESS and craziness of all that goes on around during practice and games).  3 years ago, 2 years ago each of these activities could have been a deal breaker, and he has handled it all with such ease, and has adjusted so well. What an answer to prayers.

I have been watching Parenthood  on netflix I am just on season one and with the first episode one of the families discovers they their son has Aspergers (you can find more info here about Aspergers.) And going through all the trials that a family has to deal with. These type of disorders affect the WHOLE FAMILY, and you HURT for your child and are willing to do ANYTHING to make their life the best it can be.While Aspergers is on the autism speculum it is higher functioning. Of the 11 symptoms Harrison has 7... if he had had more social delays he would have this label... this Mama kinda had to fight a bit to keep this label off his records.  I was FINE with Harrison having issues that we needed to work on and I was the one that FOUGHT to get him any services at all, his doctors did not think I needed to worry, they keep telling me he was just slower because he was a boy. But I KNEW there was something not quite right... but just as I KNEW there was something wrong I KNEW he was higher functioning than having the label Aspergers. So his official papers say he has Sensory Processing Disorder and Verbal Apraxia.
 A little about Sensory Processing Disorders, from http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/ again Harrison shows 7 of these.
•Do you wonder why they are excessive risk takers - jumping and crashing into anything they can ?
•Why they can’t do puzzles - write well - or find the coordination for riding a bike or hitting a ball?
•Why they cry or cover their ears with every loud sound - even vacuums, toilets or hairdryers ?
•Why they don’t like to be touched or can’t be touched enough?
•Why they will only eat macaroni and cheese and pizza?
•Why they will only wear certain clothes or need you to cut the tags out of their shirts?
•Ever wonder why you can’t seem to calm them down or get them to sleep?
•Why they won’t put their hands in anything messy or use glue, Play Doh, or play with mud?
•Why they fear playground equipment or being tipped upside down?
•Why crowded stores bother them so much leading to major meltdowns in public places?


And add that to Verbal Apraxia-- Oral apraxia indicates that the child has difficulty with volitional control of nonspeech movement. For instance, perhaps the child will have difficulty sticking out and wagging their tongue when requested to do so. Or the child may have difficulty sequencing movements for the command, "Show me how you kiss, now smile, now blow". Verbal apraxia indicates that the child has difficulty with volitional movement for the production of speech. This can be at the level of sounds, syllables, words, or even phrases (connected speech). The motor struggle is most typically seen with sounds sequencing. from http://www.apraxia-kids.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=787891&ct=464119 

 We had a VERY angry little boy that could NOT tell us anything that he needed or wanted. Throw in an intolerance to wheat/gluten which is VERY common in children with Sensory issues and Apraxia along with ADHD and Autism our little boy needed HELP. Harrison is still a little behind what is considered "Normal" in his speech, but everyone can understand him or most of what he says :) his speech still sound a little "baby like"  I really don't know what else to call it. But other kids his age sound bigger or older when they talk  if that makes any sense.

We are so Blessed that we were able to give him the help that he needed in the form of therapies and the RIGHT therapists to give him AND us the skills he needed. And I am so thankful that I was able to stay home so he could go to the clinic that was not close to our house but a great fit for him.

I am still brought to tears when Harrison does something that would have been very hard or impossible in the past. The first basketball practice was one of those times. The Gym was CRAZY LOUD and lots and lots of people around and he was able to go and did a great job.So all of this is said to thank GOD for bringing my boy so FAR and to make this Mama so PROUD. And the Blessing that all these milestones are... YES it has not always been easy, the meltdowns, the years of NO sleep, the months of none stop screaming and throwing up, all the Speech, and OT appointments, seeing your child HURT physically, mentally, and emotionally, it is a strain on the family  BUT it is SO WORTH it and we would do it all over again in a heartbeat.


If you are new the blog or interested in more info here are some past posts
Harrison's World
Harrison's World part 2
Harrison's World Part 3
Harrison's World part 4
Video from 2 years ago
Last Day of Speech