Summer

I can not believe the change in Kyle's mood and disposition since the start of summer vacation! He has been so easy to deal with. It makes me wonder if i want to send him back to school in the fall. If it weren't for the fact that I need a break from him every now and again and that i need to probably find a job soon, I would consider home schooling him. I am excited to do a little one on one work with him this week while Karson is at my parents house. I want to work with him using his iPad to type and not just select pictures of things he wants. We have installed a program called speak it, that you type phrases or words into and it will say what you type. So that we can see exactly what he wants not just "canned" responses that we have programmed in for him. Don't get me wrong the "canned" responses are great, they are a start, but I want to move him along. I just want so much for him it makes me ache to see him frustrated and if we can get him to the next level in his communication, perhaps he will not be so frustrated at school.

What a month!

Well May is rapidly coming to an end and I can't help but think "where the heck has the time gone?". This has been a crazy, awesome month! We got Kyle's iPad (which I am using right now). He seems to love it! He has taken to it so quickly it is amazing to see him get his needs and wants met. Lately he seems so much happier, well at times. He still has his moments of frustration, but with his new tool we are hoping that some of that frustration will be taken away, God willing. To all of the family members who donated money for us to buy this wonderful tool for Kyle, we can not thank you enough.
Karson is having a great month too. 2 weeks ago he was in his first school musical. This is the first time I have felt like a "normal" mom in the almost 11 years I have been a mom. In kindergarten, Kyle was in his school's Christmas program, but he was up there with a class aid, and she was moving his arms and he looked MISERABLE! But Karson was up there, doing his thing and loving every minute of it. And there I was sitting there crying my eyes out. I have never been so proud. He took his first AR test today and scored 100 percent! (To those of you who are unfamiliar with AR, it is reading program that some schools use. Kids read books and then take a test on the computer to test comprehension.) He started this year not able to tell you who he is and one he is reading and comprehending it all! I am so excited to see bright his future is. We had his IEP meeting last week and next year is looking good for him too. He will be in general ed. Kindergarten for half of the day and the rest of the day will be with a specialized learning group where he will be working on social skills and group things like that. I just know he is going to do great.
I am pretty sure that both of these boys are ready for the summer to come. And to be able
to play and run in the sunshine, if we ever get some sunshine.

Perspective

On May 7^th my long time friend had a baby.  She lives far away, so I have been following her pregnancy on facebook.  Yesterday I checked her status to see what she had and if there were any pictures posted.  When I read her post, my heart broke.  Her baby, a boy, was diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She and the rest of her family will spend the rest of his days with him in a hospital.  It is news like that that makes me realize just how little my problems really are.  I have never woken up in the morning, wondering if this would be the last day that I will get to spend with my boys.  I have never tucked them in at night and been scared that they wouldn’t wake up in the morning.  With mother’s day so fresh in my memory, I can not help thinking of all of the mothers out there who have lost a child.  This has to be a very hard time for them.  I will never take one day for granted.  My boys are strong, healthy, and happy.  For that I am thankful and truly blessed

It's Coming!

    Yesterday before the Kirby man sucked 5 hours of my life and tried to suck 3000 dollars from my wallet, I got Kyle's Ipad ordered!  We had to get it from the Apple store online, everystore from here to Olympia hasn't had them in stock for weeks.  But the Apple store said it should be here around the 25th of May!  I just hope he takes to it as well as he did the Ipod touch.  I am including in this post the Facebook Post I posted the other day about how we were able to get the money for Kyle's Ipad.  It still makes me teary thinking about all that our family has done to help him. 
    "Jennifer Mann-Perry is feeling a little humbled right now. This past week Kevin's Grandma had her 92nd birthday and asked that instead of guests bringing her gifts, they bring her cash. Cash she then gave to us to buy Kyle an Ipad. I am so lucky to have such an amazing and loving family (both the one I was born into and the one that I married into). Thank you Perrys, Forths and Piraks!"
    WOW!  It just warms my heart.  I can not say how thankful I am to have such support coming from both my family and Kevin's.   

How Did This Happen?

    When I found out I was preggers, I was like all 25 year old, unwed, college students... FREAKED OUT!  But when that baby boy was put into my arms, I knew everything was going to be ok.  Then when at a year old he became more and more unresponsive and silent, I knew something was wrong and again I was freaked out.  Then at 18 months old when he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified) I was hopeful.  He just had "a little" Autism, we could fix it.  We tried ABA, speech therapy, ocupational therapy, biomedical treatments, GF/CF diets, you name it if we heard about it and could scrape up the money, we tried it!  Then when he was 4 and was diagnosed with Autism, my heart broke and I mourned the loss of my son.  Things went through my mind like, he will never have a girlfriend, he will never go to prom, he will never get married, he will never, he will never...
    Then came Karson and my hopes for a "normal" child were renewed.  Then when at a year, then 2 years he was still not talking, I FREAKED OUT!  We went to Children's Hospital in Seattle, where they evaluated him to see if he too was Autistic, but the kind DR. would not label him.  "He has too many emerging skills, it is too early to tell,"  is what she told us.  This restored my faith, well a little.  While Karson does not have a formal diagnosis of ASD, he does show some of characterists.
    Now 10 years later, Kyle is still non-verbal.  However, my attitude has changed.  I don't think "he will never" any more.  I think, "he just hasn't yet."  Karson talks all the time and while he still shows those Autistic tendencies everyday, he is able to work through them and is getting to be a pretty "normal" little boy. 
   Thank you for following us on this journey we are taking with our boys.  It means so much to us to have so many people cheering us on. 
  

And so it begins!

I have decided that this would be a great way to keep pleople informed of Kyle and Karson's progress.  I have heard so much about blogging and thought, heck I'll give it a try!