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!"
Ember had a breakthrough in therapy yesterday!
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