Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Breakthrough!

Ember had a breakthrough in therapy yesterday!

See, Ember talks but generally does not communicate with words. She uses echolalia, which is repeating what you (or the TV) have said, but she does not understand what she's saying most of the time. At other times she'll say phrases that have some words she understands, (like "splash in the water") but she would not be able to take out one of those words to use in another context. That was the extent of her speech.

Not so anymore!

While working with a toy piggy bank that would say "open" when you opened its door and "close" when you closed it, Ember finally grasped the concept of asking for something verbally! She said "open" and we opened it. That was huge. But she went a step further - she generalized it, asking me to "open" the raisins, to "open" the snack door, and to "open" various other things requiring that word. She has since asked for "juice," "hot dog," and "stars" (her star-shaped snacks).

While we realize that most of these words are tied to food, still, it's a major start! Ember is beginning to communicate, and after only 5 sessions with Birth To 3. She had another session today, and has just 4 more with Ms. Megan before she turns three. :( Hopefully she will have just as much, if not more, success with the school.

Yay Ember! lol (And yay for singing pigs.)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Ember

Wow, what a month it has been. I think I need to get my thoughts out there somehow, and I know there are people praying for us, so this would be the ideal place to tell/update everyone about how Ember is doing, right? Right.

For those who don't know, on July 7 of this year Ember was officially diagnosed with autism. Since then we have been working with Wisconsin's Birth to Three program, and she sees her therapist Ms. Megan twice a week. The problem with this is that she will be turning three in three weeks! So we're looking into further options, including the school system, for her future therapies. YES I will still be homeschooling her - she just may attend certain classes and therapy sessions elsewhere while we work on getting into the program that would work with her at home.

If you don't know much about autism and would like to know more, here's a good website that explains it: http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2904

If you'd like to know more but don't have time/patience to read a big, long book, there's a book out there for siblings of children with autism called "Everybody Is Different" by Fiona Bleach that is excellent. It is short - around 65 pages of text - and it's at about a fourth grade reading level. It's in a question/answer format, too, so you can skip what doesn't apply. I highly recommend checking that out from the library if you're interested. We have a copy coming in the mail if you'd like to borrow it, as well.

Ember is at the higher functioning end of autism. She can speak, even saying individual words, but does not usually use words to communicate. She tells us what she wants in a variety of ways, from putting our hands on the object, to bringing the object to us, to screaming and kicking when she gets frustrated. She has a very good attention span when she is interested, and can problem-solve fairly quickly. She also does not fixate on acting out, but rather uses her tantrums to communicate that something is wrong. The reason this is good is because as we teach her to use words to communicate, her tantrums/screaming/kicking/hitting should lessen.

Other things that she does as a result of having autism that are "not normal" are wandering away/running away, having simple routines that "need" to be done the same exact way every time, being uncomfortable in new places (though new people don't phase her) , lining toys up or just exploring them instead of playing with them, banging her head on objects when she's too frustrated, and "stimming" (self-stimulating) by walking/marching in tight circles over and over while quoting. That's another thing she does - she quotes movies, songs, and phrases she has heard, although she does not understand their meaning. Sometimes she knows the meaning of one or two of the words in each phrase, but she would not be able to pick out a word and use it individually. She also does not seek others out for any reason other than to meet a need she has that she cannot meet on her own, or for a hug/cuddle session.

On the other hand, Ember is a bright, happy youngster with a lot of energy. She loves running, jumping, sliding, swinging, coloring, tickling, eating fruit, being swung in circles, giving hugs and receiving kisses, clapping and singing, and above all, swimming! She may have autism, but she's still our little girl and she brings a lot of sunshine into our world.

More updates to come as we have them. :)


P.S.
Ian-ism!
While giving me a hug: "It's fun to love!"

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Ian-ism

We got our US State Quarters map out to put a new one on. Ian leaned over and searched it for a while and then frowning, turned to me and asked, "Mommy, where's Africa?"

:D

Saturday, April 11, 2009

EASTER EGG HUNT!

Are you ready to find the eggs?

GO!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Kid-isms

A friend of mine posts cute things that her kids say on her blog, and it is just too funny, every time. I've done the same thing a few times, except that I've put it in a word document. I found that document tonight and I thought, "Why not put it in the blog? Share the funny stuff!" So here are a few of what I call Damekisms, with an Ianism thrown in at the end. :)


5 years old

Damek: “Hmm, now what was I going to draw?”

Mommy: “I don’t know, what were you going to draw?”

Damek: “No, I was telling me.


6 years old

(The "secret stairs" are back stairs that lead up to the third level.)

Mommy: “Damek, could you turn off the secret stairs light for me? I’ll get the other one.”

Damek: “That’s ok. You do most of the work around here, so I’ll get the other one for you.”


3 years old

Ian: “Mommy, are you sick?”

Mommy: “No, I have a headache. My head hurts.”

Ian: “I got to fix it. I got to get the scissors and clip your hair off your head. And then all better!”



hee hee hee ...


Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Precious

I don't have the words to describe what these pictures do to my heart, but hey world, this is my family. Please pray for them, because they're not out of the woods yet.



I have more of them, but they're on my cell phone and I haven't found that cord yet. That's Megara with the microphone, Kenobi playing video games with Ian, and those twins at the bottom? lol That's Damek and his Uncle Moses. (No, those aren't their real names. Protecting their identity at the moment. But they really are Calista and Damek's aunt and uncles.)

I will post more when I can find that cord.

Miss you guys ...


UPDATE!!! Megan, Ben and Aaron are now officially in foster care until their 18th birthdays!! Praise the Lord, he answered our prayers with a positive! I can now talk about them all I want. :) We'll be seeing Megan, at least, for Damek's birthday party at the end of the month! YAY GOD! lol

Monday, February 16, 2009

Google Tag

This is HILARIOUS! Do it! Trust me, it's really funny.

1. Type in "[your name] needs" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah needs a team of committed people to pray for her and her ministry -I couldn't agree more bekah needs help."

(Yessiree! To both parts of the sentence.)

2. Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah looks like a royal caught at the slopes."

(I wouldn't be caught dead at the slopes. Klutz. So there you have it.)

3. Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.

Result: "
Bekah. says:. "You live your life like a loaded gun because you're young..."

(Yep! Me and guns. What IS it with us??)

4. Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah wants at long last to be at peace w/ the Universe."

(That doesn't quite fit with what God said about me. I'm a boat rocker. Hee hee. Know peas!)

5. Type in "[your name] does" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah does not switch her hips, she swaggers."

(Considering I've never watched my hips walk, I'll trust my husband to make that call.)

6. Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah hates the winter weather!"

(AMEN! Finally they got something right!! lol)

7. Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search

Result: "
Bekah asks: Am I doing this right? Is there anyone in here yet?"

(The real Bekah would never be so lost in a chat room.)

8. Type in "[your name] goes" in Google search

Result:"
Bekah Goes Surfing"

(Absolutely no comment. That's just too funny.)

9. Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.

Result: "
Bekah likes books."

(WHOO HOO! Score 4!)

10. Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search

Result: "
bekah eats snow."

(Only the non-yellow variety.)

11. Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search

Result: "
bekah wears girl with red tie."

(Yeah. Well, they were supposed to make sense, but I got to the 15th Google page and this was the best I could do. lol Unusually spelled names ...)

12. Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search

Result: "
Bekah was arrested for reading Rachel's blog! Because when she put "Bekah was arrested for" into the Google search engine, on page 5 it had Rachel's blog! NOT KIDDING! lolololol"

(Seriously! It's right there. Try it.)

Oh that was funny. I bet Chris' name would be even more hilarious, because it's so common. The more common the name, the better results you're bound to get!

So try it. It was fun. :D